The 5 Best Photo Printers - Spring 2021 Reviews

The best printer for photos we've tested is the Canon PIXMA TR8520. This all-in-one printer is relatively compact, making it suitable for homes or dorm rooms with limited space. It has decent build quality with easy access to ink cartridges and paper jams. It also has some useful add-ons like an excellent display screen and great scanning features.

It prints amazing photos with vibrant colors, clear detail, and no banding at all. Its color cartridge yields a high number of pages, so you should be able to print a lot of photos before running out of ink. You can easily connect to it wirelessly or print directly from a USB key or SD card. It also comes with a remarkable mobile app that allows you to print, scan, and copy directly from your phone.

Unfortunately, when printing photos, colors can come out a bit oversaturated, and their accuracy is only decent overall. While it's probably still fine for casual use, it might not be ideal for those needing more precise results. Also, it takes almost one full minute to print a single 4" x 6" photo. That said, it's a great and versatile printer that should satisfy most people wanting to print casual photos.

The best multipurpose printer for photos that we've tested is the Brother MFC-J995DW. This all-in-one model is a great choice for printing casual photos and is versatile enough for other uses. It has a sturdy design with easy access to the ink cartridges from the front. Also, it has a flatbed scanner, which is very useful for scanning old photos. You can connect to it over Wi-Fi or print directly from a USB key or SD card.

The cost-per-print is remarkably low, thanks to Brother's INKvestment Tank Ink System, which yields high quantities of both photos and black-only documents. You shouldn't need to replace the cartridges often, even if you print frequently. Printing speed is quite good, and while document printing is obviously faster, photos take less than a minute. Photos look highly detailed and great overall, despite some banding with certain colors.

Unfortunately, color accuracy is only okay and isn't recommended for those who work in print media or graphic design. Also, while the printer has an automatic document feeder, it doesn't support duplex scanning, meaning you have to manually flip over double-sided documents. That said, if you just want something that can print great-looking photos and keep up with printing documents, this is one of the best all-in-one printers we've tested.

The best small printer for photos that we've tested is the HP DeskJet 3755. This all-in-one inkjet printer produces good-looking photos with only a bit of banding and oversaturated colors, but otherwise, they're very detailed. It has great color accuracy, and while it may not be good enough for people who need exact color reproduction, it should be more than fine for casual photo prints.

This compact, brightly-colored printer takes up a small amount of space on your desk. Surprisingly, considering its size, it has an automatic document feeder to help you quickly scan multiple pages at once. Also, it comes in three vibrant colors that you can match with your office setup. There are a decent number of ways to connect to the printer, including through its support for Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service.

Unfortunately, its page yields for both black and color ink are terribly low, so you may need to replace the cartridge often, especially if you print photos often. As a result, the cost-per-print is very high, so the price of replacing the cartridges quickly rises above the initial price of the printer. Printing speed is also very slow, which may not be ideal if you need to print multiple images. That said, if you're low on space but need a printer to print good-looking photos, this is a good choice.

The Canon PIXMA TR4520 is the best printer for photos in the budget category that we've tested. It's an all-in-one inkjet model that prints great quality photos, with only a small amount of banding in gray areas. Color accuracy is decent enough for printing family photos or arts and crafts. The input tray has a slider to accommodate different paper sizes, including 4" x 6" and 5" x 7" photos.

It has decent wired and wireless connectivity options, and it's also compatible with the Canon PRINT Inkjet/SELPHY app, which lets you print and scan directly from your mobile device, as well as order ink. The scanner features are great, including a high-resolution flatbed scanner and an automatic document feeder to process multi-page documents.

Unfortunately, it has a very low page yield, so you might run out of ink often, especially if you print a lot. This results in a high cost-per-print since you need to replace the cartridges often. Also, it prints fairly slow, and paper jams aren't easy to get to. That said, this is still a good printer if you're looking for a budget option to print photos.