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It connects to most smartphones and other mobile devices as well as to PCs via Wi-Fi or USB, and its output, while slow, is worth waiting for. Notably, all of the monochrome models we looked at were laser printers, designed for rapid output of large amounts of text and/or black and white images. Even the very best inkjets struggle to produce text that's as sharp , and when they do, they run much slower because they're on a “high resolution” setting.
Having good scanning features is important to ensure you can digitize your work quickly and efficiently, while a low cost-per-print is a must to help keep you within your budget. Having a variety of connectivity options is ideal if you want to print with ease from any device. The quick answer is that a laser printer uses a laser and toner to render text and graphics, while an inkjet printer relies on using liquid inks precisely sprayed onto paper in tiny droplets. A typical standalone scanner may offer higher resolution scanning capabilities and better color accuracy. This can be useful for scanning color documents with lots of graphics or photographs, for example. Plenty of all-in-one printers include good quality scanners with a scanning resolution rivalling what a standalone scanner would offer.
Best Mono Laser (Print-Only)
Anytime you purchase new ink, leave it within its original packaging until you’re ready to use it. Refillable ink tanks instead of cartridges allow this all-in-1 printer to reduce costs and waste over time. We measure each top home printer to see how fast it is when printing single- and double-sided pages as well as how long it takes to print in black and white vs. color. If you print only a few pages a day, you don't have to worry about how much a printer is designed to print, as defined by its recommended monthly duty cycle.
Since 2004, I have worked on PCMag’s hardware team, covering at various times printers, scanners, projectors, storage, and monitors. I currently focus my testing efforts on 3D printers, pro and productivity displays, and drives and SSDs of all sorts. Specializing in 4-by-6-inch shipping labels , the Rollo Wireless Printer X1040 can print from both PCs and mobile devices—and its Rollo Ship Manager offers tasty discounts on shipping, too. Epson's SureColor P900 produces exquisite photos and artwork on cut sheets and paper rolls up to 17 inches wide, making it an excellent choice for professional photographers and graphic artists. Make the world your office with the HP OfficeJet 200 mobile printer. This nifty machine can deliver high-quality documents on the road so you never run into a printing emergency again.
Best Budget Printer
The latest printers now use easy-to-refill ink or toner tanks and require no individual cartridges. The 4.3-inch, full-color LCD touchscreen display on the front makes it easy to operate the printer. This wireless model also has such useful features as double-sided printing and it can print on up to 13 x 19 paper—larger than the typical printer. The ET-8550 has a 100-sheet plain paper tray, a 20 sheet 5 x 7-inch photo paper tray and a 50-sheet rear paper tray. It has both wireless and wired connectivity and works with various wireless printing protocols, including Apple AirPrint and Mopria. This model scans and copies up to legal size documents, but it lacks an automatic document feeder.
Works like a charm, and save me much $ for the pages I print a year. Will I have the same problem with the HP and toner, having to replace it after 10 pages if I do not use it every day but once a month.
Fast Monochrome Printing For Home Offices
The best budget printer we've tested is the Brother MFC-J1205W, an all-in-one color inkjet printer designed for general home use. Although there are cheaper options, we chose this model because lower-end models tend to have a low page yield, which means you'll spend more in the long run just to replace the ink cartridges. This printer, on the other hand, yields around 1100 black and 750 color prints, keeping your maintenance costs low over time.
It uses dye-sublimation technology so prints look great, dry quickly and won’t fade or smudge for up to 100 years. The unit weighs 1.9 pounds so you can easily move it around, and it produces up to 54 prints per battery charge. This upgraded model even lets you to choose your print finish—glossy, semi-gloss, or satin. An important distinguishing characteristic of an AIO is whether its flatbed scanner comes with an automatic document feeder for handling multipage documents without user intervention. When copying or scanning a stack of pages, the simplest and cheapest AIOs oblige you to place each page on the scanning glass or platen one at a time.
Printing up to 8.5 x 11-inch photos or two-sided documents is also possible, but this slows down print speed. Epson supports wireless printing via several protocols, including Apple’s AirPrint and Mopria. In the mid-price range, this Epson printer will meet most expectations and needs for a home office. Generally, business models use laser or similar technology and are geared toward text, or text and graphics, while home printers are generally inkjets and favor photos and graphics. Within each printer category, quality for each kind of output varies widely.
Epson's LabelWorks LW-PX900 is a serious piece of equipment ($299 alone, or $379 for Epson's deluxe kit with rechargeable battery and hard-shell carrying case). It prints on 150 different kinds of tape cartridges, from standard polyester strips to specialty tapes in widths from 4mm to 36mm (0.16 inch to 1.42 inches). It only works with Windows, not macOS (there aren't many Macs on factory floors), and its 2.8-pound weight is unwieldy for thumb typing, but it'll get the job done. Small offices and workgroups will benefit from the AIO features the most, but don't discount this model for a heavy-printing home. You won't use it for photo or image printing, but for raw document input and output, it's a super deal.
Most are more expensive than the standard inkjet machine, but thousands of prints per ink bottle and low operating costs make them worth considering. Epson was the first major printer manufacturer to offer an ink tank printer option with the Epson EcoTank series but other major manufacturers quickly followed suit. The Brother Inkvestment line, Canon MegaTank line and HP SmartTank line are all popular ink tank printer series that have been introduced in recent years. Laser printers have long been a popular option for busy offices and are capable of handling large print volumes and text-based documents.
To keep the printer functional, you’ll need to keep it stocked with ink or toner, as well as paper. If it’s a laser printer, a separate drum unit will also need replacing periodically. Forbes/Jason R. RichIf you use an inkjet printer only occasionally, preserve your ink cartridges longer by removing them from the printer and storing them upright within a sealed plastic bag.
Looking for the best deals currently available on home printers? We’ve been scouring all of the biggest retailers to help you save money. Don’t wait, however, as many of these deals are only offered for a limited time. We've tested over 120 printers, and below are our recommendations for the best value printers you can buy. You can also check out our recommendations for thebest printers with cheap ink, thebest wireless printers, and thebest home printers. Typically, the cheaper the printer, the fewer the functions and features—the less the machine does—and thus the lesser need for a large, option-rich control panel.
An original TN-730 toner cartridge from Staples prints 1,200 pages and sells for $41.99. The high yield option prints 3,000 pages and sells for $74.99. Laser printers are fitted with toner cartridges filled with powder that won’t dry up even if you don’t use a printer regularly. However, they still can stop functioning properly if you don’t keep them dry.
These days, printers come in all different price ranges, but it can still be a little challenging to find the best printer when you're on a budget. However, you don't need to break the bank to find good-performing printers at a reasonable price. Also, our picks aren't always the absolute cheapest options, as those tend to have extremely low page yield, meaning you'll likely end up paying more over time for replacement ink. Most of today's lower-end machines come with Wi-Fi and USB connectivity. Ethernet, if you can find it, is the fastest and most secure option; Wi-Fi, which is more or less today's standard, is highly convenient and plenty fast enough for most uses. Most modern printers also provide free downloadable apps for iOS and Android phones.
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