6 new tech tools to upgrade your home office in 2024

While many CEOs are mandating employees return to the office, the number of home workers continues to hover at historic levels, while office occupancy rates hit lows they haven’t seen in over 40 years. So it’s not that surprising that beyond the TVs, smart cars and other headline-grabbing gadgets at this year’s CES, there are also several items that target people who do their work out of a home office. Some are part of larger tech advances that will help more than just home workers. Others seem almost tailor made for telecommuters. Here’s a look at some of the most notable.

LG Smart Monitor: Monitors generally aren’t a lot of good without a PC attached to them. LG’s Smart Monitor, though, lets you work remotely (or stream movies – you are telecommuting, after all) via a series of apps, including Microsoft 365 and Google Calendar. It’s also compatible with AirPlay 2 and Miracast to mirror a screen and it can be used (along with a Webcam) for teleconferencing. Prices for the monitor, another 2024 Innovation Award honoree, will start at $500, though LG did not announce when the monitors would be available.

Samsung’s The Link monitor: Samsung made heads whip around in 2018 when it introduced “The Wall,” a TV that let owners add and remove modules to make the device bigger or smaller, as needed. Now it’s bringing that same idea to the desktop. The Link is a multi-monitor setup that eliminates the often mismatched aesthetic. Each Link monitor is a 4K, 32-inch screen—and if you need to add more, you can connect as many as you’d like, all without adding a separate cable.

Mophie Juice Pack: Mophie discontinued its popular charging case for the iPhone a few years ago, but in 2024, it’s coming back. A new model for the iPhone 15 was at CES with a 2,400 mAh internal battery (and a 2,800 mAh model for the Pro Max). The case is more low profile than its predecessor—and when you charge your phone, the phone gets priority before the backup battery begins to charge. Pre-orders will start in February at $100 on Mophie’s Website. 

INVZI MagHub 3: 8-in-1 USB-C Docking Station Stand for Tablet: If you do a lot of work on your iPad or another tablet, you know how quickly it gets tiresome having to hunch over to use it. Invzi’s docking station keeps your tablet at eye level and arm’s length and will keep it charged with a 100W USB-C PD charging port. The base also has two 5Gbps USB-A ports, an HDMI port, SD and Micro SD card slots, and a 3.5mm audio port, meaning you can plug in headphones or additional data sources (such as a USB drive or SD card) and transfer them to or from your tablet. The 2024 CES Innovation Award honoree is available now for $130.

Wi-Fi 7-enabled routers (and laptops and phones): While you’ve been able to buy a Wi-Fi 7 router for a while, the technology is about to become more prominent, as the Wi-Fi Alliance has begun officially certifying devices that support the next generation of wireless technology. That certification ensures that those devices will be able to work together and should lead to a rush of new products–and that, ideally, means you’ll be able to get things done a lot faser. New Wi-Fi 7 products, like MSI’s WiFi 7 Roamii Mesh System, offer double the channel bandwidth and make the possibility of wireless 2 GB per second download speeds very real. So you’ll have clearer Zoom calls and be able to upload or download important files in seconds. You also won’t have to worry about a slowdown in your Internet speeds when your son, daughter or spouse is doing something like playing an online game, which can bog down today’s Wi-Fi. 

AI PCs: Artificial intelligence is the go-to theme at CES 2024—and the fusion of AI and the PC started before the show kicked off. But innovations like Microsoft’s Copilot AI key on Windows laptops, (such as the new Dell XPS 14 and XPS 16) will let consumers use machine learning to make their systems do more, whether that’s voice to text translation or improved image processing. These will begin trickling into the market later this quarter, but this is just the beginning of the fusion of the two technologies.

While many CEOs are mandating employees return to the office, the number of home workers continues to hover at historic levels, while office occupancy rates hit lows they haven’t seen in over 40 years. So it’s not that surprising that beyond the TVs, smart cars and other headline-grabbing gadgets at this year’s CES, there are also several items that target people who do their work out of a home office. Some are part of larger tech advances that will help more than just home workers. Others seem almost tailor made for telecommuters. Here’s a look at some of the most notable.

LG Smart Monitor: Monitors generally aren’t a lot of good without a PC attached to them. LG’s Smart Monitor, though, lets you work remotely (or stream movies – you are telecommuting, after all) via a series of apps, including Microsoft 365 and Google Calendar. It’s also compatible with AirPlay 2 and Miracast to mirror a screen and it can be used (along with a Webcam) for teleconferencing. Prices for the monitor, another 2024 Innovation Award honoree, will start at $500, though LG did not announce when the monitors would be available.

Samsung’s The Link monitor: Samsung made heads whip around in 2018 when it introduced “The Wall,” a TV that let owners add and remove modules to make the device bigger or smaller, as needed. Now it’s bringing that same idea to the desktop. The Link is a multi-monitor setup that eliminates the often mismatched aesthetic. Each Link monitor is a 4K, 32-inch screen—and if you need to add more, you can connect as many as you’d like, all without adding a separate cable.

Mophie Juice Pack: Mophie discontinued its popular charging case for the iPhone a few years ago, but in 2024, it’s coming back. A new model for the iPhone 15 was at CES with a 2,400 mAh internal battery (and a 2,800 mAh model for the Pro Max). The case is more low profile than its predecessor—and when you charge your phone, the phone gets priority before the backup battery begins to charge. Pre-orders will start in February at $100 on Mophie’s Website. 

INVZI MagHub 3: 8-in-1 USB-C Docking Station Stand for Tablet: If you do a lot of work on your iPad or another tablet, you know how quickly it gets tiresome having to hunch over to use it. Invzi’s docking station keeps your tablet at eye level and arm’s length and will keep it charged with a 100W USB-C PD charging port. The base also has two 5Gbps USB-A ports, an HDMI port, SD and Micro SD card slots, and a 3.5mm audio port, meaning you can plug in headphones or additional data sources (such as a USB drive or SD card) and transfer them to or from your tablet. The 2024 CES Innovation Award honoree is available now for $130.

Wi-Fi 7-enabled routers (and laptops and phones): While you’ve been able to buy a Wi-Fi 7 router for a while, the technology is about to become more prominent, as the Wi-Fi Alliance has begun officially certifying devices that support the next generation of wireless technology. That certification ensures that those devices will be able to work together and should lead to a rush of new products–and that, ideally, means you’ll be able to get things done a lot faser. New Wi-Fi 7 products, like MSI’s WiFi 7 Roamii Mesh System, offer double the channel bandwidth and make the possibility of wireless 2 GB per second download speeds very real. So you’ll have clearer Zoom calls and be able to upload or download important files in seconds. You also won’t have to worry about a slowdown in your Internet speeds when your son, daughter or spouse is doing something like playing an online game, which can bog down today’s Wi-Fi. 

AI PCs: Artificial intelligence is the go-to theme at CES 2024—and the fusion of AI and the PC started before the show kicked off. But innovations like Microsoft’s Copilot AI key on Windows laptops, (such as the new Dell XPS 14 and XPS 16) will let consumers use machine learning to make their systems do more, whether that’s voice to text translation or improved image processing. These will begin trickling into the market later this quarter, but this is just the beginning of the fusion of the two technologies.