The 6 Best Printers With Cheap Ink - Winter 2022 Reviews

The best all-in-one printer for home use with cheap ink that we've tested is the Brother MFC-J4335DW. This color inkjet uses Brother's INKvestment Tank, which uses a combination of ink tanks and cartridges to yield an excellent number of pages. Its cost-per-print is outstandingly cheap, so it's a very efficient printer given the cost of new cartridges.

It has a flatbed scanner with a high scan resolution and an automatic document feeder, which makes it well-suited for digitizing family photos or important documents. It prints very quickly and should produce a full essay or report in under a minute, which means you won't have to sit waiting. The connectivity options include Apple AirPrint, Mopria Print Service, and Wi-Fi Direct, so you can easily print from many different devices.

Unfortunately, it doesn't support third-party cartridges, but there are XL cartridges that provide higher page yields and a better cost-per-print. Also, it uses three separate color cartridges, so you only need to replace the colors that run out. The photos it prints look only okay, so you're better off getting a dedicated photo printer if you do a lot of photo printing. That said, this is a well-rounded family printer, and it's the best home printer with cheap ink that we've tested.

The best printer with cheap ink for offices we've tested is the Epson EcoTank ET-4760. This all-in-one inkjet model uses a supertank system with four refillable ink tanks that yield an incredible number of pages before needing to be refilled. Thanks to its high page yields, it has an outstanding cost-per-print, among the lowest we've tested.

Since it's an all-in-one unit, it comes with office features like a high-resolution flatbed scanner for digitizing receipts or documents and an automatic document feeder to quickly scan multi-page reports or contracts. It can also fax, should you need it. It produces the first page of a text document quickly, and subsequent pages come out fairly fast; however, photos and color documents can take significantly longer. You can connect the printer to a larger office network with an Ethernet cable, or wirelessly with Wi-Fi, Apple AirPrint, and Mopria Print Service.

Unfortunately, though it has an automatic document feeder, it doesn't perform duplex scanning, so digitizing double-sided may get tedious as you'll have to manually turn over pages during the scan job. Also, it doesn't support printing with a Bluetooth connection, and it doesn't have ports for printing directly off of a USB key or SD card. With that said, it's an excellent option if you're looking for a home office printer with cheap ink to keep you within budget.

The best black and white printer for home use with cheap ink that we've tested is the Epson EcoTank ET-2760. This compact, all-in-one unit can also print in color if needed. Thanks to its supertank system, its page yield for black-only documents is exceptionally high, and its cost-per-print is incredibly low.

Even if you only intend to use this printer for black and white printing, you have its high-resolution flatbed scanner to easily digitize notes, documents, or photos and capture all their fine details. This printer also has an SD slot to print directly off an SD card, and it connects wirelessly to devices using Apple AirPrint, Mopria Print Service, or a Wi-Fi connection. You can use the Epson iPrint companion app to print, scan, copy, and perform maintenance tasks right from your device.

Unfortunately, it lacks an automatic document feeder, so scanning long documents can be time-consuming, as you'll have to load each page manually onto the flatbed. Also, its printing speeds are decent, but it may take a while for very long print jobs to come out. With that said, it's a good option if you're looking for a printer with cheap ink to keep costs low.

The best all-in-one printer with cheap ink for photos that we've tested is the Canon PIXMA G7020. This supertank inkjet model yields an incredibly high number of pages. Its cost-per-print is remarkably low, with a typical 4" x 6" photo costing no more than two cents in ink. Exceptionally, it comes with three black ink bottles included alongside the color ink bottles, which should last a very long time even if you print a lot.

It prints very good-looking photos with good detail, although they're a bit oversaturated. If you need to digitize photos, its flatbed scanner has a good scan resolution and color depth, letting you capture even the smallest details. There's a great array of connectivity options, including Wi-Fi Direct, Apple AirPrint, Mopria Print Service, letting you print from a wide variety of devices.

Unfortunately, the accuracy of colors is mediocre, so photos likely won't look true to life. If you need to print documents, it prints slowly, so you'll be waiting for a while for prints to finish. Also, there's no space to plug in external storage like an SD card, so transferring photos from a camera will take extra steps. Overall, it's still good for casual photos and won't cost you too much in ink.

If you're on a budget, the best printer for home use with cheap ink we've tested is the Brother MFC-J1205W. It uses Brother's proprietary INKvestment Tank, a hybrid cartridge–tank system, and yields a great number of both black and color pages at a remarkably cheap cost-per-print. There's also a flatbed scanner with hinges that slightly lift when you need to scan slightly thicker media like magazines.

For a budget-priced printer, it feels very well-built, with easy access to potential paper jams via a door in the rear. You can also push the output tray all the way in to make the printer more compact. Printed photos look decent, and the accuracy of colors is acceptable for casual use. The connectivity options are satisfactory, including Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service, and you can use the refreshed Brother Mobile Connect app to print, scan, copy, and perform maintenance tasks.

Unfortunately, printing documents is slow, there's no automatic duplex printing, and the lack of Bluetooth might be inconvenient for some. There's also no screen, but there are many function buttons and status lights to help make operation easier. All in all, it's a good printer if you're on a budget and want something that won't break the bank.