The 9 Best Home Printers of 2024
A reliable, fast, and quality printer makes all the difference when you’re trying to create a smear-free family photo or a crisp research paper—but, not every printer is as reliable as you’d want it to be or as easy to use as you’d hope. With this in mind, we tested 27 home printers at home and in The Lab—including both laser and inkjet printers from brands like HP, Epson, Canon, and more.
We took a close look at each model’s setup, usability, print speed, quality, and other key features like document scanning and cloud printing. After analyzing that data, we brought the top performers home to test and observed how they held up to regular use for projects, presentations, homework, photos, and more.
Laser printers typically produce high-quality, smudge-proof text in a timely manner; they’re best for remote workers, students, and anyone who needs to print a lot of documents fast. Inkjet printers, on the other hand, produce text that may not as crisp and aren’t as fast; they’re best for color printing jobs (including photos). Inkjets are also less expensive, but more expensive to operate, due to the higher cost per page of ink compared to laser toner.
We compared the performance of each printer we tested, finding that a four-second print speed for a black-and-white document is really quite nice. Some of our favorites even also offer copying.
Editor’s Note: This story was revised in June 2024 to include new recommendations and updated buying considerations for our nine favorite printers.
HP OfficeJet Pro 9135e All-in-One Printer
The HP OfficeJet Pro 9135e Wireless Color All-in-One does it all, and does it well, which is why it’s easily our top recommendation for the best home printer. It’s the latest update of the OfficeJet Pro line that we’ve liked for a long time (since we initially tested the OfficeJet Pro 9025e, which was our favorite overall printer until it was discontinued in favor of this updated model.)
In testing, we found that the OfficeJet Pro line offers speedy printing and high-quality results. The 9135e boasts an automatic document feeder, flatbed scanner, and two huge paper trays, so it’s ready for whatever work you need to get done. It’s also surprisingly inexpensive to operate due to excellent page-per-cartridge yields, with an option to sign up for HP’s Instant Ink plan to drive those costs down even further if your print volume warrants signing up for such a service (it comes with three months free).
This all-in-one inkjet is a mild upgrade over its predecessor that came out a few years ago, the OfficeJet Pro 9025, with the main difference being that it’s compatible with the HP+ service. The 9025 is also a great printer, but opting into HP+ while setting up this model doubles the warranty length and scores you several months of free ink. This kind of service isn’t for everyone, but it’s a good option if you go through a lot of ink.
The OfficeJet Pro 9135e offers great print speeds for an inkjet, too. During our testing process, we found that it churned through our ten-page monochrome test document in one minute and 19 seconds, and HP reports that it tops out at a blazing 24 pages per minute in ideal conditions. Printed documents come out crisp and clean without any fuzziness or distortion, and it also handles photo prints very well.
Our test photos turned out a bit dark, but the contrast was excellent, the color reproduction was good, and the photos didn’t smudge at all. That said, we wouldn’t recommend this printer for photos you plan to display, since the muted colors aren’t ideal. However, the color printing function is acceptable for basic presentations and other documents.
Our testing found the flatbed scanner turned in excellent quality scans, even when scanning a bulky book. The automatic document feeder (ADF) only holds 35 pages, but it’s capable of auto-duplexing, or scanning both sides of the page, on a single pass through the scanner. That saves both time and effort, as you can set a stack of papers to copy or scan and walk away while the printer does all the work. One minor drawback is that this model doesn’t feature near field communication (NFC), which would allow you to print documents located on your phone by simply touching your phone to an NFC tag located on the printer.
If you’re looking for a powerful all-in-one home printer that handles all of your daily printing, scanning, and copying needs, we think the OfficeJet Pro 9135e is more than equal to the task. This printer has the specs to run in a small office environment, so it’s also a solid option if you work from home or even if you’re looking for a printer for a shared workspace. This is a physically large printer that will likely take up a bit too much real estate for most home office desks, so we would recommend a dedicated space for it.
Canon Pixma MG3620 Wireless Printer
The Canon Pixma MG3620 has an attractive price tag, but we think it’s also a competent, all-in-one inkjet printer that can duplex print, print both color documents and photos, scan, and make copies. It also has wireless connectivity that lets you print from your computer or the well-designed mobile app. With all of that functionality, we were astounded that Canon doesn’t charge more for this model.
This is a feature-packed printer, which means it can do a little of everything, but it isn’t necessarily the best in every way. One area where this printer struggles is speed, and it actually took about five minutes to print our 10-page test document.
Still, we think the print quality is excellent, with crisp text and graphics. It also handles printing pretty well, but it only has one paper tray. That means you can’t stock it with both photo paper and standard paper, and you have to manually swap in your glossy photo stock whenever it’s time to run off a few photos. It also lacks an automatic document feeder for effortless scanning, but it does have a flatbed scanner to scan books and other bulky items in addition to single-page documents and forms.
We’re quite pleased with how this compact printer has performed over six months of use at home, too. Although it’s not a go-to option for printing high-quality photos, we’re still impressed by how well it prints text and graphics on basic printer paper. It’s also easy to store this printer in a cabinet when it’s not in use.
Brother DCP-L2640DW Wireless Compact Monochrome Multi-Function Laser Printer
The Brother CDP-L2640DW is an all-in-one laser printer that produces impressively clean results, and it prints fast (almost too fast, considering the size of the paper tray.) This printer is a favorite that we tested at home, and it’s part of a lineage that we’ve been using for almost two decades. We even have one around from circa 2008 that still prints flawlessly and was put out to pasture in favor of new connectivity options like Wi-Fi.
We think this printer is a real workhorse, with a laser-fast 36ppm printing rate, a similarly fast scanner, and a 50 page automatic document feeder. The printer supports automatic duplexing (printing on both sides of the page), but the automatic document feeder only scans one side of documents, which can be a pain point when scanning longer items.
