The Best Printers of 2026: Our Top Picks -

The Epson EcoTank ET-4850 is the best printer for anyone who prints regularly. The upfront cost is $350, but the included ink bottles print roughly 7,500 black and 6,000 color pages — two to three years of typical home use. The math against cartridge printers is decisive: EcoTank costs about 1 cent per page, standard inkjet cartridges cost 4–10 cents. If you primarily print text documents and never print photos, the Brother HL-L2350DW laser is the better choice — no ink to dry out, 32 pages per minute, and toner that lasts 3,000 pages at 1–2 cents each.

Our Top Picks at a Glance

Product	Best For	Type	Price
Epson EcoTank ET-4850	Best Overall	Inkjet	~$350
HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e	Best for Offices	Inkjet	~$200
Brother HL-L2350DW	Best Laser	Laser	~$120
Canon PIXMA TR8620	Best All-in-One	Inkjet	~$150
Epson EcoTank ET-2803	Best Budget	Inkjet	~$170
Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-300	Best for Photos	Inkjet	~$400
Brother MFC-L8900CDW	Best Color Laser	Color Laser	~$500
HP Tango X	Best Compact	Inkjet	~$100

1. Epson EcoTank ET-4850 — The Ink Economics Finally Work in Your Favor

Every other inkjet printer on this list makes its money on cartridges. The EcoTank makes money on the printer and charges near-cost for ink. The included bottles last years for a typical household. When they run out, replacement bottles cost about $13 each — compared to $50+ for a set of cartridges in a standard inkjet.

The ET-4850 has everything a home office needs: auto document feeder for scanning stacks of paper, auto two-sided printing, Wi-Fi, and print quality appropriate for any non-photo document use. The footprint is larger than a standard inkjet because the tanks are visible on the side. Setup takes a few minutes longer — you fill the tanks from bottles rather than snapping in cartridges.

Buy the Epson EcoTank ET-4850 on Amazon

2. HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e — Fast, But Read the Fine Print

22 ppm black / 18 ppm color — genuinely fast for an inkjet; scanning and print jobs that drag on cheaper printers complete quickly
35-page ADF handles real document volumes — tax returns, contracts, multi-page reports
HP+ subscription offers discounted ink but requires you to stay on HP ink; using third-party cartridges can trigger a warranty notification. This is worth knowing before you buy.
Without HP+, ink cartridges are expensive enough to erode the value at moderate print volumes
The HP Smart app works well for mobile printing and scanning on iOS and Android

The 9015e is a capable printer if you’re willing to stay in HP’s ecosystem. If you want flexibility on ink sourcing, the EcoTank or Canon PIXMA are cleaner options.

Buy the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e on Amazon

3. Brother HL-L2350DW — If You Print Documents, This Is the Right Answer

Inkjet printers have one practical problem that laser printers don’t: ink dries. If you print once a month, you’ll run cleaning cycles that consume ink and eventually get a clogged printhead. The HL-L2350DW uses toner, which doesn’t dry, doesn’t clog, and lasts 3,000 pages per cartridge. Print quality for text documents is sharp in a way inkjets at this price level can’t match. 32 pages per minute is fast enough that you won’t wait.

It prints only in black and white. It has no scanner, no copier, no photo capability. If you need any of those things, look at the Canon PIXMA or Brother MFC. If all you need is reliable, fast, cheap document printing, this is the most cost-effective printer here.

Buy the Brother HL-L2350DW on Amazon

4. Canon PIXMA TR8620 — Five Inks for Better Color Accuracy

Most home inkjets use four ink colors. The TR8620 uses five, with a dedicated photo blue that improves color gradation in the midtones — the transition between light and dark tones in a printed photo renders with more nuance rather than banding. It’s not a dedicated photo printer, but the color accuracy is noticeably better than 4-ink alternatives for everyday photo printing.

The separate photo tray is practical: standard paper stays loaded in the main tray and photo paper in the secondary, so switching between document and photo printing doesn’t require manually swapping paper every time.

Buy the Canon PIXMA TR8620 on Amazon

5. Epson EcoTank ET-2803 — Cheaper Entry into EcoTank

The ET-2803 is the ET-4850 with the ADF, auto-duplexer, and fax removed. Print, scan, copy. The refillable tank system is identical — same ink economics, same per-page cost, same initial fill process. If you don’t need automatic double-sided printing or a document feeder for scanning stacks of paper, the ET-2803 saves $180 upfront.

For a household that prints occasionally — school forms, boarding passes, occasional recipes — this covers everything needed without the ET-4850’s feature overhead.

