The best home printers come in different shapes and sizes. Some are fast printers, others are multifunction and can scan or copy, too. Still others are Wi-Fi enabled. All of them are a good bang for your buck. Here are five of the best home printers, according to the Lifehacker community.
Earlier this week we asked you which home printers you thought were the best, based on your own experiences and opinions. You weighed in with tons of suggestions, both brand-wise and for specific models.
Here are the five models that rose to the top of the pack, thanks to your votes and nominations (in no particular order):
Epson WorkForce WF-3540
The Epson WF-3540 is a powerful Wi-Fi multifunction printer, scanner, fax, and copier that's also relatively fast (15 pages/min black, 9 pages/min color), both when printing in color and in black and white. It also prints from and scans to USB devices and memory cards plugged in to its onboard ports. If you configure it to connect to some network storage or a shared PC, you can scan documents directly to your computer with it as well. You can also print to it over the network and from mobile devices like tablets and smartphones, as it's AirPrint and Google Cloud Print compatible (or you can use Epson's own apps to connect to it directly). It's an inkjet, so you'll need to be ready to pony up for ink on a regular basis, but beyond that, it's a solid device, especially if you're looking to stock a home office with one device that can handle all of your document management needs. Read a more detailed list of specs here (click specifications).
Those of you who nominated the Epson WF-3540 noted that it's a solid printer that's well reviewed and well regarded, and several of you shared your own experiences with the unit. Overall, you praised its reliability and wireless capabilities, making it a great printer to put in the corner of your home office without a bunch of cables or wires everywhere, but that could still communicate with all of your devices. Almost all of you mentioned that it's the kind of printer that seems like it should cost much more than it does, and one of you noted that you can even use generic ink cartridges with it and not see a dip in performance. If you want one, it'll set you back $130 at Amazon. You can read more about it in its nomination thread here, and if you're looking for a slightly more "business" option that's still a great bang for the buck, the Epson Workforce Pro 4530 was also nominated here.
Brother HL-2270DW
If you're looking for a rock solid, no frills, get-it-done printer that's cheap and reliable, the Brother HL-2270DW was a popular choice in the call for contenders round. Many of you noted that it may not have a wealth of features, but it's a super-affordable black-and-white laser printer that'll print endlessly before you have to bother to change it, which keeps overall cost of ownership at a minimum. It was The Wirecutter's pick for best cheap printer until very recently, and still highly recommended by them. It's a great pick by all accounts, too—it's fast (up to 27 pages/min), it's cheap, and it's even wireless and can be used in connection with mobile devices thanks to Brother's mobile printing apps. It even features a space-saving design that' means you don't have to dedicate half of your desk or an entire piece of furniture just to holding your printer—it's small enough to fit in a relatively small space. You can read a more detailed list of its specification here (click specifications).
The HL-2270DW was popular in the nominations round, with most of you praising it for being not just super-fast, but also super-cheap to buy and to operate—explaining it can print close to 2600 pages on a single toner cartridge. You praised its "toner saving mode," which the printer shifts into when it's starting to run low, and you noted that while the printer retails at around $100, it's usually available cheaper—closer to $80 or so when it's on sale. Some of you praised the fact that while many printer manufacturers only pay attention to Windows and OS X users, Brother consistently gives Linux users some love, too. If you want one right now, you can pick it up for $95 at Amazon. Don't just take our word for it, read the nomination thread for it yourself and see. If you need a scanner/copier along with your laser printer, consider the Brother HL-2280DW, which earned a ton of nominations in its own right.
HP OfficeJet Pro 8600
Even though it's just been discontinued (seriously just discontinued in the past month or so—the successor is the HP OfficeJet Pro 8610), this all-in-one Wi-Fi printer, scanner, fax, and copier earned high praise in the nominations round. It's a color inkjet too, so you have to factor in ink costs, but it definitely packs in the features. It packs WebOS on the color control panel, which means you can download mini "apps" to the printer to automate or streamline common tasks like photo editing and touch-up before printing, or document management. It can print from USB devices and SD cards, can scan to USB devices or network drives, and can print up to 18 pages/minute black and 13 pages/min color. Printing via mobile apps required HP ePrint, or Apple AirPrint compatible devices. You can read more detailed specs here (click "specs").
