Digital incentives for card carrying students are everywhere. These include discounted monthly rates on Apple Music (which includes free access to Apple TV+); a monthly subscription to Spotify which costs us mortals €10.99, but for students its only €5.99; and lots more besides.

For more on student tech discounts and deals, check out the Irish portals of studentbeans.com, myunidays.com, and software4students.ie. Eligibility can differ, depending on the brand or provider, but be prepared to show your student ID or academic e-mail address as part of the verification process.

Many major brands offer discounts for Irish students, whether Apple Macs and iPads from Apple or wireless speakers from Sonos. Below is a handful of brands you can invest in while navigating thesis deadlines and staying up until 4am on the razz on a Tuesday.

Sennheiser

Wraparound headphones might look antique in an era of earbuds, but for sheer audio fidelity, a fine-fitting pair of cans can’t be beat. Sennheiser offer 15% off their products via Unidays – and their Momentum 4 Wireless headphones is a fine place to start.

The sound through the Momentum 4 is pristine and can be tailored via a built-in EQ, presets and sound modes. Noise cancellation adapts to ambient noise to keep you immersed in the music, while Transparency Mode allows you to hear the outside world without removing the headphones.

These headphones carry around 60 hours of battery life. They’re lightweight, featuring a padded headband and cushioned earpads. They halt playback when removed and resume once they’re popped back on your ears. Sennheiser has been a world-leader in audio technology for the last 75 years… for good reason.

Lenovo

Lenovo – a Chinese company since you ask – let Irish students flex with discounts on their laptops ranges: 10% off all PCs and 20% discount on monitors and accessories. The IdeaPad Flex range is ideal for students, running the gamut from basic devices for word processing, watching Netflix, and surfing online, to high-powered vehicles for programming or game development.

All Flex devices morph from regular laptop shape to tablet tent mode – and they have touchscreen abilities. Lenovo’s Yoga 2-in-1 laptops also transform from laptop to tablet and back again, like Optimus Prime. Lenovo.com has a laptop guide for students – with spec guidance around stuff like RAM and storage – letting you choose a device that suits your needs.

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex

Microsoft

Let’s not kid ourselves about the reason why big tech offers discounts for college students. Like so many other brands, their desire is to capture your loyalty for life – and where better to start than in the cradle of college? Microsoft offers students Office 365 for free, so it’s difficult to look the other way. Microsoft also discounts its MS Surface products and so, whether you’re attending NUIG or DCU, or a college in the arse-end of nowhere, you can save as much as €500 on a laptop. A top pick? Surface Laptop 5: light, sleek, and a snappy multitasker. The device comes in 13.5” and 15” sizes; both are preloaded with Windows 11, enhancing home entertainment via Surface Laptop 5’s Dolby Vision IQ and Dolby Atmos Sound.

Dell

Students can have a Dell of a time at college with up to 20% discounts on Dell devices. They offer free deliveries too, so you don’t even have to get out of bed – except when the doorbell rings. A good place to start is Dell’s XPS 13, which is light and portable without sacrificing processing power, display prowess or battery life. Audio siphoned through something this thin is always going to be tinnier than a can of Heinz, so best invest in peripheral speakers as well.

Dell also has a student discounted Alienware X15. Alienware is known for making some of the best gaming PCs in the world and the X15, although lightweight, doesn’t disappoint. Be warned, though, Alienwares don’t come cheap – even with a student discount.

Dell XPS 13

Read the full Part 2 of the Student Special in the current issue of Hot Press, out now: