Need a printer that can copy, scan, print and more? The best all-in-one printers do it all, which is why I recommend them to students, families and anyone who needs a multifunction printer.
But since there are so many, finding the best all-in-one printer for you can be tricky. Our printer experts review the latest and greatest printers from manufacturers like Brother, Canon, HP and Epson every year, then I compile the best of the best in this easy-to-peruse list.
If you just want a great all-in-one printer, no need to read further: I recommend the Brother INKvestment MFC-J995DW because it's affordable, has a low cost per page and delivers quality prints. If you don't need color prints and want to save some money, I recommend the Brother MFC-L2750DW XL instead.
Folks who want something that's great for photos should check out the Canon Pixma TR8620 because it offers fast photo printing, great print quality and a built-in duplexer in a small package. Those shopping for a printer that's going to be in heavy use should consider a Epson EcoTank ET-7460 for the home office, and an Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 for a small business.
I say that based on the fact my team and I have spent hundreds of hours testing and reviewing the best printers on the market, so I know which all-in-ones stand out from the pack. Read on for a blow-by-blow breakdown of the best all-in-one printers, replete with reviews, testing data and more!
The quick list
In a hurry? Here's a brief overview of the printers on this list, along with quick links that let you jump down the page directly to a review of whichever model catches your eye.
If you want one of the best all-in-one printers with the most affordable ink, we recommend the Brother INKvestment MFC-J995DW. The all-in-one inkjet printer features extra-large ink cartridges, and offers solid printing, scanning and copying performance as well as a year's supply of ink included.
The Brother MFC-L2750DW XL is what we recommend as the best laser all-in-one because it's packed with features such as a fast automatic document feeder, fax capability, and a second paper tray. It’s also fast but doesn’t sacrifice speed for quality, delivering documents that look sharp every time.
The Epson EcoTank ET-4760 is the all-in-one we recommend most for home offices because it delivers good, fast prints at a very low price. It can't do two-sided copies, but the fast performance and cheap costs make up for this shortcoming.
The Canon Pixma TR8620 is a solid all-in-one we recommend as the best for photo printing because it prints high-quality images fast, and the unique 5-ink cartridge system delivers luscious image quality. However, the ink costs are higher than average.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 is our top recommendation for a great small business all-in-one because it's capable of printing very quickly with very low ink costs, and it can handle two-sided prints, copies and scans. However, it's the largest printer on this list.
The best all-in-one printers you can buy today
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The best printer overall
I tend to recommend the Brother INKvestment MFC-J995DW most often as the best all-in-one printer because it's reliable, effective and most importantly, affordable.
See, there's much more to the cost of a printer than just the purchase price: Ink costs can eat away the savings you expected from your affordable inkjet device.
The Brother INKvestment MFC-J995DW bucks the trend of printers gouging you on ink costs by coming with roughly a year's worth of ink (depending on how much you print) pre-loaded in the extra-large ink cartridges, so you get a great price-per-page right out of the gate.
On top of that, the Brother INKvestment MFC-J995DW offers solid printing, scanning and copying. Print speeds beat the category average and two-sided printing is among the fastest we've seen.
And it did all of this while delivering high print quality across the board. That same zippy speed and above-average quality was found in scans and copies, making it a great choice for anyone, even if you aren't buying it for the affordable ink.
Read our full Brother INKvestment MFC-J995DW review.
Best laser
I think the Brother MFC-L2750DW XL is the best multifunction laser printer we've reviewed in years for everything but color prints.
This printer is packed with useful features, including a quick ADF, fast duplex printing and copying, fax capability, and a second paper tray. This device is monochrome laser printer that lends itself well to fast document printing that looks sharp and clear every time.
It's easily one of the best all-in-one printers overall, and one of our favorite laser printers – so long as you don't need to print in color
The MFC-L2750DW XL turned in great document quality, and the fastest speeds to date for text and mixed text/graphics files. The printer even made two-sided prints faster than some models can handle one-sided documents.
Using its high-capacity toner cartridge, the MFC-L2750DW XL offers a cost per page of just 2.7 cents (based on in-depth testing), the lowest we've seen in this category. That's a tough deal to beat.
Read our full Brother MFC-L2750DW review.
Best home office printer
The Epson EcoTank ET-7460 is a great choice for busy offices, thanks to its combination of solid performance, generous feature-set and impressively low ink costs.
Built for heavy duty, the EcoTank earns its name by not only printing thousands of pages a month, but also keeping ink costs low with refillable high-capacity ink tanks.
The printer comes with the first set of ink bottles, and enough ink for an estimated 7,500 pages (black) and 6,000 pages (color) before ever worrying about refills. Even when you buy new ink, you'll get plenty of bang for your buck, with costs of less than a cent per page.
