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We are currently testing a new photo printer and there will be new options soon. The other choices in this guide are still the best choices in their respective categories.
Since the beginning of Wirecutter's existence, we have been testing printers. In total, we have conducted nearly 500 hours of research and tried dozens of models. The reliable and easy-to-operate HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e is an all-in-one color inkjet printer, a good choice for most people who need to print regularly at home. It is easy to set up and has low operating costs, is suitable for a variety of equipment, and can print beautiful prints, from tax bills to glossy photos.
This business-grade machine can check all boxes in a home office or small business: it is faster, sharper, more durable and safer than our other options.
Manufacturer's warranty (including purchase)
May be out of stock
*At the time of publication, the price was $230.
Target audience: Families—especially those with school-age children—or anyone who needs a machine that can perform all tasks reliably.
Why we like it: The OfficeJet Pro 9015e is not HP's most powerful all-in-one inkjet printer, but it is the best choice for most people. It is very easy to set up and use, reaching the best point of speed, print quality and reliability that other printers cannot match. Its running cost is reasonable, with 2.2 cents per page for black and white pages and 8.9 cents for color pages. You can choose to join HP's Instant Ink program to achieve one-time supplementation and cheaper color printing. Its stylish design makes it stand out from its clumsy-looking competitors, which is almost enough for us to forgive its small touch screen and fragile output tray. However, in the final analysis, our worries are small. The printer still sucks, but compared to past dinosaurs, this is a significant improvement.
The 9015e is very fast for almost everyone who uses it in a home or home office environment. HP rates it at 22 pages per minute in black and white documents and 18 ppm in color documents. In our test, it was very close: using a plain text Word document, we saw a one-sided of 19.6 ppm. Switching to the PDF document, we saw a typical speed drop, 15 ppm for monochrome and 11.5 ppm for color. (These numbers include the delay between when we clicked the print command on the computer and the first sheet of paper was fed.) Printing a double-sided document slowed the speed of Word files to 12.8 ppm, and the speed of PDFs slowed to 10 ppm. This is still good. Scanning at 9.5 ppm single-sided using the 35-page automatic document feeder is just as fast. However, the double-sided scanning dropped to 4.5 ppm, mainly because the ADF had to pull each sheet twice to scan both sides.
Flaws but not spoilers: The biggest shortcoming of OfficeJet Pro 9015e may be its single 250-sheet paper tray. Although this is the standard size for home printers, it may be smaller than the size that some people use for home and home business use. Since there is only one paper tray, when you need to print on other paper, you need to manually replace the general correspondence paper-whether it is legal paper, label paper, glossy photo paper or resume paper.
We don't like HP's small sliding and folding output tray, which protrudes from the front of the printer. One of the best things about the OfficeJet Pro 8720 we chose earlier is that it has a separate output tray behind the huge touch screen display. The result is that your files are unlikely to fall and end up scattered on the floor of your office. This is not the case with the new model.
Speaking of displays, the 9015e’s display is much smaller than the previous generation of HP printers. It still works, but the reduced space does make it more difficult to click on the smallest on-screen buttons, such as the gear icon that takes you to the settings menu. Be prepared for some frustrating mistouch.
Pages per minute (description, monochrome/color): 22/18
Cost per page (monochrome/color): 2.2¢/8.9¢
Learn more in our complete guide on the best all-in-one printers.
If you need the speed and reliability of a laser printer and the versatility of color, M255dw can meet your needs.
Manufacturer's warranty (including purchase)
May be out of stock
Target audience: Home and small business owners, or people who simply don't want to deal with clogs that may plague inkjet printers.
Why we like it: HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw is our choice of the best laser printer because it is easy to use, produces excellent results, and enjoys the excellent reliability of laser printing technology. No matter how long you leave it idle, you can turn it on, and it will start printing more or less immediately-and no toner will be wasted during the cleaning cycle. Although it is more expensive than similar monochrome laser printers, it is also more flexible. In addition to clear text, it can also generate vivid color graphics, and even make impressive photos (but not on photo paper). The printing speed is fast and the cost per page is reasonable. The smart phone-style color touch screen of this model makes it easy to change settings, and HP's PC and mobile software are the best in the industry. Unlike most other printers, the M255dw can connect to a 5 GHz wireless network, which should speed up large print jobs and help ensure that the printer does not lose its connection over time.
