The Best Inkjet Printers for 2026

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(Credit: M. David Stone)

Best Inkjet AIO for Home Offices and Small Offices

Epson EcoTank ET-3950

4.0 Excellent

Pros & Cons

• Supports printing, scanning, and copying
• Low running cost
• Automatic duplex (two-sided) printing and scanning
• Robust mobile printing and scanning features

• Duplex scanning uses a reversing ADF rather than a single-pass ADF
• Only one paper input tray

Why We Picked It

The Epson EcoTank ET-3950 stands out for its fast simplex (one-sided) printing and its automatic duplex scanning, making it the all-in-one inkjet printer to beat for micro or home offices. The ET-3950's paper handling for printing is easily suitable for moderate or heavy-duty use by micro and home office standards. The printer can hold up to 250 sheets of paper, automatically duplex (print on both sides of the page), and handle up to legal-size paper. Text quality, according to our tests, is easily good enough for most purposes. For graphics on plain paper, the default settings deliver visually appealing, reasonably saturated color with smooth fills and gradients.

Who It's For

Users who need an auto-duplexing ADF: For scanning and copying, the printer offers both a letter-size flatbed and a 30-sheet reversing ADF, which duplexes by scanning one side of a page, turning it over, and then scanning the other side.

Buyers who need fast printing: For simplex printing, the ET-3950 is notably fast compared with competing printers from Canon. On our full business applications printing test, which times both monochrome Word text files and Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files that include color graphics, the ET-3950 took a convincing first place.

Specs & Configurations

Type All-in-one

Color or Monochrome Color

Printing Technology Inkjet

Connection Type Ethernet, Wi-Fi, USB, Wi-Fi Direct

Maximum Standard Paper Size Legal

Number of Ink Colors 4

Number of Ink Cartridges/Tanks 4

Direct Printing From Media Cards

Direct Printing From USB Thumb Drives

Rated Speed at Default Settings (Color) 9 ppm

Rated Speed at Default Settings (Mono) 18 ppm

Monthly Duty Cycle (Recommended) 1,600 pages

Monthly Duty Cycle (Maximum) 10,000 pages

LCD Preview Screen

Printer Input Capacity 250 pages

Cost Per Page (Monochrome) 0.29 cent

Cost Per Page (Color) 1.1 cents

Print Duplexing

Automatic Document Feeder

Scanner Type Flatbed with 30-page RADF

Duplexing Scans

Maximum Scan Area Legal

Scanner Optical Resolution 1,200 by 1,200 pixels per inch

Standalone Copier and Fax Copier

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$399 at Amazon $399 at Staples See It

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Epson EcoTank ET-3950 Review

(Credit: Canon)

Best Tank-Based Inkjet AIO for Home Use

Canon Pixma G3270 Wireless MegaTank All-In-One Printer

4.0 Excellent

Pros & Cons

• Prints, scans, and copies
• Tank-based ink offers low running cost
• Included ink rated to print thousands of pages
• Supports mobile printing via Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi Direct

• No ADF
• Scans up to letter size only, one page at a time
• Manual print duplexing only
• Paper capacity for printing is only 100 sheets
• Slow speed

Why We Picked It

Most low-cost inkjet all-in-ones (AIOs) use expensive ink. Tank-based printers offer cheap ink, but are often so expensive that you may not print enough to save any money overall. The Canon Pixma G3270 is the rare exception, selling for little enough that the low ink price will almost certainly pay off in the long run. Each full set of cyan, yellow, magenta, and black ink bottles is rated at 6,000 mono text pages and 7,700 color pages (a little less for the first set, included in the box, but still a lot). With almost any cartridge-based printer that costs less, buying ink will eat up the initial savings long before printing anywhere near that much.

Even better, additional ink for the G3270 works out to less than a penny per page for both monochrome text and standard color pages, and just a few cents for a snapshot-size photo. Add in the good-looking output, particularly for photos, a flatbed scanner, and support for both Wi-Fi and printing from and scanning to your phone or tablet, and you get lots of capability for not much money.

Who It's For

Users who prefer cost savings over speed: The G3270 is more tortoise than hare when it comes to print speed, and its single 100-sheet tray means frequent paper refills if you print much. But you get a reasonably low price and a rock-bottom running cost.

People who like to print photos from their phones: The G3270 offers solid output quality, particularly for photos, and allows you to print them directly from your phone or tablet.

Families that print a lot: If your family prints up to 400 sheets per month—or even 600 if you don't mind reloading paper a little more often than once a week—this model will be an excellent home AIO for printing and for light-duty scanning and copying.

Specs & Configurations

Type All-in-one

Color or Monochrome Color

Printing Technology Inkjet

Connection Type USB, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct

Maximum Standard Paper Size Legal

Number of Ink Colors 4

Number of Ink Cartridges/Tanks 4

Direct Printing From Media Cards

Direct Printing From USB Thumb Drives

Rated Speed at Default Settings (Color) 6 ppm

Rated Speed at Default Settings (Mono) 11 ppm

Monthly Duty Cycle (Recommended) Not rated

Monthly Duty Cycle (Maximum) 3,000 pages per month

LCD Preview Screen

Printer Input Capacity 100

Cost Per Page (Monochrome) 0.3 cents

Cost Per Page (Color) 0.8 cents

Print Duplexing

Automatic Document Feeder

Scanner Type Flatbed

Duplexing Scans

Maximum Scan Area Letter

Scanner Optical Resolution 600x600 pixels per inch

Standalone Copier and Fax Copier

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$159 at Amazon

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Canon Pixma G3270 Wireless MegaTank All-In-One Printer Review

