Your guide to the best printers of 2020, whether your looking for laser or inkjet for home or office. Check out our latest reviews and buyers' guide on the top printers for this year.
Printers are a pretty boring section of tech, but let's face it we all need one at some point. You might want to print a calendar, a boarding pass or some photos you've taken on your phone. Many are also handy for scanning and copying, too. It's a tough job but we review and rank the best printers around.
Whatever your needs, buying a new printer can be a confusing process. Not only do you have to worry about the upfront cost and whether it can print a good photo, you've also got to consider print speeds, ongoing costs and a host of potential additional features.
We cover all these areas in our full reviews, which you can click through to if you want to read more.
It's worth bearing in mind that the printer market moves slowly, and the latest printers aren't always the best. Printer tech moves slowly so reviews might not be from this year or even the year before that but they stay on sale for a long time unlike categories like phones or laptops.
Read on below our chart for more in-depth printer buying advice.
1. Epson Expression Photo XP-8600
- Price TBC
It might not be the fastest or cheapest printer around but the XP-8600 can do a lot for the price including regular docucment printing and high quality photos with six inks - plus the ability to do CDs and DVDs if you need. And you don't have to keep changing the paper due to two trays.
The design includes a handy touchscreen and the printer is also a copier and scanner.
2. HP Tango
- $149.99
The HP Tango is an excellent printer, but only for a particular type of customer. If you want to print a lot of documents and photos quickly and cheaply then it's not the one for you. Nor is it any good if you want a screen and other features like a card reader and built-in scanner.
This stylish smart printer is designed to be on show and satisfy those wanting to print via a smartphone or with smart assistants like Alexa. The Instagram generation wanting to print selfies and other social media posts. And for that, it's the ideal candidate.
3. Canon Pixma TS3350 MkII
- $79.99
This is not only affordable but offers great quality printing for a range of jobs, including colour images. This is even a copier and scanner too so you're getting a lot for your money.
It's quite slow so isn't a workhorse and you'll want to get XL cartridges to keep running costs down. For printing the occasional letter, boarding pass or family photo withouth breaking the bank it's perfect.
4. Epson Workforce WF-110W
- $299.99
It's not particularly fast, and the high cost of replacement black ink is disappointing, but the lightweight, compact design of the WF-110W will be ideal for mobile workers who need a printer that they can carry around the home or away from the office.
5. Epson EcoTank ET-3750
- $399
6. Brother DCP-J572DW
- £103.20
We're very impressed with the quality the printer can achieve and there are a wide range of printing features and connectivity. You could even use it for high-quality business documents if needed.
However, it's only really suitable for occasional use due to its slow print speed and above average refill prices.
7. Canon Pixma TR8550
- £199
8. Epson Expression Home XP-5105
- US$115
9. Canon Pixma TS6250
- TBC
It's still more expensive than a traditional four-colour printer, but the additional pigment-based black ink offers a higher quality result no matter what you're printing.
Those looking to just print text documents then there's no need to get this model. This is better for those wanting to also print photos and other more complex documents.
10. Brother DCP-J774DW
- £199.99
But it’s the cost of ink cartridges that you’ll need to think about. To be fair, the relatively low up-front cost of the four-cartridge value packs may appeal to home users who know that they’re not going to be doing too much printing on a regular daily basis.
However, those running costs mean that the DCP-J774DW won’t be ideal for home workers or small offices that need to print documents every day of the week.
Your Buying Guide To The Best Printers In 2020
There's no single printer that will suit everyone, so while the list below is ordered it's best not to worry too much about the number beside it. We've mixed together home and business printers, multifunction, colour and mono. They're all good.
Inkjet vs laser
Printers come in two main forms: inkjet or laser, with colour and mono flavours of each. Lasers tend to be more expensive to buy, but provide better quality output, particularly where lots of text is involved. And they can be faster. Notice we said 'tend' - lasers aren't always best.
As a basic rule, if you need to print only text, and a lot of it, a mono laser printer will offer the crispest text output and the best combination of fast page-per-minute output and low ink costs. If you need to print photos, choose an inkjet printer. A dedicated photo printer with individual cartridges for each colour will suit those who print only photos.
Running costs
When buying a printer, remember that the price you pay in the store is just the beginning. Be sure to consider the cost of replenishing toner and other consumables over the lifetime of the printer. This is particularly important if you print a lot. A set of toner cartridges can easily approach the cost of a colour laser printer.
Most manufacturers quote a 'page yield' estimate for their ink cartridges, which is the typical number of pages you can expect to print before the cartridge runs out of ink. You can use the page yield to calculate the average cost per page and you'd be surprised to find how much this can vary from one printer to another.
Of course, if output quality matters more to you than cost, scoot over to the other end of the cost spectrum where there are more specialised printers that use five or even six inks for printing photographs. Those additional inks can produce excellent results for your photo prints, but they add to the cost, sometimes pushing the cost for photos up to 10p or more per page.
Do I need a multifunction printer?
Most modern printers are multifunction 'all-in-one' devices that include a scanner too. This allows you to scan photos and other documents and convert them into digital files that you can store on your computer or share with friends or colleagues. You can also print copies of your scanned documents, allowing the printer to stand in for a photocopier too.
Some models even include a fax machine. If you require a scanner and a photocopier as well as a printer, you'll save money by buying in all-in-one - but if a standalone printer suits your needs, you may be able to spend less.
Print speed and additional features
Speeds quoted by manufacturers are almost never matched by real-world performance. If you often need to print in a hurry, look for independent reviews when choosing your printer.
Other useful features to look out for include additional USB ports and memory card slots that will allow you to print photos direct from a camera.
High-capacity paper trays capable of holding hundreds of sheets of paper, or an automatic document feeder that can handle scanning and copying work while you go and do something more important, may be worth looking out for.
Double-sided printing is handy for halving your paper usage.
It's also worth thinking about the bundled software that comes with your printer. Some printers include software that provides basic editing features, such as red-eye removal or adjusting the colour balance – some even allow you to perform simple editing tasks using controls on the printer itself.
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