Top 12 Best Printers of 2019

It’s a new year, people are getting work done, and it’s time for a list of the best printers 2019 has to offer for Q1. Obviously, the best printers of 2019 are going to be different for everyone, so don’t’ try to find a one-size-fits- all-solution.

I’ve been selling printers for over ten years now. And the conversations with new customers have all began to sound the same. Here’s an example:

Joe: Hello, Mr. or Mrs. Customer, what brings you in to Paperclips™ today?

Customer: My printer broke, and I need a new one.

Joe: Ok, do you have any questions about the printers?

Customer: Yeah, which is the best one?

This isn’t an exaggeration; I have this exact same conversation at least three times per day. This approach is like going to a restaurant and asking the waiter what you want. It makes no sense.

So, before I tell you our choices for the best printers of 2019, you need to answer a few questions. After answering these questions, you should be able to decide which category you fit into.

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If you want to skip the reading, here are our best printers of 2019 for each category:

• Best Inkjet Printer for Home Use – Brother MFC-J995DW
• Best Inkjet Printer for Small Business – HP OfficeJet Pro 8710
• Best Printer for Large Offices – HP PageWide Pro 477dw
• Best Monochrome Laser Printer for Home Use – Brother MFCL2750DW
• Best Monochrome Laser Printer for Business – HP Laserjet Pro M477FDW
• Best Color Laser Printer for Home Use – HP M281FDW
• Best Color Laser Printer for Business – Brother HL-L8900CDW
• Best Color Photo Printer for Home Use – HP ENVY Photo 7855
• Best Color Photo Printer for Professionals – Epson Expression Premium XP-15000
• Best Printer for Students – HP LaserJet Pro M254dw
• Best Printer for Under 100 Dollars – Canon MX492
• Overall Best Printer of 2019 Q1– HP OfficeJet Pro 8720

Do you need the best printer for home or business?

This one is self-explanatory. Are you buying a printer for personal or professional use. Usually, businesses need a printer which can handle a heavier workload and multiple users. Most home users are more casual and intermittent printers.

Laser or Inkjet?

A laser printer is a printer which prints using heat and toner, which is a powder-based pigment. An inkjet printer is a printer which prints with liquid ink by forcing tiny drops of ink onto the paper. Whether you need a laser or inkjet printer depends on a few factors.

If you print a very large volume, usually over 1,000 pages per month, a laser printer will usually save you money. Also, if you are a very inconsistent printer you will want a laser, because the cartridges can’t dry out.

If you are a consistent low-medium volume user, an inkjet will probably be the best printer for you. Also, if you print a lot of photos, you’ll want an inkjet, because the photo-quality is much better.

Color or Monochrome?

Do you print photos? High quality charts and graphics? Then you probably need the ability to print in color. However, if you print strictly documents, you may be able to get by with a monochrome (black and white) laser printer. This will save you money on the printer and replacement cartridges.

Are you willing to pay for what you need?

This is the big point I notice with my customers. I find them the printer that fulfills all their needs, but they don’t want to shell out 500 dollars for it. You have to decide how much your desired features mean to you.

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Once you’ve answered those questions, you should be ready to decide which category of printer you need. Here are our choices for the best printers of 2019 in each of those categories. Our goal is to always bring you the best printer reviews possible, so we hope you find this guide helpful.

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Best Inkjet Printer for Home Use – Brother MFC-J995DW

Pros:

Really Low Ink Cost

The Brother MFC-J995DW advertises black and white documents at one cent per page and color prints at five cents per page. For a home printer, this is a great deal. This is especially efficient for a printer with this low of a price tag.

Small Footprint

This printer is about as small as possible for a legal-size printer. It fits very nicely on a desk or counter top. This is perfect for someone who doesn’t use their printer every day.

Low MSRP

This printer is cheaper than most of the other printers on this list. If your primary concern when buying a printer is not spending a lot of money, then this is one of the best printers of 2019 for you.

Cons:

Slow

This printer takes forever. If you only print a few times per week, this may not be a concern for you. However, if you need to print your homework two minutes before class because you partied all night the day before, then you’re going to be late. Sorry about that.