(Credit: M. David Stone)

(Credit: M. David Stone)

(Credit: M. David Stone)

(Credit: M. David Stone)

(Credit: M. David Stone)

Best Tank-Based Inkjet (Print-Only) for Home Use

Epson EcoTank ET-1910 Wireless Color Supertank Printer

4.0 Excellent

Pros & Cons

• Comes with enough ink for thousands of pages
• Tank-based ink costs just over a penny per color page, less for mono
• Supports mobile printing via Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi Direct
• Robust mobile app and PC software

• Printer only (no scan or copy function)
• Manual duplexing only
• Slow print speeds for the price

Why We Picked It

In a world of all-in-one (AIO) inkjets, Epson's standout EcoTank ET-1910 jettisons the scan and copy functions, making for a tank-based printer that's uncommonly affordable to both buy and run. Most low-cost inkjets use expensive ink. Tank-based printers offer cheap ink, but are often so expensive that you may not print enough to save any money overall. The ET-1910 is a rare exception, selling for little enough that the low ink price will almost certainly pay off in the long run. Its $159.99 list price includes enough ink for thousands of pages, and it has a low cost per page after that. It's slower than some cartridge-based competition, but for most use at home, in a dorm, or the like, the savings are well worth a little extra time.

Who It's For

Busy, creative families: The printer works with the Epson Photo+ app, which lets you design your own layout for printing multiple photos on the same sheet or choose from a long list of existing templates. It also offers a library of other items to print, including greeting cards for birthdays, holidays, and more. Other options range from calendars (some of which let you add your own photos) to teaching tools for young children (including number posters and multiplication tables).

People who print a lot: The ET-1910's low running costs are its biggest edge over the competition. According to Epson, the ink that comes with the printer is enough to print 3,600 pages. (The company notes that is enough for three years of printing if you print an average of 100 pages per month.) For any ink you buy after that, the cost per page works out to 0.38 cent per mono text page and 1.1 cents per standard color page.

Specs & Configurations

Type Printer Only

Color or Monochrome Color

Printing Technology Inkjet

Connection Type USB, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct

Maximum Standard Paper Size Legal

Number of Ink Colors 4

Number of Ink Cartridges/Tanks 4

Direct Printing From Media Cards

Direct Printing From USB Thumb Drives

Rated Speed at Default Settings (Color) 6 ppm

Rated Speed at Default Settings (Mono) 11 ppm

Monthly Duty Cycle (Recommended) 800

Monthly Duty Cycle (Maximum) 5,000 pages per month

LCD Preview Screen

Printer Input Capacity 100

Cost Per Page (Monochrome) 0.38 cents

Cost Per Page (Color) 1.1 cents

Print Duplexing

Automatic Document Feeder

Scanner Type N/A

Duplexing Scans

Maximum Scan Area N/A

Scanner Optical Resolution N/A

Standalone Copier and Fax N/A

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$159 at Best Buy

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Epson EcoTank ET-1910 Wireless Color Supertank Printer Review

Best Wide-Format Inkjet AIO

Epson WorkForce Pro WF-7840 Wireless Wide-Format All-in-One Printer

4.0 Excellent

Pros & Cons

• Fast and excellent PrecisionCore output
• Supertabloid and borderless tabloid printing
• USB thumb drive support
• Two large paper drawers and an input tray
• Relatively low purchase price

• High cost per page

Why We Picked It

The WorkForce Pro WF-7840 delivers a long list of strong points: excellent output across the board, fast printing speeds in our tests, wide-format printing on up to supertabloid-size (13-by-19-inch) paper, and a low price. The catch? It uses cartridges, which means that, depending on how much you print, the initial cost savings compared with tank-based printers with competitive features could wind up getting eaten up by high ink costs.

If that's not an issue, however, there's a lot more here to like, including a 550-sheet paper capacity spread across three trays; borderless ("full-bleed") printing at up to tabloid size; auto-duplexing (two-sided printing); support for mobile printing; single-pass, two-sided scans for copying, scanning, and faxing; and scanning at up to tabloid size using either the AIO's flatbed or its 50-sheet ADF.

Who It's For

Offices that work with large paper sizes: The WF-7840 is a strong candidate for any office that needs a wide-format inkjet AIO for low-to-moderate-volume printing at up to supertabloid size and also needs scanning, copying, and faxing at up to tabloid size.

People who prefer a low initial price over cheap ink: You might want to calculate how many pages you need to print before the WF-7840's higher cost per page cancels out its lower initial price. If it's more than you expect to print over the lifetime of your next printer, the WF-7840 is probably the right choice.

