2026 Back-to-School Gift Guide: 20+ essentials for students

It feels like summer just started yesterday, but back-to-school season is upon us. Don’t hang up the swimsuit and give up on other warm-weather activities just yet, but it’s never too early to upgrade essential gear like backpacks and lunchboxes, replenish supplies like BIC Mechanical Pencils, and mentally prepare for busier schedules and finding ways to create some quiet. Regardless of price point, our list of back-to-school essentials is designed to last year after year to stretch summer job savings or give the most bang for parental bucks. The majority of our picks are $100 and under, but know our splurgy selections are worth the investment. Just think, everyone outgrows back-to-school shopping eventually, and may get misty for the days of picking out new shoes and backpacks.

Best backpack: Thule Enroute 23L

The Thule Enroute Backpack is a $120 backpack fit for all kinds of students. Regardless of size (there are seven to choose from), we love this backpack for its plethora of pockets and internal organization: The technology storage can accommodate a 15.6-inch laptop and a 10.5-inch tablet; A smaller, soft-lined pocket protects your phone, sunglasses, and that very expensive graphing calculator purchased for math class; our favorite compartment, however, is the water-resistant, opaque TPU pocket that stores gym clothes without everyone seeing your business, making it great for gym class or quick workout sessions in-between classes.

Best lunchbox: YETI Daytrip 3L Insulated Soft Cooler

The YETI Daytrip 3L Insulated Soft Cooler Lunch Box, available in 10 colors, is a $65 food storage powerhouse for all ages and vibes. The ColdCell Flex Insulation means fruit cups, juice pouches, and sandwiches stay at an optimal temperature even while carried around campus or stashed away in a locker. We also love the inner Packattic pocket that fits YETI’s Ice Sheet ice pack, utensils, napkins, and, most importantly, snacks.

Best water bottle: Owala FreeSip Stainless Steel 32-oz.

The Owala FreeSip is a $35 stainless-steel water bottle that ensures I’ll drink all 32 ounces I pour into it. There’s something about the FreeSip Lid—specifically the straw portion—that scratches my brain and incentivizes water consumption. It comes in dozens of colorways and sizes, including a 16-ounce version made for kids to a chug-friendly 40-ounce option for the hydration-maxxers.

Best on-the-go food storage: Thermos 16oz Icon Food Jar

Sometimes you want some soup on the go, and Thermos’ 16-ounce Icon Food Jar is a $30 double-wall vacuum-insulated container that keeps food hot for 10 hours. If you’re carrying around gazpacho, you’ll be happy to know that it keeps food cold for 24 hours. Better yet, the Food Jar comes with its own foldable spoon and is dishwasher safe—just make sure to put it on the top rack.

Best for capturing new memories: Camp Snap 2

Sure, you could take a phone picture of campus or Homecoming celebrations. Or you can live closer in the moment with the Camp Snap 2, a $70 screen-free digital point-and-shoot camera. It comes in nine colors (We’re partial to Twisted Lime, an electric, slimy chartreuse) and is preloaded with six filters. You can take 500 photos on a single charge and immediately transfer photos from the camera to your phone if it charges via USB-C (Sorry Lightning peeps, you’ll have to get a Lightning-to-SD Card reader to do the same).

If you like blind boxes and small things, we also recommend the Kodak Charmera. It’s more lo-fi than the Camp Snap 2, but it’s just as fun to pull out at parties and gatherings.

Best photo printer: HP Sprocket

Print out phone photos to decorate a dorm, binder, or bedroom with the HP Sprocket, a $90 phone-sized photo printer that connects via Bluetooth. The portable instant photo printer prints onto two-by-three-inch sticky-backed photo paper, meaning you don’t even need to buy tape. Share customized, curated photo albums with friends and family using the HP Sprocket app since social media is lowkey dead and over.

Best notebook for college students: Five Star Spiral Notebook + Study App

From writing in a notebook to using a digital notebook and stylus, science shows that handwriting notes leads to better comprehension. I personally have looked at my notes and thought to myself, “Who is this madwoman with chicken scratch and what was she thinking when she wrote this stuff down?” I could have benefitted from the $7 Five Star Spiral Notebook and Study App. Write down notes and scan them with your phone to create digital flashcards and more. Plus, this durable notebook will last between subjects and semesters.