Defect but not a spoiler: M255dw may take a minute or two to start processing very large print jobs. We only saw this issue once during testing, but several owners reported it in the comments. Since this printer comes with a set of "beginner" toners that are only suitable for 800 black and white and 700 color pages, you may need to purchase replacements within a year or so after purchase. It makes the best economic sense to get the highest possible capacity ink cartridges, but the complete cost of this machine is about US$400, almost twice that of the machine itself. Thanks to all the toner, this printer is big and heavy. Make sure you have a space that can hold it. And, of course, the M255dw is just a printer-it does not include copy, scan or fax functions. To get these features, you need to upgrade to models such as our color laser all-in-one machine.
Size: 15.4 x 18.7 x 11.7 inches Weight: 32.6 pounds Pages per minute (specified, monochrome/color): 22/22 Cost per page (monochrome/color): 3¢/15¢
Learn more in our complete guide to the best laser printers.
Don't really need a printer, but want a printer that works occasionally? This Brother is simple to set up, reliable and affordable.
May be out of stock
May be out of stock
*At the time of publication, the price was $100.
Who is this for: Those who do not need to use the printer every day, but still want to use the printer when they need to print several times a year.
Why we like it: Brother HL-L2350DW is simple, fast, reliable, easy to set up and economical to operate. And because it is a laser printer, it can wait weeks or months between print jobs and then start again without problems. But even though it is a budget model, its functions are not lacking. For an asking price of around $100, you can get automatic duplex printing, a large 250-page paper tray, reliable Wi-Fi connection, and the option to use high-yield toner cartridges-which means you don’t have to buy They often. This printer is suitable for Windows, MacOS, Linux, ChromeOS, iOS and Android. As for the print quality, in our test of choosing the best laser printer, we found that this model is good enough for any text-based document, but it may require some settings adjustments to generate a graphically heavy document to be distributed to other people. It is also very compact, which means it can be installed in a small space (such as a bookshelf) that other printers cannot access.
Defects but not spoilers: it is a bit fragile and the packaging is not very good, so if you buy one, be sure to check for any plastic parts that might be knocked into place during transportation. We do not recommend printing through Brother's iPrint&Scan software, as it will cause excessive and detail-destroying contrast. If you use a Chromebook, you should be aware that the printer’s default settings may prevent it from being used with Google Cloud Print; to make it work, you need to disable IPv6 in the network section of the printer’s web control panel.
Size: 14.0 x 7.2 x 14.2 inches Weight: 15.9 pounds Pages per minute (description): 32 Cost per page: 3.3¢
Learn more in our complete guide to the best laser printers.
Long-lasting ink, flexible media options, smooth touch screen interface, and beautiful color and black-and-white printing make P600 a good choice.
*At the time of publication, the price was $703.
Who is this for: serious photographers, or those who aspire to be.
Why we like it: Epson SureColor P600 can provide gallery-quality printing up to 13 inches wide and can print panoramas up to 10 feet long. It can also print on a variety of media, including metal and CD. Although its color photos caught our attention when testing the best photo printers, we particularly like black and white output; it is very close to the traditional darkroom printing you get at home. These prints will also last a long time: P600's UltraChrome HD pigment ink is one of the most durable consumer inks. The touch screen interface is a bit higher than what you get from most competitors. The ink cost is reasonable, and you can get a large-capacity ink tank, so you don't need to add ink frequently. In addition to Wi-Fi, this printer also has USB and Ethernet connections to speed up printing.
Flaws but not spoilers: Like most photo printers, the printing speed is very slow-it takes more than 3 minutes to print a standard 8 x 10 inch photo, and this time increases to nearly 6 minutes via Wi-Fi. This printer wastes ink when switching between matte and photo black ink (about 3 mL each time) because they share the same ink line with the print head. If you use paper other than Epson, you must look for suitable media settings and ICC color profiles; frustratingly, Epson does not include them.
Dimensions: 24.2 x 32 x 16.7 inches Weight: 33.07 pounds Ink cost per milliliter: $1.24
Learn more in our complete guide to the best photo printers.
Ben Keough is an editor at Wirecutter, covering power supply, home office and hobbies. He previously spent more than a decade writing articles about cameras, printers and other office equipment for Wirecutter, Reviewed, USA Today, and Digital Camera HQ. After four years of printer testing, he confirmed that they are all bad, but some are less than others.
The HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e has become most people's favorite all-in-one machine with its ease of use, excellent print quality and low operating costs.
Authors: Erin Lodi and Amadou Diallo
Photo printers are only suitable for experienced photographers, but if you are so serious about photography, we think Epson's SureColor P700 is your best choice.
The fast, reliable and easy-to-use HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw is our favorite laser printer.
After six years of testing 12 printers, we recommend the reliable and easy-to-use Prusa Mini to beginners and enthusiasts.
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