Best Home Printers 2022

Home printers are versatile printing factories capable of making copies of slides and spreadsheets by day and printing personal family photos by night. And the best home office printers have a slew of additional features, including the ability to print wirelessly, making it easy to output so you can easily print from any computer or mobile device—no annoying printer cables required.

Most of our picks have advantages for home offices, and may satisfy the needs of your small business as well. If all you need to do is print stacks of professional-quality documents, a laser printer (either monochrome or color) might make sense. A monochrome laser is particularly good for simple printing needs because it boasts a low cost per page. For greater versatility, a multifunction inkjet printer, also known as an all-in-one printer, may be the better choice—especially if you’re using a single printer for work and family. All-in-one printers can print, scan and copy documents; some add fax capabilities and an automatic document feeder as well.

Need more guidance on how to buy a printer? The advice at the end of this article makes choosing the best home or home office printer a lot easier than you might think. Here are nine of the best home printers you can buy right now.

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Best Home Printer Overall

Print, Copy And Scan

forbes.comBest Buy Coupons | 10% Off In September 2022 | Forbes

Best Budget All-In-One Printer

Costs Less Than $180 And Includes A Year’s Worth Of Ink

Honorable Mention: An Inkjet Model With Document Feeder

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Best Monochrome Laser All-In-One Home Printer

Refillable Toner Tanks Paired With An Automatic Document Feeder

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Best Color Laser All-In-One Home Printer

Crisp, Speedy Laser Output In Full Color

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Best All-In-One Home Printer For Families

A Low-Cost Operator

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Best Photo Home Printer

Create Large, Beautiful Photo Prints And Graphics

Honorable Mention: A More Affordable, Inkjet All-In-One For Photos

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Best Office All-In-One Home Printer

Dual Paper Trays Make This Workhorse Ideal For A Home Office

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Best Wide-Format Home Printer

Create Large Prints At A Not-So-Large Price

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Best Budget Monochrome Laser Home Printer

Fast Monochrome Printing For Home Offices

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Best Portable Printer For Road Warriors

Create A Remote Office Virtually Anywhere

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Best Home Office Printer Deals You Can Buy Today

Looking for the best deals currently available on home office printers? Read on for our picks for other models on sale now.

An All-In-One HP Inkjet On Sale For $220

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A Basic All-In-One Printer For Just $100

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Get 16% Off On This All-In-One Canon Printer That Uses Ink Tanks

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A Dedicated Monochrome Laser Printer For Just $100

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Get $50 Off This All-In-One Monochrome Laser Printer

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Here’s An HP All-On-One Printer For $50 Off

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Buy This All-In-One Canon Printer For Just $99

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Get 42% Off This All-In-One From Epson

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What To Look For When Buying A Printer

Your choice of printer depends on how much you routinely print—a few pages per month or dozens each day—as well as whether you want to print photos or two-sided documents. You also need to consider if you simply require black and white (often referred to as monochrome or simply “black” in the printer’s specs) output, or you want full color printing at your disposable.

Let’s take a look at a handful of other common decisions, features and functions to look for when buying a new printer.

Inkjet Printer Versus Laser Printer

Your easiest decision is probably whether to get an inkjet or laser printer. Lasers are a good choice if you print a lot of documents that need to be of professional quality to share with clients or colleagues in a small or home office environment. Monochrome laser printers are fast, reliable and relatively inexpensive—and best for text and graphs, but not graphics or photos. You can get a color laser, but those models are pricier and more complicated to maintain. If your printing needs sometimes include color—whether for home, home office or schoolwork-related tasks—an inkjet is your least expensive and most versatile option.

Laser printers can produce superior text quality as compared with an inkjet printer, making laser printers a good choice if your home office produces printed business correspondence, reports or collateral to be shared with others. To meet the average needs of a family—and for many small businesses—a full-color inkjet (either with ink cartridges or ink tanks) will be more economical and versatile.

All-In-One (Multifunction) Printers

Popular with both at home and in small offices, these printers can print, copy, scan and sometimes even fax—all from the same device. Some models include an automatic document feeder for copying or scanning multiple pages at once.

Two-Sided Printing (Also Referred to As Duplex Printing)

Full duplex printers can automatically print to both sides of a page. Duplex printers are nice to have at home, but essential in an office. Using this feature, you’ll save a lot of paper, so the environment and your wallet will thank you. On the downside, when using full duplex printing with an inkjet printer, you may need to use thicker paper (28 pound instead of 20 pound) to eliminate ink bleed through. This feature can also slow a printer’s output speed.