Speedy printing and copying make it a smart pick for any busy home office or small team, though you might miss having a second paper tray. Regardless, the printer's relatively compact footprint and convenient two-sided printing make it a winner for day-to-day productivity.
Read our full Epson EcoTank ET-4760 review or view our Epson coupon codes
Best photos
I like the the Canon Pixma TR8620 photo printer because it's easy to use and offers plenty of office features, from scanning and faxing to a 20-page automatic document feeder (ADF), a duplexer for two-sided printing, and two paper trays for keeping two types of paper at the ready.
A big 4.3-inch color touchscreen makes it easy to control, and the printer supports smart home integration with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
It's also a great printer, with faster-than-average print speeds and high print quality overall. Text and color graphics all look great, but during testing we noted that glossy photos printed impressively fast, and the use of a 5-ink cartridge system with two types of black ink resulted in photos with high-quality accuracy: Natural-looking colors, sharp details and smooth transitions.
Really, my only big complaint with the Pixma TR8620 is the above average cost of ink, due partially to the expense of the extra ink cartridge.
Read our full Canon Pixma TR8620 review.
Best small business inkjet
I recommend the Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 as the best all-in-one for business because it combines impressively low ink costs with an abundance of business-friendly features.
The EcoTank design uses refillable ink tanks and comes with enough spare ink bottles to print thousands of pages. A small business printer rated to print more than 3,000 pages per month, it's more than capable of handling whatever your office team might throw at it.
Plus, the printer boasts scan, copy and fax capability, dual 250-page paper cassettes, a 50-sheet automatic document feeder and a large, easy-to-use 4.3-inch touchscreen for convenient operations.
In our timed printer tests the Epson ET-5850 delivered some of the fastest printing we've seen, and produced crisp, clear text that nearly rivals laser printer quality. That same quick, high-quality performance was also seen in copying and scanning, making it the printer of choice for offices that need a full featured multifunction printer.
But I think the real draw is the ink savings, extremely low per-page costs of 0.4 cents for text pages, and 1.6 cents per color page. The upfront price may be high, but the combination of quality, features and super-low operating expenses make this one of the best investments you can make for your office.
Read our full Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 review.
How to choose the best all-in-one printer for you
Not sure which printer to buy? No worries, I'm here to help.
Obviously you want a printer that performs well, so all of our reviews and rankings discuss a printer's output quality and speed, but there's more to an all-in-one printer than just how quickly it can crank out documents.
Price: All-in-one printers sell for as little as $60 (£45/AU$90) for inkjet models, and $150 (£170/AU$200) for laser printers, with high-end models costing hundreds of dollars, but offering better print quality, durability and features. And don’t forget ink and toner, which can range from 1 to 5 cents per page for basic documents (photos will cost more). Check our printer reviews for in-depth testing on how much each costs per page.
Inkjet or Laser: Next, it helps to determine the style of printer you need. Inkjet printers are generally better suited to producing the full range of colors, making them better suited to printing graphics and photos. Laser printers, on the other hand, can quickly produce professional looking text documents, often at a lower cost per page. (Learn more in our guide Inkjet vs. Laser: Which printer is right for you?)
Home or Office: Home and office printers differ greatly in their handling of large print volumes. Some printers are built to offer great quality and value for the home user that prints a few pages a week, while others are built for busy offices where multiple users print dozens or hundreds of pages every day. Find the one that’s right for you to avoid paying for features you don’t need.
Use case: Additional use-cases, such as photo printing are addressed in our selections above, while specific features are discussed in every printer review we do. Portable printing is another niche area where the right printer can make a world of difference. (See the best photo printers and best portable printers to learn more.)
Operating expenses: Finally, consider the cost per page. Whether it’s using ink cartridges or toner, printers cost money over time. Check our reviews for a breakdown of the costs to print individual pages as a good measure of how expensive operating costs will be over the life of the printer.
Some companies even offer subscription services that save you money while sending you ink just in time to replace that empty cartridge. Learn more in our article HP Instant Ink vs. Canon vs. Epson: Are ink subscriptions worth it?
How we test the best all-in-one printers
Every printer we review is extensively tested to determine the performance and output quality. These tests include timed prints of text, mixed text and graphics and color photos. The resulting prints are carefully examined for errors and issues, and compared with samples from other printers to determine the print quality.
We time every test print to see how quickly the machine handles document printing, and closely examine the finished product to determine how well different printing tasks are handled. We also test the scanning and copying functions of the printer, timing how quickly it captures a page and comparing the results to the original images to determine how well it captures color and detail.
To measure the cost of owning and operating a printer, we look at the current street price of ink refills and the estimated number of pages that each cartridge can produce, and calculate the cost for printing a single page.
For more nitty-gritty details, check out our in-depth guide to how we test printers!
Alex Wawro is a lifelong journalist who's spent over a decade covering tech, games and entertainment. He oversees the computing department at Tom's Guide, which includes managing printer coverage.
