The 6 Best Home Printers - Summer 2021
When shopping for the best printers for your home office or even for the whole family to use, it's important to find one that's versatile enough to satisfy everyone's needs, whether it's for printing invoices or family photos. A scanner with good features can also help improve your workflow, and of course, a low cost-per-print is a must, so you can stay within budget.
rtings.com have tested over 95 printers, and below are their recommendations for the best home printers you can buy.
Best Home Office Printer: Canon imageCLASS MF743Cdw
Type: All in One
Technology: Laser
Wireless: Yes
Colour: Yes
SuperTank: No
Technology: Laser
Wireless: Yes
Colour: Yes
SuperTank: No
The best printer for home office use that we've tested is the Canon imageCLASS MF743Cdw. This all-in-one laser model is made of solid, sturdy plastic, with easy access to the toner and paper jams. It has a flatbed scanner for scanning items like fragile photos and books and an automatic document feeder with duplex scanning. Also, it has a large touchscreen display with good sensitivity and responds fast to touch commands.
The cost-per-print is impressive, and the cartridges have an incredibly high yield, regardless of what you print. Each cartridge also has an integrated drum, which means you won't have to buy one separately. It prints color documents much faster than black-only ones and can also print photos very quickly. It has exceptional connectivity options, including Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and USB, and it has external storage support for USB flash drives.
Unfortunately, the display screen sticks out on the right-hand side, which prevents you from pressing the printer flush against a wall on that side. Also, the cost of replacing the three color cartridges is expensive, which can quickly increase costs over time. While its photo printing quality is mediocre, it isn't bad for a laser model, and its color accuracy is great. All in all, this is one of the best all-in-one printers we've tested.
The cost-per-print is impressive, and the cartridges have an incredibly high yield, regardless of what you print. Each cartridge also has an integrated drum, which means you won't have to buy one separately. It prints color documents much faster than black-only ones and can also print photos very quickly. It has exceptional connectivity options, including Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and USB, and it has external storage support for USB flash drives.
Unfortunately, the display screen sticks out on the right-hand side, which prevents you from pressing the printer flush against a wall on that side. Also, the cost of replacing the three color cartridges is expensive, which can quickly increase costs over time. While its photo printing quality is mediocre, it isn't bad for a laser model, and its color accuracy is great. All in all, this is one of the best all-in-one printers we've tested.
INKJET ALTERNATIVE: HP OFFICEJET PRO 9025E
Type: All in One
Technology: Inkjet
Wireless: Yes
Colour: Yes
SuperTank: No
If you need an inkjet printer, consider the HP OfficeJet Pro 9025e. It doesn't yield nearly as many monochrome and color pages as the Canon imageCLASS MF743Cdw, and its color accuracy is worse, but its flatbed scanner has double the scan resolution, while its inkjet technology means it prints photos with much better quality. It has a better cost-per-print for color documents and photos, has a larger input tray capacity, and prints black-only text documents much more quickly, although it's slower to print color documents and photos. Unfortunately, the HP Smart app supports fewer file formats, and the ADF also produces misaligned scans of documents, which is a known issue the HP OfficeJet Pro 9025 also has.
If you want a laser printer with a very high page yield and good color accuracy, go with the Canon. However, if you want to print good-quality photos often and want higher-resolution scans, go with the HP.
If you want a laser printer with a very high page yield and good color accuracy, go with the Canon. However, if you want to print good-quality photos often and want higher-resolution scans, go with the HP.
Best Family Printer: Brother MFC-J995DW
Type: All in One
Technology: Inkjet
Wireless: Yes
Colour: Yes
SuperTank: No
The best printer for home we've tested is the Brother MFC-J995DW. This versatile all-in-one printer is an excellent option for families, especially if you love scrapbooking or printing out your own photos. Despite some fine banding, produced images have a great amount of detail. The printer isn't recommended for tasks that require exact color reproduction, but the color accuracy should be good enough for casual color prints.
Thanks to the INKvestment Tank ink system it uses, it can print a large number of pages before the cartridges need to be replaced. There are also two high-yield cartridge sizes available that should last you longer, though we haven't tested them. The high page yield helps to keep the cost-per-print incredibly low for black-only documents, color prints, and photos. If you need to scan, it has a high-resolution flatbed scanner and an automatic document feeder.
Unfortunately, while it has an ADF, it doesn't have a duplex scanning feature, so scanning long, double-sided documents can be tedious. Also, it's disappointingly slow at printing black-only text documents. It doesn't have Bluetooth printing support, and we were able to establish a connection through the Mopria Print Service app, but we weren't able to print with our unit. That said, it's still an amazing family printer and among the best all-in-one printers we've tested.
