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College is the time to start figuring out your future self — but it can be a huge money suck in the now. In addition to tuition, which is no joke these days, you’ll need books, tech gear, and dorm essentials to settle in and take your academic life by the reins.

All the more reason to hit up Walmart for sweet deals on everything you need to level up your college sitch. Whether you’re a first-time freshman or moving back into the dorm, you know all too well that this smart gear will help you nail it on a student budget.

A pink laptop that’s too cool for school Opens in a new window Credit: HP HP Stream 14-inch Laptop with Intel Processor $179.00 at Walmart
$229.00 Save $50.00 Get Deal

A fast laptop is a BTC essential, and this lightweight yet capable 14-inch model checks all the boxes and is a steal at this price. The powerful Intel processor and UHD graphics deliver speed whether you’re taking class notes, researching, or streaming in your (rare) downtime. With 11 hours of battery life, you can dart from your dorm to class to the library without juicing up, a nice perk.

Go ahead, take that 8 a.m. class Opens in a new window Credit: Keurig Keurig K-Express Essentials Single-Serve K-Cup Pod Coffee Maker $49.00 at Walmart
$59.00 Save $10.00 Get Deal

Caffeine is another college must, and a machine that cranks it out should be on every student’s list. This space-saver is an ace pick because it’s only 6.5 inches wide and makes a fresh-brewed cup of coffee, tea, or hot cocoa at the touch of a button. Just pop in your favorite K-Cup pod, and you're done. The 36-ounce water reservoir lets you brew back-to-back cups for those all-nighters.

A mini-fridge that packs it all in Opens in a new window Credit: Arctic King Arctic King 3.2 Cu Ft Mini-Fridge with Freezer $125.00 at Walmart
$198.00 Save $73.00 Get Deal

If energy drinks get you through the day, keep them frosty with this slick and organized mini-fridge. The stainless finish gives your dorm room an instant bump, and its demure size still offers plenty of interior space to keep all your bevs and snacks chilled. There’s even a crisper drawer and a separate freezer for ice cream and frozen pizza.

'Shroom up your dorm Opens in a new window Credit: Cresswell Lighting 8-Inch Glass Mushroom Lamp $19.98 at Walmart
$29.98 Save $10.00 Get Deal

Dorms are notorious for their unflattering lighting, but this amber-colored mushroom-shaped light will grace your space with a soft, ambient glow. Use it as a low-light desk lamp when you’re cramming while your roommate sleeps, or pair it with a WiFi plug that enables you to tell it to turn itself off when your head hits the pillow.

Feather your most stylish nest Opens in a new window Credit: Mainstays Mainstays Retro Floral 5-Piece Reversible Bed in a Bag Comforter Set $26.96 at Walmart
$29.96 Save $3.00 Get Deal

Give your room a homey touch with this super affordable bed-in-a-bag set. You get a comforter, matching sheet set, pillowcase, and sham, and you can pick from tons of patterns and colors to dial in your own dorm vibe. The brushed microfiber feels like a dream, and the machine-washable comforter is reversible, in case you spill on it. Mainstays offers multiple designs, some more gender-neutral than others, so take your pick. 

Your go-to campus kicks Opens in a new window Credit: Crocs Crocs Unisex Baya Slide Sandals $24.95 at Walmart
$34.99 Save $10.04 Get Deal

A cushy new pair of Crocs is a college must, and these sliders will get you around campus in top laid-back style. The signature nubs give your feet a mini-massage, the Croslite material feels like a marshmallow, and you can customize your pair with up to 12 Jibbitz charms in the shape of rainbows, paw prints, or strawberries. Add socks and walk on.

Apple’s Clean Up feature, currently available via the iOS 18.1 developer beta, is an Apple Intelligence tool that can remove unwanted objects from photos.

Keep in mind that the operative words here are "developer beta." Clean Up is still in its testing phase — and you really shouldn't download any iOS beta version without backing up your iPhone first. It's a rough-around-the-edges copy that gives some users early access to iOS 18 features before they officially drop later this year.

With that in mind, I wanted to test Apple's new Clean Up utility and pit it against other tools, including Google Magic Eraser and Samsung Galaxy AI. For this face-off, I'll be using the iPhone 15 Pro Max (Clean Up), Google Pixel 9 Pro XL (Magic Eraser), and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (Galaxy AI).

SEE ALSO: iOS 18.1 adds new Apple Intelligence ‘Clean Up’ tool: 3 things it can do for your photos Apple Clean Up vs. Magic Eraser vs. Galaxy AI: Test photos

I decided to choose the following three photos for the test. Each one has a specific level of difficulty: easy, medium, and hard.

Easy

This first one, shot in Grenada, features a couple walking along the beach who, sorry to them (I'm sure they're nice people), needs to get removed from the picture.