Specs & Configurations

Type All-in-one

Color or Monochrome 1-pass color

Printing Technology Inkjet

Connection Type Bluetooth, Ethernet, USB, Wireless

Maximum Standard Paper Size Supertabloid

Number of Ink Colors 4

Number of Ink Cartridges/Tanks 4

Direct Printing From Media Cards

Direct Printing From USB Thumb Drives

Rated Speed at Default Settings (Color) 12 ppm

Rated Speed at Default Settings (Mono) 25 ppm

Monthly Duty Cycle (Recommended) 50,000

Monthly Duty Cycle (Maximum) 2,500 pages per month

LCD Preview Screen

Printer Input Capacity 500

Cost Per Page (Monochrome) 3.6 cents

Cost Per Page (Color) 11.7 cents

Print Duplexing

Automatic Document Feeder

Scanner Type Flatbed with ADF (Standard or Optional)

Duplexing Scans

Maximum Scan Area Tabloid

Scanner Optical Resolution 2,400 by 4,800 pixels per inch

Standalone Copier and Fax Copier, Fax

GET IT NOW

$229 at Dell $449 at Newegg

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Epson WorkForce Pro WF-7840 Wireless Wide-Format All-in-One Printer Review

(Credit: Brother)

Best Inkjet AIO for Crafting and Hobby Work

Brother Print & Cut MFC-J1800DW

4.0 Excellent

Pros & Cons

• Prints, scans, copies, faxes, and...cuts
• Automatic duplexing for printing
• Automatic document feeder for scanning at up to legal size
• Supports mobile printing and scanning

• Only one paper tray and no bypass tray
• Duplex scanning using the flatbed only
• Relatively high running costs unless you purchase an ink subscription

Why We Picked It

Printer manufacturers rarely introduce groundbreaking new features for consumer models, but the Brother Print & Cut MFC-J1800DW is a notable exception. Brother bills it as a five-function all-in-one (AIO) printer. You're probably familiar with the first four: printing, scanning, copying, and faxing. The fifth function? Cutting. The printer can slice a copied or printed letter-size page in half before spitting out the paper. For anyone who uses half-letter size, whether for business or crafting needs, that's a lot easier than changing paper in the tray or cutting by hand.

Beyond that, if the ability to cut pages appeals to you, the feature comes with more flexibility than you might expect. The printer software can shrink everything in a letter-size document to print each page on half of the sheet before cutting. The duplexing feature can also automatically reorder the pages of a multi-page document after shrinking, which will let you clip them together like a book, with the pages in the correct order.

Who It's For

Users who need to cut printed pages: If you can make good use of the cutting feature, the MFC-J1800DW is the obvious choice; it is the only printer we know of that offers this feature.

People who need professional-looking cuts: In our testing, the printer delivered nicely readable text and well-formed graphics, with a cut as clean as on the other three edges of the page.

Users who entertain frequently: Brother says the cutter can handle up to 58-pound paper, which makes it useful for printing items like menus and invitations.

Specs & Configurations

Type All-in-one

Color or Monochrome Color

Printing Technology Inkjet

Connection Type Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, USB

Maximum Standard Paper Size Legal

Number of Ink Colors 4

Number of Ink Cartridges/Tanks 4

Direct Printing From Media Cards

Direct Printing From USB Thumb Drives

Rated Speed at Default Settings (Color) 16.5 ppm

Rated Speed at Default Settings (Mono) 17 ppm

Monthly Duty Cycle (Recommended) 50 - 1000

Monthly Duty Cycle (Maximum) 2,500 pages per month

LCD Preview Screen

Printer Input Capacity 150

Cost Per Page (Monochrome) 5.5 cents

Cost Per Page (Color) 14.9 cents

Print Duplexing

Automatic Document Feeder

Scanner Type Flatbed with 20-page ADF

Duplexing Scans

Maximum Scan Area 8.5" x 14"

Scanner Optical Resolution 1,200 by 1,200 pixels per inch

Standalone Copier and Fax Copier, Fax

GET IT NOW

$229 at Amazon

Learn More

Brother Print & Cut MFC-J1800DW Review

Best Inkjet AIO for Heavy Office Printing

Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850

4.5 Outstanding

Pros & Cons

• Very low running costs
• Terrific print quality
• Auto-duplexing ADF
• PrecisionCore 4S printhead
• Excellent mobile connectivity options
• Two-year warranty with registration

• High initial purchase price

Why We Picked It

For printing, scanning, copying, and faxing at up to legal size, the Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 tank-based inkjet AIO is hard to beat. It delivered suitably fast performance and high-quality output on our tests, and its cost per page (CPP) is just 2 cents for both mono text and standard color pages. It also offers robust paper handing, including two 250-sheet drawers, a 50-sheet rear tray, and auto-duplexing for printing, plus a 50-sheet auto-duplexing automatic document feeder (ADF) for scanning.

Who It's For

Midsize offices: The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 delivers everything a midsize office or workgroup needs in a workhorse color AIO, from paper handling to performance to output quality.

Offices that prefer low cost per page over laser quality: Traditionally, a laser printer would better fill the ET-5850's role, and many offices will still prefer a laser for its archival-quality printing, high-quality text at small font sizes, and more consistent color when printing on different papers. If you're not concerned with those issues, however, and you're attracted to the low CPP compared with lasers, particularly for printing in color, the ET-5850 is probably the printer you're looking for.