Beware: Some lower-cost models may print two-sided, but it’s a manual process. Also, some might have auto-duplexing for printing, but not for scanning. Pay attention to the specs and the printer’s design.

Print Speed

Not all printers are speed demons. Many printers report two different speeds—the time it takes for the first print to slide out of the printer and the pages per minute (ppm) once it has started printing. If you only print occasionally, print speed might not be that important, but it’s arguably the single most important feature if you print a lot of pages at a time.

Also, despite what a printer manufacturer reports is a particular printer’s ppm speed, when you’re printing graphics-heavy documents or photos, the printing speed will always be slower. Even the fastest inkjet printers will take up to 90 second to print one 8.5 x 11 inch photo, for example.

Connectivity

Most of today’s printers have wireless connectivity, so you can send files via Wi-Fi rather than plugging directly into the printer’s USB or ethernet port. Some printers can print from memory cards or USB flash drives. Most support wireless printing standards—including Apple AirPrint (for printing from your iMac, MacBook, iPhone or iPad), Mopria and Wi-Fi Direct.

Many of the more modern printers also have the ability to print directly from cloud-based services such as Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive or Dropbox. Some models also support Bluetooth connections.

Photo Printing

Any printer can spit out an image, but it won’t necessarily be something you’d want to hang on the wall. Some printers are optimized for photos with higher print resolution, borderless printing or can print on tabloid-size paper. The best photo printers will use six colors (either in ink cartridges or ink tanks) to do a better job at producing lab-quality photo prints. To get the best results, print photos using premium photo paper.

Copier Speed And Scanner Resolution

When you use an all-in-one printer as a copier or scanner, speed and resolution matter. You also want to determine if there’s a flatbed scanner (meaning pages to be scanned are inserted one at a time), or if the copier/scanner utilizes an auto sheet feeder for added convenience. In terms of resolution, higher is better, but for scanning black and white text-based documents, 300 dpi should be adequate.

Ink Tanks Versus Ink Cartridges

Many of the latest inkjet printers now rely on high-capacity ink tanks, as opposed to individual ink cartridges. This is definitely a more economical option and eliminates the need of constantly having to swap out cartridges, as the ink tanks typically hold enough ink to last about two years.

Laser Printer Toner Cartridge Costs And Options

If you opt for a laser printer, a monochrome laser printer’s toner cartridges tend to be inexpensive. A high-capacity toner cartridge can print upwards of 10,000 to 12,000 pages before it needs replacing. If you buy generic toner cartridges for these printers, the cost will be under $50 each.

However, toner cartridges for color laser printers continue to cost much more (upwards of $150 each) and generate far fewer pages. Plus, color laser printers require multiple toner cartridges be used simultaneously, so the ongoing cost to maintain a color laser printer is much higher than a color inkjet printer.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Printers

If you still have questions about which printer to buy, we have more answers. Here are answers to a handful of frequently asked questions about home printers and home office printers.

Which Printer Brand Is The Best?

As you might imagine, there’s no single best printer brand; collectively, several companies offer the best printers of 2022. But depending upon what you’re looking for—affordability, high printing volume, photo and creative printing, or other criteria—you might prefer one brand over another.

Canon, Epson and HP—as well as a handful of other brands—all offer superb printer models that utilize either inkjet or laser printing technologies. If you’re interested in office and productivity printing, HP and Brother are worthy of investigation, but if you want to make high-quality photo prints or get a multi-purpose printer than can do prints as well as other kinds of documents, Canon and Epson have a number of compelling choices. Focus on your needs and not a brand name when seeking out a printer that matches your budget as well as your printing, copying and scanning requirements.

Is A Dedicated Scanner Better Than A Printer Scanner?

Yes, but not always. 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.

If you’re willing to spend a bit for a standalone, flatbed or sheet-fed scanner, you won’t have trouble finding one that boasts an impressive 4,800 x 4,800 dpi or up to 6,400 x 6,400 dpi resolution. Some even offer up to 9,600 x 9,600 dpi resolution.

Meanwhile, what you’ll find built into a typical all-in-one printer will be a scanner capable of between 300 x 300 dpi and 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution. Obviously, the higher the resolution the better, especially if you’ll be scanning photographs or documents with highly detailed graphics or illustrations. However, the higher the resolution you use, the larger the digital file size the scanned document will be.

What’s The Difference Between A Laser Printer And Inkjet Printer?

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 (colored) inks precisely sprayed onto paper in tiny droplets. The actual printing processes are totally different.

