When you’re working from home, it’s important to make sure that you have the best home printer scanner that will attend to all of your multiple needs and wants. Whether you’re printing, scanning, or faxing for professional or personal purposes, having the right printer with the right features will help you accomplish your task with much more ease. But what printer scanners and photocopiers are the best for high-quality multi prints of photos and/or documents? Here we provide you with just the right mix of printing units with multiple features that you could use in your own home. At the end of this blog, we also provide you with a list of printer features that you should pay particular attention to while shopping.
Top 10 Best Home Printer Scanners
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1. HP OfficeJet 250
[amazon box=”B01HGD8R5S” description=” ” rating=”4.6″]
The only portable product on our list of the best home printer scanners, the HP OfficeJet 250 is great for printing at home or on the go as well as being available at Walmart. This model is not only portable but also has the built-in features of copying and scanning as well, which is rare for other portable printer scanners.
Already small as it is, this printer scanner is still able to accommodate a 2.65-inch color touchscreen, a 10-page automatic document feeder, and a travel weight of only 6.7 pounds with the battery attached. On top of these features, the functionality of this unit is quite superb due to its print quality and category-leading speeds, which is proven by the quality of basic text documents, color photos, and scanning material.
The drawback of this smaller unit is that the battery life is of lower quality because it doesn’t last for a very extended period of time. This printer scanner is also quite expensive too but both of these are small complaints compared to the number of things that you can do with this unit.
Specifications
- 50-sheet paper capacity
- Wireless printing
- 2.65-inch touchscreen
- 10-sheet automatic document feeder
- Supports multiple paper sizes
- Up to 10ppm/7ppm
Sample Customer Review… This printer has to be by far the best I’ve used personal wise. A compact printer probably 7lbs at max and practically looks like a small toolbox with a lot of power behind it. The fact that it has rechargeable battery makes it a great product for those always on the road and in need of getting documents printed on the go. A fully charged cycle lasts me about a whole day or 2 depending on the printing load. Printing quality is great for an item of this size, the printing speed again depends on what your printing is great. The cost maybe a factor for some but to me it’s well worth the investment being able to print practically anywhere I need to. The phone app is also a great tool, it gives you a live update of how much ink you have left, and other tasks you can perform with just a tap on the phone.
Read more reviews at Amazon.com
2. Brother MFC-L2710DW
[amazon box=”B0763ZCH7K” description=” ” rating=”4.5″]
Cheaper than and with a lower page yield than some of its other products, the Brother MFC-L2710DW is a laser printer that has a great scanning resolution that is double that of a Canon’s and has a really low cost-per-print.
One of the most notable features of this multifunction printer is the fast automatic document feeder, the fast duplex printing and copying, fax capability, and a second paper tray. Since this device is a monochrome laser printer, it has fast document printing that provides you sharp and clear printing jobs every time.
In addition to great document quality, it has the fastest speeds for printing text and mixed text/graphic files. This fast speed also applies to two-sided prints which is a great feature compared to other printer scanners that can only handle one-sided documents.
As stated previously, the flatbed scanner has a great resolution so that you can send high-resolution scans to a colleague. Once the first page comes out, the printing speed is great and the cost-per-print is low but marginally more expensive per print than a Canon printer scanner. The connectivity options of this unit include Ethernet, WiFi, USB, and mobile apps such as Brother iPrint&Scan.
If you’re looking for something that has a higher yield of black pages with duplex scanning, you may want to consider other printers, but if you’re looking for something more inexpensive that has more physical buttons, this Brother printer scanner is for you.
Specifications
- Up to 32ppm
- 250-sheet paper capacity
- Manual feed slot
- 50-sheet automatic document feeder
- Wireless printing
- 2.7-inch touch screen
Sample Customer Review… The Brother MFCL2710DW was purchased to replace an inkjet printer which constantly failed to print. After unpacking and loading the toner cartridge and paper into the printer, my Apple Mac added the printer to the printer section automatically. I selected a letter-sized print job no problem. I then loaded legal-sized per instructions and printed with no problem. Print quality is great. Quite a relief after suffering with an inkjet printer. I may miss color, but photos are better printed at kiosks anyway. I definitely recommend this printer.
Read more reviews at Amazon.com
3. Brother MFC-J995DW
[amazon box=”B07D5VJDF6″ description=” ” rating=”4.5″]
One of the best all-in-one printers for your home is the Brother MFC-J995DW because of its ability to perform different actions including one of the cheapest low-cost-per-print and great scanner features.