Specs & Configurations

Type All-in-one

Color or Monochrome Color

Printing Technology Inkjet

Connection Type Wireless, Ethernet, USB, Bluetooth

Maximum Standard Paper Size Legal

Number of Ink Colors 4

Number of Ink Cartridges/Tanks 4

Direct Printing From Media Cards

Direct Printing From USB Thumb Drives

Rated Speed at Default Settings (Color) 25 ppm

Rated Speed at Default Settings (Mono) 25 ppm

Monthly Duty Cycle (Recommended) 3,300

Monthly Duty Cycle (Maximum) 66,000 pages per month

LCD Preview Screen

Printer Input Capacity 550

Cost Per Page (Monochrome) 2 cents

Cost Per Page (Color) 2 cents

Print Duplexing

Automatic Document Feeder

Scanner Type Flatbed with ADF (Standard or Optional)

Duplexing Scans

Maximum Scan Area Legal

Scanner Optical Resolution 1,200 by 2,400 pixels per inch

Standalone Copier and Fax Fax, Copier

GET IT NOW

$849 at Dell Technologies $948 at Amazon $799 at Best Buy

Learn More

Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 Review

Best Portable Inkjet AIO Printer

HP OfficeJet 250 Mobile All-in-One Printer

4.0 Excellent

Pros & Cons

• Portable.
• Scans and copies.
• Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, and USB connectivity.
• Rechargeable battery.
• 50-sheet input tray.
• 10-sheet ADF.
• Output quality worthy of a desktop inkjet.
• High claimed page yields for print cartridges.
• Lighter than its predecessor.
• Fast photo printing.

• Lacks a USB cable.
• Heavier than most laptops.

Why We Picked It

All-in-one portable inkjets aren't quite as rare as snowfall in Florida, but there's only one current model we know of—the HP OfficeJet 250 All-in-One Printer. That would automatically make it the best, even if it hadn't earned our Editors' Choice designation for a portable printer when we reviewed it. More importantly, whatever extra points it gets from its ability to scan and copy are over and above the high marks it earns for printing.

The OfficeJet 250 offers typical text quality for an inkjet along with slightly above-par graphics and photos. It also proved faster on our tests than most single-function portable inkjets. And although it doesn't offer automatic two-sided printing (which is true for single-function portables as well, since the feature would add weight), it supports manual duplexing, which lets you print one side, then reinsert the pages in the 50-sheet input tray to print the other side. The simplex (single-sided) scanner offers a 10-sheet ADF for scanning and copying. Connection choices include USB, Wi-Fi, and Wi-Fi Direct, letting you print from PCs and both Android and iOS phones and tablets.

Who It's For

Travelers who need multiple functions: If you need to scan and copy as well as print on the go, the OfficeJet 250 is the obvious best pick for a portable printer. Those who usually need only scanning or only printing could be better off choosing a slightly lighter single-function printer and a separate scanner, so they can carry just the one they need on a given trip. However, the OfficeJet 250 will be less cumbersome to set up when you need both, and it will likely be lighter than the combined weight of two units.

Travelers who need high-quality prints: Output quality is better than you'll get from many desktop inkjets, which means you'll find them more than acceptable for formal reports and even PowerPoint handouts, should you have to print them at the last minute before a meeting while on the road.

Specs & Configurations

Type All-in-one

Color or Monochrome 1-pass color

Printing Technology Inkjet

Connection Type USB, Wireless

Maximum Standard Paper Size Legal

Number of Ink Colors 4

Number of Ink Cartridges/Tanks 2

Direct Printing From Media Cards

Direct Printing From USB Thumb Drives

Rated Speed at Default Settings (Color) 7 ppm

Rated Speed at Default Settings (Mono) 10 ppm

Monthly Duty Cycle (Recommended) 300 pages per month

Monthly Duty Cycle (Maximum) 500 pages per month

LCD Preview Screen

Printer Input Capacity 50

Cost Per Page (Monochrome) NA

Cost Per Page (Color) 15.6 cents

Print Duplexing

Automatic Document Feeder

Scanner Type Sheetfed

Duplexing Scans

Maximum Scan Area 8.5" x 14"

Scanner Optical Resolution 600 pixels per inch

Standalone Copier and Fax N/A

GET IT NOW

$419 at Amazon $489 at HP

Learn More

HP OfficeJet 250 Mobile All-in-One Printer Review

(Credit: David English)

Best Oversize Inkjet for Pro Photo and Graphics Printing

Canon imagePrograf PRO-1100

4.5 Outstanding

Pros & Cons

• Superb print quality
• Improved scratch resistance, print longevity
• Air-feed paper handling for more uniform ink-drop accuracy
• Anti-clogging technology that swaps out nozzles
• Supports sheets up to 17 by 22 inches, and printable paper to 129 inches long
• Improved Wi-Fi connectivity

• Only a minor speed boost over its predecessor
• No roll-paper option

Why We Picked It

As with most printers loosely identified as professional photo printers, the Canon imagePrograf PRO-1100 is designed for both professional photographers and graphic artists. Both use them for prints destined for galleries and art fairs, making breathtaking output quality an absolute minimum requirement. Canon is known for offering some of the most impressive printers for pros, and the PRO-1100 is one of its best.

Much of the credit goes to the printer's ink system, which uses new Lucia Pro II inks. The ink system, combined with color-management technology, delivers images that are state-of-the-art spectacular, featuring vibrant colors, deep blacks, and top-tier color accuracy.

Pros often need to print large, which the PRO-1100 is also designed for. The unit can handle a wide variety of photo papers at sizes up to 17 by 22 inches for cut sheets.

Who It's For

Professional photographers and print shops: If you're unsure whether you need this printer, you probably don't. If you do, your business card likely identifies you as a professional photographer, a graphic artist, or a graphic designer.

Professionals who require high-quality large prints: The PRO-1100 can deliver gallery-level quality at sizes up to 17 inches wide.