Best planner: Appointed

I once received the Appointed Task Planner as a gift, and I’ve thought about this $40 investment since. It comes with tabs to break out monthly spreads, weekly sections, along with spaces to record tasks and goals. The cotton-blend bookcloth-bound cover is durable, stylish, and monogrammable.

If you have more budget for some extra inclusions, consider the Aura Estelle Magnet Planner, which includes a habit tracker and full-page daily pages.

Best mechanical pencil: BIC Mechanical Pencils #2 Xtra Smooth, 0.7mm Medium Point

This $25 80-pack of BIC Mechanical #2 Pencils with Medium .7mm Point will last you through standardized tests, SATs, and college classes—and that’s including those lost after lending. The graphite pre-loaded into each mechanical pencil provides smooth lines that won’t smudge; the eraser easily erases wonky Scantron bubbles, wrong answers, and half-baked doodles. Ticonderoga Wood-Cased Pencils are a classic non-mechanical option.

Best pens: Zebra Pen Sarasa Clip Retractable Gel Pen

I’m a casual lover of pens and stationery. I became a true PenHead when I tried this $15 pack of Zebra Sarasa Clip Retractable Gel Pens. The water-based ink flows sans skips and comes in plenty of fun colors for color-coding your to-do lists, notes, or planner entries. The .5 mm fine-point tip is smooth without being too slick, yet scratchy enough to get a good grip on the page. The clip is handier than you’d think, and the pen is refillable for years of jotting down half-baked ideas and shower thoughts. Although I wish the ink dried just a hair faster, this is a practically perfect pen and better than the Pilot G2.

If you want to get the benefits of handwriting notes without having to put pen to a physical page, consider the reMarkable Paper Pro, a $679 digital notebook. It feels like writing in a notebook with the added benefit of converting your handwriting to typed text. Write directly onto PDFs—of which you’ll get plenty of in school—and sort your notes and documents with folders and tags. If you’re looking to save some paper but still want something from the reMarkable Paper line, consider the reMarkable Paper Pure, the Paper Pro’s $399 cousin.

Best laptop for engineering students: Dell – Plus – 16″ 2K Touchscreen Laptop – AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series

Engineering students across disciplines need a powerful machine with at least 16 gigabytes of RAM and 512 gigabytes of storage to crunch through processor-intensive programs that primarily run on Windows. This $1,280 Dell laptop has 32 gigabytes of RAM, 1 TB of storage, and a 16-inch touchscreen. An 18-hour battery life means you’ll have enough juice from lab to lecture to library.

Best laptop for college students: Apple 2026 M5 13-inch MacBook Air

If your coursework for your major primarily requires internet browsing and access to a word processor, you’ll be absolutely set up for success with Apple’s $1,200 M5 Air laptop. I sold Apple computers at my college’s bookstore, and the Air line has been my recommendation for years. 16 gigabytes of RAM and 512 gigabytes of storage is more than enough power for research papers, Canvas post responses, and any other schoolwork professors and teachers assign. Plus, it will last from high school to college and beyond.

Best headphones for studying: Bose QuietComfort Headphones

The Bose QuietComfort headphones let you play bass-heavy club tunes undisturbed when the library becomes as noisy as the club during midterms and finals season. We’ve concluded after testing that “quiet” and “comfort” are accurate to the product name: They offer best-in-class active noise cancellation (ANC) with cloud-like earcups and headband padding. And you can often find them at sale prices below the $359 MSRP.

And, if you’re looking for audiophile-level sound quality and more immersive features, spend a little extra on the $429 Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones.

