The Best Printers for Every Home-Office Need

Not only does the Brother HL-L2460DW run quietly, it was also one of the faster I tested, making it a great choice for a home office that prints out lots of invoices or a classroom that needs lots of handouts in a hurry. If you’re printing out dozens of pages per day, all of them in black and white, and never scanning, you'll save a lot of cash going with this consistent and sturdy laser option from Brother.

Unfortunately, setup isn't entirely intuitive. There's only a single line readout, and limited buttons for entering a Wi-Fi password. But setup is a pain you'll only have to grapple with once. Afterward, this printer requires little to no upkeep or changes to settings. It's fast, cheap to run daily, fits cleanly onto any shelf, and just needs a power cable. Essentially, it's a great choice if you want something simple and functional.

The HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 3301sdw probably offers more features than what the casual user would need, but if I showed up to work one day and it was near my desk, I'd assume Santa came early. This would be a great fit for a home office where multiple people are often printing out full-color promotional sheets or invitations.

It's fully connected, with dual-band Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and USB, so you could park it anywhere in your small office and have the whole team printing. It's fast enough to ensure you'll never be waiting on someone else to finish their printing, and quiet enough I wouldn't be mad to sit nearby. That said, it's physically quite large, and is probably a lot faster and handles more paper than most homes need (and trust, those are features you pay for on this upscale option).

My only minor complaint here is that the document feeder up top likes to crunch documents if you don’t get the holders positioned exactly right, so just make sure to use the flatbed for anything important.

While I think ink tank and laser printers offer a better value and user experience, I can understand feeling more comfortable dealing with classic ink cartridges. This upgraded HP OfficeJet Pro 9125e is the newer model of the printer that powered my business for the last year or so. It has both a flatbed and document scanner, and it was one the speedier non-laser printers I tested with full color printing.

It also boasts the widest support for paper types and sizes among all top picks. Although, it doesn't always grab the right number of pages when working with thicker stock—an issue I noticed on the older version as well. With an easy setup process, minimal software needed, and wide feature set, this printer is a great option for people who don't want to think about their printer often, but just want it to work when they need it.

While thermal printers won't really work for documents or photos, they're excellent for printing shipping labels and simple stickers without having to worry about ink or toner. Munbyn isn't exactly a household name, but I started using the 405B to print return labels, and it has quickly become a household tool upon which I lean heavily. The round 2-inch stickers are great for labeling food jars or storage containers, and I like to slap them on snack bags or wrapped sandwiches when heading to a party or potluck.

This upgraded model has a user-replaceable printhead, even though the one inside is rated for almost a million prints and includes a spool, which you'll want anyway for keeping your label rolls tidy. It works best via Bluetooth. For most of my stickers and labels, I use the Android app, which features a large library of templates and extra assets.

For dedicated photo printing, I like the Canon Pixma TS6520, an ink cartridge printer with borderless printing capability for up to 8.5-by-11 inches and a 1,200 DPI (dots per inch) maximum-print resolution. The printer works quickly—even on full-color pages—and yields photos that are clear and vivid. Initial setup was easy using the mobile app, and the on-device screen is big enough to be useful for checking errors and managing settings.

The biggest drawback of this printer is that it uses Canon's combined color ink cartridge, which may mean wasted ink if you print colors at different rates. That's because if one color runs out, you need to replace the whole cartridge—an issue that you wouldn't encounter with ink tanks. The inclusion of “starter" ink cartridges means you'll run out sooner than I'd like from the getgo.

I wouldn't recommend the Canon if it won't spend most of its life printing photos. The intake tray is fairly small, and the ink is a bit expensive to warrant using this for concert tickets and shipping labels.

The EufyMake E1 is a totally unique printer that uses UV light to adhere special ink to a huge variety of surfaces and objects. It's capable of printing professional quality merchandise like coasters, mugs, decorative photo displays, and more, with raised elements and real texture up to 5 millimeters. When I call upon the complementary add-on accessories, like the rotary tool and laminator, it's especially easy to find new and creative ways to use the E1 to customize basically anything, even if it doesn't fit on the tray.

That said, the machine is fairly expensive, and has significant upkeep and maintenance costs associated with the ink. You'll also need a dedicated work area with good ventilation and the ability to keep children and pets away. Plus, it's important to know how to work with layout software to get the best results.

If you need a portable printer that can still handle full pages, I like the Inkwon A41. It's a thermal printer, so you'll need special paper, but the compatible rolls are pretty reasonably priced (around $10 for 130 sheets).

The true charm of this setup is its simplicity. This would be a great fit for someone who needs to print out larger invoices or receipts while on the road or at shows and conventions. The overall entry price is quite low.