The 6 best all-in-one printers for 2024 are must-haves for students
It's nearly time to head back to school. Having the right printer can make a world of difference. All-in-one inkjets are absolute workhorses and can print high-quality documents and graphics in full color. That means they're perfect tackling school projects, presentations and anything else you or your kids might need handled. And since they're all-in-one printers, they can also serve as a copier, scanner and even a fax machine if you need it.
All-in-one inkjet printers use ink tanks instead of cartridges. They're more affordable to maintain instead of pricey ink cartridges. In fact, a full set of ink tanks can keep the average family printing for up to two years. But if you don't need full-color printing, there are also laser printers that offer all-in-one functionality and faster print speeds.
Your choice of all-in-one printer comes down to what your family needs the most for the new school year or your home office. Maybe you run a business at home and need ways to print shipping labels and invoices. Or perhaps you just want an easy way to print and keep your favorite photos. Whatever the case, we've curated our picks for the best all-on-one printers for 2024 below.
What is the best printer in 2024?
- Best all-in-one inkjet printer overall: Canon Maxify GX6021
- Best budget all-in-one inkjet printer: HP Smart Tank 5000
- Best premium all-in-one inkjet printer: Brother Inkvestment MFC-J995DW
- Best all-in-one inkjet printer for a home office: Canon MegaTank Maxify GX7021
- Best all-in-one inkjet printer for students: Epson EcoTank ET-2850
- Best all-in-one monochrome laser printer: Brother HLL2480DW
Best all-in-one inkjet printer overall: Canon MegaTank Maxify GX6021
You'll pay a bit more upfront for the GX6021, but you'll save a fortune over the life of the printer. Each time you refill the printer's ink tanks, you'll generate up to 6,000 black-and-white pages or 14,000 full-color pages. For the average family, this is about two years worth of ink.
Beyond saving money over time, this printer is chock full of additional perks, including a high print speed, a front-facing paper tray with a 250-sheet capacity, a second rear paper tray (100 sheet capacity), an auto document feeder and an easy-to-read 2.7-inch (full color) touchscreen.
It generates sharp text documents in black-and-white that are near laser quality, as well as digital photos up to 8.5 x 11 inches that look like they've come from a photo lab when you use high-quality photo paper. If your kids need to print school reports in color, the printer can handle that too. That's why we recommend this printer for families. And with it's wireless printing capabilities, everyone in the household can access the printer remotely from their own device.
Best budget all-in-one inkjet printer: HP Smart Tank 5000
If you're looking for a low-cost printer that will also save you money over time thanks to its ink tanks (as opposed to cartridges), the HP Smart Tank 500 is a viable option. However, note that it also has a slower print speed and lacks an auto document feeder.
Beyond its low operating costs, we like the compact size of the Smart Tank 5000. It'll easy fit on a desk. It also offers really good print quality and high-yield ink tanks. This is a great inkjet printer option for a household with low to moderate printing needs.
Best premium all-in-one inkjet printer: Brother Inkvestment MFC-J995DW
Looking for a premium printer that can do it all while saving you some serious cash on ink costs? The Brother Inkvestment MFC-J995DW is certainly an investment, but it's worth it when considering its extra-large ink cartridges and a generous supply of ink right out of the box. In fact, the included ink should last most users around a year, which translates to some of the lowest per-page ink costs you'll find across even our selection of favorite printers.
But affordable ink isn't the only thing the Brother Inkvestment MFC-J995DW has going for it. This printer also delivers impressive performance across printing, scanning and copying. It boasts lightning fast print speeds, and its two-sided printing is extremely fast as well.
Despite its speedy output, the MFC-J995DW still manages to deliver high print quality. The same quick performance and above-average quality extend to its scanning and copying capabilities, so it's a well-rounded premium printer that can handle anything you need. Just be prepared to pay more in initial costs.
Best all-in-one inkjet printer for a home office: Canon MegaTank Maxify GX7021
From an appearance and functionality standpoint, the Canon MegaTank Maxify GX7021 is very similar to the GX6021 with two major differences. This printer offers a three (not just two) paper trays -- two in the front, each with a 250-sheet capacity and one on the back (with a 100-sheet capacity). It also offers print, copy, scan and fax capabilities.
It's this added functionality that make it ideal for a home office or a family with serious printing needs. The printer can hold up to 600 sheets in its trays, which means you won't constantly need to replenish the paper. You can also fill each of the trays with a different paper type or size for added convenience. So while one tray can contain standard 20-pound white paper, one can handle specialized photo paper and the third can be used to print envelopes.