Specs & Configurations

Type Printer Only

Color or Monochrome Color

Printing Technology Inkjet

Connection Type Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB, Wi-Fi Direct

Maximum Standard Paper Size 17" x 22"

Number of Ink Colors 11

Number of Ink Cartridges/Tanks 12

Direct Printing From Media Cards

Direct Printing From USB Thumb Drives

Rated Speed at Default Settings (Color) Not rated

Rated Speed at Default Settings (Mono) Not rated

Monthly Duty Cycle (Recommended) Not rated

Monthly Duty Cycle (Maximum) Not rated

LCD Preview Screen

Printer Input Capacity 150

Cost Per Page (Monochrome)

Cost Per Page (Color)

Print Duplexing

Automatic Document Feeder

Scanner Type N/A

Duplexing Scans

Maximum Scan Area N/A

Scanner Optical Resolution N/A

Standalone Copier and Fax N/A

GET IT NOW

$1,299 at Amazon

Learn More

Canon imagePrograf PRO-1100 Review

(Credit: M. David Stone)

Best Inkjet AIO for Home Photo Printing

Epson Expression Photo XP-8800 Wireless Color All-in-One

4.0 Excellent

Pros & Cons

• Prints, scans, and copies
• Mobile printing support
• Prints from and scans to USB memory and SD cards
• Two paper trays and automatic print duplexing (two-sided printing)

• No automatic document feeder
• Scans up to letter and A4 size only
• Lackluster quality when copying photos

Why We Picked It

High-quality photo output—plus the ability to scan, copy, and print on discs—makes the Epson XP-8800 a solid choice for printing photos at home. If you don't print enough to save money with a tank-based printer, don't need to print larger than legal size, and don't need Ethernet, the XP-8800 is hard to beat as a general-purpose printer that delivers great-looking photos.

Who It's For

Families: The XP-8800 will be of interest to families that print a lot of photos. And while you wouldn't buy it primarily as a light-duty home, home-office, or small-office AIO, it can also serve those functions.

People with simple printing needs: The XP-8800's main skill is printing photos. If that's mostly what you do—and you don't print enough to worry about high running costs or need tabloid-size output—then it's the printer for you.

Specs & Configurations

Type All-in-one

Color or Monochrome Color

Printing Technology Inkjet

Connection Type USB, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct

Maximum Standard Paper Size Legal

Number of Ink Colors 6

Number of Ink Cartridges/Tanks 6

Direct Printing From Media Cards

Direct Printing From USB Thumb Drives

Rated Speed at Default Settings (Color) 9 ppm

Rated Speed at Default Settings (Mono) 9.5 ppm

Monthly Duty Cycle (Recommended) Not rated

Monthly Duty Cycle (Maximum) Not rated

LCD Preview Screen

Printer Input Capacity 100+1+20 (photo paper only); 1 disc

Cost Per Page (Monochrome) 4.6 cents

Cost Per Page (Color) 17.8 cents

Print Duplexing

Automatic Document Feeder

Scanner Type Flatbed

Duplexing Scans

Maximum Scan Area 8.5" x 11.7"

Scanner Optical Resolution 1,200 x 1,200 ppi

Standalone Copier and Fax Copier

GET IT NOW

$317 at Amazon

Learn More

Epson Expression Photo XP-8800 Wireless Color All-in-One Review

(Credit: M. David Stone)

(Credit: M. David Stone)

(Credit: M. David Stone)

(Credit: M. David Stone)

(Credit: M. David Stone)

Best Home Inkjet AIO for Occasional Large Photos

Epson Expression Photo XP-980

4.0 Excellent

Pros & Cons

• Three-function AIO (prints, scans, copies)
• Borderless photo printing up to 11 by 17 inches
• Connection options include Ethernet, as well as USB, Wi-Fi, and mobile printing support
• Prints from and scans to USB flash drives and SD cards
• Can print on printable-surface optical discs

• No automatic document feeder
• Scans up to letter and A4 size only
• Holds only one sheet of 11-by-17-inch paper

Why We Picked It

The Epson Expression Photo XP-980 is a little pricey for an AIO aimed at family use and general all-purpose printing at home. It's also one of the most budget-friendly home printers, delivering borderless photos and superb quality on photo paper up to tabloid size (11 by 17 inches). Its six-color ink system makes it easier to produce subtle shading, giving photos a step up in color quality, and it handles text and graphics nicely as well. It also offers a flatbed, which lets it scan and copy. Plus, it offers support for mobile printing, the ability to print disc labels directly on printable discs, and convenient features such as a 4.3-inch color touch-screen control panel.  

Who Its For

Families: In addition to printing photos at high quality and larger than legal size, the XP-980 handles more mundane printing tasks well—think Happy Thanksgiving Day cards, homework, and recipes. That makes it an ideal fit for families who need a light-duty home printer but also want to print high-quality photos, and occasionally print them at up to tabloid size. 

Photo enthusiasts who print large photos only occasionally: The XP-980's professional-level quality will make it attractive to anyone who wants to print high-quality photos at home. However, because it can hold only one sheet of tabloid or A3-size paper at a time, it's limited to strictly light-duty printing for those sizes.

