Printers come in a lot of varieties, from small label makers and mini photo printers to high-yield office printers or gallery-quality photo printers. The best printer for you will depend on the type of printer you want, how much you're willing to spend on ongoing print costs when you need to replace the toner, and your budget.
We evaluated dozens of printers, considering print quality, cost of printing, costumer reviews, usage, longevity, and company reliability to find the best printers available for different users to help it easier to narrow down your options.
This Brother compact printer is ideal for small offices, weighing a little over 22 pounds and is a little over 16" wide. This printer lets users print, copy, scan, and fax in black and white. The auto document feeder works with up to fifty pages for quick scanning and copying.
The Brother app, available on Apple and Android devices, lets you print from almost anywhere, scan documents to your phone, monitor the toner, and order a new toner. The printer also works with Alexa.
Keep in mind: You'll have to find another option if you ever want to print in color.
While expensive at the outset, this printer can handle a lot of printing for low toner costs, even if printing a lot. The paper tray fits 520 sheets, and the multi-purpose tray fits 100 sheets but is expandable up to 1,660 sheets. The toner cartridge can handle up to 6,000 pages.
This printer is ideal for offices with an integrated NFC card reader to put in badge authentication options. Even with the impressive capacity, it's still only 15.6" deep, 15.8" wide, and 12.6" high.
Keep in mind: This printer is expensive to buy. If you don't expect to print high amounts, there are much cheaper options of similar quality that don't emphasis mass printing.
This printer is compact and ideal for offices. It can connect through ethernet, dual band wireless, Wi-Fi, AirPrint, Mopria, the Brother Mobile Connect Act, and USB 2.0. The app lets you print and monitor toner levels from wherever you are.
The printer features auto duplex printing, which makes printing double sided easy to save on paper. The paper tray holds up to 250 pages.
Keep in mind: The printer automatically prints double sided, so you'll have to change the settings if you don't want that. You also can't print in color.
While it doesn't have as good photo and scan quality as more expensive machines, this printer does well for the price. The Brother Work Smart printer has a 20-page document feeder and a 150-page paper tray. Users can scan documents directly to Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, and OneDrive.
The printer is compact, so it doesn't take up too much space, and it has auto-duplexing for simple two-sided printing and an auto-feeder to make scanning and copying easier. The printer can be managed from the mobile app.
Keep in mind: Ink costs are more expensive than many other printers, and connectivity is limited to dual-band wireless and USB.
This printer weighs just over one pound and prints at 300 dpi. It can fit in a briefcase, backpack, or computer back or be in vehicles for on-the-go printing. It prints A4 size documents without needing ink, toner, or ribbons.
The printer needs to be powered through an AC power adapter or a high-capacity battery. Data transfer is through USB-C, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi.
Keep in mind: This is an expensive printer considering the limited things it can do. Most people may be better off with an all-in-one printer for the money, even if it's not portable.
While this is a very expensive printer, it's hard to find an option that delivers better print quality. It offers gallery-quality prints as well as an anti-clogging system and skew correction to help make sure every print comes out looking beautiful. The matte black ink also increases the black density for more vibrant pictures, and the ink system has uniform gloss and resists scratches.
This printer also has the bonus of being Energy Star certified, showing it is more energy efficient than other devices.
Keep in mind: This printer lacks a lot of functions, so it's best for people who need to print high quality photos and don't mind the slow speeds and high price of the printer and ink refills.
For a budget printer, this Canon PIXMA gives impressive performance. It can load up to 200 sheets of paper with 100 in the rear tray and 100 more in the bottom. It offers cloud printing through the Canon app, Apple AirPrint, and Mopria.
It's a good choice for photos because it offers borderless printing up to 8.5" x 11". It's also less than 7 inches tall, making it ideal for compact spaces.
Keep in mind: This printer has higher costs for printing than many more expensive models, so expect to pay more per print overall.
A lot of mini printers have color issues like blue or red tints or print photos that fade over time. If you're after mini prints in high quality, this printer is hard to beat. It makes printing small pictures for journaling, putting on the fridge, or keeping in your wallet simple. The company claims the photos can last more than 100 years if stored in optimal circumstances.
The dye is embedded in the paper itself, and the coating is smudge-proof and protected from drops. The printer is small enough to put it in a camera bag or purse to be able to print wherever you are. You can choose if you want your prints to be square or the size of a business card.
Keep in mind: Many Zinc printers are much cheaper. It's also important to note that paper refills are somewhat expensive at around $15-20 for a pack of 20 sheets.
While a lot of label printers are small and compact, this one isn't. However, the Circut Joy offers more options than most other possibilities. It's loved by crafters and label makers alike for its creative options.
This machine lets you print on vinyl and other materials to be able to do more than just label your pantry. You can personalize decorations for water bottles, T-shirts, and so many other things. It can cut over fifty types of materials including iron-on, cardstock, sticker paper, and paper.
Keep in mind: Printing on vinyl is more expensive than a simple label maker, and it can take much longer to prepare a print job. If you just want simple labels, you may want something else, even if the Circut can't be beat for the options.
This compact label maker comes in multiple colors and doesn't need any ink to operate. It's easy to use the app to make labels with hundreds of free patterns. The app has multiple colors, languages, icons, borders, and templates to use. The app even lets you import excel data to make things easy.
The printer can print in four sizes from 6mm to 15mm. The labels are waterproof, oil proof, resistant to abrasion, and don't leave traces.
Keep in mind: The print quality is a little low but is what is expected for the price.
This printer will satisfy pretty much any home printing needs. It fits up to 13" by 19" paper, has a wide variety of connectivity options, and lets you print from a mobile device or from an SD card.
It prints photos crisply and clearly, and edge-to-edge printing is excellent for capturing quality and designs without needing to trin off edges. It's ideal for both creatives and people wanting to capture memories.
Keep in mind: This has slower printing speeds than a lot of printers, and some users report having difficulty staying connected.
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