Best home printer of 2024 | TechRadar

Oct 24, 2024

Set up and print from home and the home office

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Find the best home printer for your needs with our expert-reviewed list.

As TechRadar’s resident printer specialist, I’ve tested over a hundred printers across every category, but for this shortlist, I’ll focus on the best printers for the home and home office. These are the inkjet and laser devices that come equipped with the functionality you need at home in a form factor that won’t eat up too much living space or budget. When you’re working from home, or your family want to print photos and homework, there are certain features the best home printers have and those features should be easy to use, so a touchscreen interface is an advantage.

Our top ten home printers have all passed our performance tests and they all offer good value for money. The question is, what kind of home printer are you looking for?

Inkjet is the most popular technology for home printing because inkjet printers tend to be smaller and cheaper than laser printers. You can expect high-resolution full-color prints from a compact cartridge-based inkjet costing under $100. But the catch with cartridges is the price. An inkjet that takes bottled ink — known as an ink tank or super tank printer — will be larger and considerably more expensive, but will soon save you money because of their much higher page yield.

If you tend to print many pages at a time, or if you print intermittently, laser devices have two key advantages. They print faster and they don’t mind sitting unused for long periods because instead of using liquid ink that can dry and block inkjet nozzles, laser toner is a powder. They’re ideal for printing crisp text documents, but they can’t print on coated photo paper, so they can't match the best photo printers.

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Our expert review:

The mid-range Epson EcoTank ET-4850 strikes a good balance between price and performance. It has the features essential for a small office printer, such as an ADF, auto duplex, a touchscreen and a fax, without the premium extras such as NFC or single-pass dual scanning. For that reason, it's our pick for the best printer for the home. It’s a pity there’s no multimedia tray in addition to the 250-sheet main tray, but it makes up for this with excellent print quality in all categories except photos, where the colours lacked accuracy. It’s easy to use, thanks to a touchscreen interface and is reasonably quick to print. The real selling point is the very low running cost thanks to Epson’s inexpensive bottled ink being around 90% cheaper than cartridges. What’s more, you get five bottles in the box, which could yield almost 20,000 pages.

Read our full Epson EcoTank ET-4850 review.

Our expert review:

The Canon PIXMA G3270/G3570 is the entry-level all-in-one in Canon’s refillable MegaTank lineup, so you can expect just the basic list of features, but big savings when it comes to consumables. As a three-in-one, you can scan, copy and print in color on any paper up to A4 in size. It also has Wi-Fi built so you can print from your smartphone using Canon’s companion app, but you’re not getting a touchscreen, a front-loading paper tray, or an auto duplex mode. If you don’t mind squinting at the small display and manually turning over each page to print on the the other side, this stripped back MegaTank, makes faithful hard copies and prints crisp simplex pages relatively quickly. It costs more than a cartridge-based equivalent, of course, but with bottled ink being around 90% cheaper and enough ink in the box to print 6,000 mono pages and 7,700 color, your running cost will be way lower. If you want to save even more money, check out our Canon coupon codes.

Read our full Canon PIXMA G3270 review.

Our expert review:

The HP Envy Pro 6420 is a budget-friendly inkjet printer that offers a range of features for home office use. With the ability to print, scan, copy, and even fax via your smartphone, this compact printer is a versatile choice. While the print speed may be slow, the Envy Pro 6420 can duplex print and photocopy stacks of up to 35 pages with its built-in ADF (automatic document feeder). Instead of an Ethernet port, it has Bluetooth and self-healing Wi-Fi built in, making mobile printing with the HP iOS/Android app a breeze.

Despite its limited paper capacity and slow print speed, we were impressed with the ease of use and overall print quality of the Envy Pro 6420. Replacement ink cartridges can be expensive unless you sign up for HP's Instant Ink subscription service, which guarantees cheaper cartridges delivered to your mailbox when needed. However, we recommend caution if you only print occasionally. Overall, the HP Envy Pro 6420 is a solid choice for those needing a compact and versatile home office printer. Find the best deals on HP printers with our HP discount codes.

Read our full HP Envy Pro 6420 review.

Our expert review:

The Epson WorkForce Pro WF-7310 is a capable, high-capacity business printer designed for the home or small office. It’s a wide-format inkjet device so it can print on a broad variety of media up to size A3+. It looks a little bulky, but it’s actually quite compact considering it can hold a whole ream (500 sheets) of Tabloid/A3 paper in its two paper trays. A multifunction tray at the rear expands the media compatibility still further by allowing you to print on quite thick card.

