A good printer should be a key consideration for any office. Whether you’re shopping for your business or upgrading the one at home to keep up with your work, studies, and everyday printing needs, we’ve got you covered with the best printers in 2025.
Getting the best value for your money can be a bit more complicated when buying printers than other devices. This is because you need to factor in the long-term running costs of that printer, including the price of the specific ink it requires.
Of course, there are other key factors you need to consider as well, such as print quality, printing speed, and what it is that you’re going to be printing. For example, some printers excel at printing high-quality photos, while others offer a variety of functions, like the ability to scan and fax documents.
The good news is that we’ve compiled a list of the best printers we’ve reviewed at a variety of price points and for different purposes. Use this guide to find the best printer for your specific needs and budget.
Keep reading to find a list of our favourite printers at a glance with links you can click to buy them, or scroll down further to read a summary of each with pros, cons, and links to our full, in-depth printer reviews.
If you’re still not taken by any of the printers on this list, don’t worry. We’ll be updating this page as more printers come through our office, so make sure to bookmark and check back for our latest favourites.
If you’re looking for more home office tech, don’t forget to check out our guides to the best desktop PCs, best monitors, best keyboards, best mechanical keyboards, best wireless mice and best laptops.
We’ve also created a guide to the best photo printers which we’d recommend checking out if you’re looking for a printer to preserve your memories on paper or film.
Best printers at a glance
How we test
Every printer we review goes through a series of uniform checks designed to gauge key things including print quality, speed and cost. These include first-time setup, changing respective cartridges, and measuring key things such as print speed and quality with a range of different paper types, including plain and photo.
We’ll also compare the features with other printers at the same price point to see if you’re getting good value for your money. We’ve also calculated how much it would cost to replace the cartridge or refill the ink in order to see how much the printer will cost you in the long term.
HP Smart Tank 5105
Best overall printer
Pros
- Decent features
- Great plain paper print quality
- Very low running costs
Cons
- Slow colour printing
- Ink bottles could be mis-inserted
The HP Smart Tank 5105 is our top recommended multifunction printer for a number of reasons. It can print, scan and copy (although lacks any fax functionality), its small size is easy to accommodate in a home office and its low-cost printing makes it a great value option in the long run.
HP typically uses cartridges in its printers, which are renowned for expensive running costs. But the Smart Tank 5105 uses highly efficient ink bottles instead, resulting in ink costs of just 0.7p per colour page – few printers have better running costs than this. HP even ships its printer with 6,000 pages worth of ink, so it’s possible you won’t even need to buy more ink.
Our tests showed the printing speeds to be reasonable at 10.9 pages per minute, while we were very impressed with the print quality on plain paper. This printer is not recommended for photo prints, with imperfect colour accuracy and loss of detail with dark colours. The Canon PIXMA G650 and Instax Square Link are better options for those who want to print photos.
But if you’re happy to stick to printing documents and fancy a great value all-purpose home multifunction printer, then the HP Smart Tank 5105 is our top recommendation.
Reviewer: Simon Handby
Full review: HP Smart Tank 5105 Review
Canon PIXMA Pro-200
Best photo printer
Pros
- Exceptional photo prints up to A3+
- Eight-ink print engine for less grain in colour photos
- Grey inks for neutral black and white prints
Cons
- Expensive to run
- Not great for plain paper
The Canon PIXMA Pro-200 has no equal if you’re looking for high-quality photo printing. Whether you’re looking for fantastic portraits, vibrant and detailed group shots or breathtaking landscapes, the PIXMA Pro-200 has you covered.
This A3+ printer features a straightforward design, inviting the average user to take full advantage of its tremendous photo printing capabilities. Canon’s printer innovates with an eight-cartridge approach, adding two shades of grey as well as lighter shades of magenta and cyan to the traditional set of four. This decision makes for finer control over colour, ideal for photo prints.
Along with showing its class when it comes to finer details, the PIXMA Pro-200 provides luxurious mid and dark tones as well as more than holding its own with contrasty subjects. Consistency was also top-notch in our testing, with only one photo in our entering testing period coming out with a flaw.
You’d think this high of a standard of print may take some time, right? Not with this Canon, speedily dishing out your prints even at sizes beyond A3. This printer is an ideal package for those looking for top-tier A3+ photo prints.
Reviewer: Simon Handby
Full review: Canon PIXMA Pro-200 review
Epson EcoTank ET-18100
Best A3 printer
Pros
- Very good photo print quality
- Less cost and hassle thanks to bottled ink
- Surprisingly compact
Cons
- Underwhelming plain paper printing
- Expensive to buy
Not all printers are created equal, and some focus on value over luxurious quality. The Epson EcoTank ET-18100 is the former, offering a great all-around experience that keeps the burden on your wallet low, with low-running costs.