Specs & Configurations

Type All-in-one

Color or Monochrome Color

Printing Technology Inkjet

Connection Type Ethernet, USB, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct

Maximum Standard Paper Size Tabloid

Number of Ink Colors 6

Number of Ink Cartridges/Tanks 6

Direct Printing From Media Cards

Direct Printing From USB Thumb Drives

Rated Speed at Default Settings (Color) 8 ppm

Rated Speed at Default Settings (Mono) 8.5 ppm

Monthly Duty Cycle (Recommended) Not rated

Monthly Duty Cycle (Maximum) Not rated

LCD Preview Screen

Printer Input Capacity 100+1+20 (photo paper only); 1 disc

Cost Per Page (Monochrome) 4.6 cents

Cost Per Page (Color) 18 cents

Print Duplexing

Automatic Document Feeder

Scanner Type Flatbed

Duplexing Scans

Maximum Scan Area 8.5" x 11.7"

Scanner Optical Resolution 1,200 by 1,200 pixels per inch

Standalone Copier and Fax Copier

GET IT NOW

$354 at Amazon

Learn More

Epson Expression Photo XP-980 Review

Before you start shopping, it's important to be clear about what you need to do with your printer. Some inkjets are meant for family and home use, which means they focus on photos and often come with apps, firmware, or connections to cloud services that include photo albums and options to print output of particular interest to home users (from greeting cards to graph paper). They usually offer good-quality photos and graphics, but they may or may not handle text well. A subset of home printers is the dedicated photo printer, designed to print photos in one or more small formats, from wallet-size to 5-by-7-inch snapshots, at a quality level as good as anything you can get from your local drugstore or equivalent online photo service.

A second category is aimed at offices. These printers often print photos well, too, but some don't match the photo quality of home printers. They tend to provide better text quality along with good graphics quality, faster printing, higher paper capacities, and lower ink costs. They're also more durable, designed to print more pages per month and over their lifetimes. And because almost any inkjet today can do a credible job with photos, there's also a subset of office printers for dual use in a home and a home office. Many of these are just as suitable for micro offices or as personal printers in larger offices. Also, a small subset of office inkjets offers monochrome printing only, in direct competition with mono lasers.

A relatively few top-end photo models aimed at imaging pros excel at producing gallery-worthy prints. These "near-dedicated" photo printers are used by professional photographers and artists looking to sell their work, by graphic artists, and by photo enthusiasts. They differ from dedicated home photo printers both in their maximum output size and in their ability to print top-quality text and graphics as well as photos. Desktop photo printers can handle standard paper sizes up to 13 by 19 inches in many cases, while floor-standing models can print at even larger sizes.

Finally, a few inkjets are designed for mobile printing, complete with rechargeable batteries. Most are meant for printing a handful of pages per day. They are primarily for business use—letting a salesperson print a proposal for your new roof while sitting at your kitchen table, for example. But because they're designed as portables, they're of potential interest to anyone who wants a small printer they can carry around to print from their laptop, or who doesn't print much and lacks much space for a desktop printer.

Ink Math: How Much Will It Cost to Print?

Ink costs for cartridge-based inkjets have long been a sore spot for both business and personal inkjet users. However, in the last few years, manufacturers have offered a choice of ways to pay less for ink. The most significant potential savings are with tank printers, most of which let you buy ink in large bottles and pour it into tanks in the printer. The savings come both from buying in bulk—the proverbial large "economy size"—and from eliminating expensive cartridges. Epson, Canon, and HP all offer tank-based printers with ink in bottles, ready to pour into reservoirs in the printer. Brother's tank inkjets use high-capacity cartridges that serve only to hold ink.

If you don't print much, don't get too focused on low ink costs. Tank printers cost significantly more to buy than equivalent traditional cartridge printers. For the lower ink cost to save you money in the long run, you have to print enough to offset the extra cost of the printer. When choosing between tank and cartridge printers, you'll want to compare the total cost of ownership to see which is truly more expensive.

An alternative way to save on ink is an ink subscription program. HP, Brother, and Canon all offer similar plans (HP Instant Ink, Brother Refresh EZ Print, Canon Pixma Print Plan). Each is available for only some printers, and details vary. That said, you're more likely to save with any of these plans if the number of pages you print is close to the number included with the plan. And since these plans charge the same per page for a full-page color photo as for a black-and-white text page with a single character on it, the higher the percentage of color output you print, the more you'll save.

An important variation on these programs is what amounts to a rent-a-printer plan, which Epson and HP both offer. The HP All-In Plan works much like ink subscription programs, with a stated monthly limit on the number of pages included. Epson ReadyPrint offers unlimited pages. In both cases, you've got a limited number of printers to choose from and are leasing rather than buying.

How to Evaluate Output Quality, Paper, and Print Speed

Output quality for any printer depends partly on the paper you use. For example, plain papers that offer brighter whites result in higher contrast, which improves perceived color brightness and the sharpness of text and line drawings. But the choice of paper has a much more pronounced effect on print quality for inkjets than for lasers.

Laser printers fuse melted plastic toner particles to the surface of the paper they're printing on, so differences in output quality across different papers are limited to differences in perception. For inkjets, there are also differences in the printed image. Inkjets spray tiny droplets of ink, which are absorbed into the paper to some extent. Plain paper typically absorbs enough that colors lose vibrancy and saturation. The ink also tends to bleed to the sides, leading to a loss of crisp edges in text and line drawings. So the same inkjet printer can give you crisp, or merely acceptable, text; eye-catching, or disappointing, color for graphics; and stunning, or poor, photos, depending on the paper you're printing on.

When you use different print modes, inkjets show a much more significant difference in output quality than laser printers do. Almost any printer's driver will give you more than one print mode, with slower speeds at each step up in quality.

Given the range of output quality you can get from the same printer, it's important to know what level of quality goes with which paper and which speed when choosing a printer. With the exception of dedicated and near-dedicated photo printers, the quality and speed we discuss for text and graphics in our reviews are based on printing on plain paper and using the printer's default quality setting. For photos, we use the manufacturer's recommended paper, which for inkjets almost always means a paper developed in tandem with the printer's ink for best quality. We also use a higher quality setting. (See How We Test Printers for more details.) When we use different papers or quality modes, we specify that in the reviews.

