What Is the Best Color Inkjet All in One Printer
Best all-in-one printer for home office and remote working in 2021
Included in this guide:
The best all-in-one printer is a must-have for anyone working from home, giving you the ability to print photos and documents, as well as scan and copy. And with remote working firmly establishing itself as the new normal, it's a great time to invest in the best all-in-one printer for your needs.
In our guide, we've picked out the top MFD (multi-function device) printers on the market. These are not just for photo printing, like the A3 Epson XP-970, say, but all-round printers with built-in scanners. (If you're looking for a dedicated desktop or portable scanner, we do also have a best scanners guide to check out.)
The best all-in-one printer will usually have multiple connectivity options, meaning Wi-Fi as well as physical connection like USB. This makes it easy to print from multiple different devices, or start printing off for a different room. Our guide here mostly focuses on inkjet printers, but we have also included some color laser models as well.
One thing to note is that the majority of inkjet printers will be sold with standard-capacity or 'installation' cartridges. Unfortunately, these can and do run out pretty quickly, and it's easy to get caught in a cycle of buying expensive cartridges.
It's not a problem if you're only printing the occasional document, but if you think you'll be doing a lot of heavy printing, it might be worth thinking about more efficient options. We've included a few of Epson's 'EcoTank' printers; these are more expensive initially, but use a more efficient bottle-based ink system that'll save you money over the long run.
With all that in mind, here are the best all-in-one printers available today.
Best all-in-one printers in 2021
The best all-in-one printer overall
Specifications
Type: Inkjet
Max print/scan resolution: 4800/2400dpi
Cartridges: 5
Mono/color print speed: 15/10ppm
Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi
Dimensions (WxL): 376x359x141mm
Weight: 6.3kg
Reasons to buy
+Fast, high-quality output +Smart paper handling
Reasons to avoid
-No touchscreen
Canon's five-ink printers typically give you the best of both worlds. The combination of a pigment black ink plus dye-based cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks deliver immaculate quality for crisp mono and color documents, as well as superb photo output.
Known as the Canon PIXMA TS6320 in America, and the PIXMA TS6350 in Europe, this latest model in the line-up has smart paper handling options, including a space-saving motorized output tray that extends from the front, an internal paper input cassette, plus a rear-loading feeder that's ideal for photo paper and alternative media sizes. Automatic duplex printing is also available, with the potential of saving paper and postage costs. Although there's no touchscreen, an intuitive onboard control system is based around a high-quality OLED display.
2. Canon PIXMA TS3320/3350
The best all-in-one printer for a budget price
Specifications
Type: Inkjet
Max print/scan resolution: 4800/1200dpi
Cartridges: 2
Mono/color print speed: 7.7/4ppm
Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi
Dimensions (WxL): 435x316x145mm
Weight: 3.9kg
Reasons to buy
+Cheap +Small and lightweight
Reasons to avoid
-No individual color cartridges -Pedestrian print speeds
If you're hoping that working from home is very much a short-term measure, you won't want to spend more on a printer than you really need to. Good-quality models don't come any cheaper than this Canon, and it's a real lightweight space-saver into the bargain. As you'd expect, however, it cuts a few corners. With four inks in total, it runs on mono and tri-color cartridges, rather than having separate cartridges or tanks for each ink. It's sold as the Canon PIXMA TS3320 in the US, and the PIXMA TS3350 in Europe
If you print a lot of yellow, for example, you can find yourself throwing away cyan and magenta inks when you need to replace the cartridge. In general though, the optional XL cartridges help keep costs down. Print speeds aren't exactly quick and double-sided printing can only be done manually but, even so, this PIXMA is a good budget option.
The best all-in-one printer for photos
Specifications
Type: Inkjet
Max print/scan resolution: 4800/4800dpi
Cartridges: 6
Mono/color print speed: 15/10ppm
Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi
Dimensions (WxL): 373x319x141mm
Weight: 6.6kg
Reasons to buy
+ 6-ink system for enhanced photo quality +Intuitive touchscreen control
Reasons to avoid
-Sixth ink is only really an advantage for photo output
Building on Canon's rich heritage of five-ink printers, this model goes one better with its six-ink system. You get the usual mix of pigment-based black and dye-based CMYK, plus a 'photo blue' ink for more vivid photo output with even smoother graduations. It's simply the best A4/Letter sized photo printer on the market, but it's equally adept at office duties. Mono and color print speeds are fast and there's an auto duplex facility.