The low-running costs really are the star of the show here, with the EcoTank ET-18100 donning refillable ink tanks. These tanks not only save time on refilling compared with cartridges but they are typically cheaper to run. You’d get a full set of these bottles in the box too. The replacement ink costs up to £12 per colour, with Epson saying a full tank will get you around 2,100 prints – coming in at 3.3p per postcard print.
The Epson is a photo printer at heart but it performs to an acceptable level with plain paper. When tackling photos, the results are speedy and impressive. This is a key selling point, as this is a printer for those who will make plenty of use of its photo capabilities. Its low-running costs will only negate its high £600 price if you’re going to print a lot.
Its quality isn’t up to the pro levels of the Canon PIXMA Pro-200, which will better suit professional photographers but, if you’re a very keen amateur photographer, it’ll be hard to find better. The EcoTank ET-18100 excels with sharpness and vivid details in its photos – you won’t be disappointed.
Reviewer: Simon Handby
Full review: Epson EcoTank ET-18100 review
Epson EcoTank ET-2830
Best for low running costs
Pros
- Generous inks and extremely low running costs
- Surprisingly affordable for a refillable MFP
- Reasonable quality and speed
Cons
- Basic features
- One-year warranty only
If you’re planning on printing a lot of documents every day, then the printing costs will become even more important than a printer’s upfront fee. Our tests show that the Epson EcoTank ET-2830 multi-function printer costs just half a penny per page, which is one of the best running costs we’ve ever seen from a printer. Epson even bundles in around 6000 pages’ worth of ink in the box, so some owners may never even need to buy more ink in the future.
As a multifunction printer, it’s capable of both printing and scanning although it doesn’t support duplexing. Scans and copies from the Epson EcoTank ET-2830 were all impressive too, and are easily good enough for day-to-day use.
Features are a little limited here, as the printer has no display or card slots. It’s also fairly slow, with average printing speeds of 15 pages per minute in black, and 8 pages per minute in colour.
However, all of its limitations are forgiven when you remember just how cheap the running costs are with the Epson EcoTank ET-2830, saving you a fortune in the long-term.
Reviewer: Simon Handby
Full review: Epson EcoTank ET-2830 review
Canon MAXIFY GX5550
Best home office printer
Pros
- Extremely low running costs
- Brilliant paper handling
- Quite fast
The Canon MAXIFY GX5550 is an inkjet print fitted with all the features a home office or even a busy small office could need.
This printer is designed to compete with the colour laser printers usually found in home offices and small businesses. It has two 250-sheet paper trays, allowing it to hold twice as much paper as a standard laser printer, along with a further 100-sheet paper feed at the back. This means it can store a total of 600 pages and separate them into three different media types, such as headed notepaper or coated matte inkjet paper.
The duplex function allows the printer to flip sheets over and print on the reverse side, saving you paper when printing longer documents, while and wireless networking make sharing the printer with family members and colleagues a breeze.
The refillable ink tanks can provide 6000 black and 14000 colour pages, or up to 9000/21000 in Economy Mode. The affordable cost of the ink works out at just 0.6p for a full-colour page or 0.43p using Economy Mode. This makes the printer significantly cheaper to run than a typical laser printer.
We found the printing speed to be close to that of laser printers when printing colour documents, though it struggled more to keep up when printing our test documents. Here, the printer took 24 seconds to deliver the first page of black text, which is nowhere near laser-fast. If speed is your most important criterion, opt for a laser printer instead.
It also can’t scan, copy or fax, but if you need an excellent printer with brilliant paper handling and extremely low running costs, the Canon MAXIFY GX5550 is our pick.
Reviewer: Simon Handby
Full Review: Canon MAXIFY GX5550
Canon PIXMA TS5350i
Best cheap printer
Pros
- Good specification at this price
- Strong plain paper print quality
- Fairly good photos
Cons
- Expensive ink unless you sign up to a subscription
- Not an especially fast printer
The Canon PIXMA TS5350i isn’t going to win the race for best overall printer, but if you’ve got a tight budget to spend on a printer, the TS5350i is the one for you.
It may be cheap, but it comes with a bunch of features and gets the job done to a suitable standard at a decent speed. The range of specs are surprisingly good for the low price and it does a strong job when it comes to photo printing as well. Being a three-in-one multifunction printer, you’ll find printing, scanning and copying all onboard this cheap device.