There’s no touchscreen on this model, but it’s easy enough to operate using the tilting control panel with its 6.1cm LCD. Wi-Fi and AirPrint connectivity is built in, while the motorised output tray is a nice touch. It prints pretty quickly for an inkjet and its all-pigment inks make for fast-drying, durable and vivid printouts. The only real catch is the cost of the DURABrite cartridges, which push the CPP (cost per page) over 12 cents (or 10 pence) for colour pages. If you need to print large professional-looking brochures regularly, this print could be worth the expense.

Read our full Epson WorkForce Pro WF-7310 review

Our expert review:

The Brother MFC-J5945DW is a versatile printer that blurs the line between home and office use. Combining the fast print speed and high capacity of a laser machine with the superior photo finish of an inkjet, this printer is suitable for both applications. It's smaller than the laser equivalent, the MFC-L8690CDW, but it can still handle A3 paper. If you frequently scan multi-page documents, the MFC-J5945DW can automatically scan up to 50 front and back pages. It ships with standard-sized ink cartridges, but the high-yield options offer up to 6,000 pages, making this device more economical than some laser printers. As a fully featured 4-in-1 printer, the Brother MFC-J5945DW can handle any task satisfactorily.

Keep in mind that its features are geared more towards the home office than the family computer desk when selecting the best home printer for your needs.

Read our full Brother MFC-J5945DW Printer review.

Our expert review:

At first glance, the Brother DCP-J1800DW is a sensibly specified and well designed all-in-one inkjet. It has all the features required of a business printer aimed at the home worker with modest print demands. It’s compact enough to fit on a shelf while incorporating a useful 20-sheet automatic document feeder and offers both USB and Ethernet ports with neat cable management.

There’s also a guillotine. Wait, what? It’s the first printer of its kind to come armed with an internal blade for chopping A4 down to A5. This unique selling point could prove invaluable for reducing your consumables cost along with your document size, but even if you never use the cutter, this is a good printer.

As a cartridge-based inkjet, the ink bill is always going to be high, but the print quality is crisp and consistent with both documents and photos. Unless you plan to print lots of pages, we have no reservations recommending this ingenious inkjet.

Read our full Brother DCP-J1800DW review

Our expert review:

It’s rather large, but if you can fit this multifunction device in your home office, your printing, scanning and faxing needs will be well taken care of. Between its two paper trays, the MB2750 can accommodate a whole 500-sheet ream of A4 paper and churn out duplex pages at a remarkable rate, for an inkjet. Mono and colour documents look consistently clean and crisp. The 50-sheet automatic document feed is great for large photocopying jobs and we found it fairly easy to access the many features via the logical touchscreen interface.

Read our full Canon Maxify MB2750 review

Our expert review:

This is Canon’s entry-level MegaTank model, bringing you refillable ink tanks and plenty of bottled at a competitive price. Some features have been squeezed out to achieve this, so there’s no auto-duplex mode, no display and not a lot of room for paper. Nonetheless, it can print, scan and copy to a high quality and can handle envelopes, glossy photo paper and even print banners. By cutting yourself free from overpriced cartridges and buying cheap bottled ink instead, your ongoing print costs will plummet by as much as 90 percent. It’s not the cheapest inkjet out there, but it is perhaps the most economical choice for the home, or home office.

Our expert review:

As large format multifunction printers go, the HP OfficeJet Pro 9730e looks like a well specified office inkjet at a competitive price. It comes with plenty of room for paper (500 sheets) in its twin trays and there’s a 35-sheet automatic document feed for copying multiple A4-sized documents. The print rate of 22ppm (pages per minute) is fast for an inkjet and essential features such as dual-band Wi-Fi, AirPrint and HP’s Wolf Pro Security are included. It’s also easy to use thanks to the large 4.3-inch capacitive display and an intuitive companion app. As ever, however, the catch with any cheap cartridge-based printer is the cost of the ink, which is not competitive. We also had some printing issues with paper jams and an inability to print on paper over 105 g/m² in weight. While this inexpensive printer may fit well in a home office environment, we wouldn’t recommend it as a workgroup printer in a busy office.

