Between personal and professional use cases, there are many factors that move people into active search for the best home printer reviews. And that is what you’ll get here.
For example, among people in today’s modern workforce, many individuals now have the option of working from home.
And for perfect, synchronized and productive work experience the need for printing often arise from time to time. While some may have low frequency need for home printers, others have to print, sign, scan and send many different document son daily or weekly basis.
So for such people, making a commitment to buy the best all in one home printer is a necessity. But first you have to find and review some options that suit both your peculiar needs and current budget.
Perhaps, if you think that it’s just independent freelancers and consultants only, just do a simple search on how ‘Amazon is hiring people to work from home’. And for many software companies, remote work or working from home is also a given.
Besides, the manufacturers of these products often do a lot of research into proven need for this before bringing them to the marketplace. Interestingly, through this home printer buying guide, we’ll be bringing you comparative reviews so that you spot and buy one when you want.
Home Printer Reviews: The First Time Buyer Guide
Assuming you’ve not bought or used any home printer before, here are the key considerations you should think through before clicking that buy button. I say this because it is always easy to click Buy Now button, when you first the best home printer on Amazon especially the ones within your budget. If you are an experienced user, you can skip this part and move to the main reviews. Possibly, you could find an upgrade that is better than what you’ve used before.
Features
In most cases, there will always be some features that make one home printer practically different from the other. Think about features like automatic sheet feeder, duplexing, smartphone compatibility and many more. These and some other features make one printer different from the other. So it is important pinpoint these details regarding any brand or model you want to choose. Whether you are looking for best home printer comparison chart or not, this also relate to your own intended use cases.
Printer Connectivity Options
Here is another import factor to consider in these home printer reviews. Different from connecting to a computer, another interesting question that most people ask is whether it is compatible with Wi-fi and USB connectivity. For many people, this is very important when it comes to easy and seamless access to their office network directly from home.
Monochrome vs Color Printer
When colorful output is best for the intended use cases, go for color printer. When it is not, monochrome serves pretty well in most cases. Overlooking this factor could lead to a waste of time and possibly money during return and replacement. Monochrome is also well known to be compact, very fast and easy to use.
Multifunction vs Single Function Printer
In those situations where budget limitation is a factor, saving money becomes very important. But just how important would that be in consideration of the core printing output? That’s why you should think through multifunction vs single function home printer. Without doubt, it is very obvious that multifunction models will save you money. But when high quality graphical and scanning outputs are required for everyday use cases, then single function home printer could be the best option.
Home Printer Price Comparison
Simple by reading through the best home printer reviews like this one, you’ll be able to make price comparison. However, you may be required to click through to Amazon to find out the current price for any option you choose to buy. The process could be something like; find the best models that appeal to you and then move on to find out current price.
Home Printer Reviews 2018: The Top Choice
HP Deskjet 1112 Home Printer (For Printing Only)
For minimalist home users, HP Deskjet 1112 belongs to a class of cheap home printers you can find online today. However, you can as well use it in your office if you like. No restrictions at all. The fact is that, this is for printing only, just as indicated above.
Based on the key buying considerations noted earlier, this is color inkjet printer. So you should expect colorful print outputs from this one.
Among many other features, one thing that makes this one an interesting option when compared with printing only counterparts like Brother HL-L2340DW compact printer is the moderately sized design.
What do I mean by this?
While, the Brother model looks a bit bulky, the Deskjet 1112 was built to take less space. Consequently, the light weight which stands at 4.44lbs is also attractive. That means you can easily move it around the house just as required.
In terms of connectivity option, just note that this is a wired printer. But you can also make use of USB connection. The downside here is that USB cable is not included.
According to the manufacturer, this is an Energy Star Certified product, just like many from HP and other brands. The meaning is that you are not bargaining for energy hungry machine.
With 10 watts power availability you are good to go for the 60 sheets full printing capacity. Resolution on this product is about 4800 x 1200 DPI. And it spits out 16 – 20ppm (pages per minute).
Based on our research too, around 89% of past users have found this HP home printer to be good enough value for the money. At a price slightly under $30, it also comes far cheaper than Canon MG2520 color printer. Also worthy of note is the fact that it needs sufficient power supply. So it doesn’t operate on battery. For those that have been looking for the best home printers under $100 in 2018, HP Deskjet 1112 is a great model worth considering.
You can find it online on Amazon or any other local retail store of your choice.
Canon Pixma iX6820 Printer (Printer Only)
This one offers almost the same set of features like every other business printer from Canon and competing brands. Interestingly, it doesn’t take much space because it is not bulky and heavy like other Canon home printers. Once again, this another great model meant for printing only.
