Home Office Setup Guide (2023): Webcams, Desks, Chairs, and More
No matter if you’re working from home full-time or just a few days a week, it’s important to carve out a space that separates your work and personal lives. It’s equally vital that your workstation is kitted out with the right gear and accessories to make the day more bearable and comfortable. Since 2020, we’ve been testing standing desks, office chairs, monitors, USB docks, keyboards, and tons of other work-from-home gear in our own lives. These are our favorites.
Updated December 2023: We’ve added many new products, including Gantri lights, Secretlab footrest, Giantex Cross-Legged Chair, Steelcase Karman, Dell Alienware, MSI MP161, Espresso 17, Lenovo ThinkVision M14T, Nelko thermal printer, Monoprice Monolith speakers, Insta360 Link, SteelSeries Alias, HyperX Cloud III, Mullvad VPN, Lume Cube Ring Light Mini, Branch Duo, Plufl Human Dog Bed, Twelve South Desk Pad, Huanuo printer stand, Lillipad Standing Desk, Monster Power Center Vortex, Logitech Pop Keys, Razer BlackWidow V4, Couchmaster Cybot, BenQ LaptopBar, Espresso 17, X-Chair dual-monitor arm mount, Asus Zenbook 14, and Lenovo Flex 5i.
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Table of Contents
You’ll Need a Good Laptop or PC
We’re guessing you have a laptop or desktop PC of some kind, whether it’s your personal device or your company’s. If not, check out our guides to the Best Laptops, Best Cheap Laptops, Best Chromebooks, and Best MacBooks. Our step-by-step laptop buying guide can also help. If you’re eyeing a desktop PC, we have recommendations and advice for prebuilt gaming PCs that might be handy, or you can build your own. Here are a few of our favorite laptops:
Apple’s MacBook Air (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is the best option for most people. It comes in either a 13- or 15-inch size. With the M2 processor, it can handle all but the most intensive tasks. And even with more demanding apps, it fares pretty well for its price. It’s completely silent due to the fanless design, and the battery life will get you through a workday. If your work needs are minimal, save money and go with the MacBook Air M1, but if you need a more powerful machine, look at the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
You get fantastic value with this Asus Windows 11 laptop (8/10, WIRED Recommends). It has an OLED screen, a rarity at this price, which essentially nets you deep blacks and rich colors. It’s sharp and bright too. Battery life is excellent, and while you shouldn’t expect this to be useful for gaming, its AMD chipset delivers more than adequate performance for most business needs.
If you can do all your work via a browser, and that browser happens to be Google Chrome, consider a Chromebook. This Lenovo model (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is part of the new Chromebook Plus series, which promises a nicer experience. It’s plenty fast for web-browsing tasks, has a microSD card slot for additional storage, and the two-in-one touchscreen design easily moves from laptop to tablet to stand mode (great for Netflix).
A workstation starts with a good desk, and sometimes that means one that can convert into a standing desk so you’re not sitting all day.
This is our favorite standing desk. Unfortunately, the price has crept up ever since Herman Miller acquired Fully. Still, it has an adjustable height via the motor (up to four height presets). The eco-friendly bamboo top looks and feels nice, and there are tons of ways to customize it to your liking. You can get the laminate version, which is made out of recycled wood, for a little less.
This desk took a bit of time to put together (the instructions can be a bit vague), but it offers everything you’ll want in a motorized standing desk at a more stomachable price. The single motor can go from a height of 28 to 48 inches—you can save three presets for quick switching—and it doesn’t wobble much. The surface is made from environmentally friendly chipboard, but it doesn’t feel cheap or low-quality. There’s usually a coupon you can clip to snag it at a much lower price.
I tested the smaller version of this desk, and I like that it’s super simple to add upgrades, like a desk drawer or cable organizer. It’s made of manufactured wood with a powder-coated steel frame, and it was easy to put together. You can choose from several different colors. You push a paddle up or down to raise or lower the desk, and it only has two height presets. (You’ll want to follow the manual to set them, as it’s not super intuitive.) The desk doesn’t wobble much when it moves. I have also tested and like the standard Branch Standing Desk, which doesn’t have many attachments but has built-in cable…
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