Read our full HP OfficeJet Pro 9730e review

Our expert review:

This dinky printer, available in a range of colors, is the smallest all-in-one inkjet on the market and it’ll sit comfortably on any shelf or even fit into a suitcase. There’s only room for sixty sheets of paper and two ink cartridges on board, so it’s best used for light duties at home, rather than the office. It can print on any size media up to A4/letter and that includes envelopes and glossy photopaper. It prints a great photo, albeit slowly, and has Wi-Fi with Wi-Fi-Direct and AirPrint built in. What looks like a carry handle on top is actually HP’s innovative scan beam, which does the job of an A4 flatbed scanner. Insert any document in the slot beneath, and it will be draw through automatically and scanned ready for copying.

HP OfficeJet Pro 9015This all-in-one printer offers fast printing speeds, automatic document feeding, and smart features such as mobile printing and scan to email. It's also energy efficient, earning an Energy Star certification.

Canon PIXMA TR150This portable printer is perfect for those on the go, with the ability to print wirelessly from your smartphone or laptop. It also has a long battery life and produces high-quality prints.

Epson WorkForce WF-7710This wide-format printer can handle large paper sizes up to 13x19 inches and has a high print resolution for clear and detailed prints. It also has a convenient automatic document feeder and wireless connectivity.

Brother MFC-L8900CDWThis laser printer has fast print speeds and can handle a high volume of prints with its large paper capacity. It also has a range of connectivity options including NFC and Wi-Fi Direct.

Canon TS9120This all-in-one printer offers a range of features including a 5-color individual ink system for high-quality prints, a large touchscreen display, and the ability to print directly from your smartphone or tablet. It also has a versatile paper tray that can hold a variety of paper sizes.

We've tested the best ink tank printers.

There are ten big printer manufacturers that have won prestige and market share through consistent innovation and reliable products, plus a few emerging names of note. Epson and Canon are two of the largest inkjet manufacturers, while Xerox and Lexmark specialise in laser printers. HP and Brother continue to develop both technologies and like the aforementioned brands, they sell printers for both work and home use. Brands like Kyocera, Oki, Ricoh and Konica Minolta are not such familiar household names, but they’re big players in commercial printing. In areas where print technology is changing rapidly, such as fabric and 3D printing, new brands including Procolored, Sawgrass and Creality are the ones to watch. For more like this, we've tested out all the best 3D printers.

A home printer is a device designed for personal use in a home setting, typically for printing documents, photos, and other materials. Home printers are typically smaller and more compact than commercial printers and are intended for low-volume use.

Any of the best home printers are great for light home and home office tasks - we've hand-tested them to be sure.

Home printers tend to be inkjet models, since the best inkjet printers are pretty good all-rounders, capable of printing documents and photos at high-quality. They're designed for light use, they don't print particularly quickly, but they get the job done very well. And, generally, they're quite cheap to buy. However, replacing ink cartridges can be expensive compared to laser printers and ink tank printers, which are refilled with bottled ink.

You can print thousands of pages before an ink tank needs to be refuelled. Inkjet cartridges, on the other hand, usually last for only several hundred pages before they need to be replaced.

With the likes of the HP Smart Tank and Epson EcoTank range on the market, we'd recommend an ink tank printer for home printing. These printers are more expensive to buy than inkjets. But they offer all the benefits of inkjet printing with reduced running costs and reduced waste.

However, both inkjet cartridges and ink in tank printers can clog if not used regularly, meaning you may have to do some maintenance to get them in working order again if they remain unused for a period of time.

Laser printers, on the other hand, require little maintenance as they use a dry toner, and can also print pages with great speed compared to ink tank and inkjet models. The toners can print thousands of pages before needing replacement as well, and despite the high upfront costs for the cartridges, their lifespan means they are ultimately economical.

The downside of laser printers is that they are generally quite expensive, with high prices for both the units themselves and their cartridges. They are also usually limited in the types of paper they can print on, with paper used for photos and the like unsuitable.

Speaking of which, if this applies to you, then an inkjet printer is the preferable option, as they generally provide a better quality printout. And unlike laser printers, they can handle different paper types, including the high quality photo paper you’ll usually opt for when printing pictures.

