The best printers of 2018: inkjet, color, mono and laser printers

If you're looking for a new printer for your home or office, then you've come to the right place, as our list of the best printers of 2018 gives you clear buying advice and recommendations regardless of what sort of printer you're looking for.

So, if you're looking at getting the best all-in-one printer that can handle almost any task you throw at it, or a photo printer for printing out your holiday snaps, this list of the best printers in 2018 will help you.

There's a huge range of brilliant printers available these days, which means you're spoilt for choice when it comes to looking for the best printer for your needs, so this list should help.

Our list of the best printers cuts through the jargon to make buying your new printer as simple as possible. We've also split this list into the best inkjet printers and the best laser printers, and we include standard printers as well as multi-function ones. No matter what type of printer you're after, we have one for you, and our price comparison tool makes sure you get the best deals on the printer of your choice as well.

Best inkjet printer

Epson WorkForce Pro WF-4630

Economical print costs for volume printing

Print speed: ISO 20 ppm in black or colour | Print resolution: 4,800 x 1,200 | Paper sizes: A4, A5, A6, B5, C4 (Envelope), C6 (Envelope), DL (Envelope), No. 10 (Envelope), 9 x 13 cm, 10 x 15 cm, 13 x 18 cm, 13 x 20 cm, 20 x 25 cm, 100 x 148 mm, 16:9, LT, HLT, LGL, User defined | Paper capacity: 330 sheets | Dimensions: 461‎ x 422 x 342 mm (Width x Depth x Height) | Weight: 14.35 kg

Fast print speeds

Cloud-connected

Loud

Uninspiring design

The WorkForce Pro WF-4630 is a solid printer for small businesses and workgroups given its fast print speeds, solid print qualities and remote printing and scanning capabilities. Using the larger XL print cartridges, the WF-4630 delivers economical print costs that rival laser printers.

Best cheap printer

HP Deskjet 3630

Small, affordable and smartly designed

Print speed: Varies depending on document | Paper sizes: A4, A5, A6, B5, Borderless A4, Borderless A5, Borderless B5 | Paper capacity: 60 sheets | : | Weight: 4.2kg

Compact

Cheap to buy

Ink can be expensive

Basic paper handling

The Deskjet 3630 is a decent printer for the price, offering reasonable print speeds and the ability to connect to mobile devices without breaking the bank. Just be wary as its ink cartridges can be priced when picked up from shops. It doesn't quite have the build quality of HP's more expensive Envy models, but if you're looking for an initially cheap model that catches the eye when sat on a shelf, the Deskjet 3630 is a great option.

Best laser printer

Samsung M2885FW 4-in-1 Multifunction Xpress

Excellent image quality, connectivity and flexibility for a low price

Superb print quality

Good connectivity

Multi-purpose tray only holds one sheet

Fiddly control panel

This temptingly priced printer offers 28ppm printing at up to 4,800 x 600 dpi (effective, rather than optical, resolution). With wired (Ethernet/USB) and wireless (Wi-Fi/NFC) connectivity, duplex printing, decent eco settings and support for a wide range of media, the Samsung is an excellent all-rounder, although the multi-purpose tray can only handle one sheet of media at a time. The main cassette has a more useful capacity of 250 sheets.

Best printer for home

Canon Pixma TS8050

High quality, all-in-one printer

Best printer for the office

Samsung Xpress M2070W

A wallet-friendly MFP with a smart Eco system

Print speed: 20ppm | Print resolution: Effective 1,200 x 1,200 | Paper sizes: A4, A5, Letter, Legal, Executive, Folio, Oficio, ISO B5, JIS B5, Envelope (Monarch, Com10, DL, C5), Custom | Paper capacity: 150 sheets | Dimensions: 406 x 359.6 x 253mm (Width x Depth x Height) | Weight: 7.4kg

Clever Eco mode

Reasonably quick

Duplexing is manual

No high yield cartridge option

The M2070W delivers a lot of bang for your business buck – there's NFC printing from compatible smartphones, online document sharing, and a clever Eco system that supplements the usual toner saving mode with a feature to remove images from documents by replacing bitmaps with sketches.

Factor in claimed speeds of 20ppm, a clever scan to mobile feature and an effective print resolution of up to 1200dpi and you've got a multifunction printer that's well worth considering.

