The 4 Best Printer Brands - Spring 2024 Reviews

Brother is a Japanese company that started making sewing machines under the name Yasui Sewing Machine in the early 1900s. The Brother name has been around since 1955, and the company has since expanded its portfolio to include products like typewriters, desktop computers, and printers. Currently, their printers are in two categories: home and business. Most of their home printers are inkjets due to their versatility and lower cost, while their business-oriented printers are mostly laser models, which are better at quickly handling big print jobs. Brother printers generally yield a large number of prints, making them cost-effective options for large print loads.

Our pick as the best Brother printer for everyday home use is the Brother MFC-J4335DW, an all-in-one inkjet model. It produces outstanding-quality documents and prints quickly at 17 black or 15 color pages per minute. It isn't a bad option for photo printing either; while it doesn't have the widest color gamut or the best color accuracy, printed photos still look good and detailed. Its page yield is outstanding, and the ink cartridges are relatively cheap, so you don't have to worry about high maintenance costs. The scanner produces amazing quality scans and processes multi-page documents quickly through its automatic feeder, but it doesn't support automatic double-sided scanning.

If you need something for a small or home office, check out the Brother MFC-L8905CDW, an all-in-one color laser unit. It also produces sharp documents, prints quickly at 32 pages per minute, and has tons of features, including single-pass duplex scanning. The toner cartridges are expensive, and you have to factor in the cost of the drum as well; however, they last a long time, so your running cost will remain low. The downside is that laser printers aren't ideal for photo printing, so it's best to stick with an inkjet model if you need to print photos. See our recommendations for the best Brother printers here.

Canon is a Japanese company that's been in the imaging business for a long time, producing numerous products like cameras, lenses, projectors, and printers. Given their expertise in photography, it isn't surprising that their printers are generally better at printing photos, with their PIXMA line being the most popular. Canon makes a wide range of printers, including inkjet models for general home use, professional photo printers, laser printers for small offices, and even portable ones like the Canon IVY Mini Photo Printer.

Since Canon makes so many types of printers, it's hard to say which is the best, as it depends entirely on your usage. Among the inkjet models, the Canon PIXMA TR8620a stands out as a great option for general home use. It's an all-around good printer that produces crisp, fairly natural-looking photos and sharp, detailed documents. Unfortunately, it just doesn't print very fast and lacks more advanced features like duplex scanning. A set of ink cartridges has sufficient yield for 220 black and 320 color prints, which isn't a whole lot, but thankfully, replacements are pretty cheap.

For small or home offices that require more features, higher page yields, and faster printing speeds, it's best to go with a laser model. We recommend the Canon Color imageCLASS MF753Cdw/MF751Cdw. It produces exceptionally sharp documents, prints quickly, and doesn't require much maintenance. It has wide connectivity options and an ADF-equipped scanner with automatic duplex scanning. If you want to print photos, the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-300 is the one to get. It isn't cheap, though, and it can get very expensive to maintain if you print a lot. See our recommendations for the best Canon printers here.

Epson, another Japanese electronics company, is part of the Seiko group. The company started making printers in 1964 when Tokyo hosted the Summer Olympics, and Seiko, the official timekeeper for the Games, needed to make an electronic printer for timesheets. By 1975, Seiko came out with the name Epson, short for "Son of Electronic Printers." Since then, they've been a leader in the printing world. Their printer lineup features a wide range of models aimed at home or business use, and they even have dedicated photo printers. Their supertank lineup is the most popular, with models in this lineup having refillable ink tanks with a significantly higher page yield than traditional inkjet printers that use ink cartridges.

The best Epson printer for most people is the Epson EcoTank ET-3850. This supertank model yields thousands of pages from a single set of ink, making it a superb choice for high-volume printing. It produces sharp documents and is decently fast, pushing out 15 black or seven color pages per minute. Printed photos look very detailed and colorful, although they aren't color-accurate, as the printer tends to oversaturate colors to make them look more vibrant and punchy. It has a scanner with an automatic feeder to process multi-page documents quickly, but it doesn't support duplex scanning.

If you need duplex scanning and don't mind paying more, go with the Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850. Its page yield isn't as good as the ET-3850, but it produces higher-quality color documents and photos and prints faster at 25 pages per minute. If you want the best printer for printing photos and posters, then the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550 would be the best option, as it has a wider color range and produces pictures with less grain. The cheaper Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8500 variant is a good choice, too. It provides the same print quality but only supports up to 8.5x11 paper. See our recommendations for the best Epson printers here.

Hewlett-Packard, better known by the initials HP, is an American company founded in 1939. They began by producing electronic test and measurement equipment, then moved on to other technologies like audio oscillators and atomic clocks before expanding their portfolio to include laptops, monitors, and computers. They introduced the first desktop laser printer in 1984 with the HP LaserJet. Although they continue making laser models like the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M479fdw, they've also expanded to make inkjet printers for office solutions. HP makes printers for home or office use and cheap options for students, like the HP DeskJet 3755.

If you're after a general-purpose printer for home or office use, we recommend the HP OfficeJet Pro 9135e. This all-in-one inkjet printer produces beautiful documents and is fairly quick, printing 23 black or 15 color pages per minute. Despite being an inkjet printer, its cost-per-print is outstanding, as the ink cartridges are relatively cheap but yield a large number of prints. However, while it's better at printing photos than laser printers, its limited color range and low print resolution result in a significant loss of fine details, so it may not be the best option if your primary focus is photo printing. It comes with three months of free ink through HP's ink subscription service, but subscribing to the service will block you from using third-party cartridges in the future, even if you cancel your subscription. Also, the printer must have a continuous internet connection to function.

For a small or home office, go with the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M283fdw, an all-in-one color laser printer. It's faster than the 9135e at printing color documents (22 PPM), and its document printing quality is even slightly better. Its toner cartridges are expensive, but they last a long time, and they contain the drum unit, making maintenance easier since you won't need to replace the drum separately. Plus, unlike inkjet printers, you won't have to worry about the printheads clogging if you don't print for an extended period. As with most laser printers, it's a poor fit for printing photos. See our recommendations for the best HP printers here.