The Brother’s INKvestment Tank Ink System can hold more ink per cartridge meaning that they will last quite a long time before you have to replace them and when you do, the replacement is one of the most affordable ink cartridges that are available. Black only and color documents take a little bit more time to print combined between the two but they come out with great detail and only show fine banding in some areas.
Although this printer scanner isn’t recommended for exact color reproduction, the colors are still fairly accurate which makes it ideal for any household or hobby printing needs. Some of the more impressive specifications of this device include that the paper tray can hold up to 250 sheets and that it has an automatic document feeder, which can hold up to 50 sheets.
Print speeds are relatively faster than competing printer scanners and are even able to deliver two-sided prints at a fast rate as well. The connectivity on this unit includes Ethernet and WiFi but you can also directly print off of a USB thumb drive or an SD card as well.
What this product struggles with the most is processing duplex scans automatically which makes it difficult if you intend to scan a multi-page document. This printer scanner also doesn’t support Bluetooth so you wouldn’t be able to print from your mobile phone or scan through an app. Besides these drawbacks, the Brother MFC-J995DW is great for any of your household’s needs.
Specifications
- Cartridges provide up 1-year of ink
- Brother intelligent Page Gauge
- Mobile device printing
- 150-sheet paper tray
- 20-sheet automatic document feeder
- Mac print speed of 12ppm/10ppm
Sample Customer Review… I bought this to replace 2 HP Printers that were using HP Ink service. This printer should pay for itself in less than 6 months. It claims a year of ink but even if it lasts only 6 months we’ll still come out ahead. The printer connected easily to our network. I was able to print from all of our iOS devices out of the box. No drivers to install. Windows PCs I had to download a 500+megabyte file on each one of them. That was kind of a pain but now that it is set up, I really like it. Much faster than the HPs and having an ink monitor on each PC is nice. The rear single sheet feeder is a little touchy with our labels. It likes to misfeed and give us an error about a third of the time but that is minor. You just readjust and press OK. Love the automatic 2-sided printing and the auto sheet feeder for copying. Feels pretty solid. Much heavier than our HP printers. Looks more professional. I’d definitely buy it again.
Read more reviews at Amazon.com
4. Epson ET-4760
[amazon box=”B07PX8LFHC” description=” ” rating=”4.4″]
One of the more expensive domestic units on our list for the best home printer scanners, the Epson ET-4760 has multiple rated home office-friendly features and is eco-friendly especially due to its effort to leave out ink cartridges from its design.
The most notable feature of this printer scanner is that it takes a different approach to replace ink. When you think about replacing ink cartridges, it may be a dread to do because of its expensive cost. This Epson unit works to dispel this issue by replacing it with four ink tanks that come with bottles of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black inks, each of which has a printing capacity of up to 4,500 monochrome pages and 7,500 color document pages. Not only will this last for up to two years, but it’s cheaper to replace than buying the regular cartridges.
The features of auto duplex printing, direct faxing with a 100-name/number speed dial memory, and a 30-sheet auto document feeder are the other factors that you have to consider before purchasing this unit. Although there are no clear specifications about whether the resolutions of the printing jobs of this unit are great, the availability of duplex printing makes it ideal for when you’re working at home.
The initial expensive price point of this printer scanner may be a drawback to some, but the long-run savings that you’ll keep because of the different designs of the ink tanks will make it worth it. Since this is the only notable drawback that we can name, this Epson ET-4760 printer scanner lands itself in fourth place among the best home printer scanners.
Specifications
- 250-sheet paper capacity
- 2.4-inch touchscreen
- 30-sheet automatic document feeder
- 2 years worth of ink
- Up to 33ppm/15ppm
Sample Customer Review… I purchased the Epson ET-4760 and I am very pleased with it. It has simple set-up instructions that guide you from start to finish. The touch screen is small, but perfect for what it’s function is for. My fat fingers were able to push the button easily. The ink reservoirs are extremely easy to fill with no mess. The stopper on the ink bottles fits tightly into the top of the reservoir and does not dispense ink until it is seated properly. Setting up the WiFi was equally as easy. The printer detects the WiFi, all you have to do is pick the correct one and enter your password. The software download is done directly from Epson’s website. It also has step-by-step instructions that make installation easy. The print quality looks good and I see no issues or concerns. I am very happy to finally get away from expensive printer cartridges!!