Small Screen

The screen on this printer is pretty tiny, which can be frustrating to work with.

Clunky UI

If you have used a few printers in the past, you shouldn’t have a problem working with this printer. However, if this is your first printer, or you have a hard time with electronics, then this might be difficult for you to get used to.

Best for:

This will be one of the best printers of 2019 for home users who print a couple times per week. These customers need a printer, but it’s not a huge part of their lives. Also for customers who want to spend as little as possible on a printer.

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Best Inkjet Printer for Small Business – HP OfficeJet Pro 8710

Pros:

Fast

For an inkjet printer, the HP OfficeJet Pro 8710 cooks. At almost 20 pages per minute of black and color prints, this is more than enough for small business needs.

Efficient

This is the best part of the OfficeJet Pro series. The cartridges are super-efficient. While they cost a lot up front, the 952 ink cartridge series print thousands of pages each. This brings your cost per page down to two or three cents per page.

Low MSRP

For a printer of this caliber, the MSRP is very reasonable. Also, because it is the most popular printer on the market right now, there’s always great sales going on. You can frequently find this printer under 150 dollars.

Versatile

The HP OfficeJet Pro 8710 is probably the most one-size-fits-all solution on this list. It’s best for a small-business model, moderate consistent use. However, it could work for a wide range of users.

Cons:

Slow two-sided printing

That ultra-fast print speed I mentioned earlier doesn’t translate to fast two-sided printing. It often doesn’t even work out to half that speed. If you print two-sided a lot, I’d recommend checking out the HP OfficeJet Pro 8720 at the end of this article.

Best for:

Small businesses or more moderate home users. Customers who want to save money in the long run. Home office users who print a fair amount, at least a couple hundred pages per month, will find this to be one of the best printers of 2019 Q1.

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Best Printer for Large Offices – HP PageWide Pro 477dw

Pros:

Insanely Fast

This printer is crazy fast. It will print up to 40 pages per minute for documents, possibly faster for draft quality. Office workers won’t be standing in line waiting for their turn with this printer.

Insanely Efficient

This printer will save money over almost any other printer, no question. The huge 972 cartridges for this printer print thousands of pages. The XL version of the black will print almost 10,000 pages. On draft quality, you can get under a cent per page. That’s like 1991 print costs. When your ink costs less than your paper, you’re doing pretty good.

Cons:

Insanely Large

This is not a home printer, there’s no doubt about it. At this size, you will need a dedicated printer area. Again, this is a printer for many users, and should have an appropriate space in your office.

Should Probably be Configured by Doug in IT

You could set up the basic functions of this printer by yourself, but you should want to use all the features. And this printer has a lot of them. Security, multi-user profiles, networking, etc. It’s best to have your IT person configure all these features. That’s what you pay them for.

Best for:

Offices with more than five users, who print thousands of pages per month. Seriously, if you don’t go through a case of paper each quarter, get something smaller. This is overkill for a lot of people.

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Best Monochrome Laser Printer for Home Use – Brother MFCL2750DW

Pros:

Color Touch Screen

The lower-tier model of this printer, the MFCL2710DW, has an analog screen, which is fine. However, a color touch screen is so much more intuitive. Especially in the world of smart-phones, it’s just easier to operate.

Super-High-Yield Cartridges

This printer has your average standard and high-yield cartridges, but also does one better. It has a super-high-yield cartridge, which saves you a ton on toner and keeps you from swapping cartridges. And, because this is a laser printer, you don’t have to worry about that cartridge drying out. That’s what we call a win-win-win.

Fast, Efficient, the Whole Deal

This goes without saying for laser printers. They are fast. They save you money on printing. I’m not going to keep repeating this for every laser printer on the list, so just assume it applies. Laser printers save you time and money.

Cons:

Drum Units

Brother printers have separate drum units, which have helped to save toner costs in the past. However, HP has brought their toner costs down in recent years. So the savings are moot. But when your drum goes out, you get hit with a big cost, and it hurts. Hopefully the next generation of Brother Printers has built in drums.

