The 7 Best Home Printers of 2022, Tested and Reviewed
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The Canon Pixma TR8620a is our top pick for its versatility and high-quality printing.
Real Simple / Henry Wortock
A home printer can instantly upgrade your home office with the ability to take on your next project—whether that be making a family photo album or printing important forms and documents. But with a range of makes and models to choose from, it can be challenging to land on the right home printer.
To find the best home printers, we tested 25 models in our Lab and evaluated them on setup, ease of use, design, speed, effectiveness, and value. After our in-depth testing, we narrowed down the list to include only the best all-in-one, monochrome, and wireless options. For expert advice on how to choose a home printer for your needs, we spoke with Diana Sroka, global head of HP Consumer Print Services.
“The way we live and work has changed these last couple of years,” says Sroka. “But we have learned during the pandemic that print remains essential for everyone at home—whether that’s a remote worker, student, or anyone in between.”
Our top pick is the Canon Pixma TR8620a for its versatile functionality, impressive print quality, and intuitive features. Whether you need to scan textbook pages or print keepsake photos, this printer can do it all.
Here are the best home printers, according to our Lab tests.
Canon Pixma TR8620a
Best Overall Home Printer
Who it’s for: People who want a versatile, high-quality printer for home use.
Who it isn’t for: People who only need a simple, monochrome printer.
With near-perfect ratings across the board, this all-in-one printer from Canon is our best overall pick for its ease of use and printing quality. In our testing, we found that it took just 18 seconds to print a single-sided color document. Not only can this model print colors and photos, but it also has copying, scanning, and faxing capabilities—making it one of the most versatile home printers on our list. “The black and white copies were crisp and clear,” says our tester. “The colors were as well, and the scan of the photo was excellent.”
This home printer also has bonus features like wireless connectivity, an intuitive LCD touchscreen, an automatic document feeder (ADF), and double-sided printing. Whether you want an all-in-one printer the whole family could use or need a reliable printer for the home office, this model can suit any home. Plus, we think it’s a great value based on its performance in our tests. “I would definitely buy this printer,” says our tester. “The price is excellent for the quality it gives.”
Price at time of publish: $230
Product Details:
Technology: Inkjet
Connectivity: Wireless, USB
Color: Yes
Size: 13.8 x 17.3 x 7.5 inches
Real Simple / Henry Wortock
Canon Pixma MG3620 Black Wireless
Best Budget Home Printer
Who it’s for: People who want a versatile printer on a budget.
Who it isn’t for: People who want an automatic feeder on their home printer.
Upgrading your home office with a reliable printer doesn’t need to be an expensive endeavor. The Canon Pixma MG3620 has all the functionality you need in a home printer, at a fraction of the cost of some other models. Our tester commended this wireless printer for its ease of use and user-friendly design, though it could have performed better when it came to speed and setup. This printer took “almost an entire minute” before it began printing a 10-page document. Our tester also noted that the instruction wasn’t very clear, but overall, they found the setup process to be “pretty self-explanatory.”
In addition to scanning, copying, and printing, this budget-friendly Canon printer also has wireless connectivity, cloud printing, double-sided printing, and a compact design that can fit in most spaces. “I thought this printer would be way higher priced based on the quality,” says our tester. “I would say this is definitely worth the price because it was easy to use and it printed very high-quality prints.”
Price at time of publish: $100
Product Details:
Technology: Inkjet
Connectivity: WiFi
Color: Yes
Size: 17.7 x 12 x 6 inches
Real Simple / Henry Wortock
Epson Expression Home XP-4100 Small-in-One Printer
Best Color Home Printer
Who it’s for: People who often need to print documents in color.
Who it isn’t for: People who want a model designed to print photos.