The ink tanks offer a really high print yield and refilling the tanks is very inexpensive. Yet, because the printer relies on pigment inks, you can expect near laser-quality output. The auto document feeder, full-color touchscreen and automatic two-sided printing features, as well as its wired and wireless printing capabilities, make this printer a pleasure to use. It checks all of the boxes in terms of offering high-quality, good value, ease of use and versatile functionality.
Best all-in-one inkjet printer for students: Epson EcoTank ET-2850
The Epson EcoTank ET-2850 is great for families with occasional printing needs, like the errant book report or Mom's boarding pass. It's perfect for a home with multiple students as well thanks to its versatility. While it lacks an auto document feeder and offers just average print speed, it does provide really impressive print, photocopy and scan quality. It's also designed to be kept on a desk and not take up too much space.
The reason why we don't recommend this printer for households with higher printing needs is because its paper tray has just a 100-sheet capacity. That said, because the ink tanks offer a high yield, you'll probably only need to refill them once every year or two. And the cost for the replacement ink is very affordable compared to traditional ink cartridges.
For the price, the EcoTank ET-2850 offers good value and versatility. Plus, it generates impressively high quality prints from digital photos when photo paper is used.
Best all-in-one monochrome laser printer: Brother HLL2480DW
A monochrome laser printer cannot print in full color. But these printers offer an extremely high print speed, which makes them ideal for generating long text documents or documents with black-and-white graphics. We like the Brother HLL2480DW because it's very affordable -- both for the printer itself and the replacement toner.
When you invest in TN830XL replacement toner cartridges (which cost about $80 each for the genuine Brother model or just $30 each for a compatible cartridge) you'll get a print yield up to 3,000 pages. This translates to a cost of less than 2 cents per page. And even though this printer is considered lower-end, it's still generates up to 36ppm at a 1,200 x 1,200 dpi resolution.
The HLL2480DW offers basic wireless connectivity and has a 250-sheet paper tray capacity. The 2.7-inch full-color touchscreen makes the printer easy to control. The two main features this printer lacks are an auto document feeder and faxing, so it's better suited for home use. Considering all this printer can do, it offers a really good value for the money.
What to consider when buying an all-in-one printer
Here are some essential features our consumer technology experts recommend you seek out when shopping for an all-in-one printer:
- Functions: Some all-in-one printers offer faxing capabilities, have a built in automatic document feeder, support multiple wireless printing protocols, have a touchscreen and more.
- Print speed: If you often print long documents, you'll want the fastest printer possible. In addition to focusing on how many pages-per-minute (ppm) the printer can generate, pay attention to how long it takes for the printer to generate the first page of a document.
- Paper tray capacities: All printers have at least one paper tray. When the printer has two or three paper trays, this means it can have multiple paper sizes and paper types at your disposal. Some paper trays can also accommodate envelopes or other types of media. Thing to consider when choosing an all-in-one printer include how many paper trays the printer has, the location of the paper trays and how easy they are to access. Each tray's sheet capacity is also an important consideration. The larger the capacity, the less frequently you'll need to stop what you're doing to refill the tray with more paper.
- Auto two-sided printing: This allows a printer to print on both sides of the page. This is an easy way to save paper and help the environment.
- Ink cartridge yield: Whether a printer uses ink tanks, traditional ink cartridges or toner cartridges, its print yield determines how many pages you'll generate before needing a refill. An inkjet printer with ink tanks will offer a print yield between 5,000 and 12,000 pages, while a printer that uses ink cartridges will need to have the cartridges replaced (at a significant cost) after generating just a few hundred pages.
- Ink type: Dye-based inks are used by most inkjet printers. However, when this type of printer uses pigment ink, you'll often notice sharper output closer to laser quality.
- Wireless printing: If you're an Apple user, seek out a printer that supports AirPrint to use wireless printing without needing a special app. If you use an Android device, you'll want a printer that supports Mopria for wireless printing.
- Printer resolution: That's measured in dots-per-inch (dpi). The higher the resolution, the sharper the content generated by the printer.
- Scanner resolution: Scan resolution determines how much detail the machine can capture. This too is measured in dpi. Seek out a machine that offers a scan resolution of at least 1,200 x 1,200 dpi, although higher is better.
- Photocopy speed: This is the output speed for generating photocopies. Laser printers will have an identical print and copy speed, but these speeds can vary when using an inkjet printer.
- Dimensions: Dimensions determine how much space it'll take up. You'll want to set up the printer as close to your computer as possible. The printer will also need to be placed near a power outlet.
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