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The short answer
Work out your cost per page, not the price of the printer. If you print occasionally, a laser printer avoids dried-up cartridges entirely. If you print photos or in colour regularly, a refillable tank inkjet costs a fraction of cartridges. Standard cartridge inkjets are the most expensive way to print anything.
Printers are sold at or below cost because the money is in consumables. That model has produced a market where the cheapest printer on the shelf is often the most expensive to own, and where the right choice depends almost entirely on how much and what you print.
Three types, three use cases
Cartridge inkjet
Cheap to buy, expensive to run, and prone to drying out if unused for weeks. Good colour and photo output. Suits people who print regularly in colour but not in volume, and punishes anyone who prints twice a year, because the cartridges will have dried and cleaning cycles consume more ink.
Refillable tank inkjet
More expensive to buy, dramatically cheaper per page, and the bottles last a very long time. The best choice for households that print regularly, including photos and school work. Still an inkjet, so it dislikes long periods of disuse, though the economics of clearing a blockage are far better when ink costs little.
Laser
Toner is a powder that does not dry out, so a laser printer will work after six months in a cupboard. Fast, cheap per page for text, and colour lasers are expensive and poor at photos. The right answer for anyone who mainly prints documents and prints them sporadically.
The single most useful calculation is cost per page. Divide the price of a cartridge or toner by its stated page yield. Cartridge inkjets frequently land above 10 pence a page in colour; tank inkjets and mono lasers are often under 2 pence. Over a few hundred pages, that difference exceeds the price of the printer.
Printers worth considering
Epson EcoTank ET-4800 wireless all-in-one supertank printer
This is the category to buy if you print more than occasionally. The purchase price is higher and the ink bottles included typically cover thousands of pages, which is where the money is saved. It scans and copies as well, which for a home office covers everything.
Canon PIXMA TS6520 wireless colour inkjet with duplex printing
Canon’s inkjets remain strong for photo printing, which is the one job where inkjet clearly beats laser. Duplex printing halves paper use for documents. Accept that cartridge costs are the trade, and check the price of a replacement set before buying so there are no surprises.
HP DeskJet 2955 wireless all-in-one colour inkjet
Worth considering only if you print very little and want the lowest outlay. Be aware of two things: cartridge costs are high relative to the printer, and subscription ink schemes tie the printer to a service. Read what the printer requires before committing.
HP OfficeJet Pro 8125 wireless all-in-one colour inkjet
An automatic document feeder is the feature that separates a home office printer from a household one. If you scan contracts, forms or receipts regularly, feeding pages one at a time is the thing that will make you resent the purchase.
Canon PIXMA TR4720 all-in-one wireless printer with document feeder
Compact all-in-ones make sense where the printer has to live somewhere awkward. This one includes a feeder in a small footprint. As with any cartridge inkjet, check the replacement ink price and consider whether you print often enough to avoid drying.
What we liked
- Tank printers cut running costs dramatically
- Laser printers survive months of disuse
- All-in-ones cover scanning without a second device
- Wireless printing from phones is now reliable
What we didn't
- Cheap printers have the most expensive ink
- Inkjets dry out if unused for weeks
- Subscription ink schemes tie the printer to a service
- Colour lasers are poor at photographs
Before you buy
Count what you print in a year
Be honest. Most households print far less than they think, which usually points at a mono laser.
Check the replacement ink price first
Look up a full set of cartridges or a toner before buying the printer. This one check changes many decisions.
Check for subscription requirements
Some printers are sold assuming an ink subscription, and some restrict third-party cartridges through firmware. Decide whether you accept that.
Check it supports driverless printing
AirPrint or Mopria means phones and tablets print without installing anything, which matters more than any other convenience feature.
Prefer Ethernet or a stable Wi-Fi position
Printers are the classic device that vanishes from the network. A wired connection eliminates that entirely.
Reserve a fixed IP address for it
In the router. This prevents the offline-but-connected problem that plagues home printers.
Firmware updates on some printers have disabled third-party and refilled cartridges. If you intend to use compatible ink, consider turning off automatic firmware updates, and be aware this is a running battle rather than a settled question.
Laser or inkjet for home?
Laser if you mainly print text and print sporadically, because toner does not dry out. Inkjet if you print photos or colour regularly, and preferably a refillable tank model to control the cost.
Why do my inkjet cartridges run out so fast?
Cleaning cycles consume ink, and printers run them automatically, especially after periods of disuse. Printing a page every week or two uses less ink overall than leaving it idle for a month.
Are refillable tank printers worth the higher price?
If you print more than a few hundred pages a year, comfortably. The included ink often covers thousands of pages, and bottles cost a fraction of cartridges.
Can I use third-party ink?
Often, and some manufacturers restrict it through firmware and warranty terms. Check your specific model’s reputation for this before relying on cheaper ink.
Why does my printer keep going offline?
Almost always because its IP address changed. Reserve a fixed address in the router and re-add the printer on your computers, which fixes it permanently.
How to choose
Count your annual pages honestly, then look up the cost of a replacement ink set before anything else. Sporadic text printing means a mono laser. Regular colour and photos mean a refillable tank inkjet. Cheap cartridge inkjets suit only very low volumes, and even then the ink will dry. Then wire it or reserve its address, so it is there when you need it.
