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The best printer provides steady and reliable performance printing out everything from coupons to term papers. In other words, multifunction printers. Our evaluation focused on the number of pages printed per minute (PPM), automatic duplexing (two-sided printing), all-in-one functionality, and print quality. We also looked into auxiliary smart home printer features such as dedicated smartphone apps to download directly from cloud services like Google Cloud, as well as intuitive and responsive touchscreen displays to manage printing tasks. In case you have been browsing for the best printers, this guide will furnish you with the right options.
After more than 15 hours of research and testing, our top pick for the best printer goes to the Brother Compact Monochrome Laser Printer. It offers the highest PPM rating, offers two-sided printing, and accommodates more than 5 paper sizes to make it a true dynamo for home or office use.
This unit is compact, measuring only 14 by 13 by 9 inches, or roughly the same height as a curved banana. Controls are solid, with a simple LCD screen and six control keys used to power on/off, along with up and down keys to navigate printer settings, General Setup, Network, and Sleep options for reduced power consumption. A separate green ‘Go’ key also clears error messages or completes any remaining jobs.
Its paper tray is simple, with adjustable width and length using the green tabs. Its tray can accommodate A6, A5, B5, executive, A4, legal, and standard letter-sized papers. This makes it an excellent choice for different types of letterheads used in homes and traditional offices. Where you already have the best home scanner.
It includes a color LCD touchscreen screen, which is very responsive to the touch with minimal lag time between menu options. It also enables easy pairing with your tablet to print out documents wirelessly, using dedicated software available to download the appropriate drivers. Copy also looks crisp and colorful, with resolutions of up to 600 and 300 dpi. This is a very capable best all in one printer.
Its paper tray holds up to 60 sheets of paper. Its output tray holds up to 25 pieces of paper. A small slider also allows users to accommodate different paper sizes for all types of assignments. Bonus points go to its automatic document feeder, which allows for multiple-page processing without having to manually feed the printer.
Print speeds are respectable at 9.9 PPM (black), and 5.7 PPM (color), and 2-side printing allow you to cut down on paper waste. It is also compact, weighing roughly 12 pounds. Sliders also allow for quick adjustments between different paper sizes, along with a jam port in the back. This helps minimize paper disruptions while printing. The best printer for home should always have that.
A big draw is its Canon Print smartphone app, which allows users to print and scan items directly from your mobile phone (iOS). The app has simple functions, with two large buttons for Photo Print and Document Print, along with scan and mobile settings options, allowing users to select the paper type, border style, and more. Other functions allow you to monitor ink levels and establish a network connection with the printer.
Paper handling is easy, with an adjustable 250-sheet paper tray. It does offer a below-average number of accepted paper types, only handling letter or legal-size paper, which makes this more of a home office machine. It also offers a Toner Save mode, which manages the amount of toner used on less important documents. This saves your toner cartridges.
2-sided printing is possible using a manual feed slot and rear paper exit. Note, this unit does not offer WiFi capabilities, needing a connection to your computer using a USB port. As a result, downloading photos and files directly from cloud service platforms may be a challenge. Therefore if you want cloud printing, this is not for you. You might also want to read about the best inkjet printer.
This printer features a gorgeous mono touchscreen display, with its main screen showing its Copy and Scan functions. Wireless network connectivity and creating a 123.hp.com account to download HP’s printer software and drivers are also supported. On the resolution side, it delivers printing resolutions of up to 4800 x 1200 dpi for color and 1200 x 1200 dpi for monochrome, more than sufficient for photo printing.
Its maximum sheet size is 8.5 by 11.7 inches, accommodating standard paper as well as photo paper and envelopes. Included are Internal paper guides to support these multiple paper sizes, as well as an extendable output paper holder with a 25-sheet capacity. Covers and hatches are also removable to help clear out paper jams, allowing for hassle-free printing. For labels, check out the best label printer.
Printing photos from the cloud is a breeze using the brand’s Pixma Printing Solutions (PPS) app, which accesses photos directly from cloud services such as Twitter, DropBox, Facebook, Google Drive, and Onedrive. A separate app, Easy PhotoPrint+, also allows you to edit lightly before printing. It is also AirPrint compatible with iOS users, eliminating the need to download drivers. Google cloud printing is a big bonus.
Borderless printing is possible for paper sizes up to 8.5 inches wide, with a 4 by 6-inch photo printed in less than a minute. Colors on smaller photos really pop off the page, which is a nice-to-have for a value printer. My Image Garden software is also included, a separate piece of software that allows for basic editing/filtering functions and automatic classification of files using facial recognition. The best home inkjet printer comes loaded with features today.
This smart home printer is suitable for 10 PPM (black) and 7 PPM (color) using a 35-sheet auto document feeder. It features a good-looking 2.2-inch mono touch screen allowing users to manage tasks. Advanced printing tasks possible include borderless printing and direct input from several cloud services, including Google Drive and Dropbox.
The HP Smart App is useful for easy mobile printing. It uses Bluetooth Smart to set up, which eliminates constant pairing and re-pairing, a common problem with Bluetooth 4.0, its predecessor. It saves power by optimizing, wake, and sleep modes – while also being ENERGY STAR- certified. This could be up there with the best printer for Chromebook. If you are specifically looking for a printer that is designed to print high-quality photos, get the best photo printer.
Finding the best printer for computers will result in steady and trouble-free performance printing, copying, scanning, or faxing your essential documents, such as school assignments and company presentations.
In determining the best printer for a computer to buy, you should consider all-in-one functionality, print speed, two-page printing options, and print-size compatibility. Solid printers allow for a combination of printing, copying, scanning, and faxing, spitting out printed paper at a rapid clip of at least 10 PPM (black) and 7 PPM (color).
Our evaluation also prioritized printers for computers with smartphone compatibility, also called smart home printers, which allow for immediate retrieval of photos and documents from cloud services such as Onedrive, Google Drive, and Dropbox to print.
For the best home printer, check out our top 6 Best Printer review.