5 Essential USB Gadgets That Remote Workers Swear By

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Remote work has become the new normal for many people in the post-pandemic era. Many have found that they can do just about everything from home that they were once doing while stuck in an office. There have even been studies that show remote workers being generally happier, with the ability to work remotely leading to overall increased employee happiness. 

Remote work can even be beneficial to a company's bottom line, with post-pandemic research indicating that remote workers are around 60% more productive when working from home. The same research also shows that remote workers report a better work-life balance, something that can lead to much higher productivity. 

But working remotely can be a bit of a challenge for many. While there are a number of gadgets to improve your daily life, here is a more focused list of gadgets that exist to make your remote work life a better one. From mouse-centric tools to keep you logged on to devices to help keep all your power-starved devices fully charged at once, we've featured a little bit of everything. All the products listed below have at least a 4-star rating and the best thing is that none of these fun little USB gadgets will break the bank. 

Chances are that you are working from home on a personal laptop or one provided to you by your employer. You might even be lucky enough to have funds allocated to you in order to purchase your own laptop for remote work. Regardless of what category you fall into, chances are the camera that's included in your laptop isn't all that great, as low-resolution cameras are still the standard, especially in cheaper bulk-purchased work laptops. 

And if you have a more traditional tower desktop that you are working from, you might not even own a webcam in the first place. If you are going to be in a lot of Zoom meetings, a good web cam is one of the most important tools you can have in your remote work arsenal. Priced at $49.99, the Anker PowerConf C200 2K Webcam will elevate your Zoom game while giving you the flexibility to use the camera on any PC or laptop you have. Rated at 4.4 stars with over 8,000 reviews, this dedicated webcam offers far more in the way of tools and features that a built-in webcam simply can't. 

You'll often get low-light correction for better quality visuals, noise-canceling for background noise, field of view adjustment to show only what you want, and better microphones for clearer audio. And because a portable webcam is USB-based, those that have privacy concerns can easily unplug the webcam. This will save you the hassle of taping over your laptop's camera. 

A number of remote workers are going to be using a laptop, whether that be a personal laptop or one provided to them by their employer. And because laptops have become more and more popular over the years, people have become pretty accustomed to using a trackpad to navigate. Trackpads are great and have benefits over a mouse thanks to touch controls and swipe gestures, but they really aren't very comfortable to use.

What, then, is a person to do if they want the flexibility and features of a trackpad, but the design and more comfortable ergonomics of a standard computer mouse. The answer is you pick yourself up a Cheerdots2 Touchpad Mouse for work, home, and remote use. The $59 Cheerdots2 is a very cool magnetically detachable touchpad mouse that features the comfort of a desktop mouse, with the features of a touchpad. 

You can swipe on websites and in applications, pinch to zoom like on a laptop, and every touch/swipe command that a regular touchpad has. It can be detached and used as a tiny portable touchpad for those on the go or even use it in Air Mode, making it a fantastic presentation mouse. It even includes a built-in laser pointer making it the ultimate presentation tool. The 4.2 star rating on Amazon shows users trust this mouse to have the very best of both worlds in one little device.

I've been writing about technology in one form or another for over a decade. This means that most of my career has seen me traveling from one convention to another all over the country. Sometimes it's alone, other times it's with a team, and most recently it's been with my partner. This means that I'm constantly connecting to Wi-Fi networks in order to get work done. 

This might be in the press room of a tech show, a hotel room, an Airbnb, a coffee shop or diner, and all sorts of other places. But every time that I connect to a random network, I'm at risk for having my system compromised or someone spying on my Wi-Fi network. That's where a device like the GL.iNet GL-SFT1200 WiFi Travel Router comes into the picture. Priced at $34.99, this router has been rated 4.3 stars on Amazon with over 6,000 ratings. 

It can support up to 52 connections, so the entire family or team can connect to the router, creating a secure and private network. You'll be able to take any public Wi-Fi and turn it into a private network to keep you and all those connected safe. If your remote work takes you anywhere outside the home, it's vital to keep personal and company data safe and secure. 

Most people assume that remote work means simply working from home. The reality is that many people are constantly traveling as digital nomads and getting work done from the road. Other people may have jobs that require them to be constantly mobile in order to complete their assigned work tasks. 

This means that you'll need a constant source of power to keep your work gear up and running. Remote workers will have a laptop, a smartphone, and all manner of accessories that will need power. Modern cars have a few ports but it's not common to see traditional wall sockets in a vehicle, and USB ports in a car can be limiting due to their location. The 150W Power Inverter from AUCARAUTO solves all your remote work power issues while fitting nicely into your car's cupholder and running off a car's cigarette lighter.

This little inverter has all the outlets you'll need and can offer enough power for a full mobile office. Charge a laptop, your phone, a game console, and any other tech accessory you'll need for work and play. The device is priced at $28.99 and has a 4.7 star rating on Amazon, meaning if you are a true remote worker, you can trust this inverter to be your next best friend.

If you've worked in an office long enough, you've probably found a number of ways to eke out a little break every now and then without the boss knowing. A poll conducted by Dayforce showed that full-time employees often are searching for ways to sneak in a little more downtime while at work. Many remote workers are always logged into their computers and are most likely using some form of team messaging application such as Slack or Microsoft Teams. 

Many CEOs require remote workers to be monitored through proprietary software or be active on team messaging apps. If you leave your computer idle for a certain period of time, the system may change your status to idle or away. But with working from home, sometimes unexpected things arise that may take you away from your computer.

The Vaydeer Mouse Jiggler is a tiny device that when plugged into an open USB port simulates the movement of a mouse. Priced at $8.99 and rated at 4.4 stars on Amazon, the jiggler essentially tricks any running software into believing that you are still online and working without letting your supervisors and colleagues know that you stepped away. One good use for a device like this is for those who often have long Zoom meetings, as extended meetings can lead to your screen going dark or a screensaver to trip and log you out.

We are committed to recommending only those products that have been rated well by users. For this list, we chose products that have at least a 4-star rating on Amazon. We have also researched the current trends to find products that specifically cater to remote workers.