Read more reviews at Amazon.com
5. Canon TR8620
[amazon box=”B08FF2X3PV” description=” ” rating=”4.4″]
Yet another household printer that could also work in the office is the Canon TR8620 because of its features such as its 20-page automatic document feeder, the two paper trays, and its duplexer for two-sided printing.
With faster than average printing speeds, this unit also yields a high print quality as well, which is proven by the great text and color graphic print jobs and how fast even glossy photos are printed. The 5-ink cartridge system with the two types of black allows for high-quality accuracy when printing, lending itself to natural-looking colors, smooth transitions, and sharp details. The 4.30-inch color touchscreen display also allows for an easy user experience, as the printer also supports Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant too.
The only drawback of this unit is that it requires you to spend more than average on ink because it uses ink cartridges instead of ink tanks. Besides this, there are no other notable disadvantages that come along with purchasing the Canon TR8620, making it highly ideal for consideration.
Specifications
- 4.3-inch touchscreen
- Compatible with Alexa
- 20-sheet automatic document feeder
- 100-sheet paper capacity
- Duplex scanning
- Wireless printing
- 5-color individual ink system
Sample Customer Review… I spent a bit of time reviewing printers. We were hooked on HP but as they stopped having individual colour cartridge replacements, it was decided to try Canon. As we may use up one of more colour than another – it was best to try this particular printer. So far, all works great as we use it for scanning, printing, and double side printing. Both wifi and direct hook up to the router work great. The auto turn-off feature works good for us as we may forget to turn it off. I look forward to trying colour photos.
Read more reviews at Amazon.com
6. HP Envy 6055
[amazon box=”B083ZZ96PT” description=” ” rating=”4.4″]
HP’s Envy 6055 may be a small all-in-one printer, but its performance on scanning and copying is a job well done. You can fit the printer in small spaces in your work-from-home office, and it can be set up in a short amount of time. The printer is affordable and does not require much skill to use it, which is always a plus! You can also print in either color or monochrome, whichever you choose! A plus to this is that having more than just a monochrome color is great when reading important documents.
Specifications
- Up to 10ppm monochrome
- Up to 7ppm color
- Can hold up to 100 pages
- Print wirelessly
Sample Customer Review… I’ve been looking for a printer for quite a while and decided on the HP Envy 6055. I was able to set up the printer via app on my iPhone and allow printing access via my MacBook Air as well. Altogether it took less than 20 minutes. Print quality seems to be pretty decent. The app via phone even lets you size how big you want the image to print on the paper. Both the prints from my MacBook Air and iPhone turned out really well. I haven’t tried printing on photo paper as of yet. I opted out of the ink subscription because I don’t plan on printing that much because it’s more for home crafts, photo albums, and school use. I’ve only had it about 2 weeks, but if I have any issues I’ll update the review.
Read more reviews at Amazon.com
7. Canon Imageclass MF445dw
[amazon box=”B07WVF56VB” description=” ” rating=”4.3″]
The Canon MF445dw is one of the best all-in-one printers in the market for its black and white printing. It also boasts a very well-built monochrome printer and cartridge system that ensures that the cost-per-print is relatively low. The design of this unit also makes it easy for you to access the toner cartridges from the front and the paper jams from the back.
Due to the higher page yield, you don’t have to replace the toner often which, as we had mentioned before, lends itself to keeping the cost-per-print very low. In addition to this, this printer scanner includes an automatic document feeder and a flatbed scanner with great resolution. The printing speed of it is also great which is proven by how fast the subsequent pages come out after the initial one. The options for connectivity include Ethernet, USB, Airprint, WiFi, Mopria Print, mobile printing from the Canon PRINT Business app, or directly from a USB thumb drive.
One of the drawbacks of this printer scanner is that it does not support Bluetooth and there’s no SD card slot that you can take advantage of. Since this is a laser printer, another disadvantage is that this unit prints low-quality photos, and you might even have to add color to a document before purchasing it because of it being a monochrome printer as well. Although this may be the case, this unit is an outstanding printer for black and white printing jobs, which may outweigh any of the cons that you will encounter.
