5 mini gadgets that keep you productive on the go

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When working remotely, especially if you’re on the go, productivity can be difficult to achieve if you don’t know how to eliminate inefficiencies and distractions. By incorporating the right gadgets into your workflow, productivity can flow effortlessly since you always have the right tool for the job. Gadgets don’t need to be big either, as large devices aren’t portable enough to take with you when you need to do a quick task on the go. Sometimes it helps to have little things to eliminate friction that hinders productivity in less than ideal situations.

Do you need to type on your phone when you don’t have a laptop? A foldable keyboard can help. Do you need a macro block that you can keep in your pocket so you can easily access your commonly used shortcuts with the press of a button? A micro game controller can help you. And if you find yourself in a foreign airport and need to quickly charge your laptop to finish a report or invoice, you can use a travel adapter to connect your charger to another wall outlet. These are just a few examples of how mini gadgets can have a big impact on your productivity when you’re on the go.

Some modern phones and tablets can be powerful enough to replace an entry-level computer, making them great mini productivity centers. Sometimes you have to rely on them to type a document or send an email, especially when you’re not able to pull out your laptop. But typing on an on-screen keyboard, especially on a small phone screen, can be a slow and error-prone process compared to using a physical keyboard. Fortunately, foldable keyboards like the Sikai Case Foldable Bluetooth Keyboard can make the typing experience on mobile devices much smoother.

This foldable keyboard is also quite portable. When folded, it looks like the housing of an electric toothbrush, but a little longer. It is a QWERTY keyboard with 60 keys and it can connect to a wide range of devices via Bluetooth, including Android phones, iPhones, PCs and Macs. Additionally, it has a retractable magnetic stand that can support your phone or tablet (up to 11 inches). It only has a 160 milliamp-hour battery (small, but reasonable for its size) that can last about two hours on a single charge. You can get the Sikai Case Foldable Bluetooth Keyboard for $55.99.

If you have a multi-device setup and find yourself constantly unplugging one gadget to make room for another, your productivity may take a hit. Additionally, if you’re using a modern MacBook and want to connect a keyboard, mouse, or external storage drive using a USB-A cable, you’re out of luck because these laptops only have USB-C ports. You can get around these issues with the Anker 5-in-1 USB-C Hub, available on Amazon for $19.99.

This connects to your computer’s USB-C port, giving you instant access to one USB-C 3.0 port and three USB-A 2.0 ports. The USB-C port is a pass-through charging port with a maximum output power of 90 watts. This means that when you plug a charger into the port, the hub will charge the device it’s connected to. It also has an HDMI port supporting 4K monitors operating at 30 hertz. This can be useful if you want to mirror or extend the display of a laptop without an HDMI output port, such as the MacBook Neo or MacBook Air, to a monitor that only has an HDMI input port.

Gamepads can be used for much more than just playing games. In fact, the 8Bitdo micro-controller can easily be transformed into a functional macro block, which is an input device whose buttons can be remapped to perform specific actions, thereby reducing clicks and button presses. For example, you can program it to mute your computer’s microphone during a Zoom call or open Google Chrome, project folders, and turn off notifications when you need to work, all with the press of a single button.

The 8Bitdo Micro Controller, which costs $24.99 on Amazon, is an ultra-compact 16-button controller that weighs just 24.8 grams. It can easily fit in your pocket and is designed to play 2D games, as evidenced by the lack of controllers, on Nintendo Switch and Android phones. The 8Bitdo microcontroller also has a switch on the bottom that you can use to switch it to keyboard mode. In this mode, you can use 8Bitdo Ultimate software to remap its buttons to various shortcuts and actions on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android devices and even a Raspberry Pi.

If you only use a handful of critical shortcuts in your workflow, you might consider getting something even smaller, like the IINE Mini Controller for $21. It’s a simple four-button controller that weighs 20 grams and is also reprogrammable. If you need a lot more buttons, the Sikai Case Foldable Bluetooth Keyboard is a great alternative.

If you like to work while traveling, there are several scenarios where the GL.iNet Mango Mini Travel Router can save you some headaches. A good example is Wi-Fi in hotels. Usually, you’re allowed to connect one or two devices per room, which can be a pain if you have multiple devices that need to be connected to the internet while you work. Additionally, hotel Wi-Fi is typically a captive portal, which means a splash screen appears in your default browser every time you need to connect. This travel router bypasses all that, allowing you to connect once and then give internet access to all your other devices.

Even if these limitations weren’t in place and slowed you down, it’s not recommended to connect directly to hotel Wi-Fi. The GL.iNet Mango Mini Travel Router has a built-in VPN. You’ll need to set up a VPN profile from a reputable provider to make it work (you can set up more than 30 profiles). Once done, the router will create a secure tunnel for all your devices when connecting to the Internet. It’s faster than installing VPNs on all your devices and can protect other networked devices that can’t install one. It also lets you access geo-restricted websites or other content you might need for work, and all in a more secure way than basic hotel Wi-Fi.

Another gadget you might need if you work while traveling is the Tessan 28W Universal Travel Adapter. The wall outlet used in the United States is not the same as the one used in the United Kingdom, Japan, or South Africa. This travel adapter costs $25.87 and addresses this mismatch by using pin layouts that work in the EU, UK, US, and Australia. These four configurations allow the adapter to be used in more than 150 countries around the world, as many countries use the same plug types. Simply flip a switch on the side to choose your desired pin layout, then plug the device into a compatible outlet.

In addition to allowing you to plug in your device’s charger, the Tessan 28W Universal Travel Adapter also has five USB ports for your other mobile devices: three USB-C ports with a maximum output power of 15 watts each and two USB-A ports with a maximum output power of 12 watts. These ports can easily charge your computer, phone, power bank and portable console (for playing a game in your downtime). Be aware, however, that the maximum power for all USB ports combined is 28 watts (hence the name of the adapter). This means that the more devices you plug in, the more current is distributed between the ports, which can cause other devices to charge more slowly.

When choosing these products, we focused on people who work remotely, like freelancers and digital nomads. However, there are many use cases for these devices, even in an office setup. For size, we wanted gadgets that could fit in pockets, small bags or backpacks. For the price, we’ve kept it below $100 to show how affordable improving your productivity on the go can be. You can even get two or three gadgets here with a $100 bill.

We also favored products that could be found on Amazon. This way, we could review user ratings and feedback on verified purchases to make sure they are working as expected and not raising any major red flags. We only chose products with a rating of four or more stars out of five on the platform, as we consider this to be a good rating for recommending a product – it means that other users have generally had good experiences with the product.