The best all-in-one printers do so much more than print. They also copy, scan and, in some cases, fax—all while taking up a lot less space than three or four separate machines. Thanks to their versatility, all-in-one printers provide a great deal of flexibility and convenience at home or in the office. So, which ones are worth buying? Our overall favorite is the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e. It’s a solid choice for a home printer or for families with a variety of printing needs. But if you’re looking for something more affordable, we like the value-packed Brother MFC-J5855DW printer.
The best all-in-one printers are versatile powerhouses that can print, copy, scan and more.
ILLUSTRATION: FORBES / PHOTO: RETAILERS
Our team of tech and printer-testing experts narrowed down six more of the best all-in-one printers. We looked at important features like two-sided printing, tray capacity, wireless capabilities and whether it can print in color to determine our overall favorites. Read on to see which all-in-one printers made our final cut and what to consider before buying one. For more of your printing needs, we also have guides on the best home printers and the best 3D printers.
Best for: A household with diverse printing needs.
Pros:
Quick print speed
Prints, copies, scans and faxes
High print resolution
Cons:
Genuine ink cartridges are expensive
If you’re looking for an excellent overall home printer that’s fast, satisfies an array of printing needs and prints at a higher resolution, we recommend the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e. Thanks to a print speed of up to 22 ppm (black) or 18 ppm (color), the 9015e can produce longer documents without keeping you waiting too long. In fact, in draft mode, the printer boasts a print speed up to 32 ppm. This model can capably handle a diverse range of tasks, especially considering it’s priced less than $350.
The printer does use four separate ink cartridges, as opposed to ink tanks. This means its ongoing operational costs are higher than some competitors if you do a lot of heavy printing. It has “XL” capacity ink cartridges, which benefit from a higher print yield.
What our experts say: “The HP OfficeJet 9015e is a superb home printer. It combines pleasing design with fastest-in-its-class printing and extremely good output overall,” writer Rick Broida says in his review.
Best Budget All-In-One Printer
This Pick From Brother Includes A Year’s Worth Of Ink
Best for: A family or home office with diverse color printing needs.
Pros:
Affordable to purchase and maintain
Fast print speed
Touchscreen display
Cons:
Input tray capacity is just 150 sheets
Lacks duplexing for scans
The Brother INKvestment Tank MFC-J4335DW is a highly capable printer that does more than most at the same price. Thanks to its hybrid ink tank/cartridge system, a single set of four ink cartridges can last up to a full year. Brother’s INKvestment high-yield ink cartridges output up to 6,000 (black) or 5,000 (color) pages per refill, much more than you’d get with a standard cartridge design. The printer also has an impressive 4800 x 1200 dpi print resolution.
Navigating print options is easy using the 1.8-inch color touchscreen display and the full touchpad. You can also control the printer using Brother’s Mobile Connect app or Amazon Alexa voice commands. When it comes to wireless printing, you can print from Apple’s iPhone, iPad or Mac devices using Apple AirPrint, or use Wi-Fi Direct to print from Windows PCs and Android-based devices. You can scan and print directly from popular cloud storage services, including Google Cloud, Dropbox and OneDrive, as well. It’s worth noting that this model has automatic two-sided printing but not scanning, and the automatic document feeder can handle 20 pages at a time.
What the reviews say: “I was looking for a high quality printer with a relatively inexpensive price, so I gave this a shot. I'm very impressed. This thing shoots out prints lightning fast. The connectivity is instant.”
What sets the Brother MFC-J5855DW apart is its ability to handle documents up to 11 x 17 inches. It prints 8.5 x 11 inch pages in black and white or color at up to 30 pages per minute. You also get scanning, photocopying and fax capabilities, along with a USB-C port on the front of the printer. This port makes it easy to print from a flash drive. The Brother MFC-J5855DW also supports wireless printing, and works with a USB printer cable or connected to a network via Ethernet.
Plus, the Brother MFC-J5855DW’s 3.5-inch color touchscreen features menu icons and options that are easy to see and intuitive. Yes, this printer relies on ink cartridges, but it comes with a one year ink supply in the box. The standard yield black cartridges offers a print yield up to 3,000 pages, while the three standard color cartridges have a print yield up to 1,500 pages.
What our experts say: “There’s no doubt in my mind that the Brother MFC-J805DW is more than enough printer for nearly everyone out there. It's efficient, has enough ink to last for months at a time, and is easy to use,” writes one of our contributors, who tested this printer while comparing it to the Canon imageCLASS MF743Cdw.
Best All-In-One Printer For Home Use
A Mid-Priced Option That Meets Most Home Office Needs
Best for: Families looking for a zippy, general-purpose printer.
