The 6 Best Wireless Printers - Spring 2023 Reviews

The best wireless printer we've tested is the Brother MFC-L8905CDW, a color laser all-in-one designed for small or home offices. It connects via Wi-Fi, supports Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service, and is compatible with Brother's iPrint&Scan mobile app, making it easy to print wirelessly from various devices. It has a scanner with an automatic feeder and single-pass duplex scanning, making it easy to process multi-page and double-sided documents. It produces incredibly sharp documents in black and white, as well as color. It also prints very quickly at up to 32 pages per minute and supports automatic double-sided printing.

The toner cartridges last a long time, so you don't have to replace them often, though the drum is a separate unit, which does slightly complicate maintenance but lowers the cost of ownership. The MFC-L8905CDW model is only one of many variants in the lineup, so if you don't need features like duplex scanning and NFC support, you can get an entry-level variant like the Brother MFC-L8610CDW. You can see more details about the variants in the full review.

The main drawback is that, like most laser printers, it isn't ideal for printing photos. Printed pictures look flat, grainy, and lack in detail. If you need to print graphics or photos, get the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550 instead. It's an inkjet model that prints amazingly detailed, vibrant, colorful photos and can print on wide format paper up to 13" x 19". There are a couple of tradeoffs, like the lack of an automatic document feeder, slower printing speeds, and its higher price tag. You can also go with the cheaper Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8500 variant. It gives you the same print quality as the ET-8550 but only supports paper sizes up to 8.5" x 11".

If you only need to print in black and want to save money, get the Brother MFC-L2750DW is the best wireless printer for home use and at an upper mid-range price point that we've tested. This well-built all-in-one warms up in very little time, prints quickly at 36 pages per minute, and yields around 2000 prints from a single black toner cartridge. The scanner produces remarkably sharp scans and has an automatic document feeder to process multi-page documents and double-sided sheets. The downside is that you have to replace the drum separately, which adds to your maintenance cost. Brother specifies that the drum is good for 12,000 prints, so you'll likely be okay for a while. You still get Wi-Fi connectivity along with Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service support.

There are many variants of this printer, so if you find the MFC-L2750DW a little too expensive, you can check out one of its cheaper variants, like the Brother MFC-L2710DW. It also produces very high-quality prints but produces them slightly slower and lacks an automatic document feeder. Some variants have an additional XL toner cartridge, like the Brother MFC-L2759DW. You can see all differences between the variants in the full review.

If you're looking for a printer for home use, a more modest mid-range model might be a better choice. We recommend the Brother MFC-J4335DW, one of the best wireless printers for home use we've tested. You can print thousands of pages before its cartridges run out of ink, reducing the frequency you need to replace them. There are also XL cartridges that'll last longer, which might be cheaper in the long run, not to mention more environmentally friendly. Its ADF-equipped scanner scans up to 20 pages per minute and has optical character recognition (OCR) capability, allowing you to scan documents into text files, so you can easily search for keywords. It prints very detailed photos but doesn't have the widest color range, and its color accuracy is only passable.

For the budget pick, we chose the Brother MFC-J1205W, also known as the Brother MFC-1215W if you're shopping at Walmart. It's a simple, all-in-one inkjet model with a sturdy build, wireless connectivity, and a basic flatbed scanner. It prints black and color documents well, although its printing speed of nine black or six color pages per minute is very slow, so you'll have to be patient during large print jobs. You don't need to replace the ink cartridges too often as they yield around 1100 black and 750 color prints. Better yet, replacement cartridges are relatively cheap, which helps keep your maintenance cost low. There's some graininess and banding in printed photos, but they still look decent, and the colors are reasonably accurate. All in all, it's a good option for people who only print occasionally.

If you only print once in a blue moon and need a cheap printer to get the job done, get the Canon PIXMA MG3620. The build feels a little flimsy, and it only has a basic flatbed scanner, but it still prints good-quality documents and photos. The main downside with cheap printers like the PIXMA MG3620 is that the ink cartridges run out quickly, meaning you'll have to replace them often. The cost per print is low because replacement ink is relatively cheap; it's just inconvenient because it requires more maintenance, and you might end up with many incomplete or faded pages, wasting paper and time. This printer is fine for the occasional print job, but if you print more regularly, it's best to get one with better page yields, like our budget or mid-range pick.

The best portable printer we've tested is the HP OfficeJet 250, an all-in-one inkjet model with a built-in rechargeable battery. It's a great option if you have to travel for work or print receipts at an outdoor event. You can connect to the printer via an existing Wi-Fi network, and the printer can also generate its own Wi-Fi signal (Wi-Fi Direct). It produces fairly sharp documents that look good enough for a professional work environment. The one big drawback is printing speed, as it only pushes out three black or six color pages per minute when plugged in, and it's even slower when running on battery. The battery is good for about 225 prints and takes around two hours to charge.

Aside from its slow printing speed, another downside of this printer is its low page yield. The cartridges aren't overly expensive, but because the cartridges don't last very long, the cost will still add up if you print a lot. You can increase the page yield slightly with XL ink cartridges, and the printer also accepts third-party ink, which might be cheaper. Unsurprisingly given its compact dimensions, it doesn't have a flatbed scanner, as it would make the printer too cumbersome to carry around. What it does have is a sheetfed scanner that produces very detailed scans and processes up to four pages per minute. It doesn't have fax functionality, but it does have optical character recognition, a feature that lets you scan documents into PDFs for quick keyword searches.