If vivid color is a top priority for your next printer, we recommend the Epson Expression Home XP-4100 Small-in-One Printer because it produces bright, well-saturated prints, copies, and scans. “Printing from my phone produced a very sharp/clear image,” our tester says. “I felt the color of the photo was even better than the original.” Even though this printer took less than 30 seconds to produce photos on both plain paper and glossy photo paper, our tester wasn’t impressed with the quality and accuracy of the images.
During the setup process, our tester had to refer to the instruction manual several times, although most of it could be done from the control panel. Still, this home printer received stellar ratings for its ease of use, design, and overall value. It has features like an LCD screen, wireless compatibility, and voice controls—all in a compact design.
Especially where value was concerned, our tester was impressed with the quality of the prints, copies, and scans in conjunction with the price tag. “I thought it performed exceptionally well given the cost,” says our tester.
Price at time of publish: $115
Product Details:
Technology: Inkjet
Connectivity: WiFi
Color: Yes
Size: 6.9 x 5.7 x 2.9 inches
Real Simple / Henry Wortock
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Canon Pixma TR4720
Best Home Printer for Photos
Who it’s for: People who want to print high-quality photos on glossy paper at home.
Who it isn’t for: People who plan to use their printer primarily for documents.
Whether you’re an avid scrapbooker or photographer, having a quality photo printer at home means you can skip the trip to the print shop. Our tester found that the Canon Pixma TR4720 stood out with its performance while printing photos on glossy paper. “The printout was really excellent—frame-quality print,” says our tester. However, it left a lot to be desired when printing photos on regular paper, so be sure to use glossy paper when printing out images.
Other types of print jobs (like black and white documents on regular paper) appeared pretty standard, according to our tester. “It also comes with a lot of features like scanning and printing from your phone that was easy to do and worked well.”
Price at time of publish: $120
Product Details:
Technology: Inkjet
Connectivity: Wireless
Color: Yes
Size: 11.7 x 17.2 x 7.5 inches
Real Simple / Henry Wortock
HP DeskJet 3755 Compact All-in-One Printer
Best Small Home Printer
Who it’s for: People who don’t have a lot of extra storage space but still need an effective home printer.
Who it isn’t for: People who need to print or scan high-quality images.
Whether you’re dealing with a cramped home office, makeshift WFH space, or dorm room for a college student, there’s a good chance the HP DeskJet 3755 All-in-One Printer can fit. It has a super-slim profile—roughly 7 x 16 x 5.5 inches—and our tester says “it would fit in small spaces nicely.” “The design of this is great because it's very compact and nice looking.”
The setup process took roughly 20 minutes, which our tester commended. “The setup was pretty easy, getting it connected to WiFi and my phone and computer [were] smooth,” they say. This printer also features app and cloud connectivity, an LCD screen, and includes a color and black cartridge. Just keep in mind that this small home printer isn’t the fastest or most high-quality—so if you need high-definition prints you may want to opt for another printer from this list. “As far as printers go, it seems to be on the low end but it worked very well so I would recommend it,” our tester says.
Price at time of publish: $105
Product Details:
Technology: Inkjet
Connectivity: App, wireless
Color: Yes
Size: 6.97 x 15.86 x 5.55 inches
Real Simple / Henry Wortock
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HP OfficeJet Pro 9025e All-in-One Printer
Best Wireless Home Printer
Who it’s for: People who want to be able to print from anywhere.
Who it isn’t for: People who want an affordable and compact home printer.
While most modern home printers now have wireless printing capabilities, not all models can pair with an app that allows you to print, scan, and copy from anywhere. The HP OfficeJet Pro 9025e All-in-One Printer can be seamlessly synced to your phone using the HP+ app, which also offers cloud-based security services to encrypt your data and protect your documents. Our tester was especially impressed with this wireless printer’s speed, noting that it didn’t sacrifice quality: “It seemed like it would rival (or at least come close to) a laser printer’s speed.”
In our testing, we were also impressed with the intuitive control panel and the automatic edge-finder for scans. “The copied pages were nearly indistinguishable from the original,” says our tester. “No corners or edges or color loss. The photo paper printed without a margin or a bleed edge.”
