Essential Calculator Tools You Didn’t Know You Needed

The TI-84 Plus CE is the calculator most students reach for first. It’s approved for the SAT, PSAT, ACT, and AP exams, the color screen makes graphs easy to read, and since it’s the model most classrooms use, your teacher can always help you with it. It’s thin, holds a charge for weeks, and handles algebra through calculus and statistics.

Check Price on Amazon →

What’s good:

• Approved on the SAT, PSAT, ACT, and AP exams
• Clear color screen
• The model most classes already use
• Rechargeable battery
• Endless apps and tutorials

Worth knowing:

• One of the pricier picks

The fx-991CW is Casio’s current flagship scientific calculator, with a crisp high-resolution display, a cleaner menu system, and more than 500 functions covering calculus, matrices, vectors, and statistics. It’s a lot of capability for a low price, which makes it a favorite for science and engineering students. Allowed on the SAT, ACT, and AP exams.

Check Price on Amazon →

What’s good:

• Approved on the SAT, ACT, and AP exams
• 540+ functions
• Sharp high-resolution screen
• Excellent value
• Solar and battery power

Worth knowing:

• No graphing
• New menu layout takes a moment to learn

The HP Prime is the power user’s pick. It has a full-color touchscreen you can pinch and swipe, a built-in computer algebra system, and serious programming tools, yet it’s slim and fast. Note the CAS means it isn’t allowed on the ACT, but it’s approved for the SAT, PSAT, and many AP and IB exams. If you love tinkering, it’s a joy to use.

Check Price on Amazon →

What’s good:

• Color multi-touch screen
• Built-in CAS for symbolic math
• Strong programming (PPL and Python)
• Approved on SAT, PSAT, AP, and IB
• Rechargeable, very slim

Worth knowing:

• CAS means no ACT
• Different workflow if you grew up on TI

The BA II Plus is the standard financial calculator for business school and the CFA exam. It handles time value of money, cash flow analysis, NPV and IRR, amortization, and statistics, and it stores your worksheet values so you don’t retype them. If you’re in finance, accounting, or economics, this is the one professors expect you to have.

Check Price on Amazon →

What’s good:

• The finance and CFA standard
• Time value of money, NPV, IRR built in
• Worksheet modes for bonds and amortization
• Simple, durable
• Affordable

Worth knowing:

• Not for graphing or general math
• Plain one-line display

The TI-30XS MultiView is the scientific calculator a huge number of classrooms standardize on. The four-line display shows fractions and exponents like your textbook, it runs on solar and battery, and it costs only a few dollars. It’s allowed on the SAT and ACT and it’s tough to wear out.

Check Price on Amazon →

What’s good:

• Approved on the SAT and ACT
• Costs only a few dollars
• Four-line textbook display
• Solar and battery power
• Light and durable

Worth knowing:

• No graphing
• Not enough alone for higher math