Iffy WIFI

A lot of people have complained about Brother printers’ WIFI stability. Apparently, they tend to drop a lot. I haven’t experienced this myself, but it is a fairly simple fix. It’s annoying, but probably not a deal-breaker.

Best for:

Home users who print a lot of documents or print very occasionally. If you print twenty pages at Christmas and then nothing for three months, buy this printer.

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Best Monochrome Laser Printer for Business – HP LaserJet Pro M477FDW

Pros:

Fast and Efficient

Of course it is. It’s an HP LaserJet Pro. However, the M477FDW is fast even for a laser printer. It’s truly top in class for speed and efficiency.

Heavy Duty

This printer has a very high monthly cycle. If your business prints a lot of documents, and little else, this is what you are looking for. 30,000 pages for tax season? No problem.

Cons:

Price?

Honestly, this is the only con I could think of. This printer is expensive, and it should be. If you are buying this printer, make the investment and write it off. You won’t regret it.

Best for:

Businesses that print a lot of documents without color or images. Think accounting firms, legal firms, tax preparation, etc. As many users as you want really. This printer is a workhorse and is reliable enough for the heaviest use.

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Best Color Laser Printer for Home Use – HP LaserJet Pro M281FDW

Pros:

Color Quality

This printer has gorgeous color quality for charts and graphics. While laser printers aren’t particularly good for printing photos, any other color images will look great with this printer.

Easy Interface

HP printers have some of the most intuitive user interfaces there is. They are simple and clean. If you know how to use a printer at all, you will be able to use this printer.

Smaller Footprint

The HP LaserJet Pro M281FDW has one of the smaller footprints of any all-in-one color laser printer. Most home users want their printer to be relatively inobtrusive. This printer is about as small as you’ll get a color laser with these features.

Cons:

Customer Service

Again, this is a very solid printer, with no noticeable drawbacks, save for one. In my opinion, HP has terrible customer service. It’s a factor to consider whenever buying one of their printers.

Best for:

Any home user who prints in color, even infrequently, but not often photos. Again, laser printers are great for customers who print a lot, or customers who printing needs are erratic.

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Best Color Laser Printer for Business – Brother HL-L8900CDW

Pros:

Super Heavy Duty

I can’t think of many companies that print so much this printer couldn’t handle it. A large real estate office would easily be able to use this printer for all their flyers. It’s just a beast.

All the Features

If you need a special feature in the printer for your business, this printer has it. Security features, NFC, connectivity, user profiles, and everything else. It’s so versatile it might be breaking the law.

All the Other Laser Printer Things

Cons:

Huge

This thing is the Mountain that Prints. It is huge. Like, print shop huge. Extra features mean extra space apparently.

Only 250?

With the standard paper tray, this printer only holds half a ream of paper. At the rates this printer cranks out pages, this just isn’t acceptable. You can buy extra trays, but you already spent your kids college fund on this printer.

Best for:

Businesses with heavy printing needs, multiple users, and a true need for quality. You should have a business justification for this printer. If you can’t define how speed and quality affect your bottom line, then this is too much printer for you.

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Best Color Photo Printer for Home Use – HP ENVY Photo 7855

Pros:

Fantastic Prints

The HP ENVY Photo 7855 cranks out 1200 dpi borderless prints from 8”x10” to 3”x6”. The black is dense, the color is vibrant, and the quality is fantastic.

ADF Party

Photo printers with auto document feeders are few and far between, but this is one of them. An ADF is one of those things you don’t think you need until you get used to using one. Then, you won’t be able to live without one.

Instant Ink

HP Instant Ink is an absolute must for anyone who prints a lot of photos. With instant ink, you can get your photo printing costs down to 1.5 cents per print. That’s unbeatable, by anyone.

Cons:

Only Two?

The two cartridge system is an inefficient ink system. If you have Instant Ink that’s not so bad, but printing a ton of photos will use up your pages fast. And, without Instant Ink, forget it. You’ll be selling your house to pay for your ink costs.

