Every year around late July, I get the same phone call from my daughter. "Mom, what should Jess get for school this year?" And every year I tell her the same thing, let me see what is actually good before we buy anything. I've watched enough tech cycles roll around to know the back-to-school rush brings out some genuinely useful gear and a whole lot of stuff that'll be collecting dust by October.

This year, digital lifestyle expert Mario Armstrong stopped by Good Day Stateline to walk through the standout gadgets for the 2026 back-to-school season. I always appreciate when someone takes the time to curate these lists, because walking into a store or scrolling through Amazon without a plan is how you end up with three overpriced gadgets that do the same thing.

Armstrong's picks cover the essentials: laptops, tablets, accessories, and the little things that make a dorm room or a backpack feel more functional. I haven't gotten my hands on every item he featured, so I'm not going to pretend I can give you a full verdict on each one. But I can tell you what caught my attention and what I'd actually consider buying for someone heading back to class.

The first thing that always matters for students is a solid primary device. Whether that's a laptop or a tablet with a keyboard, this is the workhorse. I've been saying this since I reviewed the Galaxy Tab S10 FE earlier this month, a tablet has to provide real productivity tools, not just act as a screen for watching shows. If your kid's primary device cannot handle writing papers, running research tabs, and maybe a video call with a study group, it's not the right tool.

What I liked about Armstrong's approach is that he seems to think about tech the same way I do. It should solve actual problems. A great gadget for school is one that removes friction from your day. A noise-canceling headphone that lets you focus in a loud dorm. A portable charger that means you're never hunting for an outlet between classes. A smart notebook that syncs your handwritten notes to the cloud so you can't lose them. These aren't flashy purchases. They're the ones you use every single day and never regret.

I remember when 1GB of storage was unthinkable, and now we're handing kids devices that can hold entire libraries, run AI study assistants, and connect to every classroom platform simultaneously. My granddaughter Jess starts a new semester soon and she was showing me how her note-taking app can now summarize an entire lecture recording into key points. When I was in school we were grateful for a working highlighter...

Armstrong also highlighted some accessories I think are worth paying attention to, particularly in the smart organization space. Dorm rooms have not gotten any bigger, and anything that helps a student keep their gear organized and charged without a tangle of cables is a win in my book. I've seen too many kids show up with a massive collection of single-use gadgets when one well-chosen device would have done the job better.

If you're shopping for a student this year, my advice is the same as always. Start with the one thing they will use the most, make sure that item is excellent, and then fill in around it. Don't let a back-to-school sale talk you into buying three mediocre things when one great one will last through graduation. And if you see something on Armstrong's list that you want a second opinion on, let me know. I'll be keeping an eye on the standout items and will follow up once I've spent some real time with any of them.