Keep in mind that our tester says this printer is much larger than the home printers they’ve used in the past, so if you have limited space you may want to consider another option from our list. “This is probably due to the extra paper tray (which was actually very useful and also worked intelligently, like the rest of the features on the printer) as well as the auto document feeder,” our tester says, noting that “the footprint is still average.”
Price at time of publish: $400
Product Details:
Technology: Inkjet
Connectivity: Wireless, app, USB
Color: Yes
Size: 15.6 x 17.2 x 12.53 inches
Real Simple / Henry Wortock
Brother HLL2350DW Monochrome Compact Laser Printer
Best Monochrome Home Printer
Who it’s for: People who want to print a high volume of documents in black and white.
Who it isn’t for: People who want a versatile printer that can copy, scan, and fax.
This home printer from Brother was one of the top-performing models in our tests—and it received perfect ratings across the board. Unlike the other printers on our list, this is a laser option that can better handle large print jobs without frequently replacing the cartridges. While laser printers can sometimes be more expensive than inkjet, this one comes at a more affordable cost that is well-aligned with its value and effectiveness. “The speed on this printer was great,” says our tester. “It printed out really fast and the pictures came out great.”
Plus, our tester was able to successfully set up this printer in just 15 minutes, which is one of the fastest recorded times among the 25 printers we tested. Though this pick is great for anyone who needs to print a high volume of documents in black and white, it doesn’t offer scanning, copying, faxing, or color printing capabilities.
Price at time of publish: $150
Product Details:
Technology: Laser
Connectivity: USB, WiFi
Color: No
Size: 14.2 x 14 x 7.2 inches
Real Simple / Henry Wortock
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Final Verdict
Our top pick is the Canon Pixma TR8620a for its ease of use, sleek design, speed, and more—not to mention its versatile functions that can do everything from print photos to scan documents. In our lab testing, this printer received a near-perfect score, making it a great addition to any home office.
Our Testing Process
To find the best home printers on the market, we acquired 25 models and tested them in our Lab. First, our testers evaluated the ease of assembly and installation of each printer by setting up the cartridges, loading paper, printing an alignment page, and connecting to WiFi, if applicable. They also timed the setup process from start to finish. Testers took note of any digital displays or control pads and evaluated how easy they were to use and navigate.
Next, our testers assessed each product’s printing capabilities. This test varied slightly depending on the type of printer, as color printers have different standards than black and white printers. For both printer types, we timed the process from the initial print request to when the document was fully printed. The printers were assessed on print quality, specifically the clarity and precision of the text and photos, as well as color saturation, when applicable.
The second test involved printing a multiple-page document, again using a timer from start to finish. Our testers looked over the printed pages for quality, streaks, consistency, and faded lines. For the final printing test, our testers printed a photo: They loaded the paper tray with glossy photo paper, timed the duration of the printing process, and assessed the photo for quality, saturation, streaks, and inconsistencies.
Real Simple / Henry Wortock
We also tested out any special features, like phone-to-printer technology, scanning, copying, smart connectivity, and cloud printing and scanning. While these features vary greatly, all of the tests included an evaluation of ease of use, quality, and duration.
To see how the printers perform with notifications and error messages, our testers removed the paper from the paper tray and attempted to print a document. Our testers looked for a notification on the display screen, or the app for smart printers. We also had our testers remove and reinstall the ink cartridges to check for error messages and ease of removal (and replacement), and accessibility.
After the lab tests were completed, our testers looked at the retail price of their product. They evaluated the price in conjunction with the printer’s performance during tests to assess the overall value of the product.
How to Shop for Home Printers
Printer Type
Your printing needs can help determine what type of printer you need. “There are a few notable consideration points, including how often you print and for what purpose,” says Sroka. “For example, is the printer going to be most often used to print basic color documents like forms or recipes? Or professional, complex documents? That answer will help narrow down the list quite a bit and from there, comparing specific features and/or functionality should ultimately lead to the best option based on the print need.”
