The 4 Best Cheap And Budget Printers - Spring 2023 Reviews

The best budget printer we've tested is the Brother MFC-J1205W, also known as the Brother MFC-J1215W at Walmart. It's an all-in-one color inkjet model designed for general home use. You can connect to the printer via Wi-Fi or USB, and it supports Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service, so you can easily print from your smartphone without needing a third-party app. Scans are sharp and detailed, making it suitable for digitizing photos, and its lid hinges can extend to accommodate thicker items like books and magazines. Unfortunately, it doesn't have an automatic document feeder, so scanning multi-page documents can take a while.

Printing-wise, this model produces high-quality documents as well as detailed and reasonably color-accurate photos. Unfortunately, a tradeoff for its budget-friendly price is its slow printing speed. It also lacks automatic duplex printing, meaning you'll have to flip the pages manually when printing double-sided. On the bright side, you won't have to worry too much about long-term maintenance costs, as the ink cartridges yield a large number of prints and are relatively cheap.

If you can afford to spend a little more, you may want to consider the Canon PIXMA G3260. Its feature set is similar to the Brother, but this printer has a refillable ink tank instead of ink cartridges. This high-capacity ink reservoir gives it a much higher page yield, making it even cheaper to maintain over time. However, its scanner doesn't capture fine details as well as the Brother's scanner.

If you find our budget pick too expensive, check out the Canon PIXMA MG3620, the best cheap printer we've tested. It's a simple all-in-one inkjet printer designed for people who only print occasionally. We say 'occasionally' because this model has a black and a tri-color cartridge. It still produces high-quality black and color prints, but it runs out of ink quickly, so you'll have to replace the cartridges often. Also, you'll have to replace the tri-color cartridge even if only a single color runs out. It isn't a cost issue, as the ink cartridges are fairly cheap; it's just a lot of maintenance, and you might end up with lots of faded or incomplete prints.

The scanner performs well and produces very detailed scans; however, it lacks features like an automatic feeder and duplex scanning. You get Wi-Fi and USB connectivity as well as support for Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service, allowing you to print from iOS and Android devices without installing drivers or third-party apps. Overall, if you only print once in a blue moon for those one-off projects, this model can get it done. However, if you print more than that, you'll be better off with a printer with a higher page yield, like our budget pick.

If you only print black and white documents, a monochrome laser printer might be a better option. We recommend the Brother HL-L2350DW, a variant of the Brother HL-L2325DW we've tested. There's nothing wrong with the HL-L2325DW; it's just a little hard to find right now, so the HL-L2350DW is your best bet since it performs almost identically, albeit with a slightly faster printing speed. It has the usual Wi-Fi and USB connectivity and is compatible with Brother's mobile companion app, which you can use to print or perform maintenance tasks right from your smartphone.

It feels very well-built and produces sharp-looking documents quickly at up to 32 pages per minute. The toner cartridge yields about 1200 prints and is cheap, keeping maintenance costs low. Plus, since it's a monochrome model, you only ever need to replace a single cartridge. You have to spend extra to replace the drum as it's a separate unit, but the drum usually lasts about 12,000 prints, so you won't have to do it all that often. Unfortunately, there's no scanner, so you'll need to look elsewhere if you digitize or copy physical documents regularly.

An alternative would be the HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe. It's usually more expensive, but it's on sale at the time of writing, bringing it to roughly the same price as the Brother. It has more features, like an ADF-equipped scanner and Ethernet connectivity, and its toner cartridge lasts longer. However, it prints significantly slower at only 11 pages per minute.

If you want something cheaper than the Brother HL-L2325DW, get the Pantum P2502W. Like the Brother, this is also a print-only unit with no scanner. That said, its document print quality is outstanding, and its toner cartridge has a very high page yield of a little over 2000 pages. It prints pretty quickly at 23 pages per minute too. However, it takes a while to warm up and doesn't support automatic double-sided printing.

Unfortunately, this printer tends to push printed sheets off the output tray, which can be inconvenient as you'll have to rearrange your prints into the right order. This issue can also cause misaligned prints, wasting more time and paper. It doesn't happen all the time, but it's an inconvenience nonetheless. The Brother is a better choice if you want to save yourself the hassle. This model can get the job done; just be aware that you might occasionally run into problems.