Best for crossing campus in five minutes: Segway E3 Pro

This beginner-friendly scooter lets you travel up to 34 miles on one charge—that’s a lot of trips from chemistry to Modern Literature to night class. The Segway E3 Pro Electric Scooter is a $600 scooter that’s portable, easy to fold, and relatively lightweight at 40 lbs., so it’s not hard to carry up stairs or slide under a desk and won’t feel like an albatross around your neck all day. It reaches a max speed of 20 miles per hour and has dual elastomer suspension plus integrated lighting, so off-campus errands take less time but also don’t get too wild. Stay traditional with a commuter bike if you don’t love this combination of wheels and engines.

Best board game to make new friends: Wavelength

Even the staunchest board game haters will love Wavelength, a $35 large-party game that takes 5 seconds to set up, 1 minute to learn, and 30 minutes to play. Two teams work together to read each other’s minds, and it can accommodate two players and beyond. Set it up in the common room and wait for curious passersby to seek out some fun and connection, or break it out at casual hangs with friends.

Best shower caddy: Room Essentials

It’s bad shared bathroom etiquette to leave your shower essentials around, especially when you live on larger dorm floors. Shower caddies, like this $10 pick from Target, let you quickly transport your shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and other scrub-dubbabbles so as not to hold up time. A mesh caddy dries faster and can fit more items compared to a plastic caddy, but do you.

A cheap pair of flip-flops makes for excellent portable shower shoes. These $3 Old Navy flip-flops have never failed us—find them in men’s and women’s sizes.

Best dorm room storage: Wise Oannes Storage Cabinet

Who says plastic storage bins have to be ugly? This $36 stylish set of storage bins rolls and stacks for extra storage in the closet, under the bed, and anywhere in between. Clear front-opening lids give you easy visual and actual access to shoes, sweatshirts, sweatpants, and seasonal items. And, they fold flat for inconspicuous stowing when not in use.

These $27 moving bags combine the storage volume of a plastic tote with the flexibility and versatility of a reusable bag. I’ve used them to transport laundry from my apartment to the laundromat and back; they’ve been instrumental during moves and life transitions. You shouldn’t use it for fragile items, however. In this case, you should stick with a storage bin like the Akro-Mils KeepBox. Opt for the IRIS WEATHERPRO Airtight Plastic Storage Bin if you need to protect sweaters against moths and other wool-loving critters.

Best air fryer for dorm rooms: Ninja Crispi

If you’ve graduated to apartment living or want to step up your dorm cooking game, you can’t go wrong with the Ninja Crispi. This $180 glass air fryer crisps and bakes, two things required for the young person diet of frozen snack foods and reheated leftovers. Its nesting system makes it compact and easy to store. Use the 6-cup glass container for personal meals and the 4-quart container for larger portions. You can even cook a 4-pound chicken with vegetables in this thing. Busy bees and lazy oafs will appreciate the included snap-lock storage lids—one less dish to clean! And if it can live on a countertop, the $299 Crispi Pro features even more modes and is even more convenient.

Best coffee maker for dorm rooms: Nespresso Vertuo Next

Cafe-style drinks are all the rage on TikTok, but you’ll quickly burn through dining dollars or an allowance if you indulge daily. The best way to make fancy barista-level coffee yourself is with the Nespresso Vertuo Next Coffee and Espresso Maker by De’Longhi, a $121 machine that brews espresso drinks with the touch of a button. Although it’s slightly larger than the Vertuo Pop+, the extra height for travel mugs is worth the desk space.

If you’re looking for a cheap coffee maker that makes high-quality espresso, consider the AeroPress, which only costs you $40. You’ll need either a grinder or pre-ground beans and a kettle (we recommend the splurge-worthy Fellow Stagg kettle, but anything will do), but it’s one of the cheapest ways to make espresso without a machine.

Best dorm decorations: Popular Science Prints

Your “The Kramer” portrait and Klimt’s “The Kiss” poster will be well complemented by vintage covers of Popular Science, our highly regarded and respectable science publication with a 154-year history. Find $19 cover prints featuring planes, trains, automobiles, and other modes of transport, such as boats, rockets, and spaceships. You’ll come across as well-read, cool, and interesting to everyone who enters your domicile! And you can buy framed versions, as well.

 

2026 Popular Science Home of the Future Awards

39 products that will improve your everyday life.