The best printers are still valuable to have in the 21st century for those rare times when you need to print something, because you deserve a great printer that won't jam when you need it most.
I know because we personally use and test every printer we review, printing dozens of test prints and comparing key details like print speed, print quality and ease of use. We keep a watchful eye out for frustrating interfaces, cheap build quality, exploitative ink costs and unreliable hardware so you don't have to.
If you just need a reliable printer for home use, I generally recommend the Brother INKvestment MFC-J995DW all-in-one printer because it offers great print quality with low ink costs. It also offers good value, though those in search of a real bargain should check out the Brother HL-2390DW instead. If all you want to do is print photos, a great photo printer like the Canon Pixma TR8620 is what I recommend.
Read on for more recommendations and fuller explanations, including detailed information on ink levels and printing performance (based on our in-depth testing process) so you won’t have to sweat as much about running low on ink at a bad time.
The quick list
In a hurry? Here's a quick list of the best printers we recommend.
If you want one of the best home printers with the most affordable ink, we recommend Brother's INKvestment MFC-J995DW. This all-in-one inkjet offers large ink cartridges and solid printing, scanning and copying performance as well as a year's supply of ink included.
The Brother HL-L2390DW is a solid monochrome all-in-one laser printer with a low cost per page, making it our recommendation for folks on a budget who need a laser printer.
The HP Smart Tank 7602 is a speedy multifunction wireless printer that's a solid performer with low ink costs, which is why we recommend it as the best student printer for most. Just be ready for some slow, frustrating software, which any college student should be able to handle with no trouble.
The Canon Pixma TR8620 is a great home printer that we recommend as the best photo printer most often because it prints high-quality images fast, without costing an arm and a leg. If you want something more portable, consider the Pixma TR150 below.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 is the printer we recommend for home offices and small businesses because it prints well, uses refillable ink tanks to keep costs down and comes with a suite of business-friendly features like a duplexer and multiple print trays.
We recommend the Canon Pixma TR150 if you want a great portable photo printer because it cranks out everything from 4x6 photos to page-sized prints, yet fits in a backpack and uses low-cost ink. The only drawback is you can't copy or scan.
The best printers you can buy now
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The best printer overall
Sure, it's a bit of a mouthful, but we keep recommending the Brother INKvestment MFC-J995DW as the best printer overall for most folks because of its winning combination of fast print speeds, good print quality and low print cost.
Of course, 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 device. But even though we keep testing new models of printer, we keep coming back to the same truth: if you want one of the best home printers with the most affordable ink, get the Brother INKvestment MFC-J995DW. This all-in-one inkjet printer offers extra-large ink cartridges, and comes with an estimated years' supply of ink in the box, which adds up to the lowest per-page ink costs we've seen.
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 budget printer
The Brother HL-L2390DW is a monochrome all-in-one printer that offers one thing rarely seen in a laser printer: a low price of entry. And while the cost may catch the eye of home and small-office users, its performance and feature set are nothing to scoff at, either. Prints are sharp and faster than average; this printer handles scans and copies quickly, as well. And while the printer is monochrome, the full-color scanner delivers true-to-life color capture and fast scanning.
But it's not just affordable at purchase; operating costs are low, too, with a cost per page of 3.7 cents using standard-capacity toner cartridges and just 2.7 cents with high-capacity toner. If you want the benefits of a laser printer without the usual expense, the Brother HL-L2390DW is our best budget pick for you.
Read our full Brother HL-L2390DW review.
Best student printer
The HP Smart Tank 7602 is a wireless multifunction printer that we regularly recommend as the best printer for students (most of the time) because it's easy to set up and prints good-quality prints quickly, with very low ink costs.
I know because our printer expert exhaustively tested it himself in his own home, and the HP Smart Tank 7602 surprised him by printing an 8x-10-inch glossy photo at high resolution in under 2 minutes, which is more than twice as fast as the category average (4 minutes 1 second).
It also scans and prints quite quickly, and is speedy at kicking out color and black-and-white documents. However, printed scans often showed small discolorations and pixelations, so this isn't a great printer for photojournalism students or others who prize perfection in prints.
However, our reviewer definitely had some hassles when trying to set up the printer via its included HP Smart software. You can connect the printer to a PC via either USB, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, and unfortunately you'll need a (free) HP Smart account to take full advantage of all the printer's features.
Still, despite these setup headaches this printer is our top recommendation for students because of its ease of use, good print quality and low ink costs.
Read our full HP Smart Tank 7602 review.
The best photo printer
The Canon Pixma TR8620 is a great home office printer that's ideal for use by students, families and home businesses. But we most often recommend it as the best photo printer overall because it prints great photos fast, with reliable quality.
