2026-06-15 · 6 min read
What to Splurge On, What to Skimp On (Home Office Edition)
The 80/20 of home office spending: where an extra $200 pays back for years, and where it's a total waste.
We tested a lot of home office gear this year. The pattern is clear: some categories reward every extra dollar. Others hit a wall around $100 and never recover.
Splurge on
- Chair. Herman Miller Sayl. You sit in it 2,000+ hours a year for a decade. Simple math.
- Sit/stand desk. VIVO electric. Manual crank desks get used standing exactly twice.
- Office mouse. MX Master 3S. Every click, every day, for years. And it's still under $100.
Skimp on
- Webcam. Logitech C920. No 4K webcam is meaningfully better on Zoom.
- USB mic. FiFine K669B. A $40 mic on a boom arm beats a $200 mic on a desk.
- Second monitor. AOC 24". You need pixels, not prestige.
Depends
- Headphones. If the house is loud, splurge on ANC (Sony WH-1000XM4). If it's quiet, don't.
- Keyboard. If you type all day, spend the $95 on a Keychron K2. Otherwise anything works.
See our splurge picks for the full one-per-category list.
#strategy#splurge