Back to school 2022: 15 best laptops for students in Canada, starting at $169

Kayla Kuefler
·Shopping & Lifestyle Editor
·5 min read
teenager boy wearing lavender shirt sitting with pencil in front of laptop computer, laptops for school
15 best laptops for students in 2022, according to ratings and reviewers (Photo via Getty)

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From high school students to university-goers, students across Canada are gearing up to head back to school in just a few weeks.

Whether you're planning on in-person classes or continuing with online learning, searching for a Mac or PC, or looking for a laptop that can double as a tablet, for many shoppers, finding the right computer comes down to one thing: the price.

Between student debt, inflation, and the general cost of living, nobody wants to pay more than they have to for a laptop. With this in mind, we searched the internet to find the 15 best laptop deals for back-to-school season 2022, starting at less than $200.

From Amazon Canada to Best Buy Canada, Chromebooks to Macbooks, PCs and everything in between, these are the 15 best affordable laptop in 2022, according to ratings and reviewers.

Best laptops to buy for back to school 2022

Best laptops under $500

Acer Chromebook Spin 311

Acer Chromebook Spin 311 laptop with graphic on screen (Photo via Amazon)
Acer Chromebook Spin 311 (Photo via Amazon)

This "Amazon's Choice" touchscreen Chromebook features an 11.6-inch screen that can swivel to be used both in tablet and laptop form. According to one five-star reviewer, it's an "excellent little laptop for the value."

$250 $450 at Amazon

HP Stream Laptop

light pink HP Stream Laptop with blue graphic on screen
HP Stream Laptop (Photo via Walmart)

With a compelling average rating of 4.3 stars, Walmart Canada shoppers rave that this 14-inch HP laptop is "one of the greatest laptops" they have ever used and say it's a "good quality" budget pick.

$375 $499 at Walmart Canada

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 10.1" Touchscreen 2-in-1 Chromebook

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 10.1
Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 10.1" Touchscreen 2-in-1 Chromebook (Photo via Best Buy Canada)

This dual-purpose 2-in-1 Chromebook features the convenience of a tablet with the functionality of a laptop. With over 2,200 reviews and an average rating of 4.5 stars, Best Buy Canada shoppers say it's the "best bang for your buck!" According to one reviewer, the "quality is so good," and it's "super light when you want to use it as a tablet and does so comfortably."

$300 $400 at Best Buy Canada

HP 14" Laptop

HP 14
HP 14" Laptop (Photo via Best Buy Canada)

With an average rating of 4.4 stars, Best Buy Canada shoppers describe this 14-inch HP laptop as having the "best value" for its low price. "It's probably one of the best for its value [compared to] other Windows laptops."

$470 $580 at Best Buy Canada

ASUS Chromebook CX1400

ASUS Chromebook CX1400 with green graphic on screen
ASUS Chromebook CX1400 (Photo via Walmart)

With an average rating of 3.9 stars, Walmart shoppers describe this 14-inch ASUS Chromebook as "awesome" and say it "works great," especially considering its low price.

$200 $350 at Walmart Canada

Lenovo Chromebook 3 11.6"

Lenovo Chromebook 3 11.6
Lenovo Chromebook 3 11.6" (Photo via Best Buy Canada)

This budget-friendly Lenovo Chromebook 3 boasts up to ten hours of battery life, 4GB of memory, an HD Webcam, WiFi 5, and Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity. "I can't believe how fast this is," raves one Best Buy Canada reviewer. "I love how I can do so much more on this than ever before, in half the time."

$169 $399 at Best Buy Canada

Best laptops under $750

Lenovo IdeaPad 1 Laptop

Lenovo IdeaPad 1 Laptop in dark blue with apps on screen (Photo via Best Buy Canada)
Lenovo IdeaPad 1 Laptop (Photo via Best Buy Canada)

A crowd-favourite among Best Buy Canada shoppers, this 14-inch Lenovo IdeaPad 1 Laptop has earned a more-than-impressive average rating of 4.8 stars based on more than 1,800 reviews. The unit features Dolby Audio enhanced speakers and includes a 12-month Microsoft Office 365 Personal subscription with 1 TB Cloud Storage.

$700 at Best Buy Canada

HP 15.6" FHD Laptop

HP 15.6
HP 15.6" FHD Laptop (Photo via Best Buy Canada)

With an average rating of 4.4 out of five stars, Best Buy Canada shoppers call this 15.6-inch computer the "best and fastest laptop [they've] ever owned." According to one user, the "battery life is amazing the processor is fast and it has lots of storage space."

$650 at Best Buy Canada

Lenovo IdeaPad 3 Laptop

Lenovo IdeaPad 3 Laptop (Photo via Amazon)
Lenovo IdeaPad 3 Laptop (Photo via Amazon)

Work from anywhere with ease with this "Amazon's Choice" Lenovo laptop. The device boasts an 11th Generation Intel Core i5 processor and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity. It's an "excellent laptop," according to one reviewer. "Very light and powerful."

$750 at Amazon

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go with blue graphic on screen (Photo via Amazon)
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go (Photo via Amazon)

This 12.4-inch touchscreen Microsoft laptop has earned rave reviews from Amazon shoppers and top marks for value, portability, and its touchscreen function. It's a "great little laptop for the price," according to one user.

$690 at Amazon

Best laptops under $1,500

Apple MacBook Air Laptop (2020)

Apple MacBook Air Laptop with colourful rainbow blue, pink, orange background (Photo via Amazon)
Apple MacBook Air Laptop (Photo via Amazon)

This 2020 Apple MacBook Air has racked up more than 15,000 reviews from Amazon Canada shoppers. The device, which offers up to 18 hours of battery life and 8GB of unified memory, has been called "really fast and reliable" by reviewers.

$1,200 at Amazon

Acer Spin 13 13.5" Touchscreen 2-in-1 Chromebook

Acer Spin 13 13.5
Acer Spin 13 13.5" Touchscreen 2-in-1 Chromebook (Photo via Best Buy Canada)

This Acer laptop has earned an impressive average rating of 4.6 stars from more than 650 reviews. The touchscreen 2-in-1 Chromebook features an Intel i3 processor and 4GB of RAM. Shoppers call it an "amazing product" and even "better for the price."

$800 at Best Buy Canada

Lenovo Legion 5 Gaming 17.3" Laptop

Lenovo Legion 5 Gaming 17.3
Lenovo Legion 5 Gaming 17.3" Laptop (Photo via Best Buy Canada)

The 17.3-inch Lenovo laptop has earned near-perfect reviews from Best Buy Canada shoppers, with an average rating of 4.7 stars out of more than 130 reviews. Reviewers say the versatile computer "does everything you want."

$1,300 at Best Buy Canada

Dell XPS 13.4" Laptop

Dell XPS 13.4
Dell XPS 13.4" Laptop (Photo via Best Buy Canada)

This best-selling 13.4-inch laptop is engineered with a 2.4GHZ Intel Core processor and 8GB of RAM. Beloved by Best Buy shoppers, users say the Dell laptop is "extremely fast" and "much better than expected."

$1,500 at Best Buy Canada

Acer Nitro 5 15.6" Gaming Laptop

Acer Nitro 5 15.6
Acer Nitro 5 15.6" Gaming Laptop (Photo via Amazon)

Stay on-the-ball and entertained from anywhere with this Acer Nitro 15.6-inch gaming laptop. Featuring an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card and 8GB of RAM, the "Amazon's Choice" computer has earned more than 1,800 five-star reviews from shoppers.

$950 $1,150 at Amazon

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