We initially decided to try this printer because we were unhappy with the speed and performance of the inkjet printers we had used, and because we needed to print a lot of documents at home. We were impressed with the results in both of those areas, with this printer producing crisp black and white text at a rapid pace, and without the need to constantly replace an ink cartridge.
The toner cartridge will supposedly print about 700 pages, but we’ve seen their starter toner cartridges produce significantly more before needing to be replaced. It is pricey, and you do eventually need to replace the toner cartridge (a dual pack of toner costs almost as much as the printer), but that’s a worthwhile investment when you consider that each cartridge can produce around 3,000 pages.
We also love the connectivity of this printer, which includes wired Ethernet, USB, and Wi-Fi for both wired and wireless options. The Wi-Fi connectivity enables printing over Wi-Fi from any network connected computer, or via Wi-Fi Direct, and there’s also a phone app that lets you print and scan without using a computer at all.
Epson Expression Premium XP-7100
The Epson Expression Premium XP-7100 produces fantastic photo prints and clean monochrome documents, with multiple paper trays to hold different types of printable media, which is why it’s our favorite color printer. It’s also an all-in-one with a flatbed scanner and an automatic document feeder that supports auto-duplexing, so it’s a good choice for low-volume home offices and typical printing jobs like homework, reports, and photos.
We tested this printer at home and immediately fell in love with the five ink photo printing, which produces strikingly vibrant colors, super dark blacks, and overall results that are indistinguishable from professional prints. It prints up to 8 x 10 inch borderless photos, but it also works well for smaller prints. We like that it has multiple paper trays, so you don’t need to remove your regular paper to print a photo.
In addition to full color documents and high quality photos, this printer also handles monochrome documents very well. It doesn’t provide quite the same precision (or the speed) of something like the Brother CDP-L2640DW (our best laser pick), but the results are impressive for an inkjet printer.
The scanning functionality is also top notch, with both a flatbed scanner and an automatic document feeder. It supports one button copying, and you can also scan to (and print from) the included SD card reader. We like the auto-duplexing feature of the automatic document feeder, because it makes it super easy to scan large documents that have print on both sides.
If you need a color printer that can produce high quality photos and clean monochrome text, in an environment that doesn’t require high volume printing, this is a solid option.
HP DeskJet 3755 Compact Printer
The HP DeskJet 3755 is a compact all-in-one that gets all the basics right without overloading on features that not everyone needs. This color inkjet printer produces crisp monochrome documents and colorful photo prints, copies, and scans, all in a remarkably small footprint. It won’t perfectly duplicate all of the functionality of a bigger, more expensive all-in-one, but it has everything you’ll need for basic printing and scanning jobs. We love the compact size, noting that it’s perfect for small home offices, dorm rooms, bedrooms, and anywhere that space is at a premium.
This isn’t the fastest printer, as it took over five minutes to print out our 10-page test document, but text comes out clear and legible. We also noted that photos came out a bit wet and prone to smearing, but they looked fantastic if left to dry after printing.
Another quirk is that, while this all-in-one can scan and copy, it doesn’t have an automatic document feeder or a flatbed scanner. Instead, it has a single-page document feeder on the top. That means you have to feed each page manually when scanning or copying, and you can’t scan things like books or other bulky items. It does support both wireless scanning and printing though, including through the mobile app.
Canon Pixma TR8620a Printer
A good home office printer needs to duplicate a lot of the functionality that you’d typically have access to in a professional office or shared workspace—and, based on our thorough testing, the Canon Pixma TR8620a is our recommendation for the work-from-home setup. This all-in-one model offers excellent print quality, impressive print speeds, an automatic document feeder and flatbed scanner, and two paper trays so you can load up two different kinds of paper at once. It’s also rated for a 1,000-page-per-month duty cycle, which is great for most home office settings.
The Pixma TR8620a turned in solid print speeds during our testing, with our 10-page test document taking less than one minute to print. Photos came out a whole lot slower, at about two minutes each, but that’s less of a concern, unless you’re in the business of printing photos.
Print quality is excellent for both monochrome documents and photos, and we found that photos in particular came out looking just as good as professional prints. The scanner also turned out good results in our tests, with good text reproduction, although it is important to note that the automatic document feeder only supports manual duplexing. That means you can scan double-sided documents, but you need to feed them in one at a time and flip them over to scan both sides.
Epson Expression Home XP-4100
If your ideal printer needs to support the whole gamut of connectivity options, the Epson Expression Home XP-4100 has you covered. What impressed us in our testing was that this printer allows you to connect in three different ways, including USB for single computer connections, Wi-Fi for printing from any device on your local network, and Wi-Fi Direct for direct wireless printing.
These connectivity options let you print from a laptop or desktop via a wired connection, print over your home network from any network-connected device, or print straight from your Wi-Fi Direct-enabled phone or tablet with no network connection needed. It also supports Apple AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, and Epson Connect, which lets you print via email, along with a variety of other options.
The XP-4100 was a bit of a headache to set up during our testing process because it needed a firmware update right out of the box. Once it was set up, though, it performed flawlessly in terms of print quality. Monochrome prints turned out nice and crisp, though the printer did have some color accuracy issues when printing photos on glossy photo stock, with browns appearing a bit red. It doesn’t have an automatic document feeder, but we noted that the flatbed scanner was remarkably quiet during operation.
After six months of usage, we were still impressed with the Expression XP-4100’s print quality. However, one major learning for us is that you cannot use third-party ink cartridges, especially after completing a software update. The printer will not recognize the cartridges, so you can expect ink costs to be slightly more expensive with Epson ink being a requirement.