How to Assess Text and Graphics Quality

Text quality on plain paper used to be a significant Achilles' heel for most inkjets, but now many can print text nearly as crisply as a laser printer, at least for 10- and 12-point fonts. At smaller sizes like 4 or 6 points, however, few inkjets can match a typical laser for how readable the text is (although, to be fair, not all lasers print perfectly formed characters at such small sizes, either).

A potentially more significant issue with inkjet-printed text is that it can smudge when wet. This can be enough to rule out inkjets if you need archival-quality text, as in most medical and law offices, or professional-looking documents that won't smudge if someone spills a few drops of water on them.

The situation with graphics is more complicated. You can count on almost any inkjet today to print graphics good enough for both internal business use (from PowerPoint handouts to graphics in reports) and home tasks (like party invitations and greeting cards). But good enough and objectively good aren't the same thing. In general, when using default settings and plain paper for color graphics, color inkjet output isn't a match for color laser output.

For most inkjets, graphics on plain paper printed at the default quality mode deliver somewhat unsaturated color, sometimes enough to look faded and show banding and other issues. Switching to a higher-quality print mode, using a recommended paper for the printer, or both will deliver better—often excellent—quality, even suitable for a graphic artist. But the paper will increase the cost per page, and the higher-quality mode will take longer to print.

Color inks are often close to smudge-proof on plain paper, even for inkjets that have easily smudgeable black ink, but you can't count on them being 100% smudge-proof. For office inkjets, we test both mono and color pages for smudging, and mention the results in our reviews.

Photo Printing: Expect True Photo Quality

If you're looking for a home printer that outputs photos but can also print a range of other document types, you want an inkjet. When printing on photo paper, nearly any current inkjet (and no current laser) can at least match the minimum quality you'd expect from your local drugstore or online photo-processing service. The few exceptions are among printers aimed at offices, but even most office inkjets do a decent job with pictures. You can even find a few all-purpose inkjets whose output rivals that of photo printers meant for professional photographers.

Prices today for inexpensive inkjets designed for home use start well below $100, for both single-function and multifunction models. But while almost any can print photos in the same league as you can get from your local drug store, some emphasize photo quality more than others. Unfortunately, printer manufacturers are less likely today than in the past to use "photo" in their printer names or to have a Photo Printer category on their websites. They're more likely to add "Office" to the name of models that aren't focused on photo printing, or may include the phrase "office printer" in the first sentence of the description.

Some printers are still listed as photo printers on their website descriptions, but finding them may take a little work. Often, some printers within a given series are photo printers, while others aren't. You'll want to check for specific features important for photo printing. One key feature is the ability to output borderless prints to all supported paper sizes. Also, many photo printers add extra inks beyond the usual four, if only a second black ink specifically for photo paper. (I'll talk more about extra inks shortly.) Also, look for other photo features you may need. For example, you might want to print directly from your camera's memory card, from a USB key, or wirelessly from your phone.

If you haven't shopped for a photo printer in a while, know that some features that used to be standard for the category, like printing directly from memory cards, or from cameras via PictBridge, are harder to find today. Others, including slide-scanning for an AIO, aren't available at all. Similarly, the ability to print directly onto ready-surfaced optical discs, which was never all that common, is even less so now.

The near-dedicated photo printers mentioned earlier are at the high end of the inkjet world. Although you could use them for printing standard text and graphics documents on plain paper, what they are built for, and excel at, is printing high-quality photos on photo paper as well as graphics suitable for professional graphic artists on photo matte paper. The more expensive of these prosumer and professional models are often used to produce gallery-quality prints. They have more ink tanks than your typical basic inkjet's four (we've reviewed models with as many as 12), each holding a different color (hue) or shade of ink.

Adding extra colors doesn't necessarily improve output quality, but depending on the color, it can increase the printer's color gamut (the range of colors it can reproduce). Extra shades of ink also make it easier to design a printer that can reproduce all the subtle gradations and vividness in photorealistic images. Some models even include more than one type of black ink and several shades of gray, making them particularly adept at printing monochrome images. Many of the models we review can print up to supertabloid (13-by-19-inch) size, making them larger than typical letter- and legal-size printers. Some, especially the professional models, can print on paper rolls as well as sheets, which lets them print panoramas and banners.

Another category of photo printers is the dedicated small-format printer I mentioned earlier. These models print nothing but 4-by-6-inch, 5-by-7-inch, 2-by-3-inch (wallet size), and other small photo prints. Some use thermal-dye or inkless Zink technology, but many are inkjet-based. When choosing one, first make sure it prints all the photo sizes you want. Also, be sure it will print using all the sources you want to print from, whether through a wired or wireless connection to your camera, phone, or PC, or directly from your camera's media card. And if you plan to print where you may not have easy access to an electrical outlet, you'll want a model that can print using batteries.

USB and Beyond: What Connectivity Does Your Inkjet Printer Need?

Today's inkjets offer the same range of connection choices that lasers do. A few inexpensive models offer only USB connectivity, making them a perfectly fine option if you need a personal printer to connect to a single PC via USB cable. Windows will also let you share USB printers on a network, but the better option is to pick a printer that can connect to the network directly.