Specifications
- Up to 40ppm
- 900-sheet paper capacity
- One pass duplex scan
- Compatible with Alexa
- Wireless printing
- Automatic document feeder
Sample Customer Review… I have purchased at least a dozen of the ImageClass printers over the years for my business. There has been a very slow evolution in the last decade or so. They always have been great in that they will print a page within about 10 seconds of sending the file, but they have always been at about the same speed. Until this one. This one cost just a bit more than the others, but boy is it worth it. Print speed is about 50% faster, and scanning speed is at least that much faster – probably more. The interface is much better with commonly used functions on the home screen (like printing two pages to one side of one page, which I do). I think the only thing I find annoying is that with the touch screen, you have to be careful your finger is not moving at all, or it registers it as a slide instead of a press. Pretty minor stuff. Oh, and another big thing. Because there are no copycat toner makers for this machine yet, the cost of a cartridge is MUCH more expensive than the knock-offs I always bought for the lesser ImageClasses.
Read more reviews at Amazon.com
8. Canon Color MF743Cdw
[amazon box=”B07QBR85G6″ description=” ” rating=”4.3″]
Although you may be looking for a printer for your household, this Canon Color unit is also very suitable for your office because of its monthly page volume of 4,000 pages, 50-sheet automatic document feeder, and 550-sheet paper cassette. Made out of durable-feeling plastic, this large laser printer can meet many of your needs.
The page yield for black and color documents is high and the ink cartridges are also high-yield which makes sense why they last for a longer period of time. Overall, the printer has very high color accuracy but it may not be good enough for print jobs that need exact color reproduction. Due to the laser characteristic of this unit, some photos may come out a little muted with some banding in darker areas. Another thing to note is that black only documents take longer printing times than color documents.
For an all-in-one printer scanner, there are the great features of the automatic document feeder that is able to perform duplex scanning and faxing capabilities. When scanning, this unit accommodates thick documents and textbooks due to the ability of the scanner lid hinges to lift high enough. In addition, there are the work-friendly features of the two-sided scanning and low printing costs as well. The connectivity multifunction options include USD, WiFi, Ethernet, Mopria Print, Apple AirPrint, or printing directly from an external storage device.
Aside from the fact that some photos may be muted and there can be the presence of some banding in darker areas of documents and photos, there is also the drawback that the scanning resolution isn’t as high as other office printers. Though the drawbacks are present, the printing quality is relatively good. Besides the stated imperfections, this Canon Color printer is highly capable of doing a lot of things that you may seek in a household or an office printer scanner.
Specifications
- Compatible with Alexa
- All-in-one cartridge
- Up to 28ppm
- One pass duplex scan
- 5-inch touch screen
- Expanded paper capacity of up to 850 sheets
Sample Customer Review… You know the old saying, “You get what you pay for?” well if you want perfect color copies, it is far cheaper and faster than the inkjets I had before. I decided to finally get rid of my Epson workforce printer, which worked OK for a few years but of course always problems with lines, cleaning print heads, etc., and the cost of the cartridges! Well, I took the plunge and bought this. It works great! I use it at home, not at the office, and don’t print loads of things every month, but when I do it does the job well. I have had no wifi connection problems in sleep mode at all. I tried from the phone, iPad, and computer, all printed fine no problem. Worth the extra cost compared to an ink jet if you ask me. It may not be for everyone, but I have found laser printers superior overall to inkjets. If you just do black and white, definitely get a low-cost black only laser. So fast and also cost efficient.
Read more reviews at Amazon.com
9. Canon Pixma G7020 Printer
[amazon box=”B081TZ38X2″ description=” ” rating=”4.3″]
Like many other printers, the Canon Pixma G7020 printer is an all-in-one printer! You can place large amounts of paper in the main tray box and can print over 200 sheets. The running costs are low, as are the inks that go into the printer! When printing photos from the Canon Pixma G7020, the results are positive as the quality of the photos is high.
Specifications
- Color
- All-in-one
- 33ppm
- Can use ethernet, USB, or wireless
- Up to 100 sheets
Sample Customer Review… Great Idea cartridge less ink. More expensive up front but will save in the long run. Replaceable print heads (haven’t found anyone selling as yet)
Hope they last a long time. Have used. Connects to the network quickly, also hooked up to IPAD with no issues. Print quality is very good, black prints are crisp as a laser printer. Color printing is also quite good. Hope 3rd party ink is of the same quality as you can get a full set of ink bottles for the same cost of 1 color bottle.
Read more reviews at Amazon.com
10. Canon PIXMA TR8520
[amazon box=”B074VFW3VX” description=” ” rating=”4.2″]
One of the more compact designed printer scanners on our list, the Canon PIXMA TR8520 is well built due to its solid plastic material and the ease with which you can access paper jams and ink cartridges. The excellent photo quality, low cost-per-print, and two scanning option features are definitely worthy of your consideration for your household printing needs.
