Whether you need a printer for a professional office environment or for your family, all-in-one printers are a great solution to meeting the needs of many with a single machine. While they can all do the same things, like printing and scanning, some have features that can make certain tasks significantly easier, like an automatic document feeder. The cartridge system is also important to take into account when shopping for a printer, as an inadequate one means you have to replace the cartridges more often, and you end up spending more in the long run.
We've tested over 85 printers, and below are our recommendations for the best all-in-one printers you can buy. You can also check out our recommendations for the best photo printers and the best home printers.
The best all-in-one printer for family use we've tested is the Brother MFC-J995DW. This versatile inkjet model features Brother's INKvestment Tank Ink System, which holds more ink per cartridge and should last you a while before they need to be replaced. It has an outstandingly low cost-per-print for both black and color prints, and photo printing is also very affordable. While black-only documents and color documents take a bit more time, photos are very quick to print.
It has great scanner features, including an automatic document feeder and a flatbed with high resolution. It prints great-looking photos, with nice detail and only a bit of banding in some areas. Colors look fairly accurate, and while it isn't recommended for tasks needing exact color reproduction, it should be more than fine for family photos and hobbies. It has good connectivity options, including Ethernet, USB, and Wi-Fi, and you can even print directly off a USB thumb drive or SD card.
Unfortunately, it can't process duplex scans automatically, which may be tedious if you have a long double-sided document to scan. Also, it doesn't support Bluetooth, and our unit couldn't print or scan using Mopria Print Service. Nevertheless, this is an excellent family printer that should satisfy a variety of your household needs, and it's among the best home printers we've tested.
If you want an even higher page yield, check out the Canon PIXMA G7020. Its prints significantly slower, and its photo printing quality isn't as good as the Brother MFC-J995DW, but it uses a supertank which offers a higher page yield and a lower cost-per-print. Its four ink tanks hold a lot of ink, so you shouldn't need to refill them often even if you print a lot. It has a great variety of wired and wireless options, including support for Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service. Its color accuracy is not bad, although it isn't recommended for professions that need exact color reproduction.
If you value photo printing quality and don't like waiting long for prints, go with the Brother, but if you prefer a supertank to a cartridge system and want to refill ink less often, get the Canon.
The best all-in-one printer for small or home offices that we've tested is the Canon imageCLASS MF743Cdw. This large laser printer is exceptionally well-built, made entirely of sturdy and durable-feeling plastic, and it provides easy access to paper jams and toner cartridges. It has a flatbed scanner, an automatic document feeder that performs duplex scanning, and faxing capabilities. The scanner lid stays open on its own, and its hinges lift high enough to accommodate thick documents and textbooks.
Its page yield for both black and color documents is outstandingly high, resulting in an excellent cost-per-print. It offers outstanding connectivity options, letting you print via Ethernet, USB, Wi-Fi, and directly from an external storage device. The cartridges are also available in high-yield versions, which should last even longer, though we haven't tested them. It has impressive color accuracy, although it may not be good enough for jobs that require exact color reproduction.
Unfortunately, photos come out looking a little muted and with some banding in darker areas, although this isn't surprising from laser printers. While the printing speed for photos and color documents is very fast, black documents take significantly longer, and the scanning resolution isn't as high as other office printers. Nonetheless, this is still a fantastic all-in-one printer for small or home offices, and it's among the best laser printers we've tested.
If you prefer an inkjet option, check out the HP OfficeJet Pro 9025. While its page yield isn't as high as the Canon imageCLASS MF743Cdw and its color accuracy isn't as good, it has a lower cost-per-print, and it prints nicer photos thanks to its inkjet technology. It can hold a total of 500 pages, and its front tray has width sliders to accommodate most common paper sizes. It prints black-only text documents and color documents fairly fast, though the first page takes a bit longer. It has fantastic scanner features, with an automatic document feeder and a flatbed scanner that has a higher resolution than the Canon. You can print directly off a USB thumb drive and an SD card, but sadly it doesn't support Bluetooth.
If you want a laser printer with a high page yield and excellent color accuracy, go with the Canon, but if you prefer an inkjet model with a lower cost-per-print and nicer photo quality, get the HP.
The Canon imageCLASS MF445dw is the best all-in-one printer for black and white printing that we've tested. It's incredibly well-built, and it's designed to provide easy access to the toner cartridge and paper jams. It has a large, touch-sensitive display screen with good viewing angles so that you can see it clearly whether you're sitting or standing. It has a flatbed scanner and an automatic document feeder with duplex scanning capability, great for scanning long, double-sided documents.