You can connect to a network via an Ethernet jack (which many inkjets offer) or Wi-Fi (which all but the least expensive models offer). Ethernet provides the most straightforward setup. In most cases, you only have to plug in the cable. Wi-Fi can be almost as easy to set up, but often isn't. However, it has the advantage of letting you put the printer anywhere without stringing a cable to your router.

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If you want to print wirelessly from a mobile device, you can still do so even with printers that don't support Wi-Fi. As long as the printer manufacturer offers an appropriate app for your phone or tablet, you can print to any printer on the same network as your device, including printers connected via Ethernet.

Most printers that support Wi-Fi also support Wi-Fi Direct (which some manufacturers call by a different name), with or without Near Field Communication (NFC). Wi-Fi Direct enables a direct peer-to-peer Wi-Fi connection between the printer and a compatible device, with the printer acting as its own access point. For printers that also offer NFC, the Wi-Fi connection can be established simply by touching the device to a designated spot on the printer.

Understanding Duty Cycles and Paper Capacity

Most inkjet printers fall into two categories: models for homes, home offices, and personal office use, or those intended for light-to-medium-duty shared use in micro offices. However, inkjet technology is increasingly appearing in more business-oriented models designed for heavier-duty printing. Some high-end models can even rival laser printers in speed (typically by using printheads that run the entire width of a page) and even in rated maximum monthly duty cycles. ("Duty cycle" is the number of pages a printer can print in a month without shortening its life, as measured by the total number of pages printed over its lifetime.)

Some Epson EcoTank Pro printers we've reviewed offer maximum monthly duty cycles of up to 66,000 pages and a recommended monthly duty cycle of 3,300. (The recommended duty cycle is usually based on the most you should print monthly to get the full design lifetime in years> But, sometimes, it is simply a number based on the maximum number of pages you can print in a month without having to refill the paper trays annoyingly often.) Ratings for many laser printers are higher still, but even these maximum and recommended ratings are well into laser printer territory, and 3,300 pages per month is sufficiently heavy-duty for most offices or workgroups.

That said, many inkjet makers don't publish rated duty cycles for at least some of their printers, and many ratings published for inkjets are pretty low compared with those of lasers. If you print enough so you're concerned about how many pages the printer is designed to print per month, don't even consider one that doesn't have a published rating for duty cycle. Beyond that, if you are concerned about duty cycle, base your requirements on the recommended rating, and make sure the maximum duty cycle is far higher than you're likely to print in any month.

Also check the paper capacity. The maximum capacity for many inkjets is as low as 100 sheets, and only a few can hold 500 or more. In most cases, you probably won't want to reload the paper more than once a week, which for a 500-sheet capacity would translate to printing on roughly 2,000 sheets per month. Remember that if you print primarily in duplex, each sheet side counts as a printed page for duty-cycle purposes. Also, if you print on more than one kind of paper, including switching between plain paper and photo paper, you probably want a second paper tray, or at least a bypass tray for single sheets. Otherwise, you'll have to swap out paper before and after printing every time you use the second type of paper.

Inkjets for the Office: What Sets Them Apart?

Office-oriented inkjets include the few single-function printers and MFPs designed for relatively heavy-duty printing, as well as any with office-centric features. Among these are standalone faxing; faxing directly from your PC's hard drive; and scanning to email and automatically adding the scan as an attachment, whether by connecting to an email server directly or using your PC's email program. That said, remember that faxing can be helpful for home use, too. Some medical offices, for example, insist on faxing, rather than emailing, medical information.

Automatic document feeders (ADFs)—for easy scanning, faxing, and copying multipage documents—are common on office AIOs. If you need to scan duplex documents (with printing on both sides of the page), make sure the ADF can handle that. Those that scan both sides of a page on a single pass are faster, more convenient, and, unfortunately, more expensive than "reversing" ADFs, which scan one side, flip the page over, and then scan the other. Some, but not all, ADFs that scan one side only also let you manually flip the entire stack over and feed it back into the scanner; the printer or the scan software on your computer then interleaves the pages for you in the correct order.

Most office inkjets, including home-office models, offer duplex printing. However, a few don't, so if you want to print two-sided documents, make sure the printer you pick includes an auto-duplexer. Most print on up to legal-size paper. A few support printing up to tabloid size (11 by 17 inches) or even supertabloid size (13 by 19 inches), giving you a better chance of fitting all the columns in a wide spreadsheet onto a single page. Many can also print on longer sheets of paper, at various non-standard sizes.

One specialized kind of office inkjet (mentioned earlier) is the mobile, or portable, printer, meant for business travelers who need printing wherever they go. Aside from thermal printers that use special paper, these inkjets are the only choice for mobile business printing.

Mobile printers typically have low paper capacities and slow speeds, and they demand a few other compromises. There aren't many models in this category, however, and they tend to cost a lot more than comparable non-mobile inkjets. That said, if hard copy on the spot is paramount, and you're looking to print documents (contracts, receipts, prospectuses, and the like) in a client's office, on a potential customer's kitchen table, or in your car just before a meeting, a battery-powered mobile inkjet will do the job.

Ready to Buy the Right Inkjet Printer for You?

We trust the information included here will help you shop for your best-fit inkjet. The top inkjets we've tested in PC Labs span a variety of usage cases: home- and small-office printing (color and monochrome alike), photo printing, and mobile document printing. One will likely match your needs, but for more picks, check out our favorite printers overall (including laser printers alongside inkjets), our preferred AIO printers, and our top photo printers.