Do You Still Need a Printer? Of Course You Do!

Despite everyone’s move to digital paper, digital photos, and the cloud, we still all need to print a few things once in a while, whether it’s a concert ticket, a mail-in form, a school assignment, or a work document. To help you find your way through the maze of printer options available, we’ve compiled this guide to the best inkjet and laser models.

As a rule of thumb, inkjets are great for small-volume printing that requires color, and are the only printers to consider for album-worthy photographs. Meanwhile, laser printers are vastly superior for large-volume printing, with color laser models suitable for business presentations.

Our Latest Recommendations

For Fall 2024, we’ve updated this guide with our top picks in a number of different categories, offering the best combinations of features for the price. While printer tech doesn’t change all that often, every brand regularly refreshes its lineups with new features and designs.

The Inkjet Option: Go Canon Megatank, but with a Caveat!

We really like what Canon has done with its Megatank line. Megatank printers hold enough ink to print at least 6,000 pages, as opposed to 500 pages per ink cartridge in traditional inkjets. And even better, replacement ink costs next to nothing. Yes, Megatank printers are more expensive than traditional inkjets, but we believe transparency in pricing is important for consumers, and the high introductory price of this printer is offset by running costs of about half a cent per page, rather than the 25 cents most inkjets cost (yes, we do mean 50x higher!).

Alas, even good ideas can have a hidden flaw, and after our expose of Canon’s first-gen MegaTanks in the most popular video we ever published on YouTube (see below), we now only recommend models released since 2020 with user-replaceable waste ink cartridges. The original models released between 2016 and 2019, and still sold widely, have a fatal flaw: in order to keep the long ink tubes flowing, ink must be consumed to flush them regularly, but this ink has to go somewhere. In those older models, it went into a non-replaceable sponge that literally would overflow within a year or two. With new models, you just replace that “diaper” for a few bucks, and away you go!

The Laser Option: Go Brother for High-Volume Printing on a Budget!

Anyone needing ultra-fast or high-volume printing should absolutely go with a laser printer, available in both black and white (monochrome) and color models, as well as printer-only or multi-function models. Across the board, Brother offers the best value here, both for the printer and the toner. Furthermore, some of its competitors make a business out of bilking customers with toner lock-downs are remote printer disabling (HP being the absolute worst). Brother has for decades been the honest dealer of laser printers, operating in a trustworthy and consistent way. We continue to buy their products year after year, and we think you will be happy doing the same.

Keep in mind that color lasers are not for photo printing, so think twice before you jump up to one of these models if all you care about are album-worthy photos. They are intended for business color printing, for example flyers, brochures, and presentations.

Parting Thoughts

We provide links to Amazon throughout this guide, and the links will auto-convert for readers in Canada, the UK, and parts of Europe, for which we main earn a commission. Please help support continued development of this guide by using our links if you decide to purchase one of the printers we recommend.