If you have multiple people printing from different locations around the house, then a printer with Wi-Fi is a must. Fortunately, most printers on the market today are equipped with this feature. But even more convenient are those with NFC connectivity, which allows for instant, setup-free connection between your device and printer when in close proximity, making it even faster to print what you need.

There are several types of home printers available, including inkjet printers, laser printers, and multifunction printers. Inkjet printers use liquid ink to create prints and are good for printing photos and color documents. Laser printers use toner to create prints and are good for printing text documents and graphics. Multifunction printers combine the capabilities of a printer, scanner, copier, and sometimes a fax machine in one device.

For more help, we reviewed the best inkjet printers and the best laser printers.

There are several factors to consider when choosing a home printer, including the type of printing you will be doing (e.g. documents, photos), your budget, connectivity options, and size and weight. You should also consider the cost of ink or toner, as this can vary significantly depending on the printer and usage.

To maintain your home printer, you should regularly clean the printer, replace the ink or toner when necessary, and make sure the printer is not overcrowded with paper. You should also keep the printer in a dust-free environment to prevent debris from clogging the machine.

The cost of ink or toner for home printers can vary significantly depending on the printer and usage. Some printers have high-capacity ink or toner cartridges that last longer and can save you money in the long run, while others have smaller cartridges that need to be replaced more frequently. It is important to consider the cost of ink or toner when choosing a home printer, as this can be a significant ongoing expense. Some companies offer subscriptions or bulk purchasing options to help reduce the cost of ink or toner. It is also a good idea to shop around and compare prices from different retailers.

Inkjet printers use two kinds of ink to suit different situations. Pigment inks contain colored particles in suspension. The non-soluble particles bond quickly with the paper leaving bold prints that are less prone to smudging, running or fading under UV light. Pigment ink works well with smooth high-quality paper and is ideal for text documents. With dye-based inks, the colorant is in solution so it needs to soak into the paper and the prints are more susceptible to running and less UV resistant. Dye works well with cheap paper and also coated photo paper thereby making it ideal for photos. Many inkjet printers use both black pigment ink and colored dyes in combination.

The home printer with the cheapest ink will depend on a variety of factors, including the type of printer (inkjet or laser), the brand, and the type of ink or toner it uses. In general, inkjet printers tend to have cheaper ink than laser printers, but the cost can still vary widely. It's a good idea to compare the cost of ink or toner for different printer models before making a decision.

The lifespan of a home printer can vary depending on the brand, model, and how it is used. Some printers may last for several years with proper maintenance, while others may have a shorter lifespan. It's important to consider the overall cost of ownership, including the cost of ink or toner, when deciding whether to purchase a printer for home use.

Whether or not you should buy a printer for home use will depend on your specific needs and budget. If you frequently need to print documents or photos, or if you work from home and need to print materials for business, a printer can be a useful investment. However, if you only occasionally need to print, it may be more cost-effective to use a printing service or access a printer at a local library or office.

There are three main types of printer: inkjet, laser, and ink tank.

Inkjets are all-rounders using liquid ink for high-quality text, graphics and especially photos. They're your classic home printer, although there are plenty of office inkjets out there. They're small, simple to use, For low-level printing jobs, they're perfect. The printers are cheap to buy, but the high price of ink cartridges make it more expensive long-term.

Laser printers use toners, providing crisp, detailed documents - they're a mainstay of offices. Instead of using liquid ink, lasers use a powder that's heated on the page. As a result, print speeds are faster - more ppm the better. They don't tend to handle photos as well as an inkjet, they're expensive to buy but the replacement toner is cheap, so they're a long-term investment,

Ink tank printers, like laser printers, the initial cost is higher - but they offer a lot of bang for their buck. Like an inkjet, it uses liquid ink in bottles, letting you refillable individual colors as you use them. This leads to reduced running costs and reduced waste. While ink cartridges last for a few hundred pages, ink tank printers can print thousands of pages before needing to be refilled. The overall economical choice.

But these are far from the only printers on the market, as we saw in our guide Inkjet vs Laser vs LED: What’s best for you? The category is incredibly diverse. In our experience, there's always a way to print almost anything - the difference mostly comes down to the type of inks or dyes used.

