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We all have phones, but we don’t all have the best accessories for them. Here are cheap phone-related niceties that make for an affordable start to the new year.
1A Phone Stand
A phone may not be the biggest screen in your home, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t the one you look at most. Here’s one thing I’ve learned from hours of staring at a screen: It feels much nicer when you don’t have to hold the phone. That’s whymy favorite phone accessory is a cheap phone stand.
I boughtthis phone stand from Amazon. Actually, I bought several, and they’re now scattered throughout the house. My wife and I use them all the time. They’re great for watching a video while folding clothes, looking at a recipe while cooking, playing a game using a Bluetooth controller, or just giving your hands a break while you browse the web.
Depending on the stand you get, there’s a good chance it isn’t limited to just phones. Ours can handle a tablet, too. It also happens to be a nice piece of kit for the road warrior who wants to pull out a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse at a coffee shop, drop their tablet or foldable phone on a stand, and get to work.
2USB-C Flash Drive
Flash drives have been handy for most of my life. Many years later, they continue to increase storage capacity while going down in price. At a time when so much in this world costs more than it used to, storing innumerable files on a little stick remains a cheap affair. Just look at the prices of thebest flash drives of the year.
Most of our old flash drives don’t connect to a phone without a hub, and who wants to carry one of those around just to transfer files? So verify you pick up a USB-C flash drive or at least a convertible one that fits into both types of USB ports. With more laptops ditching full-sized USB ports, getting a USB-C stick makes even more sense.
3A USB-C Hub
While you may not want to carry a USB-C hub around with you everywhere, they are immensely useful to have around the house. As mentioned, they allow you to connect your phone to USB flash drives, but you can also connect to some external hard drives or even a wired gaming controller.
Our review of theEZQuest USB-C Multimedia 10-in-1 Hubgives you an idea of what kind of hub to look for, but there are so many options out there. I got mine fromUPerfectwhen ordering a lapdock since it doesn’t come with any branding.
A growing number of phones can connect to TVs and external monitors via an HDMI cable, as long as you have a hub or dock to serve as your adapter. If you have a Samsung phone, you may play around with Samsung DeX andsee if DeX might be a viable PC replacement for you.
4Wireless charging pad
Wireless chargers aren’t a new technology, but they’re still novel to a lot of people. After all, while many phones did (and some still do) come with wired chargers, rarely ever has one come with a wireless charger. To try wireless charging, you have to go out of your way to buy the right gear.
Even if the special person you’re shopping for already has a wireless charging pad, there’s a decent chance they won’t mind having another. Wireless chargers are convenient to have throughout the house. Have one on a desk or nightstand. Keep one in the living room. Toss one in the kitchen. Wherever you’re prone to putting down your phone, why not have a charger there and let it top up?
If you don’t know where to start, just browse ourlist of the best phone chargersand pick the wireless charger you see.
5Capacitive Stylus
I appreciate Samsung phones in part because of the S Pen, and there aremany reasons I love using a stylus with my phone. Most phones don’t have a pen that precise, but all phones work with a capacitive stylus. These are the kind of stylus that have a foam nub at the end.
Capacitive stylus are no more precise than a finger, but they can be more comfortable for certain tasks. Using a stylus is also a way to keep your phone’s screen just a tad cleaner.
The stylus pictured above is theZAGG Pro Stylus 2, but that’s overkill for most people. Anycheap styluswill do.
6A Phone Sleeve
Some people use their phones without a case. Many more, it seems, like to keep their phones inside one. But there’s an option somewhere in the middle, and that’s where a phone sleeve comes in.
I use a phone sleeve all the time. In the picture above, you’re able to see my sleeve tucked underneath a Galaxy Z Fold 5. That sleeve now holds a Galaxy Z Fold 6. In the past, it once shielded a Moto Edge+ 2023. Sleeves are a versatile form of protection that, unlike cases, don’t need to be tailor-made for each device.
When my phone is in use, it’s naked and exposed, but that means I get to take in the full beauty and feel of my devices. When I’m done using them, I slide them back in the sleeve so that they don’t get scratched up in my pocket or banged around in the cup holder of my car. A sleeve doesn’t protect against drops as a case does, but it’s a nice compromise between completely altering the look and feel of your device and doing without protection entirely.
I got my phone sleeve fromWeirdOldSnail on Etsy, but for a cheaper option,any old generic onewill be enough for someone to see if using a sleeve will work for them.
These accessories may not be the most exciting things you get this time of year. Still, each one is likely to come in handy down the road. Months from now, after the novelty of the more exciting gifts has worn off, you will still be plopping your phone down onto the phone stand to watch a YouTube video.
