While more and more things are done online, through smartphone apps and other means, printing remains a reliable way of obtaining a physical copy of photos, documents, tickets, and other content. There are stark differences between inkjet and laser printers and both are worth considering, depending on what your requirements are. No matter your reason for going with an inkjet, we take a quick look at some of the best you can buy.
Brother MFC-J985DW
If you don't have a specific task in mind for your inkjet printer — say you want to print documents, photos, and scan and copy — you want an all-in-one device. This one from Brother has a 100-sheet paper tray, can duplex print both sides of a page, and prints about 8.5 text documents per minute.
PCMag awarded this Brother printer an Editors' Choice award and Tom's Guide reviewed it favorably, stating:
Brother's MFC-J985DW all-in-one delivers a lot for the money. The fast scanning, copying, and text-printing speeds make it well-suited for a home or small office, and you'll be pleased with the quality of prints.
Relatively cheap printing costs — PCMag's testing revealed about a cent per monochrome page and about five cents for a color page — make this a great deal, especially since it starts at about $170.
HP Envy 5540
The HP Envy 5540 is one of the cheapest inkjet printers out there to operate thanks to a low initial cost and cheap replacement ink costs; the printer starts at about $80 and you can get a complete set of ink for about $40. This all-in-one device will print, scan, and copy, and it will even duplex print both sides of a page.
TopTenReviews said that this printer was one of the best at printing text documents, and The Wirecutter chose it as their top budget all-in-one pick, claiming:
If you don't print often but insist on a cheap color printer, the Envy 5540 offers excellent print quality, as well as reasonable ink costs if you use HP's subscription service.
Connect wirelessly, scan documents and send them straight to an email account, and deal with a large print job with a 125-sheet paper tray.
Epson SureColor P600
Inkjet printers can be incredibly good at printing photos if you don't mind coughing up a large sum, which is exactly the case here with Epson's SureColor P600. It starts at about $700, but, according to PCMag in their review, it delivers an "impressively high-quality output." The Wirecutter and Digital Trends also loved this printer, with the former site stating:
These are truly gallery-quality prints that can provide many years of viewing pleasure whether you're hanging them on your own wall or selling them to others.
A small, color LCD screen sits on the front of the printer for easy control, and you can even print 10-foot panoramas. Connect over Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or USB to ensure every device in your home can print great photos.
Epson Expression XP-640
Buying an affordable all-in-one inkjet printer usually means some print quality will be lost somewhere. If you plan on primarily printing color photos and don't see many text documents in your future, grab this printer. Despite its price, starting at about $80, it spits out quality graphics. Tom's Guide, in their review, had this to say:
The XP-640 makes high-quality graphics prints, both on plain paper and glossy photo paper. Colors were well-saturated, textures were smooth, and there was a lot of fine detail. Colors tended to be warm, including skin tones.
A color LCD screen on the front lets you tweak settings as you print, you can duplex print both sides of a page, and its all-in-one design means copying and scanning aren't a problem. Connect over Wi-Fi, or pop a USB thumb drive or SD card into a port for direct printing.
More printers
Don't see what you're looking for here? Check out our other roundups of some of the best printers available.
- Best Affordable Printers
- Best Photo Printers
- Best All-in-One Printer
- Best Wireless Printers
- Best Laser Printer
Updated April 2, 2018: We've updated pricing information and removed an older choice no longer on sale.