It offers wireless and borderless 4 x 6’’ clean printing outputs. In less than 30 seconds, you can begin to have bright and colorful prints with Pixma iX6820.
For impressive high performance, you get five individual ink-tank systems plus 9600 x 2400 resolution DPI. For all of the high performance capabilities found in this product, the most popular competitor that comes close is Epson Workforce WF-7010. As complained by many prospective and past users, the price looks a bit more expensive than most competing models in the market.
HP Officejet 7000 is yet another competing model here. However, you can only find it in few websites as this is no longer being manufactured.
With selected Canon Digital SLR camera connections, you can also print interesting scenes in HD.
For back and forth connectivity, this compact wireless printer is Google Cloud Print and Airprint compatible. The USB connection also makes provision for seamless data transfers. Different from what you’ll get in other print only models, the Canon Pixma iX6820 comes with wired Ethernet interface that provides another option for connecting into home or office network.
One considerable downside that many found on this product is the absence of LCD for menu control functions. Everything in this product is operated and controlled through buttons.
However, there is always a user guide that comes with it.
For heavy weighted cardstocks, you don’t have to worry as this printer will handle it properly and give satisfying output. Based on some third party test results I have seen, you should expect around 5 pages per minute on this printer. This is where those other models like Epson Workforce WF-7010 beat it out of the ring. Just in case you have some OS compatibility questions in mind, be informed that this product is compatible with Windows 7+ and Mac v10.6+.
So you can use with any device running such operating systems. Paper size ranges between 4 x 6 – 13 x 19. Just set it up as you want and the output will just conform without worries.
The automatic sheet feeding feature lets you handle 150 sheets in full capacity. As noted earlier, this ia an inkjet printer. And it belongs to that class of single function printers; no scanning, no copying or faxing.
The weight is about 17lbs and it comes with one year warranty. Whether you want to buy Canon Pixma iX6820 online or offline, don’t forget to test it immediately after purchase. This will help to return it within the allowed duration in case of any defect or need for replacement.
HP Officejet 3830 All In One Wireless Printer (Multifunction Printer)
For almost all types of home printers you can think about, HP is very much likely to have competing model in that category. And for those that have personal or professional needs that are beyond printing only, buying multifunction or all in one printer is practically a no brainer.
So in those instances remote workers need to print, sign and send documents to colleagues and managers, good options like HP Officejet 3830 becomes handy.
In terms of multifunction use cases, this product can print, scan, copy and fax documents whenever you want. Just as the name suggests, this is a wireless printer that can be used both for home and office contexts. Like many other HP models in this category, this printer has a portable design and 12.37 pounds weight makes it easy to carry.
You also get a 2.2 inch touch screen for the menu control functions. With 10 watt full capacity power availability, you can have the first print in within 15 seconds or less.
Conrary to what you can get from other competing models like Canon Pixma TR8520 wireless printer, Officejet 3020 does not support two sided printing, Ethernet networking and flash memory devices. However, it is considerable cheaper as this product fall under the best all in one wireless printer under $100.
Take note of the fact that this is an inkjet, not laserjet printer.
Another interesting feature of this printer is the 35 page automatic document feeder (ADF).
A little bit of wireless HP printer comparison shows that this model offers 60 sheets input while other models like Officejet 4650 and Officejet Pro 6968 offers between 100 – 225 sheets.
Comparatively, those other models offer that auto-two-sided printing that you won’t get on this one. The printing speed is about 8.5ppm for black and 6 for colorful outputs. Maximum resolution is about 600 x 300 DPI. However, resolution here often differs from one task to the other. Hence this is an all in one multifunction printer.
At the point of purchase, you may consider buying ink and paper that are confirmed to be perfect fit for this model. Good options in this regard include HP 63XL High Yield Black and HP 63XL High Yield Tri Color.
When you buy HP Officejet 3820 on Amazon, you get one year standard warranty.
Epson Expression Home XP-434 Multifunction Printer (Multifunction)
When it comes specifically to office electronics, Epson is another great brand that competes head to head with HP, Canon and Brother. And under the category of the best multifunction home printers, they’ve got great options too. First as for price, this is selling affordably under $100 as at the time of this writing. However, it is still a bit more expensive than Canon MX492 and HP Officejet 5740 all in one wireless less.
Unlike many other models in its category, this is works better for printing, copying and scanning only. This is based on the experiences of past users found through our research.
Moreover, it doesn’t have faxing feature. So this is not a complete all in one printer in my own opinion. But in the case that all you need it for is printing and scanning only, you may consider this one. A good reason for this is that paying higher price for functions and features you don’t use won’t make sense at all.
For easy set up and navigation, you get 2.7 inch high resolution touch screen. Either from home, office or any other location of choice, the Wi-Fi connection capability makes it possible to from computer, tablet and smartphone devices.