In general, a laser printer produces sharper text and graphics, often at faster print speeds than a similarly-priced inkjet. An inkjet printer can print both black and color documents. These printers can often also generate photo prints from digital images using photo paper.

Until recently, monochrome laser printers relied on toner cartridges, while inkjet printers relied on two or more ink cartridges to function. However, many printer manufacturers have introduced a ink tanks—sometimes referred to as supertanks—instead of costly cartridges. The latest printers now use easy-to-refill ink tanks and require no individual cartridges. This makes the printers much less expensive to maintain.

The ink capacity of an inkjet printer’s tank, for example, is typically equivalent to 20 to 30 individual ink cartridges. Most supertank models have four ink tanks. Models aiming to replace standard monochrome laser printers use a single ink tank for monochrome printing; and a few printers use six ink tanks to produce highly detailed photo prints.

Is A Laser Printer Or Inkjet Printer Better?

This all depends on what you’ll be using the printer for. For longer, text-based documents, a monochrome laser printer will generate high-quality and crisp text at a fast print speed (typically at least 20 to 30 ppm). A color laser printer will also generate high-quality text and graphics, also at a fast print speed. Typically color laser printers will be the fastest color printers, but more expensive inkjet models can come close to a laser printer’s print ratings. Laser printers are more costly to maintain and are not good at creating photo prints from digital images.

A color inkjet cartridge or supertank printer will have a range of print speeds, with the speed increasing as you move up to more expensive and more powerful models. Typically the speeds will fall between 10 ppm and 20 ppm for black and white documents, with full-color documents lagging behind in speed. If the printer supports premium photo paper, you can print photos as well, but those speeds are slower than standard document speeds.

For average use in a home office, a mid-priced inkjet printer should suffice. If you go with a really low-cost inkjet printer, you may be disappointed by the printer’s speed and print quality, especially when printing photos or graphics. A more expensive inkjet or super tank printer tends to offer features like an automatic document feeder, built-in fax, extra paper trays and wide-format printing.

For a home office, a monochrome laser printer will generate higher-quality output at a faster pace. This is ideal for longer documents, printed correspondence, business reports, contracts or proposals, for example. A color laser printer is far more expensive to purchase and maintain than a monochrome laser printer, but it can create professional-looking, full-color documents that are suitable for clients.

How Much Should A Home Printer Cost?

For a dedicated inkjet printer, all-in-one inkjet printer or photo printer for your home, plan on spending between $300 and $400 to get a printer with reasonable print speed and high-quality output.

Plan on spending between $400 and $800 for home printer better suited for office and leisure use. This price range gets you a mid- to high-end inkjet or color laser printer with faster print speeds and higher quality output.

A dedicated monochrome laser printer will cost between $200 and $300. The individual toner cartridges are relatively inexpensive, but such printers are limited to black and white printing. Expect to pay significantly more for a color laser printer and the replacement toner cartridges required for these printers.

The cost to purchase the printer is only part of the overall equation. You also want to consider the ongoing cost to maintain the printer, which means keeping it filled with toner or ink.

Which Printers Have The Cheapest Ink?

For all their advantages, inkjet printers can be woefully expensive to maintain because name-band replacement ink cartridges are pricey. If low-cost ink is your overriding concern, consider an inkjet printer with ink tanks or a monochrome laser printer. Again, black laser toner is substantially less expensive than ink cartridges. (Color laser toner cartridges are much more expensive, however.)

Replacement ink for inkjet printers that rely on ink tanks is the most affordable (and environmentally friendly) option of them all.

Among inkjet printers that rely on ink cartridges, consider printer models that store each color in its own cartridge. Printers which use combo cartridges are usually a lot more expensive to operate and maintain, because if you run out of any one color, you wind up needing to discard the entire cartridge along with any of its remaining ink. This is not an issue if the inkjet printer uses ink tanks instead of cartridges.

One problem with some inkjet printers is that the ink dries up on the printheads and can cause problems which need to be fixed by running a printer head cleaning utility after a period of disuse. For very sporadic printing needs, a monochrome laser printer may be your best option since it uses toner, which isn’t prone to drying out.

While some printers will only work with the manufacturer’s ink, some will work with inks and toners sold by independent companies like LD Products. Such inks are less costly than those sold by printer manufacturers.

Which Printer Uses The Least Amount Of Ink?

