Back to school season is here — I've picked 9 must-have essentials for your dorm from $17

Tom's Guide

a day ago

Moving to college is a huge deal and bringing the essentials to your dorm room will make that transition a whole lot easier. Fortunately, in the lead up to college season, huge retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart and more are happy to offer some excellent deals to help with the move.
But, with a mega offering of deals to sift through, it can be a little overwhelming to firstly pick what you want/need for your dorm room and then find the best deals. That's where I've put in the hard work for you.
When I moved to college, I armed myself with some curated items (mainly with the lack of space in mind) and I've looked through all the deals to find the 9 deals I'd absolutely recommend buying right now from the Keurig K-Mini Mate for just $49 at Target to the Sony WF-C710N wireless buds for $88 at Amazon.
Because what you'll really appreciate is decent active noise-cancellation to help relax or focus and slimline kit to fit into your new space. So, get yourself settled fast with these amazing deals and save yourself some money for books (psst, nights out) now.
Socket space might be hard to come by in your dorm room and when you don't fancy a battle, you can turn to a trusty portable charging bank. Plus, it's great for on-the-go, too. It's super thin and super fast with enough power to charge your essentials from smartphones to tablets. Avoid running out of battery by packing up this lightweight piece of kit, just 6.9oz.
When an overhead light is too anti-social but you've still got papers to write and books to read, this LED desk lamp is the perfect slimline solution and right now, it's $11 off. With five lighting modes and five brightness levels, you can adjust it to match your needs without taking up too much space. If you fancy it in Black though, you'll need to pay one dollar more.
The Roku Streaming Stick Plus 2025 is the latest upgrade in Roku's lineup, replacing the previous Express 4K Plus. This newer model is smaller, faster, and more powerful, offering stunning 4K HDR and Dolby Vision streaming. With improved Wi-Fi and access to thousands of channels, it's one of the best Roku devices right now.
Short on space? No problem. Keurig's smallest coffee maker ever will fit nicely into your dorm room. And, if a quick cup of coffee is what keeps you going, but you don't want to spend cafe prices, the K-Mini Mate is an excellent buy. Using single-serve pods, you pop it in, press a button and you're sorted. Now at $30 off with money saving potential all year round.
The Ultimate Ears Miniroll is our top cheap pick amongst the best Bluetooth speakers, and now it's even cheaper. It's very compact and portable, as well as producing solid sound considering its miniature size. Plus, the rugged design is durable and can survive being carted around across campus. And there's a decent battery life of 16 hours to boot, all for just $49.
Moving to college doesn't mean you have to give up the luxury of having snacks and drinks at hand, especially with the Frigidaire Retro Mini Fridge installed. It's stylish and compact, but still makes room for up to 15 cans or 10 liters of your favorite beverages. It's also 'whisper-quiet', so it won't bother those around you while it's keeping your items cool.
The Sony WF-C710N are our budget heroes, taking the top spot for value in our best wireless earbuds guide. And fortunately, even though they're budget-priced, they still boast highly effective ANC which is a really good feature to have in your dorm. When you need to zone out and lock in, these buds have up to 33.5 hours of battery life and are extremely comfortable for long-term wear.
This Beats Pill is a redesigned version of the original with improved sound, a huge 24-hour battery life, USB-C charging and IP67-rated for any moments used by the pool or at the beach. For the dorm room, it's a perfect slimline fit that can still dominate with its punchy sound. For this deal, you can grab it in Gold, Black, Red or Pink – all for the same price.
In our Siena Memory Foam Mattress review, our side and back sleepers were pleased with the full-body support of the Siena all-foam mattress. So was our lone stomach sleeper, who liked that her hips didn't sink below the rest of her body. It did take a few nights for the mattress to soften slightly, though, to give that memory foam "hug." We rate the Siena as one of the best mattresses you can buy. The twin is $179, whereas the queen is $359.