For example, students who primarily need to print papers and assignments would be better off with a low-profile, monochrome printer. On the other hand, artists and photographers will likely prefer a model with excellent photo printing capabilities. (In our testing, the Canon Pixma TR4720 proved to be an excellent choice for printing high-quality photos on glossy paper.)
Also consider the added features your printer has, like scanning, copying, and wireless functions. If you need something that works for the whole family, we recommend opting for a versatile printer that can handle most jobs, whether it be printing travel documents or photos for a scrapbook.
Connectivity
Thanks to wireless technology, there are more ways to connect your device, making it easier for you to print with the help of a WiFi connection. Some printers still rely on the standard USB, Ethernet port, or memory card to transfer data—which are just as effective, but slightly less efficient.
Other printers are outfitted with all the latest tech to print your photos and documents. Some have cloud printing capabilities, while others use Bluetooth or Apple AirPrint. Depending on your comfort level with technology, budget, and how often you print, you may prefer a wireless home printer as opposed to one with standard connectivity.
Real Simple / Henry Wortock
Size
The size of your printer is also important to consider, as people with a dedicated home office will likely be able to fit a larger model than someone who needs to squeeze a printer in a small apartment. People with limited storage space should look for slim printers, like the HP DeskJet 3755 All-in-One Printer—our pick for the best small home printer.
More Home Printers to Consider
HP LaserJet M110we Printer: The HP LaserJet M110we is a monochrome printer that printed documents with decent quality in our evaluations. However, our tester with limited tech skills had a hard time connecting their phone and setting up the app, which is important for a wireless printer.
Brother MFCJ5845DW Inkjet All-in-One Printer: This printer from Brother scored well in our tests, although our tester found its price to be too high considering the print quality. It’s also discontinued by the manufacturer, so it may be hard to find in stock.
Real Simple / Henry Wortock
Questions You Might Ask
Are laser or inkjet printers better?
When shopping for a home printer, most of the options you’ll find will be inkjet. Inkjet printers are more common for home use because they’re more affordable and they generally perform better with photo printing. However, inkjet printers also require more maintenance and frequent cartridge replacement.
Laser printers, on the other hand, are more frequently found in office settings, as they can handle high-volume printing. They don’t require as much maintenance or cartridge replacement, making them well-suited for those who will be printing daily. For this reason, laser printers are usually more expensive.
Do home printers come with ink cartridges?
Many of the home printers on our list come with ink cartridges, but the amount can vary. (For example, the Canon Pixma MG3620—our best budget pick—comes with compatible black and color cartridges in the box.) However, we recommend making sure you have extra cartridges on hand as soon as you purchase your printer. “Two big pain points with a printer are setting up and running out of ink,” says Sroka. You don’t want to be unable to print an urgent document from home because you’re out of ink, so it’s better to have extras.
Take Our Word for It
This article was written by Quinn Gawronski, associate commerce editor for Real Simple, who has three years of experience writing and editing product reviews and roundups. To compile this list, we tested 25 home printers in our Lab and evaluated them on setup, ease of use, design, speed, effectiveness, and value. For expert tips, we consulted Diana Sroka, global head of HP Consumer Print Services.
What Is Real Simple Selects?
Next to each product on this list, you may have noticed a Real Simple Selects seal of approval. Any product appearing alongside that seal has been vetted by our team—put through tests and graded on its performance to earn a spot on our list. Although we buy most of the products we test, sometimes we do get samples from companies if purchasing a product ourselves isn't an option. If that's the case, we test the product just like we test anything we buy, but we also disclose that we received it for free to be as transparent with you as possible.
Love our recommendations? Check out more products that have earned the Real Simple Selects, from humidifiers to cordless vacuums.
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