Further automation extends to a motorized tilting front panel and extending output tray, along with auto paper width detection, which can save setup time when using different sizes of media. Speaking of which, there are dual input paths including an internal cassette and rear feeder. This printer is called the Canon PIXMA TS8320 in North America, and the TS8350 in most other places around the world.
4. Epson EcoTank ET-8550
The best all-in-one printer with refillable ink
Specifications
Type: Inkjet
Max print/scan resolution: 5700/4800dpi
Cartridges: 6 (bottles)
Mono/color print speed: 32/32ppm
Connectivity: Hi-speed USB, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, SD/HC/XC
Dimensions (WxL): 523x379x169mm
Weight: 11.1kg
Reasons to buy
+Cost-effective ink bottles +Good for printing anything
Reasons to avoid
-Hefty upfront cost -Narrow-ish color gamut
It's great to get a printer that uses bottled ink rather than cartridges; not only is it cheaper to run as the system is more efficient, it's also less wasteful as the bottles are refillable. The Epson Ecotank ET-8550 is an exemplary all-in-one printer as it's great for basically anything, from documents to high-quality photos.
It can be a little slow, especially in high-quality mode, but if printing time isn't a factor you'll find this to be a highly reliable printer. The color space is a little more limited than some other printers, as it runs on six inks rather than eight or ten. That said, that the prints it spits out still look pretty darn good; full of detail and vibrancy.
5. Epson Workforce WF-2830
A hardworking budget home office printer with an ADF
Specifications
Type: Inkjet
Max print/scan resolution: 5760/2400dpi
Cartridges: 4
Mono/color print speed: 10/5ppm
Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi
Dimensions (WxL): 375x300x218mm
Weight: 5.2kg
Reasons to buy
+Auto document feeder +Built-in fax facility
Reasons to avoid
-Only four inks in total -'Setup' cartridges soon run out
On the face of it, this is a remarkably inexpensive printer considering that it enables all of the usual multi-function scanning and photocopying duties, as well as adding a direct fax facility and even an auto document feeder (ADF) that can accommodate up to 30 pages. It also takes automatic duplex printing in its stride and generally ticks all of the right boxes for working from home. With only four inks under the bonnet, it's not ideal for photo printing but does a good job of color documents.
There are individual cartridges for all four colors, but the printer is supplied with low-capacity 'setup' cartridges which can run out soon after installation. Even so, XL high-capacity replacement options help to drive down running costs.
6. Epson EcoTank ET-4760 / ET-4700
The best all-in-one printer for high-volume printing
Specifications
Type: Inkjet
Max print/scan resolution: 5760/2400dpi
Cartridges: 4
Mono/colour print speed: 33/15ppm
Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi, Ethernet
Dimensions (WxL): 375x347x237mm
Weight: 5kg
Reasons to buy
+High-capacity ink tanks +Cuts the price of high-volume printing
Reasons to avoid
-Expensive initial purchase price -Only four ink colors
Bucking the trend of printer manufacturers selling inexpensive hardware and making their money on ink cartridges, this Epson EcoTank printer takes the opposite approach. It's relatively expensive to buy but leaves ink cartridges out of the equation altogether. Instead, it has four ink tanks and comes with bottles of cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks, with sufficient capacity for printing up to 4,500 mono pages or 7,500 color document pages.
Replacement high-capacity ink bottles (if and when you need them) are much cheaper than most regular cartridges. It is known as the ET-4760 in North America, and the ET-4700 in Europe.
Other home office-friendly features include auto duplex printing, a 30-sheet auto document feeder and direct faxing with a 100-name/number speed dial memory.
7. Brother MFC-L3770CDW
The best all-in-one printer for laser-like quality
Specifications
Type: Laser
Max print/scan resolution: 2400/1200dpi
Cartridges: 4
Mono/color print speed: 25/25ppm
Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, NFC
Dimensions (WxL): 409x508x414mm
Weight: 24.4kg
Reasons to buy
+50-sheet ADF and fax capability +Good connections, including NFC
Reasons to avoid
-Quite pricey to run -Not great for photo output
Typical of relatively low-cost 'laser' printers, this one is based on an LED array rather than actual laser technology. It's certainly fast and highly effective, however, churning out mono or color prints at up to 25 pages per minute. You can photocopy or scan to your computer, as well as sending direct faxes, all of which take advantage of a built-in auto document feeder. A 3.7-inch touchscreen makes for easy menu navigation and the printer is well-connected, adding NFC to the usual range of USB, Wi-Fi and Ethernet options. Running costs are fairly competitive for mono printing but a bit pricey for color.
8. HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP479fdw
The best all-in-one laser printer for small offices
Specifications
Type: Laser
Max print/scan resolution: 600/1200dpi
Cartridges: 4
Mono/color print speed: 27/27ppm
Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi, Ethernet
Dimensions (WxL): 416x472x400mm
Weight: 23.4kg
Reasons to buy
+Auto duplex scanning and printing, with ADF +Excellent value in the UK
Reasons to avoid
-Relatively pricey in the USA -Typically mediocre photo print quality for a laser
Billed as ideal for three to ten users printing up to 4,000 pages per month in total, this LED-based Color LaserJet Pro comes complete with a 50-sheet auto document feeder, plus auto duplex for copying, scanning and fax, as well as for scanning direct to email and PDF. The 'fdw' version is Wi-Fi enabled.
Print speeds are quick, at 27 pages per minute for both mono and color output, and the supplied cartridges are good for 2,400 mono pages and 1,200 color pages. The main paper input tray takes 300 sheets, which you can boost to 850 sheets by fitting an optional 550-sheet tray. The printer is quick and easy to set up, and it's easy to live with too, thanks to an intuitive 4.3-inch color touchscreen. All in all, this HP is a great color laser for the home office.
9. Epson EcoTank ET-7750
The best large format all-in-one printer – double up on page size
Specifications
Type: Inkjet
Max print/scan resolution: 4800/4800dpi
Cartridges: 4
Mono/colour print speed: 28/28ppm
Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi, Ethernet
Dimensions (WxL): 526x415x168mm
Weight: 10.5kg
Reasons to buy
+Large format A3+ printing +High-capacity ink tanks
Reasons to avoid
-Scanner is only A4/letter size -Expensive initial purchase price
For most home-office needs, an A4/letter sized printer will suffice. However, if you need to create larger output, or maybe fold a larger sheet of paper in half to effectively make a four-page A4/letter sized pamphlet, this 13-inch Epson printer is the ideal solution. It's also a dab hand at creating A3/11x17-inch photo prints. A major frustration of most large-format printers is that you can find yourself perpetually running on empty, for at least one or more of the ink cartridges.
Typical of Epson's EcoTank range of printers, this one has high-volume ink tanks instead of cartridges, and is supplied with sufficient ink to create thousands of mono and color documents, or up to 3,400 6x4-inch photos, with correspondingly smaller amounts of larger sizes.
10. Brother MFC-J5330DW
The best all-in-one printer for A3 on a budget
Specifications
Type: Inkjet
Max print/scan resolution: 4800/2400dpi
Cartridges: 5
Mono/colour print speed: 35/20ppm
Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi
Dimensions: 398 x 530 x 304mm
Weight: 16.9kg
Reasons to buy
+Prints A3 +Fast print speeds +Great value
Reasons to avoid
-Only A4 scanning
Need an all-in-one that can print A3, as well as copying, faxing and scanning at A4, but can't afford the Epson EcoTank ET-7750 (number 9 on our list)? Then here's a very capable budget alternative. Despite the relatively low cost, you're getting decent print speeds of up to 35 pages per minute, auto two-side printing, and a lovely 6.8cm colour LCD touchscreen that's responsive and easy to use.
The Brother MFC-J5330DW also boasts a 250-sheet tray and a 50-sheet automatic document feeder. And while it can print A3, it still keeps everything compact with an A4 footprint overall.
11. Brother MFC-J5945DW
High-end inkjet that's close to laser quality
Specifications
Type: Inkjet
Max print/scan resolution: 6000/1200dpi
Cartridges: 4
Mono/colour print speed: 22/20ppm
Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi
Dimensions: 435 x 341 x 195mm
Weight: 7.96kg
Reasons to buy
+High quality inkjet printing +500 sheet capacity +Prints up to A3
Reasons to avoid
-Not a laser
In general, we think of laser printers as vastly superior to inkjet ones. But this business-focused inkjet 4-in-1 printer provides high-quality prints that are surprisingly close to laser quality.
This is a great choice for a busy office, featuring automatic two-sided printing, copying and scanning, a 500-sheet paper capacity, the ability to print at up to A3, and a 50-sheet automatic document feeder. The 9.3-inch touchscreen is a joy, and print speeds of up to 22ppm are impressive too.
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Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewer – and has tested more primes and zooms than most people have had hot dinners! His expertise with equipment doesn't end there, though. He is also an encyclopedia when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers and inks, and just about anything imaging-related. In an earlier life he was a broadcast engineer at the BBC, as well as a former editor of PC Guide.
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What Is the Best Color Inkjet All in One Printer
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