Best 18-inch Digital Note-Takers Laptops Under C$2,500 in Canada

What a Digital Note Taker laptop means: a laptop or 2-in-1 built around handwritten notes,touch screen, stylus support, OneNote / Notability / GoodNotes friendly, lay-flat or tablet mode. Typical use: handwritten lecture notes, marking up PDFs, sketching diagrams in seminars, reading textbooks like real paper, occasional drawing. Fits medical and law students, students in math-heavy majors where formulas don't type cleanly, illustrated-notes enthusiasts, and professors who annotate slides live.

Also relevant for: note-taking laptops · OneNote machines · stylus laptops · 2-in-1s

Updated: July 2026
Products evaluated: 2281
How we work: Editorial principles →

Showing: 18-inch · Under C$2,500

Showing 1–4 of 4 Digital Note-Takers laptops
  1. #1
    Champion
    Objective profile
    ASUS ROG Strix G18
    (Ryzen 9 8940HX, 16GB, 1TB)
    ASUS · 18" · 2024
    C$2,210 – C$2,702
    Digital Note Taker SelvaScore
    36 / 100
    Weight3.00 kg
    Battery7.0 hr
    Display18.0" 1920x1200
    RAM16 GB
    Storage1 TB
    SelvaScore breakdown
    • 81
      Pen & Touch Input Tactile Actuation
    • 49
      Battery Life Autonomous Runtime
    • 28
      Weight Gravitational Load
    • 60
      Display Brightness Photometric Luminance
    • 59
      Anti-Glare Glare Attenuation
    • 32
      Display Sharpness Pixel Density
    • 61
      Trackpad Quality Pointing Device Fidelity
    • 50
      Wi-Fi Quality Wireless Spectral Efficiency
    Canadian retailer links coming soon, check back shortly.
    View full review →
  2. #2
    Runner-Up
    Objective profile
    ASUS Vivobook 18
    (Ryzen 7 260, 32GB, 1TB)
    ASUS · 18" · 2024
    C$1,182 – C$1,445
    Digital Note Taker SelvaScore
    34 / 100
    Weight2.60 kg
    Battery6.0 hr
    Display18.0" 1920x1200
    RAM32 GB
    Storage1 TB
    SelvaScore breakdown
    • 57
      Pen & Touch Input Tactile Actuation
    • 42
      Battery Life Autonomous Runtime
    • 35
      Weight Gravitational Load
    • 41
      Display Brightness Photometric Luminance
    • 44
      Anti-Glare Glare Attenuation
    • 32
      Display Sharpness Pixel Density
    • 75
      Trackpad Quality Pointing Device Fidelity
    • 50
      Wi-Fi Quality Wireless Spectral Efficiency
    Canadian retailer links coming soon, check back shortly.
    View full review →
  3. #3
    Top Pick
    Objective profile
    Gigabyte Gaming A18
    (Ryzen 7 260, 32GB, 1TB)
    Gigabyte · 18" · 2026
    C$2,131 – C$2,605
    Digital Note Taker SelvaScore
    27 / 100
    Weight2.80 kg
    Battery5.0 hr
    Display18.0" 2560x1600
    RAM32 GB
    Storage1 TB
    SelvaScore breakdown
    • 72
      Pen & Touch Input Tactile Actuation
    • 31
      Battery Life Autonomous Runtime
    • 31
      Weight Gravitational Load
    • 54
      Display Brightness Photometric Luminance
    • 69
      Anti-Glare Glare Attenuation
    • 63
      Display Sharpness Pixel Density
    • 52
      Trackpad Quality Pointing Device Fidelity
    • 50
      Wi-Fi Quality Wireless Spectral Efficiency
    Canadian retailer links coming soon, check back shortly.
    View full review →
  4. #4
    Objective profile
    XNQ Gmibook
    (i5-1038NG7, 16GB, 512GB)
    XNQ · 18.5" · 2020
    C$749 – C$915
    Digital Note Taker SelvaScore
    13 / 100
    Weight3.63 kg
    Battery9.0 hr
    Display18.5" 1920x1080
    RAM16 GB
    Storage512 GB
    SelvaScore breakdown
    • 44
      Pen & Touch Input Tactile Actuation
    • 61
      Battery Life Autonomous Runtime
    • 20
      Weight Gravitational Load
    • 41
      Display Brightness Photometric Luminance
    • 48
      Anti-Glare Glare Attenuation
    • 31
      Display Sharpness Pixel Density
    • 61
      Trackpad Quality Pointing Device Fidelity
    • 50
      Wi-Fi Quality Wireless Spectral Efficiency
    Canadian retailer links coming soon, check back shortly.
    View full review →

Quick Comparison

#LaptopScorePrice WeightBatteryDisplayRAMStorage
1 ASUS ROG Strix G18 (Ryzen 9 8940HX, 16GB, 1TB) 36 C$2,210 – C$2,702 3.00 kg 7.0 hr 18.0" 1920x1200 16 GB 1 TB
2 ASUS Vivobook 18 (Ryzen 7 260, 32GB, 1TB) 34 C$1,182 – C$1,445 2.60 kg 6.0 hr 18.0" 1920x1200 32 GB 1 TB
3 Gigabyte Gaming A18 (Ryzen 7 260, 32GB, 1TB) 27 C$2,131 – C$2,605 2.80 kg 5.0 hr 18.0" 2560x1600 32 GB 1 TB
4 XNQ Gmibook (i5-1038NG7, 16GB, 512GB) 13 C$749 – C$915 3.63 kg 9.0 hr 18.5" 1920x1080 16 GB 512 GB

How we ranked these

SelvaScore is independent. Rankings reflect our editorial judgment, not vendor relationships. No laptop manufacturer pays for placement, and affiliate revenue from retailers does not affect which laptop wins this list.

Every laptop here has been evaluated through the same lens for this use case. The same machines are evaluated differently for other use cases. What works for one use case doesn't always work for another.

Read about how we work →

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