Specs: 3-in-1 inkjet (print, scan, copy) | Refillable tanks | Wi-Fi | Voice assistant compatible

Buy the Epson EcoTank ET-2803 on Amazon

6. Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-300 — For Photographers Who Print Their Work

The 10-color Lucia Pro ink system is what separates the PRO-300 from everything else in a home setting. More colors means a wider gamut — the printer can reproduce color relationships in a photograph that a 4-color or 6-color system simplifies or loses. The Chroma Optimizer adds a clear coating that creates consistent gloss across media types, eliminating the bronzing and differential sheen that cheaper photo printers show in dark areas.

Prints up to 13×19″. At that size, from a properly processed RAW file with color management, the output is gallery-quality. This is specifically for photographers who print their own work — it makes no practical sense for documents.

Buy the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-300 on Amazon

7. Brother MFC-L8900CDW — Color Laser for High-Volume Offices

The laser argument applies to color as much as monochrome: at high print volumes, toner costs significantly less per page than inkjet, and there are no dried-ink problems. The MFC-L8900CDW does 33 pages per minute in color, handles 50-page scan jobs via ADF, and toner cartridges last long enough that replacements are a quarterly event rather than a weekly one.

Color laser quality is behind inkjet for photos — toner-based color reproduction doesn’t match the depth of a 5-ink or 10-ink inkjet. For business documents, presentations, and reports where color accuracy matters but photo quality doesn’t, the difference is irrelevant.

Buy the Brother MFC-L8900CDW on Amazon

8. HP Tango X — Only If You Print Very Rarely

No control panel. App-only operation via HP Smart. Extremely slim — fits on a shelf and doesn’t look like a printer. Prints from your phone.

This is not a printer for anyone who actually uses a printer. It’s for someone who prints twice a year, wants something that doesn’t take up desk space, and doesn’t want to deal with setup. The ink cartridges are expensive per page, there’s no scanner, and print speed is slow. For occasional printing — boarding passes, permission slips, rare documents — it works and stays out of the way. If you print more than that, the EcoTank ET-2803 costs more upfront and recoups the difference within months.

Specs: Inkjet | App-only control | Wi-Fi | Voice assistant | Slim design

Buy the HP Tango X on Amazon

Best Printers: How to Choose

Inkjet vs Laser

Inkjet produces better photo and color quality, handles a wider variety of media, and is less expensive upfront. The downsides are ink cost per page, dried-ink problems when unused, and cartridge dependency. Laser printers have higher upfront cost but lower per-page cost at volume, no ink-drying issues, and better reliability for daily document printing.

The EcoTank Break-Even

EcoTank printers cost $170–350 at purchase but about 1 cent per page thereafter. Standard inkjet cartridges run 4–10 cents per page. At 200 pages per month, the ET-2803 pays for itself in roughly 10 months over a $50 cartridge inkjet.

Printer Type	Cost per Page
Standard inkjet cartridge	4–10 cents
EcoTank	~1 cent
Monochrome laser	1–2 cents
Color laser	4–8 cents

Key Features Worth Having

An auto duplexer prints both sides automatically — practical for anything longer than one page. An ADF (auto document feeder) scans multi-page documents without manually feeding each page. AirPrint and Wi-Fi let you print from any device on your network without USB cables.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is printer ink so expensive?
Most manufacturers sell printers at or below production cost and make their profit on ink cartridges. EcoTank and laser printers break this model — higher upfront cost, dramatically lower ongoing cost. Total cost of ownership over two years usually favors EcoTank or laser for anyone who prints regularly.

What’s the actual cost per page?
Inkjet cartridge: 4–10 cents. EcoTank: ~1 cent. Monochrome laser: 1–2 cents. Color laser: 4–8 cents.

How long does EcoTank ink last?
The bottles included with the ET-4850 print approximately 7,500 black pages and 6,000 color pages. For a household printing 200 pages per month, that’s three-plus years on the initial fill.

Do I even need a printer in 2026?
Less than most people think. Cloud documents, digital signatures, and email have eliminated most common reasons to print. A print shop handles the occasional document. If you print photos regularly or deal with paperwork requiring physical signatures, owning one still makes sense.

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How We Chose

We aggregated data from thousands of verified reviews on Amazon, expert testing from Wirecutter and Consumer Reports, and community discussions from Reddit’s r/printers. Products were ranked based on print quality, ink/toner cost per page, reliability, feature set, and overall value.

Prices are approximate and may vary. Always check Amazon for current pricing and availability.