Choosing a printer for your home depends on what you need it to do, and the best home printers offer excellent print quality and a suite of features to streamline your work. If you have a home-based business, you may want to consider a laser printer with automatic double-sided printing to help save on print costs. Students should look for a high input and output capacity and wireless printing options to handle large reports and other documents. For anyone who needs a printer for occasionally making hard copies of online shopping receipts and other important documents, a single-function, budget-friendly printer is the best option. If you’d like an all-in-one printer, it’s important to look for an option that offers an automatic document feeder to streamline jobs that involve either large documents or stacks of different images.
Integrated security features like data encryption and password protection are important to consider when shopping for a wireless printer to help keep your personal data and work documents safe from unauthorized access. No matter what your needs are, there is a printer out there that will be a perfect fit. We’ve gathered our top picks from trusted brands like HP, Epson, and Canon to help you choose which is right for you.
As it’s an “all-in-one” device, HP Envy Photo 7155 incorporates the ability to scan and copy documents (and photos) too. Scanning to many digital file formats (e.g. RAW, JPG, and PDF) is supported, while up to 50 copies can be produced at a resolution of up to 600dpi. It’s also rated for print speeds of up to 14ppm (black) and 9ppm(color), and sports a monthly duty cycle of up to 1,000 pages. For connectivity, everything from Wi-Fi 802.11bgn and USB 2.0, to Bluetooth LE and SD card slot is included in the mix.
Best Overall
HP Envy Photo 7155
Considering the sheer number of images most of us capture on a regular basis, getting a photo printer certainly makes a lot of sense. There are quite a few available in the market, with HP’s Envy Photo 7155 being another excellent choice. It allows you to print vibrant and richly detailed pictures from a diverse range of sources, including social media platforms and your smartphone’s camera roll. And that’s not all! Using the device’s 2.7-inch color display (with touch input), you can view/edit photos stored on external SD cards before printing them.
The Epson WorkForce WF-7720 is a great all-in-one printer for any home office. You can print, scan, copy, and fax documents and images with this model at speeds up to 18 pages per minute. It has a 500-page input capacity for fewer refills and a 125-sheet output tray to handle large documents and print jobs. With automatic two-sided printing, you can save money on paper and save time on large projects. The scan and copy functions use a 35-sheet automatic document feeder to quickly tackle large stacks of documents or images.
Best for Large Projects
Epson WorkForce WF-7720 Printer
All-in-one
Large input and output capacity
Alexa compatible
No print from USB option
Borderless printing requires special paper
The 4.3-inch touchscreen makes it easy to access menus and print options. With Alexa compatibility, you get hands-free controls over your printer to set up a print queue or start a print job when you’re busy with other tasks. It’s compatible with Windows and Mac-based computers as well as most mobile devices for easy home office integration.
If you’re looking for a home printer that’s as stylish as it is practical, the HP OfficeJet Pro 8035 is an excellent option. Its sleek, modern design comes in a range of colors to suit almost any home office decor, and it is made of recycled plastic and electronics for sustainable manufacturing. This all-in-one model lets you scan, copy, print, and fax documents and images at speeds up to 20 pages per minute. You can scan documents to flash drives, cloud storage, and email programs for easy organizing and distribution. It has a USB port for printing directly from memory devices like flash drives and external hard drives.
Best Design
HP OfficeJet Pro 8035
Built-in security
Voice controls
Mobile printing
No starter ink included
With the HP Smart app, you can wirelessly print, scan, or copy documents and images with your mobile devices. The OfficeJet Pro 8035 features a color touchscreen for quick and easy access to menus, print profiles, and settings options. It’s also compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant for hands-free voice controls. Built-in security features include encryption of your personal and work data as well as password protection to prevent unwanted access to your printer. This printer is compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux based computers so no matter what you use at home, this printer will fit right in.
If you hate the idea of having to clear out space for your home printer, we’ve got a model you won’t have to think about finding space for. Canon’s Pixma iP110 is an incredibly convenient little printer. This isn’t a scanner or copier though, so if you need those features, you will need to see one of our other picks. As long as printing is all you need, the Pixma iP110 is a potent little device. It measures just 12.7 x 7.3 x 2.5 inches and weighs 4.3 pounds. And, with support for an optional battery, that size and portability make it handy to take from room to room or even on the go outside of your home.
Most Convenient
Canon PIXMA iP110 Wireless Printer
Very portable
Great connectivity
AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, and PictBridge support
Slightly higher per page costs
Despite its size, the Pixma iP110 still offers a 50-sheet paper tray and lots of connection features. It can connect to Wi-Fi to support printing from computers throughout your home, or from iOS devices using AirPrint and Android devices using Google Cloud Print. Canon’s own PictBridge tool will even let you print directly from certain Canon cameras. Convenience does come at a price though, as the per-page cost of printing is on the high side, especially for color photos. Our reviewer Eric loved this Pixma’s speed and the quality of the prints it produced.
“If you’re looking for mobility, and more importantly, the ability to quickly and easily print from any device on your Wi-Fi network with minimal extra features, the Pixma absolutely delivers.” — Eric Watson, Product Tester
The HP LaserJet Pro M428fdw is an excellent fit for any home-based business. This all-in-one laser printer lets you automate certain tasks to help streamline your workflow and keep you on task during the day. The 350-sheet input tray and 150-sheet output tray are perfect for handling large print jobs like advertising flyers, business cards, or information pamphlets. You can buy optional trays to have an input capacity of up to 550-pages for fewer refills. With single-pass duplex printing, you can save time and print costs by using less paper for large print jobs. This laser printer can produce up to 40 pages per minute, meaning you can spend less time waiting for projects to finish printing and more time getting important work done.
