The 4 Best Printer Brands - Fall 2024

Brother is a Japanese company that started making sewing machines under the name Yasui Sewing Machine in the early 1900s but is best known today for its laser printers. Brother printers generally yield a large number of prints, making them cost-effective options for large print loads. Currently, their printers are in two categories: home and business. Most of their home printers are actually inkjets due to their versatility and lower cost. In contrast, their business-oriented printers are mostly laser models, which are better at quickly handling big print jobs.

Our pick as the best Brother printer is the Brother MFC-L8905CDW, an all-in-one color laser unit. This unit is ideal for a small office setting; it 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 but last a long time, so you won't have to replace them often. Just remember that the drum is a separate piece that you must spend extra to replace. 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.

If you need something for everyday home use, the Brother MFC-J4335DW is a great choice. This all-in-one inkjet model 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; it doesn't have the widest color gamut or the best color accuracy, yet 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 ADF, but it doesn't support automatic double-sided scanning. Check out our recommendations for the best Brother printers.

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, finding the best one will depend entirely on your usage.

We recommend the Canon Color imageCLASS MF753Cdw/MF751Cdw as the best Canon printer overall. It's an all-in-one color laser printer for small or home offices with large print loads. 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. However, If you want to print photos, the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-300 is the one to get. This professional model has exceptional color quality and represents the best Canon photo printer we've tested. It isn't cheap, though, and it costs a lot to maintain if you print in large volumes.

Among the inkjet models, the Canon PIXMA TR8620a stands out as the best 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 lot, but thankfully, replacements are pretty cheap. See our recommendations for the best Canon printers to learn more.

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 launched Epson, short for "Son of Electronic Printers," and they've been a leader in the printing world ever since. 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; these models have refillable ink tanks with a significantly higher page yield than traditional inkjet printers that use disposable ink cartridges.

The best Epson printer for office use is the Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850. It produces high-quality black and color documents, prints decent photos, and can push 25 pages per minute. If you want the best printer for printing photos and posters on Tabloid size sheets, then the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550 is the best option, as it has a wider color range and photos have 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.

If you're looking for a home printer, consider the Epson EcoTank ET-3850. This is still an upper mid-range supertank model; a single tank actually yields more pages than ET-5850, making it a superb choice for a home office with high-volume printing. It produces sharp documents but is slower than the Pro model above, pushing 15 black or seven color pages per minute. Printed photos look detailed and colorful, but they aren't color-accurate, as the printer tends to oversaturate colors, resulting in a more vibrant aesthetic. Its ADF-equipped scanner quickly processes multi-page documents but doesn't support duplex scanning. Read more about our recommendations for the best Epson printers.

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 offices. HP makes printers for home or office use and cheap options for students, like the HP DeskJet 3755.

If you're after HP's best office printer, we recommend the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M283fdw, an all-in-one color laser printer. It can push 22 pages per minute and has outstanding document printing quality. 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. It's a poor fit for printing photos, like most laser printers.

For a general-purpose printer, go with the HP OfficeJet Pro 9135e. This all-in-one inkjet printer produces beautiful documents and is actually faster than the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M283fdw at printing black documents; it prints 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 and yield a large number of prints. However, while it's better at printing photos than laser printers, it isn't the best option if your primary focus is photo printing; its limited color range and low print resolution result in a significant loss of fine details. Check out more of our picks for the best HP printers.