Those of you who nominated the OfficeJet Pro 8600 noted it's a rock-solid printer that's reliable, even for an inkjet, and when properly configured, will even let you print over the internet from other locations or devices. You can get an email on your phone, forward it to a special email address, and the printer will take it from there. You also praised those WebOS "apps," which turn the printer into a kind of personal assistant that will do things like print documents, news, and other information for you automatically on a regular basis without you having to do it manually. You also noted that it used to be expensive, but now it's on par with other printers in the lineup, around the $100 price point, especially when on sale. If you want one, Amazon has them for $125 with free Prime shipping, although HP has them direct for $119 (with free standard shipping). Depending on when you need it and your shipping costs, direct may be your best bet. You can read more in its nomination thread here.
Brother MFC-7420 (MFC7360N)
If style isn't an issue, the Brother MFC-7420 earned enough nominations to make the top five—even though it's long discontinued and even those of you who nominated it and commented on it were...less than kind about its looks. To be fair, the beige case and purple button look is certainly dated, but even though it won't win any design awards, it's a rock solid printer—if you can find one. It's been discontinued, and while you can get them used cheap at Amazon, the successor is the Brother MFC7360 Multifunction Laser. For its part, the 7420 is a capable multifunction laser, although it's definitely a member of an older generation—it's slower, only connects via USB (or USB-to-network adapter), and it's a workhorse. The MFC7360N, on the other hand, supports networking via Ethernet, prints at 24 pages/minute, and looks a sight better than its predecessor.
In the nominations thread, a few of you shared your love for the old 7420, mentioning it was a rock solid unit, and one of you even noting you scored one at Goodwill with a full toner cartridge and it's served you well ever since. One of you noted that by connecting it directly to a Wi-Fi enabled computer, you can share it out to other devices, and even print via mobile apps thanks to desktop software like HandyPrint. You can read more about it in the nominations thread here, and if you're not lucky enough to find one, the MFC7360 is available at Amazon for $149.
Epson WorkForce WF-2540
The Epson WF-2540 is a compact, fast, affordable printer that also packs Wi-Fi and Ethernet. Even though it's small, it's still an all-in-one, and capable of scanning, copying, and faxing, not to mention printing from USB and SD cards and scanning to USB devices and network drives. It's not the fastest, printing at about 9 pages/min black and 7 pages/min color, and it's an inkjet, but the like many of the others here, the ink comes in individual cartridges and is affordable to replace. It also features a big, bright 2.5-inch LCD control screen, which is ideal if you need to make some settings tweaks or changes to photos before you print them. It also supports wireless printing via Google Cloud Print, Apple AirPrint, or Epson's own wireless printing apps. You can read a more detailed list of specs here (click on specifications).
Those of you who nominated it praised two things mainly—it's low price, around the $100 mark, and the low price of its ink cartridges, about $13 each for color ones—which is pretty cheap considering. You also mentioned its wireless and email-to-printer options as great ways to get documents off of your phone or tablet and right to the printer without hassle or having to sit down at the computer first. If you're interested in one, you can pick up a WF-2540 for $90 at Amazon, and read more about it in its nomination thread here.
Now that you've seen the top five, it's time to answer the question: If we could only buy one of the top five which one would it be? Cast your vote below:
This week's honorable mention goes out to a printer that actually didn't get nominated, but we think we should highlight anyway—the Samsung Xpress M2825DW , which recently earned The Wirecutter's crown for the best cheap printer. It'll set you back $124 at Amazon, and it's a fast and capable monochrome laser printer for anyone who wants fast prints, doesn't need a scanner/copier, and doesn't need color printing.
Beyond that though, we'll acknowledge that the Lifehacker community definitely seems to love Brother, Epson, and HP printers, as they dominated the nominations round (even though I, personally, have an love the Dell printer I nominated in the call for contenders.) There's also still a divide—black and white printing is definitely the domain of monochrome laser printers at home at this point, but color lasers still are often too expensive for many consumers—so color inkjets (usually also multifunction printers) hit the right price point. You're easily looking at an additional hundred over many of these—sometimes two—for a color laser multifunction in the same category.
Perhaps we should give the honorable mention to this Epson MX-80 printer nominated by reader chumleyex—it's probably the most worthy.
Want to make the case for your personal favorite, even if it wasn't included in the list? Remember, the top five are based on your most popular nominations from the call for contenders thread from earlier in the week . Don't just complain about the top five, let us know what your preferred alternative is—and make your case for it—in the discussions below.
The Hive Five is based on reader nominations. As with most Hive Five posts, if your favorite was left out, it didn't get the nominations required in the call for contenders post to make the top five. We understand it's a bit of a popularity contest. Have a suggestion for the Hive Five? Send us an email at tips+hivefive@lifehacker.com!
Title photo by Roger H Goun.
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