The cartridge system is superb. It yields an incredible number of pages, which leads to fewer replacements of the toner cartridge and a lower cost-per-print, and the drum unit is built into the cartridge so that you don't have to replace it manually. It takes very little time to warm up and print out the first page of a document, and it gets even faster for subsequent pages, churning out 28 pages per minute. It supports most common paper sizes, and its two input trays can hold up to 350 sheets of paper.
There are many connectivity options, including support for USB thumb drives and direct printing from mobile devices through AirPrint or Mopria. It's compatible with Canon's PRINT Business mobile app, which lets you print, make copies, and even scan using your smartphone's camera. It's not the easiest printer to setup, but it's still an outstanding monochrome all-in-one that most people should be happy with.
If you find the Canon imageCLASS MF445dw too expensive, then check out the Brother HL-L2395DW Laser. It's a monochrome laser printer with excellent build quality, great connectivity options, and outstanding cost-per-print. It doesn't yield as many pages as the Canon, which means you have to replace the cartridge more often. However, the cartridge is relatively inexpensive, so your maintenance cost doesn't rise quickly, even if you print a lot. That said, the drum unit is a separate piece that you need to replace at some point, and it isn't factored into the cartridge's price. It has faster printing speed, pushing out roughly 36 pages per minute, great for big print jobs. Unfortunately, it doesn't support external storage devices, and the scanner lacks an automatic document feeder.
Overall, the Canon is a better choice because it has a much higher page yield, and its scanner has an automatic document feeder with duplex scanning capability. However, if you're shopping on a small budget and don't mind compromising a bit, the Brother is an excellent alternative.
The best all-in-one printer for photos we've tested is the Canon PIXMA TR8520. It's a great option for photos thanks to its excellent photo quality and decent color accuracy. The cost-per-print for photos is amazingly low, and printing black-only and color documents are also affordable. Its color page yield is very good, so you should be able to print many photos before you run out of ink.
It has great scanner features, including a flatbed scanner with high resolution and a sheetfed scanner that can automatically process multi-page documents. The flatbed scanner's hinges can be raised slightly to fit thick items, like a textbook or magazine. Also, it offers easy access to paper jams and ink cartridges by lifting the scanner bay. It has an incredible range of wireless and wired connectivity options, including Ethernet, USB, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi.
Unfortunately, the page yield for black pages is quite bad, so you may need to replace the cartridge often if you print a lot. Also, it can't automatically process duplex scans, so you need to manually flip over each page if you need to scan double-sided documents, which may be tedious if the document is long. Overall, this is an impressive model if you're mostly planning on printing photos, and it's one of the best photo printers we've tested.
Feb 23, 2021: Minor text and structure changes. Replaced Brother MFC-L2750DW with Brother HL-L2395DW Laser because the MFC-L2750DW is the same price as the Canon imageCLASS MF445dw.
Feb 05, 2021: Replaced the Brother MFC-L2710DW with the Brother MFC-L2750DW as 'Cheaper Alternative' due to better performance, and moved the Brother MFC-L2710DW to Notable Mentions.
Jan 08, 2021: Updated text for clarity and structure, no changes in product picks.
Oct 16, 2020: Replaced Brother MFC-L3770CDW Laser with the Canon imageCLASS MF743Cdw for 'Best Small/Home Office Printer'. Moved the Brother MFC-L3770CDW Laser to Notable Mentions.
Aug 06, 2020: Replaced Brother MFC-L2750DW with Canon imageCLASS MF445dw for Best All-in-One Printer for Black & White Documents', added Brother MFC-L2710DW as Cheaper Alternative.
Jul 17, 2020: Replaced the Brother HL-L2395DW Laser with the Brother MFC-L2750DW for 'Best All-In-One Printer For Black & White Documents'. Added the Brother HL-2395DW Laser and the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M479fdw to Notable Mentions.
Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the best all-in-one printers for most people. We factor in the price, feedback from our visitors, and availability.
If you would like to do the work of choosing yourself, here's the list of all our all-in-one printer reviews. Be careful not to get too caught up in the details. While no printer is perfect for every use, most are good enough to please almost everyone, and the differences are often not noticeable unless you really look for them.