Best for Home Businesses
HP LaserJet Pro M428fdw
All-in-one
Built-in security
High input and output capacity
Expensive
No voice controls
Integrated security features include automatic threat detection, password protection, data encryption, and administrative monitoring to keep your personal data and work safe from unauthorized access. With Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Direct connectivity, you can print from your mobile devices and laptops without an internet network. With a maximum monthly duty cycle of 80,000 pages, you can tackle everything from sales receipts to large advertising campaigns.
If you need a small printer that can really do it all, then the Canon Pixma TR4520 is the one for you. While its design doesn’t really seem all that small, it measures just 17.2 x 11.7 x 7.5 inches while still offering the full features of an all-in-one printer. You can print, scan, copy, and fax on the Canon Pixma TR4520 — and that’s just the basics. The 100-sheet paper tray will help with large jobs, and the automatic duplex printing will help even more when you’re trying to maximize the utility of each sheet of paper.
Best Compact All-in-One
Canon Pixma TR4520
Compact
Cloud connectivity
Automation features
Only saves scans as PDFs
If you know you’re going to have a lot of printing to do, it’s simply not worth it to fool around with a small, low-budget printer. You won’t want to be re-loading it with paper all the time and burning through expensive and wasteful ink cartridges. That’s where the Epson Expression ET-2750 EcoTank comes in. On paper, it’s a fairly standard all-in-one printer, offering copying, scanning, and printing, and measuring 17.5 x 12 x 6.7 inches. At 10 pages per minute for black prints, it’s speed is modest, and its 100-sheet paper tray isn’t crazy.
Best for Frequent Printing
Epson Expression ET-2750 EcoTank
Big cartridge-free ink tanks
All-in-one features
Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi direct connectivity
Modest speed
But, what is wild is how much ink you’ll get from the cartridge-free ink tanks. Included with the printer are ink bottles offering up to 4,000 pages of black prints or up to 6,500 pages of color prints. And, thanks to the bottles and tanks of ink, there’s not as much plastic waste. On top of that, you also get handy features like printing from the Cloud and wirelessly on Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi Direct. You can also print photos directly from memory cards.
The only major downsides to the Tango X are that only prints 5 X 7 inches and smaller can be borderless, and the scanning function just takes a photo with your smartphone camera. Overall, the HP Tango X is a slickly designed modern printer that is ideal for smart homes and for those who want to print high-quality photos via the web.
Best for Smart Homes
HP Tango X
Print from from any location via the internet
Voice-activated printing
Compact and attractive
HP Instant Ink plan can reduce costs
Prints larger than 5 x 7 inches can’t be borderless
Can only scan documents via your smartphone camera
How We Tested
Our expert testers and reviewers have evaluated home printers based on a variety of metrics. First, we look at the design, focusing on the printer’s footprint, how many trays it has, and how much paper and ink it can hold. Next, we look at printing quality and speed, timing how many black and white/color sheets a printer can churn out in a minute. We also look at the fonts, make sure text is crisp, and there are no smudges or legibility issues.
The HP Envy 5660 is a great balance between form, function, and price. It features Wi-Fi connectivity, a USB port, and an SD card reader for printing from mobile devices or external memory storage. The Epson WorkForce WF-7720 is an excellent runner-up. This all-in-one printer features automatic double-sided printing and compatibility with Alexa for hands-free controls.
For photo printers, we evaluate much of the same factors, except with a bigger focus on color accuracy. We consider software features and connectivity as an added bonus, though not make-or-break factors by themselves. Finally, we look at price and compare the printer to its rivals to make a final determination. Lifewire purchases its review products; manufacturers don’t provide them.
About Our Trusted Experts
Taylor Clemons has over three years of experience writing about games and consumer technology. She has written for IndieHangover, GameSkinny, TechRadar and her own publication, Steam Shovelers.
Mark Thomas Knapp has been covering tech professionally since 2012 and has contributed a number of top tech publications. Amongst his specialties are digital cameras and photography, so he’s had a ton of experience with printers, both of the traditional and dedicated photo printer variety.
Erik Watson has been writing for tech and gaming publications for over five years now, and has covered a huge variety of topics and product categories, including printers, smartphones, and consoles.
What to Look for in a Home Printer
All-in-one functionality - Many of the top home printers now offer the ability to scan, copy, or even fax documents, so if any of those features is vital to you, make sure you invest in a printer described as an “all-in-one,” or that highlights those specific functions in its product description.
Speed - If you print at any volume, you’ll want a model that can deliver pages quickly. Even if you’re only an occasional printer, you don’t want to idly stare at your machine while pages slowly trickle out of it; a PPM (page per minute) rating of at least 20 means a pretty brisk pace, though of course color/photo prints will take significantly longer than black and white prints, generally.
Connectivity - If you’ve only got a single PC/device you intend to print from and plenty of space near it to setup a printer, connectivity may not be that crucial, but for most users, you’ll likely want some other ways to feed documents to your shiny new Canon or Epson. Many modern printers support Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or even have slots for physical media like SD cards and flash drives.