Best all-in-one printer

Epson EcoTank ET-4550

A printer that comes with two years' worth of ink

Print speed: 33ppm | Paper sizes: A4, A5, A6, B5, Envelopes (C4, C6, DL, No. 10), 9 x 13cm, 10 x 15cm, 13 x 18cm, 13 x 20cm, 20 x 25cm, 10 x 14.8cm | Paper capacity: 150 sheets | Dimensions: 515‎ x 360 x 241mm (Width x Depth x Height) | Weight: 7.4kg

Money saving EcoTank ink system

Three-year warranty

Small paper tray

Consumables are usually expensive when it comes to printers. So it is quite surprising that one vendor, Epson, single-handedly decided to challenge that status quo by allowing users to refill their printer using ink bottles. What's even more surprising is that Epson includes two years of ink with the package; no more expensive cartridges and instead, you have enough material to deliver 11,000 pages worth of black and colour inks (that's 700ml worth of liquid). Oh and there's even a three-year warranty making this a great choice for bean counters fixing the TCO of their printers. The ET-4550 lacks the features found on cheaper competitors – it is relatively slower (although it has a higher printing resolution) and has a small paper input tray.

Best 3D printer

MakerBot Replicator+

The best all-round 3D printer

Fast print speed

Simple to use

Expensive

The MakerBot Replicator+ is the successor to the popular MakerBot Replicator 3D printer, and the new version has brought improvements to nearly every part of the Replicator. This means the Replicator+ is faster and quieter than the previous version, while maintaining its excellent design and safety features. This desktop 3D printer is expensive, but it offers excellent print quality, and uses 1.75mm polylactic acid (PLA) filament. It's also user-friendly enough for home users and hobbyists to use - as long as your budget can stretch to the high asking price.

Best wireless printer

Canon PIXMA TS9150

Amazing print quality - for a price

Print speed: ISO 15ppm black, 10ppm colour | Print resolution: 4,800 x 1,200 | Paper sizes: A4, A5, B5, LTR, LGL, 20x25cm, 13x18cm, 10x15cm, 13x13, Envelopes(DL,COM10) | Paper capacity: 120 sheets | Dimensions: 372 x 324 x 140 mm (Width x Depth x Height) | Weight: 6.7g

Great print quality

Lovely design

Expensive

Slow to print

If you're looking for a great all-round printer which doesn't skimp on print quality for your photographs, then we don't think you will be disappointed by what the PIXMA TS9150, Canon's flagship printer, has to offer.

While it's certainly more expensive than some of the cheap two in one printers you can pick up, it's not a bad price for something which produces high quality prints, especially if you only need to print at A4 or below.

Best of all, the print quality here is stunning, and it also has an attractive design. While the looks of your printer may not seem that important, it does mean you don't feel the need to try and hide it away out of sight if you're using it at home.

Best portable printer

Brother PocketJet 763MFi

An excellent portable printer

Print speed: 8ppm | Paper sizes: Letter, legal, A4 | Resolution: 300 x 300 sheets | Connectivity: USB 2.0; Bluetooth Ver.2.1+EDR SPP, BIP, OPP, HCRP and iAP(MFi) Supported | Dimensions: 10.04 x 2.17 x 1.18 inches

Small and compact

Good battery life

Not great at graphics

No AirPrint or Google Cloud Print support

This handy portable printer allows you to print full page A4 documents while on the go, and is small enough to easily fit in a briefcase or shoulder bag. It supports the MFI Bluetooth protocol, so it's a great choice for printing wirelessly from your smartphone or Apple iOS device. There's also USB 2.0 support for hooking up to your PC, and you can buy an additional rechargeable high-capacity battery, which gives you around 600 pages from a single charge.

Best budget laser printer

Dell C1760NW

A neat and simple colour laser printer

Print speed: 15ppm | Paper sizes: A4, A5, A6, ANSI A (Letter), Legal, Executive, Folio, Envelopes (Com-10, C5, Monarch) | Paper capacity: 150 sheets | Dimensions: 394 x 300 x 225mm (Width x Depth x Height) | Weight: 10.6kg

Surprisingly compact

Good workhorse for everyday printing

No USB host connectivity

Not the biggest paper capacity

This is a colour laser printer, plain and simple. It has a relatively small footprint on the desk thanks to a surprisingly compact design. The printer is fitted with a 150-sheet main paper tray and a 100-sheet output tray, with an integrated drum/fuser unit and manual duplexing capabilities. Controls are adequate, with a two-line LCD display and a number of buttons for basic menu navigation. The C1760NW also offers an Ethernet connector, 802.11n Wi-Fi and a USB 2.0 port; although there is no USB host connectivity. The printer is aimed at office or small workgroups and has a high-rated speed of 15ppm for black and colour. This is a good workhorse for everyday printing, where colour isn't a major part of the mix.

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