5 Handy Gadgets Under $50 To Upgrade Your Garage

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Garages offer a lot of freedom and room for imagination. For some, it can be a place to store all the things and knick-knacks that don’t have a place elsewhere. For others, it can be a place for creativity, such as making models for your board games, crafting jewelry, building furniture, or bringing a vintage vehicle back to life. Whether you’re using your space to make small accessories or playing with large power tools, there’s bound to be a gadget that can help upgrade your experience.

Since everyone uses their garage for different purposes, there are nearly endless ways you can upgrade your garage to be more functional. But while there are plenty of handy garage gadgets on Amazon, not all of them are cheap. Thankfully, there are plenty of options under $50 that can help make your garage a better place to be.

To help you understand the possibilities, we’ve rounded up some handy gadgets that can upgrade your garage. To know more about why we think they’re worth your hard-earned dollars, you can skip to the end of this article for our methodology. But if you want to go slow and get inspired by ways you can improve your garage for $50 at a time, keep reading.

Those who do a lot of crafting or who build miniature models may have a garage packed with tools that offer the precision you need. But what good are the best mini power tools for hobbyists if you can’t see what you’re doing with them?

Available on Harbor Freight, the HFT fluorescent magnifying lamp could be the ideal companion for people working on small detail work. The lamp clamps to a horizontal surface and can extend up to 38 inches. Its spring tension system also ensures that you can swing it to an ideal working position and have it stay there. The lamp has a 22-watt bulb and a 1.75x magnifying lens that is 5 inches in diameter. When not in use, this magnifying lamp has a lens dust cover to help keep it clean. Priced at $39.99, the HFT Fluorescent Magnifying Lamp has been rated 4.6 stars by over 1,100 Harbor Freight users. Among people who rated it 5 stars, many praised its excellent magnification and how easy it was to set up with their bench.

Alternatively, if you can’t use a clamp, there are stand models available from other brands. On Amazon, the Krstlv 10X Magnifying Glass with Light and Stand has a 4.3-inch lens that can magnify up to 10x and a dimmable LED light capable of five color modes. Retailing for $35.99, it’s an Amazon Overall Pick product with more than 1,400 users rating it 4.6 stars on average.

Although there are a lot of tape measure brands out there, accurately reading a tape measure isn’t necessarily straightforward. Some tape measures can be quite bulky, too, so they’re not ideal for those who like clean and minimalist workspaces or those who want a pocketable tool. If both of these issues bother you, you may want something like the HOTO laser measuring tool.

Retailing for $49.99, this pocket-sized digital laser tape has been rated 4.2 stars by over 1,700 people. With multiple design awards under its belt, the Amazon’s Choice product can measure up to 98 feet, with ±2 mm (0.078-inch) accuracy, in just 0.2 seconds. Despite its small size, the USB-C-rechargeable battery can last 500 measurements on a single charge. In addition, it looks super sleek with its minimalist display, fingerprint-resistant surface, and eye-catching yellow ring, where you can put your finger through.

If you don’t mind something that looks a little more old school, though, the $25.99 RockSeed laser measure might be good enough. While it isn’t that elegant, it is significantly cheaper, great for people who prefer physical buttons, and can measure longer distances of up to 165 feet. Another Amazon’s Choice product, more than 21,000 users have given the RockSeed Laser Measure an average rating of 4.4 stars.

For people with an extensive collection of tools and multiple people handling them on a daily basis, it can be difficult to know exactly where all of them are at any given time. This can be a problem if you like using opaque storage solutions or tend to be disorganized with your post-project clean-up. But while we have plenty of tips for organizing tools, like making inventories and designing dedicated workspaces, the reality is that life doesn’t always go according to plan. You could use Apple AirTags to track tools, but their premium price point means that they’re not worth it for everyday items in your garage. Because of this, the Esky key finders could be a better budget solution.

While it doesn’t have an integrated app, the Esky trackers have an LED light and can generate sounds at up to 85 dB. This is more than enough if you don’t plan to bring your tools outside your garage, since it can track up to 100 feet. Esky’s cheapest $29.99 set includes one remote and six receivers. Those who want more unobtrusive receivers will be interested in Esky’s $34.99 set, which has six receivers that are just 0.2 inches thick and weigh just 9 grams (0.31 ounces) each. Collectively, the Esky Key Finder sets have generated an average rating of 4.4 stars from more than 16,800 Amazon users.

Even the most careful person will likely drop small tools or fasteners now and then. While this isn’t a problem for younger, more flexible people, others may find it difficult to keep picking things up repeatedly. Thankfully, some gadgets can help make it easier to find and pick up bits and pieces that may have been lost, like the VIBELITE telescoping magnetic pickup tool. 

Apart from its LED bulbs, it has a telescoping neck with a 2.2-pound load capacity, so you can expect to be able to pick up bolts, screws, nails, and other small loose tools with no problem. Although it can be extended up to 22 inches, it packs up to a compact 8.6 inches. Retailing for $29.99, this tool boasts an impressive 4.6-star average rating from more than 16,000 Amazon customers. It’s also an Amazon’s Choice product.

If you don’t particularly need a flashlight and just want a magnetic pickup tool that can handle heavier loads, Harbor Freight’s PITTSBURGH 15 lb. capacity telescoping magnetic pickup tool might be better suited for you. Capable of extending to over 29.5 inches, this $5 tool has garnered an average rating of 4.7 stars from more than 3,600 Harbor Freight customers. And if you’re interested, Harbor Freight offers a ton of other magnetic gadgets that you might want to consider for your garage, including power strips, LED lights, mats, and sweepers.

There’s a lot to consider when taking care of power tools, including knowing how to clean them properly and taking care of their batteries. However, one way to make sure you keep on top of both of those is by ensuring you have a proper place to store tools, like the CCCEI tool storage rack. Unlike ordinary storage methods, this particular shelf combines both utility shelves and a heavy-duty power strip into one. The shelves aren’t just for tools, either, and can hold their batteries as well.

While we don’t recommend plugging corded power tools into power strips, having a power strip is a convenient way to make sure your batteries are always good to go. On Amazon, prices for the CCCEI garage tool storage systems start at $39.99. Depending on what you need, CCCEI offers two- to four-layer racks, made up of drill holders, shelves, and organizers.

These various tool racks have collectively received a 4.7-star average rating from more than 1,200 users. Apart from 80% of users thinking it deserves a perfect rating, it’s impressive that only 1% of buyers rated it a single star. Among the most satisfied customers, they mentioned how easy it was to charge multiple batteries at once and loved how it had a place for drills on the side. Some, however, expressed concerns about the frame bending from the weight and the lack of UL certification for the power strip.

To put together this list, we first considered how people might use garages, whether for small or large-scale projects. Next, we thought about the different pain points that different activities will have, including lighting, storage, and keeping track of tools. 

Once we figured that out, we looked for gadgets available on prominent online retail platforms, such as Amazon and Harbor Freight, that could address these problems. The main criterion was that these products needed to have at least 4-star ratings from 1,000 or more users. In the same vein, we avoided products that have been listed as frequently returned or those where more than 10% of reviewers left 1-star ratings. Lastly, we made sure to include a wide range of items with price points between $4 and $50.