Pros:
Uses economical, refillable ink tanks
Wireless printing using AirPrint, Mopria and more
Automatic two-sided printing
Cons:
Slow color print speed
No automatic document feeder
The Epson EcoTank ET-3830 offers features reminiscent of a high-end model, but at an affordable price. The ink tanks hold enough ink to generate 7,500 pages (black) or 6,000 pages (color) before needing a refill—and it comes with a full ink set. It prints on letter- and legal-size paper and can print borderless images on premium photo paper.
This printer uses a 2.4-inch color display along with buttons on the front panel to navigate among functions. Print speed is a respectable 15 ppm (black) or 8 ppm (color). Printing 8.5 x 11-inch photos or two-sided documents takes a bit longer. Epson supports wireless printing via several protocols, including Apple’s AirPrint and Mopria. In the mid-price range, this Epson printer will meet most expectations and needs for a home office. If you want an automatic document feeder, look for the step-up model, the EcoTank ET-3850.
What the reviews say: “I would highly recommend this to everyone,” says one buyer. “The printer has a nice and attractive look. This is light-weight and has a compact design, so it will fit easily onto a computer desk at home or in an office.”
Best for: Home offices and families with extensive and varied printing needs.
Pros:
Excellent performance
Three paper trays
Capacious ink tanks
Cons:
Expensive
Heavy and bulky
When it comes to inkjet prints, it’s hard to do better than the Canon Maxify GX7021. Its refillable ink tanks can print up to 6,000 pages (black) or 14,000 pages (color) before the tanks need to be refilled. This design makes it more cost-effective than cartridge-based inkjet printers.
This Canon printer also has a 600-sheet paper capacity, distributed among three paper trays (two with a 250-sheet capacity in the front and one with a 100-sheet capacity in the back). Its built-in touchscreen provides a simple interface to switch among the print, copy, scan and fax functions. Plus, it does a pretty good job creating lab-quality photo prints from digital images when you use premium photo paper.
What our experts say: “As an all-in-one inkjet printer for a home office, you’ll be hard pressed to find another printer that offers the features, ease-of-use and environmentally-friendly functionality as the Canon Maxify GX7020,” Jason R. Rich writes in his full review of the printer.
The mid-range Canon Pixma MegaTank G3270 is the new version of our old favorite, the Canon Pixma MegaTank G3260. Thanks to all-around value at a low cost-per-page, it’s a solid printer for families in need of a versatile machine. It prints, photocopies and scans, offers wireless printing and accommodates a variety of popular paper sizes—from 3.5 x 3.5 inches up to 8.5 x 47 inches. And yes, that includes pictures too. When you use photo paper, it prints beautiful borderless images. The biggest gotcha: It lacks two-sided printing. So if that’s something you need, you have to manually reload the paper.
What the reviews say: “Just what we needed at home,” says one reviewer. “We’ve printed from at least six devices so far with no issues. Print quality seems great. I’m so glad that it came with mega tank refills and no cartridges.”
Best for: Black-and-white printing at the lowest possible cost.
Pros:
High print yield from low-cost toner cartridges
Better-than-average print speed
Cons:
Just one paper tray
The HP LaserJet Tank MFP 2604sdw is part of HP’s Tank series that uses an economical and refillable toner tank. The printer comes pre-loaded with enough ink to last up to two years. Toner cartridge refills come with ink for printing up to 2,500 ($17) or 5,000 ($30) pages. Not only is this printer affordable to maintain on a cost-per-page basis, but it’s fast, too, with a snappy 23 ppm output.
This all-in-one printer has a 40-page automatic document feeder and a 250-sheet paper tray. It lacks a display, however, so to control its features, you must use your computer or mobile device. Like other HP models, this printer supports a variety of wireless printing protocols, including HP Smart App, Apple AirPrint, Mopria and Wi-Fi Direct.
What our experts say: “This is definitely the most economical monochrome laser printer I’ve tested,” says Jason R. Rich, adding that “refilling the tank is easy and mess-free, and you can get up to 5,000 pages from a single fill.”
The Forbes Vetted team has years of experience reviewing and writing about the latest and greatest in tech. This includes hand-on testing and thorough research on the best printers for your home, whether that be a laser printer, a photo printer or a 3D printer. In fact, several of the printers featured in this guide were tested firsthand by our tech experts.
Speaking of tech experts, the co-author of this story, Jason R. Rich, has reviewed countless other devices like the best keyboards and the best laser printers. We’ve also built relationships with some of the biggest tech brands and industry experts to help us stay in-the-know on recent developments. For this article, we spoke to Valerie Alde-Hayman, senior printer analyst at consumer research firm Gap Intelligence, who explained the price gaps between all-in-one printers.
This story is updated frequently to ensure it’s as current and accurate as possible. It was last updated in April 2024 to remove out of stock models and crown a new printer our overall favorite.
As for the other picks on the list, we relied on our staff’s vast tech experience to determine what products made the cut. We carefully evaluated each printer’s price, speed, resolution, features, connectivity and brand reputability. We then checked that each printer had great customer reviews (no less than four stars).