It's also a great home printer, with faster-than-average print speeds and high print quality overall. Text and color graphics all look great, and our printer expert noted that glossy photos printed impressively fast, plus 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, our only big complaint with the Pixma TR8620 is the above average cost of ink, due partially to the expense of the extra ink cartridge.
But the positives outweigh the negatives, especially because even when you're not printing photos this machine 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, plus the printer supports smart home integration with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant for easy home use.
Read our full Canon Pixma TR8620 review or view our Canon promo codes
Best for small businesses
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 combines impressively low ink costs with an abundance of business-friendly features to take its place as the best small business inkjet printer we've reviewed. 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 team might throw at it. 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 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 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 or view our Epson coupon codes
Best portable photo printer
The Canon Pixma TR150 is a portable inkjet printer that's small enough to carry in a backpack, but big enough to print everything from 4x6 photos to 8.5 x 11 documents. With a two-cartridge system, its ink is affordable and lends itself well to a variety of printing uses. But where the Canon really stands out is photo printing.
The Pixma TR150 made high-quality photos faster than other competing portable printers, and delivered excellent color and detail. It can also handle larger photo prints, but unlike some of our photo printing favorites, there is no copy or scan capability. You do get a solidly built portable printer with optional battery and even support for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice controls, but we love it for the great photos and low ink costs it offers.
Read our full Canon Pixma TR150 review.
Also tested
There are lots of other great printers out there that don't quite have what it takes to knock any of our best printers off their perch. But it's awful close, and when we test and review a printer that's nearly good enough to earn a spot on this list we add it to this Also Tested section to give you some extra options.
So while these printers weren't quite the best of the best, they're still great options for when you can't find your first pick on sale, or if you need a specific brand or feature.
How to choose the best printer for you
Finding the right printer starts with defining what you need that printer to do. There's a drastic difference between a large multifunction printer that will copy, scan and fax and a pocket-sized photo printer that's perfect for printing snapshots on the go. The best place to start is to narrow down what functions you want, and what aspects of printing are most important to you.
Inkjet or Laser: Inkjet printers are generally better at producing the full range of colors, making them more suited for printing graphics and photos. Laser printers, on the other hand, can quickly produce professional looking text documents often at a lower cost per page.
All-in-One printers offer more than just printing, with built in scanners that can scan and copy everything from forms to photos. Some (but not all) will also have fax capability.
Photo printing is a separate concern, requiring support for printing on glossy paper, handling different photo paper sizes and sometimes requiring additional (and potentially expensive) inks to deliver better print quality.
Portable printing is all about mobility. Compact designs are paired with batteries and sometimes exotic print technologies to let you print from a hotel room, in your car, or even out at the beach.
In addition to the type of printer, you'll also want to pay attention to specific aspects of performance and operating expenses.
Print speed refers to how quickly the printer will complete a page in a document, measured in pages per minute. If you need to print frequently, or in high volumes, faster print speeds are a must have.
Print quality comes down to how well the printer lays ink on the page, and whether it produces sharp details and legible letterforms. Most inkjet printers deliver "good enough" levels of quality, but if you want crisp looking text every time, you'll probably want a laser printer. And photo printing varies widely between general use printers, so check out the recommended models on our best photo printers list.
Ink costs are an ongoing concern for any printer, since ink refills are part of the operating expenses for any printer. Ink can get very expensive, but some new models are designed to reduce both the expense and the hassle of finding the right ink cartridges. And this isn't purely an issue for inkjet printers, as laser printers use toner cartridges. Look for a lower cost-per-page and check out our reviews for a detailed discussion of how print costs might make one printer better than another.
Three ways to cut printing costs to a minimum include: Switching to a laser printer, opting for a tank-based inkjet printer, or signing up for a subscription ink service. (See our articles Inkjet vs. Laser: Which printer is right for you? and HP Instant Ink vs. Canon vs. Epson: Are ink subscriptions worth it? to learn more.)
Once you find the best printer in your desired category, you're ready to buy.
How we test the best printers
Every printer we review is extensively tested to give us a clear idea of how well it performs, both in print capability, but also general ease of use and expense over time. Our testing procedures include timed print tests to determine print speeds, with a set of standardized documents that have a mix of text and graphics and color photos.
Every print is examined and compared, with errors and print problems noted in the review and overall quality measured against the other printers on the market.
We also test the scanning and copying functions (when they are offered), 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.
These specific tests are adapted as needed to handle all sorts of printers, from monochrome laser printers and portable snapshot printers to full-featured all-in-one inkjets. Wherever possible, we make sure that the tests are done in such a way that they can not only be compared within a specific category, but also across all printer types generally.
For more information on our testing process, check out our guide to how we test.
Alex Wawro is a veteran journalist who's spent over a decade covering tech, games and entertainment. He helps lead printer coverage at Tom's Guide, which includes reporting on printer companies and managing all printer reviews from commission to publication.