A beach in grenada Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

This should be easy for AI-powered object removal tools because there's a consistent background pattern and minimal overlap and shadows. Plus, it's got great lighting.

Medium

The red car in this photo is getting the boot.

A red car in a parking lot Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Unfortunately for our AI tools, they've got a nasty little shadow to deal with.

Hard

And finally, the owl in this photo, shot in the Vanderbilt Museum in Long Island, will be targeted for removal.

Room in the Vanderbilt Museum Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

The owl is inside the glass enclosure obstructs a significant part of the image, which means the AI will have to work hard to fill in the void.

Apple's Clean Up

Starting with the couple walking along the coast, I fired up the Clean Up tool on the iPhone 15 Pro Max in the Photos app.

To my surprise, Clean Up auto-selected the couple and highlighted them. In other words, I didn't even have to "tell" the tool which part of the image I wanted removed.

Clean Up tool with Apple Intelligence Credit: Kimberly G

I tapped on the highlighted couple — and it removed the woman. The second tap removed the man. And then, poof! They were gone.

Left: Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable Right: Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

There's not a single trace of them left behind. Well done, Apple Intelligence.

Next, let's test the car photo. Again, it pre-selected some options for removal, including the red car.

This one is a little more challenging.

Left: Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable Right: Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

If you look closely, Apple Intelligence left behind some subtle red hues on the shadow.

Finally, let's see how the iOS 18 Clean Up tool handles the owl removal.

For this one, Apple didn't pre-select anything in this photo. With my finger, I had to draw a circle around the owl. After using the Clean Up tool, here's the final image.

Left: Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable Right: Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Again, this photo is particularly challenging because the owl blocks a significant portion of the image. As you can see, this task required Apple Intelligence to fill in too many blanks, and as a result, it had difficulty conceptualizing how to replace the void.

Google's Magic Eraser

Now, it's time to see how Google handles object removal.

Let's get rid of that couple. Circling and tapping on the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL was trickier than the Clean Up tool. It often required several taps and circles to ensure that the highlighted area is what I'd like to erase. However, it did a great job at removing the lovebirds from the sandy beach.

Left: Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable Right: Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

As a bonus, Magic Eraser gives you four options to choose from, so if you don't like how the first one came out, there are three other iterations created just for you.

Next, I used Magic Eraser to remove the car.

Left: Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable Right: Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

It looks like the Google tool added a sinkhole to replace the red car. I'm not a fan of this result.

Finally, selecting the owl for removal on the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL was an absolute pain. It wouldn't register my circles around the glass-enclosed bird. And when it finally did, the highlight field oddly excluded some parts of the bird, so I needed to go back and tap that area to ensure they got removed.

Magic Eraser tool on Google Pixel 9 Pro XL phone Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

But when Magic Eraser did its thing, wow, I was incredible impressed.

Left: Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable Right: Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

There is some warping and discoloration of the obstructed area, but as you can see, Google's AI performed well in interpreting what lies behind the owl.

Samsung's Galaxy AI

Similar to Apple and Google, Samsung's Galaxy AI did a bang-on job at removing the pesky couple walking down the Grenadian beach. (Thanks to the S Pen that ships with the Galaxy S24 Ultra, selecting unwanted objects was an easy task.)

Left: Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable Right: Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Interestingly, Samsung Galaxy AI added a watermark on the bottom-left of the image, letting others know that it's an AI-generated image. (I haven't seen any prominent watermark labels in the other AI-generated images.)

For the car photo, Galaxy AI replaced the red vehicle with what appears to be some sort of crate — or a bale of hay?

Left: Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable Right: Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Maybe it's a box that contains the last semblance of Galaxy AI's logic. Who knows? I'm confused and baffled by this one.

Fortunately, Samsung did a better job at handling this difficult image of a room inside the Vanderbilt Museum.

Left: Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable Right: Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

The lighting is a bit off, the door doesn't look it'd open, and the lamp is missing a leg, but it's not a bad effort from Galaxy AI considering the complexity of the image.

Apple Clean Up vs. Magic Eraser vs. Galaxy AI: Winner

Unsurprisingly, all three AI tools handled the easy image well. Interestingly, there is a noticeable drop in quality with all the AI-generated results.

The winner of this object-removal face-off goes to Google. Although I'm not a fan of how it can't seem to smartly estimate which object you're trying to remove, it did a decent job at handling the easy and complex photos. The car photo was a fail, but Google's ability to handle the difficult image made it a winner.

Apple is in second place. It nailed the first two images, but it couldn't quite get the complex image right with the owl removal. (It's worth noting that, again, iOS 18 Clean Up is currently in beta.)

Samsung's Galaxy AI is in last place. It surfaced a bale of hay I didn't ask for. But it did OK with the beach photo and the Vanderbilt museum shot.