If there is one thing in the world that is a certain as the sky is blue and grass is green… Is that engineers use a calculator every day. Well, maybe not, but they still need to have a good reliable calculator at hand when they need it! Your choice of calculator should depend on what makes your job easier, your workflow faster, and not if it makes your desk prettier or not! This is why we have put together our list of the best calculators for engineers that you can buy right now.
This list will include calculators that you can use everyday, and will also be suitable for use during your FE (Fundamentals of Engineering) and PE (Principles and Practise of Engineering) exams. That means that you will not be barred from the NCEES (National Council of Examiners for Engineers and Surveying) for the calculator that you use, that’s always a positive!
Below we will go through the best calculators for engineers for every stage of engineering. These options will mainly consist of hand-held electronic calculators that can also be used to solve more complicated math and science problems. Let get get started!
1. Casio FX-991EX Engineering/Scientific Calculator
Get ready to see a lot of Casio on this list of the best calculators for engineers. Casio is without doubt one of (if not the) biggest calculator manufacturers in the world. This model from Casio has great reviews and is rated extremely high on Amazon, and these rating are justified.
It is priced in the expected $20 range and carries a lot of the same features as all of the other Casio calculators in the same market. The thin and sleek design of the calculator makes it very portable and easy to carry in a backpack or work bag. It features a high resolution display that displays mire numbers than the average calculator and means it can display more information at a high level of accuracy.
It is known to be a very fast calculator that delivers solutions to even complex problems in lightning speed. The combination of both the screen and processing power makes dealing with problems that even contain integration, calculus, inequality calculations and vectors a breeze.
If this was not impressive enough, the LCD screen supports information like matrices, spreadsheets, statistics and ratios among lots of other simple to complex functions. Another great feature is its ability to scan a QR code and display the data it represents. This can give the user a graphical representation of certain information.
It has a very long battery due to the solar panels at the top, it is very lightweight and also tough so that it can handle whatever it is subjected to in the bag of a college student!
2. Casio FX-300MS Scientific Calculator
This is one of them situations where you call out at the bar, I’ll have your finest (cheapest) whiskey please! This affordable option from Casio has been around since what seems like the stone age, but is still so widely used we had to include it in our list! It is definitely lacking in some of the more modern function that others on this list possess, but it is still one of the best options out there for professionals and students alike when it comes to buying something that you know won’t let you down.
It has a 2-line screen and can process about 240 different functions. It comes with nine variable memories and like so many other calculators out there, comes with that classic slide-on case. (Where you keep you cheat-sheets 😉 ) It is a compact and lightweight option for those who are worried about size.
The simple display can display algebra, complex calculations, calculus along with 18 other parentheses. The simplicity of this option means that it can be used in any setting, by anyone. Professionals, students, moms at home, pretty much everyone will be able to use this calculator. This is one-size-fits-all calculator. All at the bargain price of under $10! A list of the best calculators for engineers would not be complete without the budget option.
3. Casio FX-115ES PLUS Engineering/Scientific Calculator
Again in the generic “Around $20” price tag, this iteration from Casio comes in at $15-16. It features over 280 functions ranging from the vary basic to quite complex. The display is known as a “Natural Textbook” display which just means that it is easier to read the some other calculators. It can process 40 different metric conversions, vector and matrix calculations, and has step-by-step back tracking.
Many more functions like calculus, algebra. trigonometry, fractions, polar-rectangular conversion, linear regression etc. are possible here. This means it can be used for many subjects are in many different fields like Physics, Math or Chemistry. This calculator is perfect for students as it is approved for all college and high-school exams, so no issues there!
It has one changeable Lithium-ion battery and it lightweight and affordable, another great option from Casio!
4. Texas Instruments TI-36X Pro Engineering/Scientific Calculator
Coming in from Texas Instruments, the first non-Casio entry in our list is this college/exam friendly option. It is widely known that a lot of educational institutes do not allow graphing or some scientific calculators in their exams, but this is not an issue with the TI-36X Pro.
Coming in just over the $20 mark, it is still an affordable option that has some really great features. The display is Multi-view and can show numerous calculations at once! Again, it comes with the “textbook” view, like most other scientific calculators. The screen really makes it ideal for school and/or FE/PE exams.
Like most of the options above, it can handle decimals, fractions and convert them into other formats while also be used to select degrees/radians and other number conversions. It solves equations with 2 or 3 variables without matrices and can also handle quadratic equations.
It is compact, lightweight and runs on batteries. For ones looking for a new calculator as exam time is coming up, this may be the one for you!
5. Texas Instruments Nspire CX CAS Graphing Calculator
Do you have socks on? Well get ready to have them blown off as this next calculator costs upwards of $125 and sometimes $150!! With that being said, this really is a great calculator and for some it may be worth the premium asking price. (For me it would have to include some sort of Siri/Alexa based assistant that would calculate as I called equations out to be worth that price… But that’s just me!)
It really is a great looking calculator with a large, backlit, color display coming in at 320×420 pixels and it is actually quite light. The battery is rechargeable and will list up to 2 weeks straight with normal usage. (I know this is short but bear in mind this is a fully color screen)
It is a graphing calculator, so it can color code equations, objects, points, and overlay on the screen. Not only can it solve all of the basic to complex scientific and mathematical problems that the above models can, it can also find exact solutions in irrational forms and anti-derivatives. This is what makes it so unique, you can create animations, graphs, and animating points among many other things of course.
You can save notes while solving problems on the screen and other graphical methods like histograms and plots are also displayed at ease on the screen. It may have a bit of a learning curve due to the number of functions available, but once you get used to it you will never want to go back to a normal calculator. This option is so unique we had to include it in our list of the best calculators for engineers!
So that’s it! The above are (in our humble opinion) the 5 best calculators for engineers out there! we hope that you have learned a bit more about the available options when purchasing a new calculator and what price range to expect. Maybe you have seen one that you will be getting your hands on soon!
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