While manufacturers provide cartridge yield data, the answer here will vary greatly depending on what type of content you’re printing. Most printers offer a “draft” mode that allows the printer to work faster and use less toner or ink, but the print quality will be lesser than in normal mode. This might suffice in some cases, but not if you’re sharing you’re output with clients or colleagues. And if you’re printing full-page, full-color photos, the printer uses more ink than usual.

If you use an inkjet printer only occasionally, preserve your ink cartridges longer (and prevent them from drying out) by removing them from the printer and storing them upright within a sealed plastic bag. The ink should be stored in a cool and dry place. Anytime you purchase new ink, leave it within its original packaging until you’re ready to use it.

Another way to preserve ink when using an inkjet printer is to always turn the printer off (using the power button) when you’re not using it. This will ensure the ink cartridges are returned to a capped position. If you notice print quality drop, use the printer’s built-in maintenance tools to clean and align the printheads, or unclog the ink cartridges.

What Is The True Total Cost Of Owning A Printer?

The price you pay to purchase a printer is only the beginning. 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.

In general, 20-pound multipurpose paper (or copy paper) will work with any printer. However, low-cost inkjet printers that offer two-sided printing will often benefit if you use thicker paper to prevent ink bleed through. When you use thicker paper, however, this reduces the capacity of the paper tray.

To calculate the cost per page to use any printer, take the cost for replacement ink/toner and divide it by the estimated page yield. For multipurpose paper, the per-sheet price is minimal. However, if you’re looking to create photo prints from digital images, you’ll need to use premium photo paper. Depending on the paper size and the quantity you buy it in, this can get expensive.

For occasional photo printing, you may be better off uploading your images to a one-hour photo lab. Using a printer to generate photo prints is more convenient, but the cost per print will typically be higher than what you’d pay a photo lab.

Especially if you see a printer with a very low up-front price, look carefully at the cost to replace the ink or toner. Some printer manufacturers charge less for their printers upfront because the long-term profits come from high-priced ink or toner. As for the cost difference between color laser printers and inkjet printers, for people with high print volume needs, the higher maintenance cost of a color laser printer will be significant, but if your monthly print volume is minimal, you’ll get much higher print quality for your investment.

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How To Choose The Right Paper For Your Printing Task

Even if you purchase a top-of-the-line printer, how documents look depends on the type of paper you use with the printer. For most printing tasks, 8.5 x 11 inch 20-pound copy paper (also referred to as multipurpose paper) works just fine. It comes in reams of 500 sheets and works well with inkjet or laser printers.

However, if you are using an inkjet printer capable of double-sided printing, consider using thicker, 28-pound paper. The thicker paper will prevent ink from seeping through the page or causing the paper to curl due to the wetness of the ink before it fully dries on the page.

When creating photo prints from your digital images, you can achieve the best results (sometimes photo lab quality results, depending on the printer) if you use premium photo paper.

All of the printer manufacturers that sell printers capable of generating photo prints sell their own branded photo paper in a wide range of popular sizes—as do most of the office supply superstores and companies like Kodak and Fujifilm. Companies like Hahnemuhle, Innova and Moab sell extremely high-end and specialized fine art or archival photo paper at a premium price, but these are typically used by pro photographers who seek such specialty papers.

That said, any premium photo paper—from any paper manufacturer—will work with any printer capable of generating photo prints, as long as that printer can accommodate the paper’s size and weight. Thus, you could use photo paper from Canon, OfficeMax, Staples, or Moab within your HP or Epson printer, for example.

Photo paper comes in a variety of popular sizes—such as 4 x 6 inches, 5 x 7 inches, 8 x 10 inches, 8.5 x 11 inches and 11 x 17 inches (which only wide-format printers can accommodate). Premium photo paper also comes in different finishes (such as glossy, lustre or matte). The photo paper you choose can directly impact the look and color of photos, as well as how long prints can last.

For your specialized photo printing needs, many companies sell specialty photo papers that work with most inkjet printers. Options include sticker paper, inkjet transfer paper and 100% cotton fine art photo papers.

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About The Author

As a consumer tech staff writer for Forbes Vetted, it’s my job to stay up-to-date on the latest printers, computers, mobile gadgets and smart devices. When new consumer tech products hit the market, I typically have the opportunity to use them firsthand, which helps me stay current with the latest features and innovations. And I get to share my most exciting discoveries with the Forbes Vetted readers.

I have been writing about consumer tech for more than 20 years and have contributed thousands of articles to major daily newspapers, national magazines and popular websites. I’ve also authored dozens of how-to books covering a wide range of technologies, including smartphones, tablets, smartwatches and digital cameras.