It also has 100 sheet print capacity to suit all your printing needs. As a wireless multifunction printer, you should expect this to be cloud ready too.
Like many others under the category of the best home printer reviews, this product is Apple Airprint and Google Cloud Print compatible. Also inclusive among its features is the SD memory card support. For people that have USB connection question in their mind, yes you can connect your computer easily as you want. This product is confirmed to be compatible with Mac, Android and Windows devices.
In addition to standard connection and output options, Epson suite of software gives you even more which includes Epson iPrint, Email Print, Epson Remote and Epson Creative Print and Scan To Cloud.
With regard to power consumption, you need 12 watt availability to bring Epson Expression Home XP-434 printer to its full capacity.
Besides not having fax option, the quality of printing output is not as bright as what is obtainable from HP and Canon competing models. If you are in the US or UK, you can have this product delivered straight to your doorstep from Amazon – the #1 retailing brand across world.
Brother HL-2280DW Multifunction Monochrome Printer
If you are looking for multifunction monochrome laser printer to buy online, this Brother HL-2280DW could be the best for you. This is one of the rugged old models from the electronics manufacturer. In fact, a visit to their website says they are no longer manufacturing this particular product.
Surprisingly, this product is still being grouped under single function printers by the Dear Brother brand; even though you can do printing and copying with it. Contrary to what most people expect, this product lacks automatic document feed which is very useful in many scanning and copying use cases.
So in terms of most modern features, this is not comparable with other competing models like Canon MX492 and HP Officejet 5740.
The obvious fact is that experienced users can still do light duty scanning and copying. Especially, for its black and white output, you can very fast printing out at 27ppm (pages per minute). But that’s in theory anyway. Just expect the actual printing speed and capacity to fall within that range.
Very impressive among the features of this product is the fact that it has wireless connectivity and Ethernet networking interface even as an old model product.
For printing and scanning outputs, you get many options like Brother iPrint Scan, Cortado Workplace and iPrint app. However, this machine seems a bit power hungry as it requires 55 watt standby availability to perform in its full capacity.
The weight stands at 22.7 lbs with 2400 x 600 DPI resolution. Here you also get automatic two sided (duplex) printing.
With the touch screen menu options, you can select printing from online sources like Box, OneDrive, Evernote and Google Drive. As for scanning, you can push your scanning output into Word, Excel or PowerPoint files. The web connection makes this possible. In its category of multifunction monochrome printers, this one seems to be one of the most affordable.
Regardless of its old model nature, it is compatible with Windows 7+ and and Mac 10.6+. The software included in this package are ScanSoft PaperPort SE and Page Manager 9 for Mac.
Canon Compact TS6020 Wireless Home Printer (Multifunction)
This is another great multifunction home printer that is perfectly priced under $100. With this one, you can print personal documents, receipts, agreements and work related graphic outputs. And then, there is one outstanding feature I found in Canon TS6020 which is business card printing.
Just when you think that business cards are now faced out completely, some companies still make and sell business millions of portable machines meant specifically for printing business cards.
For some people, the absence of automatic document feeder makes this less attractive for home based business users. Also for those that consider near field communication (NFC) and SD card support very important, this may not be the ideal product for you.
Possibly, this might have contributed to its relative low price. Interestingly, this is another great model among the best home printers that has 5 individual ink tank systems.
The canning options here include Auto Scan, Push Scan, Network Scan and Wireless Scan.
Set up of this printer is very easy. And the weight isn’t that much than 13.6 lbs. This makes it easy to carry from one place to the other. The tray capacity is 100 sheets. Required ink for this inkjet printer is Canon ChromaLife100. In addition to Google Cloud Print and Apple Airprint, this one is also compatible with Mopria Print Service.
This gives you the possibility of printing from home or any other location of your choice. Like many others in its category, this product, Canon Compact TS6020 wireless printer is compatible with Android, Windows 10 Mobile, Window 7+ and Mac 10.8+.
Replacement ink cartridge you should consider includes PGI-270 PGBK, CLI-271 C and CLI-271 BK. In addition to those other options mentioned earlier, you can also use USB for easy connection to your computer. Maximum printing speed is around 15ppm (pages per minute). So this is not directly comparable with the Brother models just review above.
Conclusion
Having gone through the best home printer reviews detailed above, I believe you should be able to find one or two models that appeal to your budget and intended use cases. When photo and work related graphics are required, go for the standard color printers; Canon and HP has got you covered on this.
However, if you want to save money and you have multiple use cases in mind, go for the best all in one home printers review here.
Following through any or some of the relevant links here will lead you to Amazon. And possibly, you can have it delivered to you within 48 hours or less.