If you’re researching back to school tech, you’ve come to the right back. Read on for the gadgets and gear our resident tech expect, Marc Saltzman, recommends for every grade and stage.
While students may be reluctantly starting another school year, at least there’s some cool back to school tech to help with the transition.
From touchscreen laptops and handy AI tools to affordable back-up storage and voice-activated smart assistants, today’s tweens and teens have no shortage of great gear to help stay on top of homework and assignments.
Budget permitting, the following are 10 back to school tech suggestions worthy of an A+, ranging in price from $16 to $1600.
A smarter smartphone
Especially for high school and post-secondary students, the Pixel 9 smartphone (from $1,099) is powered by Google Gemini, a superintelligent AI assistant to help with virtually every subject and grade. For example, record teacher lessons or professor lectures and not only have it transcribed into text but also summarized for you. Need a hand with visuals for assignments? You can even have AI create a video for your class presentation.
Students can also try Google AI Pro at no cost for six months. It’s ideal for homework help and writing essays, and it can even transform course materials and notes into custom quizzes to help prepare for exams.
Versatile laptop
When is a laptop more than a computer? When it’s also a touchscreen tablet, of course.
Such is the case with the aptly-named HP OmniBook X Flip (from $1599, but often on sale), which can flip from laptop to tablet and back again on its 360-degree hinge. Alternatively, it could be used in “tent” mode to stream movies after class on its sharp 2.8K OLED touch display.
Students will love that it’s also an AI PC, thanks to integrated CoPilot+ and a powerful Intel Core Ultra processor. And when chatting with classmates to discuss an assignment, an AI-enhanced HP Presence camera ensures you look clear and well-lit in every call.
Bougie backpack
For students to store all their tech and other supplies (including “old school” items—pun intended—like textbooks, pens and clothing), the MATEIN Travel Laptop Backpack (from $29) is affordable and portable.
Available in one of 12 colours, this comfortable and water-resistant backpack can fit your laptop in a protective back pouch, plus it offers a pocket to place a power bank, sold separately, that you can connect to via the included USB cable to charge up your smartphone or headphones.
Additional features include a sturdy handle, adjustable straps and mesh side pockets for a water tumbler, umbrella or phone.
For bookworms
Kindle has expanded its e-reader lineup with the new Kindle Colorsoft Kids ($295), the first-ever colour Kindle for younger children. Along with a protective cover, 12 months of Amazon Kids+ (a subscription service that provides a curated selection of age-appropriate content for children aged 3-12) and a two-year guarantee, this latest Kindle empowers young readers to explore books, comics and graphic novels with easy-on-the-eyes colour and no distracting notifications, apps or messaging.
It's also great for students: Use your finger like a virtual yellow marker to highlight important passages in textbooks.
Other features include a parent dashboard and tools to help readers understand difficult words by displaying simple definitions.
Parent-approved fun
For listening to music or podcasts to and from school, JBL Junior 320 Wireless On-Ear Kids Headphones ($69) are a Bluetooth pair that sound great and have up to 50 hours of battery life. On sale at Staples and available in multiple colours, there’re also parental controls with customizable volume and playtime settings. A wired version is only $29.
For younger students who want to flex their photography skills in school hallways or while hanging with friends, the INSTAX MINI Link 3 ($129) is Fujifilm’s handheld smartphone printer that instantly produces high-quality, water-resistant photos on real film (sold separately, for $13.99 for a 10-pack). Once kids create tangible memories, they can be placed along the edges of a bedroom mirror, in a school locker, slipped into a binder or tucked in the back of a transparent smartphone case.
You can also add filters, frames, emojis and text, or select from fun film options like one that looks like candied sprinkles around the edges of your photos.
Money-saving printer
Speaking of printers, Epson has launched a new family of wireless EcoTank printers (from $299) that include enough ink out of the box to last up to 3 years. (Yes, you read that correctly.)
Also a scanner and copier, the new EcoTank all-in-one printers have a larger input tray than its predecessors (starting at 100 sheets on the least expensive ET-2980 model), along with auto duplex printing, a colour touch display and support for smart speakers so you can use your voice to print lined paper, graph paper or colouring sheets for the little ones.
Super smart assistant
Enhanced with more conversational AI, Amazon Echo Spot ($99) is an Alexa-powered smart speaker that’s small in size but big on sound.
Summon your knowledgeable personal assistant to answer homework questions, whether it’s related to math, science, English, history, geography or other subjects. Set alarms and reminders, create shopping lists or use your voice to control your smart home gadgets, such as adjusting a compatible thermostat or lights.
Ideal as a bedside companion, a small screen displays the time, weather, song titles, and more.
Affordable back-up
What’s smaller than your pinky but can store hundreds of thousands of files?
From $16 (for 32 gigabytes), the SanDisk Ultra Dual Drive Go USB Type-C is a fast and reliable two-in-one storage solution with a USB-C connector on one side (for modern laptops, tablets and smartphones) and a “legacy” USB-A connector on the other side.
This makes it super simple to transfer files between devices, whether it’s school docs, ebooks, photos, videos and music.
A swivel design lets you rotate the body of the drive to protect the connectors when not in use.
And something for parents, too
While a little too premium for a dorm room, perhaps, the Hisense U88QG AI TV is on sale for back-to-school season (from $1099), making it a smart buy for Canadian families itching to upgrade their TV in time for the start of the NHL or the final season of Stranger Things. It’s also a Smart TV to stream all your favourite free and paid services.
Available in sizes from 55 inches all the way up to 100 inches, these televisions feature Mini-LED PRO and Quantum Dot technology, for high brightness and vibrant colours, respectively.
Gamers–be they kids or kids at heart—will love the 165Hz refresh rate and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, to keep up with fast-paced action games.