What slightly damages this low-cost printer’s value proposition is the cost of ink, which isn’t the cheapest on the market. Thankfully, Canon’s printer ink subscription service eases the blow and is your best option if you are going to get plenty of use out of this printer.
Reviewer: Simon Handby
Full review: Canon PIXMA TS5350i review
Instax Square Link
Best portable instant photography printer
Pros
- In-app editing tools give saturation and contrast a boost
- Only Instax Link printer to use square film
- AR Print and Instax Connect aren’t available on other printers
Cons
- Limited editing tools
- QR codes are too big
- Film development takes slightly longer than advertised
The Instax Square Link is one of three instant “Link” printers sold by Fujifilm. While each printer in this series has its own unique feature set, the deciding factor here ultimately comes down to film size – that is if you want to print mini, wide or, in this case, square photos.
The Square Link makes it easy to print bright and detailed 6.2 x 6.2cm images on the go with help from the smartphone app. Photos take just 15 seconds to print, though we found film development lasted a few minutes once the paper was ejected from the printer.
The editing controls in the app are very basic, but offer a convenient way to crop and rotate your images and boost the brightness, saturation and contrast before you hit print. You also have the option to edit the images in a third-party app before uploading them.
There’s a good range of features available through the Instax Square app, including stickers, filters, collage templates and themed frames.
There’s also an AR Print option not found on other Instax printers. This feature allows you to attach secret augmented reality messages and animations that can be unlocked by scanning the QR code on the print.
Instax Connect is another Square Link-exclusive feature that gives you the ability to decorate images before sending them to friends and family to print. There’s even a calendar to make sure you don’t miss any important birthdays or holidays.
The printer itself is quite chunky, but still small enough to slip into most small bags, making it a great option for taking on the go.
Of course, being an instant printer (and not an instant camera) also means you also have the option to snap photos when you’re out and wait until you get home to print them, making the Square Link a convenient gateway into instant photography.
Reviewer: Hannah Davies
Full review: Instax Square Link review
Canon PIXMA TS8750
Best compact printer
Pros
- Squat and smart design
- Excellent photo and scan quality
- Huge touchscreen controls
Cons
- Quite expensive to buy and run
- Some minor usability issues
If you’ve limited space on your desk or in your home office, you can’t beat the small and squat Canon PIXMA TS8750, especially if you plan to use it for more creative jobs, such as photo printing and scanning.
This smartly designed inkjet printer has two 100-sheet paper trays, though depending on where you put the printer, you might not have the easiest time accessing both. Still, having two trays is useful for paper storage and is complemented by duplex printing, allowing you to print on both sides of a sheet to save paper.
The design also includes an SD card slot – a rarity these days – making it easy for photographers to insert a card and browse thumbnails on the display. The six ink tanks will also tempt photographers, working on plain paper and offering a vibrant, glossy finish on coated photo papers.
Because this printer uses cartridges, it’s more expensive to run than a printer with an ink tank. Black text will run you about 4.2p a page and colour graphics around 7.7p a page. It’ll cost you more than 12p for a full-colour page with text and graphics, meaning this certainly isn’t the most economical printer in this list.
The print quality is excellent, as is the scan quality, though the printing speed is on the slower side. Black text is sharp and bold, while colour graphics are punchy on plain paper. Photo prints are superb too, with bold colours and plenty of detail. The PIXMA TS8750 excels at producing realistic skin tones, dark black skies and vivid fruits, though is perhaps most impressive when faced with black and white photos, drawing detail from the deepest shadows.
If you want a squat printer and scanner that produces high-quality results – especially when printing photos – the Canon PIXMA TS8750 is a fantastic choice. However, those on a budget or looking for speedy printing may want to steer clear.
Reviewer: Simon Handby
Full Review: Canon PIXMA TS8750
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We also considered…
FAQs
For those printing large volumes with no real budget constraints, then laser printers are the way to go, given their high capacities and great reliability. However, for most people, inkjet printers are likely to suffice given that they’re more affordable and perfectly serviceable for day-to-day usage.
In our experience, the Epson EcoTank printers are some of the most economical, given their large ink wells that are user-refillable with bottles that results in printing costs several times cheaper than more standard cartridge-based printers.
Generally speaking, toner is better, given it lasts longer and may not dry out as easily as ink does. However, it is more expensive than ink, alongside the fact it works with laser printers, which are traditionally dearer than their inkjet counterparts.
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Trusted Reviews test data
Energy consumption
Printing A4 mono speed (single page)
Printing A4 mono speed (5 pages)
Printing A4 mono speed (20 pages)
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Printing A4 colour speed (5 pages)
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