Dorm Room Essentials for College Students from 2023

College dorm rooms are small, shared and somehow capable of making every ordinary object feel enormous. In 2023, we looked at six products that tackled common dorm-life problems: lighting, sleep, biking, exercise, headphones and the sweaty-back problem created by carrying half your life across campus.

Shelly Home Kits

Shelly’s 2023 smart-home lineup included the Shelly Plus Plug US and Shelly Duo E26. The smart plug offered Wi-Fi control and power monitoring, while the Duo E26 smart bulb supported dimming and adjustable warm-to-cool lighting.

For a dorm room, the practical appeal was simple: control a lamp or compatible device from a phone and put lighting on a schedule. Students should still follow their school’s rules about smart plugs, electrical devices and allowed appliances.

BEDGEAR Bedding

BEDGEAR focused on performance bedding designed around different sleep preferences, including whether someone tends to sleep warm or cool. In a dorm, where the mattress is rarely the part anyone brags about, better pillows and bedding can make a noticeable difference.

The main reason we included BEDGEAR was choice. Students could look for bedding based on feel, temperature preference and comfort rather than treating every dorm bed as a one-size-fits-all situation.

Sweet Protection Commuter MIPS Helmet

For students biking around campus, the Sweet Protection Commuter MIPS was a streamlined commuter helmet with MIPS technology and an adjustable fit system. The point was not to turn a trip to class into the Tour de France. It was to have a proper cycling helmet that was easy enough to use every day.

Helmet models, certifications and replacement guidance can change, so current safety information should be checked before buying or using one.

LIT AXIS Pilates Pack

The LIT AXIS Pilates Pack was one of the more dorm-friendly exercise systems we saw because it did not require a room full of equipment. The 2023 kit included resistance-based accessories such as ankle cuffs, Pilates loops and a bar, paired with LIT’s app-based workouts.

The system also used sensors to track workout metrics such as repetitions and resistance. For a student with limited floor space, portability was the bigger selling point: the equipment could be packed away instead of becoming permanent dorm furniture.

Shure AONIC 40 Headphones

The Shure AONIC 40 wireless headphones made sense for dorm life because noise is not exactly a scarce resource. The 2023 model offered adjustable active noise cancellation, an Environment Mode for hearing more of the room around you and a foldable design for travel.

Shure listed up to 25 hours of battery life, quick charging and customizable EQ through the ShurePlus PLAY app. Wired 3.5 mm connectivity was also useful for devices that did not cooperate with Bluetooth.

VentaPak Backpack Spacer

VentaPak was designed to create space between a backpack and the wearer’s back so more air could circulate. For students walking or biking across campus in warm weather, that solved a very ordinary problem: arriving at class with a backpack-shaped sweat mark.

The spacer weighed less than 12 ounces in the 2023 product information and attached to many standard backpacks. It was less glamorous than smart lighting or premium headphones, but dorm life has a way of making practical things unexpectedly appealing.

Which Dorm Essentials Were Most Useful?

The six products solved different problems, so the useful choice depended on the student. Smart lighting helped with a tiny shared room, bedding addressed sleep, the helmet was for campus cyclists, LIT AXIS offered compact exercise equipment, Shure headphones helped with noise, and VentaPak made backpack-heavy commutes more comfortable.

Check current models and specifications before buying. For a newer college checklist, see our guide to dorm essentials for college students.