Thanks to the INKvestment Tank ink system it uses, it can print a large number of pages before the cartridges need to be replaced. There are also two high-yield cartridge sizes available that should last you longer, though we haven't tested them. The high page yield helps to keep the cost-per-print incredibly low for black-only documents, color prints, and photos. If you need to scan, it has a high-resolution flatbed scanner and an automatic document feeder.
Unfortunately, while it has an ADF, it doesn't have a duplex scanning feature, so scanning long, double-sided documents can be tedious. Also, it's disappointingly slow at printing black-only text documents. It doesn't have Bluetooth printing support, and we were able to establish a connection through the Mopria Print Service app, but we weren't able to print with our unit. That said, it's still an amazing family printer and among the best all-in-one printers we've tested.
ALTERNATIVE WITH BETTER PHOTO PRINTING QUALITY: CANON PIXMA TR8620
Type: All in One
Technology: Inkjet
Wireless: Yes
Colour: Yes
SuperTank: No
If you print photos more often, check out the Canon PIXMA TR8620. Its cost-per-print isn't as low as the Brother MFC-J995DW, and it prints more slowly, but its photos have better quality, and it also has much better connectivity options. Both have flatbed scanners and automatic document feeders to make office tasks easy. However, the Canon can print via Bluetooth, and we were able to print via Mopria Print Service on it, something we couldn't do on the Brother. Unfortunately, however, it doesn't feel as sturdy, and its color accuracy isn't as good as its predecessor, the Canon PIXMA TR8520.
If you prefer having a printer that prints more quickly and has a lower cost-per-print, go with the Brother. If you need a wider variety of connectivity options and want better quality in your printed photos, go with the Canon.
If you prefer having a printer that prints more quickly and has a lower cost-per-print, go with the Brother. If you need a wider variety of connectivity options and want better quality in your printed photos, go with the Canon.
Best Black & White Home Printer: Brother MFC-L2750DW
Type: All in One
Technology: Laser
Wireless: Yes
Colour: No
SuperTank: No
The Brother MFC-L2750DW is the best home printer for black and white printing that we've tested. This is a laser model with an excellent, sturdy-feeling build with easy access to paper jams and a fairly large touchscreen display to navigate easily through menus. In addition, its outstanding black page yield gives it a superb cost-per-print, but keep in mind you need to replace the drum unit separately.
It has fantastic scanning features, including a flatbed for photos and smaller items, and an automatic document feeder that supports double-sided scanning. It prints documents at a superb speed, so home office tasks can be done with ease. It has great connectivity options for printing, and you can use the exceptional Brother iPrint&Scan app to print, scan, and copy directly from your mobile device, perform maintenance tasks, and buy toner.
Unfortunately, it can only print in black and white, and the quality of photos is terrible, with lots of banding and graininess. It also doesn't support printing via Bluetooth, and it also takes a little while to warm up and print the first page. All in all, however, it's a great option if you need to print black and white documents quickly and cost-effectively.
Best Budget Home Printer: Brother MFC-J805DW INKvestment Tank
Type: All in One
Technology: Inkjet
Wireless: Yes
Colour: Yes
SuperTank: No
The best home printer in the budget range that we've tested is the Brother MFC-J805DW INKvestment Tank. While its price is slightly over our usual budget limit, it yields significantly more pages than most other home printers with a similar price. This helps keep its cost-per-print incredibly low since you shouldn't need to replace the cartridges that often.
It has a high-resolution flatbed scanner with lid hinges that can lift to scan thicker items like textbooks or fragile items like photos. There's also an automatic document feeder to quickly process multi-page documents, but since there's no duplex scanning feature, you need to flip double-sided pages over yourself. It has a decent number of connectivity options, including Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service support.
Unfortunately, its color accuracy is a bit disappointing, though it should still be enough for casual photo printing. Its printing speed is mediocre, with both black and color documents taking a long time to print out. Also, it doesn't support Bluetooth, which may be inconvenient for some. Nonetheless, this is a very good home office printer that's versatile enough for family use.
It has a high-resolution flatbed scanner with lid hinges that can lift to scan thicker items like textbooks or fragile items like photos. There's also an automatic document feeder to quickly process multi-page documents, but since there's no duplex scanning feature, you need to flip double-sided pages over yourself. It has a decent number of connectivity options, including Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service support.
Unfortunately, its color accuracy is a bit disappointing, though it should still be enough for casual photo printing. Its printing speed is mediocre, with both black and color documents taking a long time to print out. Also, it doesn't support Bluetooth, which may be inconvenient for some. Nonetheless, this is a very good home office printer that's versatile enough for family use.
Leave a comment