Snorefest

Like many photo printers, this printer is slow. At ten pages per minute, I’d lose my mind using this for everyday purposes.

Best for:

Home users who print a lot of photos and need the best print quality. You won’t be selling these prints, but they’ll look great in frames or albums.

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Best Color Photo Printer for Professionals – Epson Expression Premium XP-15000

Pros:

Amazing Photo Quality

If you are a graphic professional, this is the printer you want for your prints. Photos, digital artwork, or custom graphics, this printer will knock it out of the park. Dollar for dollar, I think this printer will beat any other in photo quality.

Living Large

Large format photo printers are extremely hard to find. For most home users, 8”x10” is enough. However, when your competitors show up with 8”x10”s, and you show up with 13”x19” prints, we know who people will remember.

Epson Scanning

Epson’s scanner quality is amazing. Other manufacturers need to hurry up an infringe on some patents. Get on it HP.

Cons:

Speed

Here’s a task for all the engineers out there: Build a photo printer that prints thirty photos per minute. Then make all the money. Thanks.

Best for:

This is one of the best printers of 2019 for any graphics professional who is going to sell physical prints. You just can’t get this quality anywhere else.

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Best Printer for Students – HP LaserJet Pro M254dw

Pros:

Laser Printer for Kids

A laser printer for your dorm room is a great option for students. In college, saving money is the name of the game. And the speed doesn’t hurt either.

Dorm-sized

In dorm rooms, space is a premium product. This printer will fit in almost any nook or cranny you stuff it in.

Cons:

No Scanner

I doubt most students are going to care, but the HP LaserJet Pro M254dw doesn’t have a scanner. If you need to scan something, you’ll have to go to the campus print shop.

Best for:

College students who want the option and convenience to print in color from their dorm room. However, I still recommend students use their allotted free pages, if their university offers these.

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Best Printer for Under 100 Dollars – Canon MX492

Pros:

Cheap

This is the only pro anyone buying this printer cares about. It’s cheap. There you go.

Cons:

You Get What You Pay For

Unfortunately, with printers, cheap and quality are mutually exclusive. This printer will be slow, clunky, and inefficient. You will most likely pay back what you saved over time in ink costs. But you save money today.

Best for:

Someone who is in a bind, needs a printer now, and doesn’t care if it is good. There’s just not a lot of quality under 100 dollars. My advice would be to save another 100 dollars and get the next pick.

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Overall Best Printer of 2019 Q1– HP OfficeJet Pro 8720

Pros:

all the features of the HP OfficeJet Pro 8710

Because they are part of the same family, this printer has all the features of the HP OfficeJet Pro 8710. Many of these, like the screen and auto-document feeder, have actually been improved for this model.

Duplicitous

Check out that big word. This printer will crank out two sided pages faster than any other printer on the market. The new technology HP developed allows this printer to print the front of page two while flipping page one. This means up to twenty-two pages per minute of two-sided prints. Beat that!

Stay Off the Floor

Because this printer ejects pages into the printer, instead of outward, pages will no longer jump out onto the floor. Safe and sound on your printer tray, every time.

Cons:

All the Counter-Space

This printer is bigger than most in its class. Its about the size of other printers with the paper tray extended, but the paper tray is always out. If you buy this for home, you should have a spot in mind.

High Efficiency Ink is High Cost

I have this printer, and I love it. What I don’t love is when all the cartridges run out, I need to come out with over 100 dollars to replace them all. Luckily, I have Instant Ink, so I don’t need to worry about it.

Best for:

Everyone. Seriously, I don’t know many people who couldn’t at least get by with the HP OfficeJet Pro 8720. That’s why it’s the top of our list of the best printers of 2019.

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Best printers of 2019 summary

So that is our list of the best printers of 2019.
At Joe’s Printer Buying Guide, we always try to give the best printer reviews possible, and we hope that we’ve done that today. Our hope is that this list will help you to decide which printer is the best for your needs.

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As always, check out our other reviews, and happy printing!