What To Look For In The Best All-In-One Printers
All-in-one printers (also known as multifunction printers or multifunction copiers) vary widely according to make and model, so buyers should pay close attention to specs and printer design to get the best value and functionality for their money. Each model offers a slightly different assortment of features, functions and specifications. Below, we lay out how to choose a great all-in-one printer for your home.
Price
A good all-in-one printer can range from $150 to $600. This price gap is “primarily based on technology and features,” says Valerie Alde-Hayman, senior analyst for printers at consumer research firm Gap Intelligence. When reviewing printer options, you can expect to “see higher prices for printers if they have faster print speeds, duplexing capabilities (especially for duplex scanning), larger paper handling capabilities and touchscreen displays.” With all-in-one printers, more is better only if it’s needed, so buy the best one you can afford that suits how you will use it most.
Printer Type (InkJet Or Laser)
The first decision to make is whether you want an inkjet printer or laser printer. Overall, a laser printer’s print quality is superior to that of an inkjet printer. But for the average household, an all-in-one inkjet printer is more economical and versatile than a laser printer. Plus, inkjet print quality is better than ever—especially on printers that use pigment ink. See below for more information comparing the two.
Laser: Laser printers are a good choice if you print a lot from a home office or have a large family with a lot of diverse printing needs. Monochrome laser printers are fast, reliable and inexpensive. However, they don’t do photos and business documents will miss that splash of color. A color laser printer would address that, but those models are a lot pricier than their monochrome counterparts.
Inkjet: An inkjet printer is the way to go if your printing needs sometimes include color—or include printing photos. An inkjet printer with ink tanks is the least expensive option. Ink tanks don’t require frequent refills and the refills cost less than ink cartridges. However, inkjet printers tend to be slower than laser printers.
The difference between the Canon Maxify GX7021 and less expensive Maxify GX6021 is that the later ... [+] offers just one front-facing paper tray (not two) and no fax capabilities.
Jason R. Rich For Forbes
Home Or Business Use
A major consideration in your selection is where this printer will reside: your home, your office or another location. If you’re buying an all-in-one printer for your business, or you’re concentrating more on text than photos, a laser option is a great choice. Other printer accoutrements for an office environment may include fax, email and an automatic document feeder (ADF) to scan, copy or fax multipage documents. If you seek an all-in-one printer for home use, consider how well it prints photos. If photo printing is a large component of your home use, one with inkjet printer features is the best choice.
Printing, Scanning And Duplexing
Many all-in-one printers can scan both sides of a page—known as duplexing. Some all-in-ones that support duplexing operate manually by scanning one side of the document first, and then turning it over and scanning the other side. Others provide a faster one-pass scanning feature, which scans both sides of the page simultaneously. Some all-in-ones feature a print duplexer, which lets you copy both single- and double-sided originals to single- or double-sided copies. If copying is a major part of your work, be aware that some all-in-one printers require a computer for copy functionality. To use the copy function without a computer, make sure the all-in-one printer can work as a standalone copier.
Ink Cost-Per-Page
Ink is generally the most expensive consumable for all printers. The most economical way to keep your printer ready to print the highest quality documents is to consider an inkjet all-in-one printer with ink tanks, like the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e, or a monochrome laser printer like our pick, the HP LaserJet Tank MFP 2604sdw. Inkjet printers that rely on high-capacity ink tanks instead of color ink cartridges are more economical and can last for years. When they run out, replacement ink is cheaper than traditional color cartridges.
Inkjet printers that rely on ink tanks are very easy and inexpensive to refill—with no mess or ink ... [+] splatter.
Jason R. Rich For Forbes
A monochrome laser printer’s toner cartridges are the least inexpensive. A high-capacity toner cartridge can print up to 12,000 pages before it needs replaced, and the HP LaserJet Tank MFP 2604sdw can print up to 5,000 pages—still an impressive number. Color laser toner cartridges are the most expensive of all.
Color Printing And Photos
Color printing becomes major a factor if you intend to print photos on your all-in-one printer, as inkjets are the overwhelming choice for both color printing and photos. Photo-oriented all-in-ones may be able to print from multiple sources like memory cards, USB thumb drives, cameras, slides, negatives and original photo prints. If you specifically need to scan photographic slides or transparencies, make sure those features are listed as functions in the printer documentation.
Networking Requirements
In addition to a USB-A or USB-C port, many all-in-one printers support Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Some all-in-ones include Wi-Fi Direct (a peer-to-peer Wi-Fi connection between devices that enables fast data transfer), which allows compatible devices to connect without a wireless router. Some printers now offer near-field communication (NFC) capabilities, which lets you print from a compatible mobile device by tapping the printer with your phone or tablet. Networked printing or scanning will introduce security considerations, so plan to safeguard your network with encryption and password protection.