When choosing which printer is best for you, there are a number of factors to look into - not everyone's needs are the same. These considerations include:

Inkjet or laser

If you print photos, the answer is inkjet. With thousands of nozzles applying liquid ink dots onto plain or coated paper, inkjets achieve superior image quality, while being generally smaller and cheaper than lasers. However, the dry toner used by laser printers is more efficient and allows for faster, cleaner and more consistent printing at higher capacities. For some top recommendations, we reviewed the best inkjet printers, best ink tank printers, and the best laser printers.

Monochrome or color

If you don’t need to print in color, monochrome laser printers are significantly cheaper to buy and run than their color counterparts. They’re also simpler and have more space for higher capacity black cartridges. The same cannot be said of inkjets which are able to deliver all colors via the same printhead, so there’s little advantage in having just one.

Print-only or multifunction

The essential difference between a pure printer and an MFP (multifunction printer) also known as an AOI (all-in-one) is the integrated scanner. Naturally, this feature adds size and cost, but a flatbed scanner will capture documents more satisfyingly than an app on your smartphone and it effectively turns any printer into a photocopier. The more expensive MFPs will also offer an ADF (automatic document feeder) for passing a stack of pages over the scanner for you. We tested out the best all-in-one printers.

Home or office

Printers designed for domestic use tend to be compact and affordable inkjets which can print family photos as well as work documents. In the office, printing at faster speeds and higher volumes is more important than size and operating noise, so lasers are more common. Business printers usually have stronger security and can be accessed by whole networked workgroups.

Subscription plans

Services like HP Instant Ink provide cheaper cartridges in the mail before you run out. It makes sense if you print regularly, but it’s not always right for occasional users and getting out of the contract can be difficult.

Essential features

Most printers print on any size paper up to Letter, or A4, so if you need the best large format printers or the best A3 printers, you can expect to pay more. Most devices have Wi-Fi built in as well as an Ethernet port, but you need to check. Also consider the type of media you will be using and the quantity. If you print a lot, it will be worth avoiding inkjet cartridges in favour of refillable ink tanks. If you want to print on card, check the specifications for the maximum compatible paper weight. A printer offering manual duplex is unable to print on both sides of the page automatically, so unless you don’t mind turning over every sheet by hand, make sure it can auto duplex.

Budget

The best cheap printers are usually inkjet models, but their expensive cartridges are the catch. Always check the price of your printer’s consumables before you buy. Bottled ink costs around eighty percent less than cartridges, so a more expensive ink tank device will give you long term savings. We've come across some excellent Prime Day printer deals and Black Friday printer deals when the sales are live, so keep your eyes peeled around that time.

Have a preferred brand? We’ve tested, reviewed, and rated the best HP printers, the best Epson printers, and the best Brother printers.

Having been the printer specialist at TechRadar Pro for some years, I’ve tested hundreds of products, from the best sublimation printers to the best label printers, and I’m always improving my methodology.

The process starts right from the unboxing and initial set-up, which is timed. If there’s a problem with unsustainable packaging or a baffling user manual, I’ll call it. If it’s a pleasure to use, that’ll be reelected in the final score too. I always test both wired and wireless connections and explore the various remote printing companion apps offered by brands such as HP and Epson as these often enhance the user experience

For the performance tests, I have a folder of test cards, photos and text documents designed to assess detail resolution, contrast, color accuracy and gamut. Some are good for spotting feathering in inkjets, while others highlight banding in lasers. A ten-page text document is useful for measuring print rates because I never take manufacturer's claims at face value. Having said that, the quoted print and scan speeds are usually accurate enough that I rarely contradict them.

I print each test page on a range of standard paper stock from cheap 75gsm sheets to 600gsm card, as every printer has its limits and preferences when it comes to paper quality. And if the manual claims you can print on envelopes, labels or t-shirts, I test that too.

Features such as auto-duplex scanning or copying multi-page documents via an ADF (automatic document feed) are evaluated, and an assessment of build quality and design contributes to the overall rating. I pay particular attention to the COO (cost of ownership) because cheap printers can often give lower value for money when you calculate the ongoing consumables cost. You can find out more about our comprehensive testing process in our guide to how we test, review, and rate printers on TechRadar Pro.

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Jim has been evaluating printers for more than twenty years and has, to date, written over a hundred reviews for TechRadar Pro. From pocket printers to industrial dye sublimation, Jim has been there, run the tests and printed the t-shirt. His expertise extends to consumables (paper, ink, toner) and his printer buying guides make it easy to compare these essential peripherals.

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