The color cartridge of this unit yields many pages, allowing the cost-per-print to be quite low for both color photos and documents. Hence the printer is at a relatively low and cheap overall cost. Overall, the quality of these print jobs has excellent photo quality because the images come out looking detailed and vibrant. Although one may perceive the colors to be vibrant, they can also be considered oversaturated and inaccurate but are considerably great for casual use.
One of the two scanning options is the flatbed, which you can use for any thick documents or fragile photos. The sheetfed scanner is the other option, which is useful for automatically scanning several documents at the same time. There are several options for connectivity, including Ethernet, USD, WiFi, Bluetooth, Airprint, Mopria Print, and directly from an SD card or USB drive.
Although the cost-per-print is low, the ink cartridges don’t hold that much ink so it necessitates replacement more often than other units would. Another one of the notable drawbacks of this unit is that it’s slow for printing any kind of documents, including that it takes almost a minute to print photos. To balance this out, this printer scanner performs exceptionally well when printing those photos at an affordable cost so it’s well worth it, proving it to be one of the best photo printers in the market.
Specifications
- 5 color individual ink system
- Wireless printing
- Print resolution of 4800 x 1200 dpi
- 4.3-inch touchscreen
- 20-sheet automatic document feeder
- Memory card support
Sample Customer Review… I had been putting off getting rid of my PIXMA MX870 for a while as I did not like the thought of a new all-in-one printer not having a rear tray which the newer PIXMAs did not seem to have until this one came along. I am no network expert but had no problem getting this printer set up and installed on my home network and it now can be seen by any device on the network and they can print wirelessly to it.
I have always been a fan of Canon for their photo quality and have been hesitant to stray because of that. I’m glad to report that this one does have the photo quality I need but it also has a lot of features that make it an excellent home printer. I just finished printing over 100 Christmas cards and had it address the (smallish) envelopes. No jams, excellent color, and very fast printing.
The size of the unit is deceptive. It has a small footprint but still does everything an all-in-one should be able to do. I’ve done a fair amount of scanning using both the feeder and the flatbed and both worked well. The touch screen is much easier to navigate than my old MX870 which was quite confusing. Have not tried to fax yet but I did hook up a phone line.
Read more reviews at Amazon.com
Things to Consider Before Buying
When you’re thinking about buying a printer scanner for your household, you have to ensure that the print jobs that the unit is capable of can meet your needs, whether they’re professional or personal. To put your mind at ease while you’re sifting through all of the available options of printers, here is the perfect list of product features that you should keep in mind while shopping.
Price
Of course, one of the top things that you have to consider is your budget during the initial purchase and the subsequent purchases you will make to maintain your printer scanner. All-in-one printers can be sold at multiple price points, an inkjet model could be as cheap as $60, laser printers for $150, and the high-end models for hundreds of dollars.
But don’t forget to consider how much ink and toner will cost when you’ll need to replenish it. Depending on the brand, ink cartridges are usually more expensive than ink tanks. Choosing a printer that won’t require you to replace the ink as often will definitely save you money in the long run.
Style of printer
As you may have noticed, there are different kinds of printers. Inkjet printers were designed to cater towards producing a full range of color, which is then more suited for photos and graphics. Laser printers were designed to create professional-looking documents at a fast rate at a lower cost-per-page.
Home and office printers also lend themselves to their own differences as well. Home printers offer greater quality and value because people who use them don’t print as often. Office printers are built to withstand the busy offices and multiple users that will be printing hundreds of pages every day. What you should be paying attention to is if you’re paying for the features that you need and if you’re paying for anything that you won’t need at all.
Cost-per-page (cpp)
This is determined by dividing the cost of the printer or ink cartridge by the printer’s page yield. So as you will figure out, the higher the price to replace your ink cartridge or tanks, the more the cost-per-page (CPP). Favorably, if you want to save money over time, it’s preferable to have a lower cost-per-page so that you are not spending more on top of that initial purchase of the printer scanner.
Conclusion
Working from home can be hard and especially annoying if you don’t have the right equipment to assist you in completing your job more efficiently. We acknowledge that a lot of the printer scanners that we listed have multiple features, but the one that tops our list for the best home printer scanner is the Brother MFC-J995DW because of its low cost-per-page, quick printing and scanning, and its great quality in printing. Although this is our recommendation, you may have needs that aren’t covered by this specific printer unit, so that is why it’s important to choose the right printer scanner for you.
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Written by Libbie Davidson & Erica Farfan
