Gizmodo Back to School Guide 2024

Like clockwork, back-to-school season has rolled around again, which means you (or someone in your life) might be shopping for the best gadgets to take to the classroom, lecture hall, or library. There are so many to choose from, and choosing the right gear isn’t always easy.

That’s where this list comes in: These are our top tech recommendations you can count on to help you through grade school, high school, college, or wherever your learning takes place. Once you have everything you need, you can focus your full attention on the business of getting an education.

The best laptop you can last for years
Apple MacBook Air

The latest 2024 MacBook Air will cost you—starting at $1,099—but it’s undoubtedly money well spent and will last for years. It’s the best laptop, combining the performance of the excellent Apple M3 chip with a lightweight, sleek design, so you won’t have any problems carrying it around.

Battery life is also top notch (helpful if you’ve been out all day without access to a power socket). You can choose between 13-inch and 15-inch screen sizes, and it’s hard to beat macOS for polish and quietness (it keeps getting better, again). If you want to save some money, then the older version of the M2 laptop is also amazing.

Maybe you don’t want to spend as much money as the MacBook Air costs, or you just don’t like Apple devices. If sothen the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus can be had for under $500. It offers some solid information for your money—all neatly packaged and covered in high quality. 14-inch touchscreen display.

The screen folds, too, so you can support it for movie watching and video calls or use it as a tablet. You need to make sure you can do all your computing within the Chrome browser—which is often the case for most of us these days—but if you can, you’ll find Google ChromeOS stays clutter-free and out of your way.

Best value for money smartphone
Google Pixel 8a

If you don’t have a lot of money to spend on a smartphone, there are cases to be made for the iPhone SE and Samsung’s mid-range handsets, but it’s hard to beat the Google Pixel 8a when it comes to your band. That it’s very similar to the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro while costing less tells you everything you need to know about this handset.

You get the latest Gemini AI tricks and are first in line whenever new Android updates come out. Plus, you get useful Pixel specials, like the Pixel Recorder app, which automatically transcribes spoken text (useful for lessons). As you’d expect from a Pixel phone, the photo and video capabilities are pretty impressive.

The Apple iPad remains the go-to device for anyone who needs a tablet, and our only reservation about recommending the entry-level model is that it may change soon. With a starting price of $349, it’s more affordable than other iPads, and supports accessories like the Apple Pencil and keyboard covers.

The iPad has many great apps—including apps that cover email, entertainment, and education—and is now better than ever at multitasking. Plus, it looks the part, comes in a variety of fun colors, and is built to last (though you should still buy a carry case just to be on the safe side).

There are benefits to buying a separate webcam, even if it’s one built into the lid of your laptop—especially if you do a lot of video calling with your studies or keeping in touch with friends and family. A separate webcam gives you more flexibility in placement and angles and will often offer better quality and more features.

At $69.99, the Logitech C920s Pro HD is reasonably priced and offers a lot. It offers fast 1080p video at 30 frames per second, a wide field of view, and even automatic brightness adjustment (so you don’t look washed out or in silhouette). The webcam also has two built-in microphones, so you’ll always be heard—unless you’re silent.

Some great headphones are a must-have for back-to-school (or college): You need them for internet surfing, video calls, blasting your favorite playlists, and more. You have a lot of options in this category, so you should be able to find headphones that fit your style and budget.

If you want to take our recommendation, Anker’s Soundcore Space Q45 headphones can be yours for less than $150 (they’re pretty solid in the midrange) but still offer effective noise cancellation, a real kick in the sound output, and battery life that beats the average—proving that you don’t need to pay top dollar if you want to get great sound.

If your study means you can’t go completely paperless, then the $120 Brother HL-L2405W is worth a look. It’s a monochrome laser printer, so it’s fast, reliable, and can’t print in color—which, if you stop to think about it, isn’t a problem 99 percent of the time (if you need photo prints, you can always order them online).

You’ll find the printer ticks all the boxes you need to output your essays, notes, and anything else you need hard copies of. You can even send texts to it from a mobile phone, which can be useful. You’ll get better quality and more features from more expensive models, but this one fits the bill if you’re looking for a learning workhorse.