Importance Of A Good Printer For A Home Office
If you have started working remotely, chances are you have already bought or are considering the essential ingredients that make your workspace at home productive. From text-printing and editing work to scanning and printing out products, a good home office printer will help you in your everyday productivity when you work from home or remotely and do not have access to a workspace’s printer.
An easy-to-use, effective printer is among the many essentials remote workers require. According to a survey by Stora Enso on post-pandemic work and printing habits, 79% of employees think printing makes them more productive.1 At Remote Turtle, we aim to help out those who work remotely, and in this article, we will list down the best home office printers you can buy right now.
Best Home Office Printers
Image | |||||
All-in-One Print, Scan & Copy | |||||
Color or Monochrome | Color | Monochrome (Black-and-white) | Color | Monochrome (Black-and-white) | Color |
Print Technology | Inkjet | Laser | Inkjet | Laser | Laser |
Max Document Size Supported | Letter (8.5″ x 14″) | Letter (8.5″ x 14″) | Letter (8.5″ x 14″) | Letter (8.5″ x 14″) | Letter (8.5″ x 14″) |
Print Rate PPM (Pages Per Minute) | Color – 5.5 PPM Monochrome – 7.5 PPM | 36 PPM | Color – 6 PPM Monochrome – 11 PPM | 35 PPM | Color – 26 PPM Monochrome – 26 PPM |
Printing Quality | 1200 x 1200 dpi | 1200 x 1200 dpi | 4800 x 1200 dpi | 1200 x 1200 dpi | 600 x 600 dpi |
Toner/ Cartidge Included with Purchase | 700-Pages ink | 700-Pages ink | 6,000-Pages (Colored) 7,700-Pages (Black-&-White) | 1500-Pages ink | 1,200-Pages (Colored) 1,300-Pages (Black-&-White) |
Duplex Printing | |||||
Companion App Support | HP Smart App | Brother Mobile Connect App | Cannon Print App | HP Smart App | HP Smart App |
Printing Standard Support | Wifi Direct USB 2.0 Mobile | Dual-band Wifi Wifi Direct USB 2.0 Ethernet Apple Air Print Mopria Print | Mobile USB 2.0 Wifi Direct Apple Air Print Mopria Print | Dual-band Wifi USB 2.0 Mobile Ethernet | Dual-band Wifi USB 2.0 Mobile Ethernet |
Price | Under $85 | Under $200 | Under $230 | Under $310 | Under $530 |
HP DeskJet 2755e
- Pros
- Printer, Scanner, and Copier
- Colored printer
- Inkjet technology
- Mobile and wireless printing
- Easy and simple plug-and-play setup
- 1200 x 1200 rendered dpi allows for high-quality color printing
- Comes with a 1-year warranty
- 3 months or 700 pages of ink included with the purchase
- Under $85
- Cons
- Supports a max document size of 8.5″ x 14″
- Slow print rate at 7.5 pages per minute (ppm) in black and 5.5 pages per minute in color
- Does not support duplex printing
Brother DCP-L2640DW
- Pros
- Printer, Scanner, and Copier
- Monochrome printer
- Laser technology
- Mobile and dual-band wireless connectivity
- Easy-to-use companion app for mobile
- Fast print speeds of up to 36 ppm
- Features an automatic document feeder
- Supports duplex printing
- 1200 x 1200 rendered dpi allows for high-quality black-and-white printing
- 700-page starter toner included with purchase
- Under $200
- Cons
- No color support
- Supports a max document size of 8.5″ x 14″
Canon MegaTank G3270
- Pros
- Printer, Scanner, and Copier
- Color printer
- Inkjet technology
- Wireless connectivity
- Companion app for mobile-printing
- Amazing print quality at 4,800 x 1,200 dpi
- Large capacity with about 6,000 colored or 7,700 black-and-white prints with a single toner
- A set of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow ink bottles is included with the purchase
- Under $230
- Cons
- Supports a max document size of 8.5″ x 14″
- Does not support duplex printing
- Slow print rate at 11 ppm in black-and-white and 6 ppm in color
HP LaserJet Pro MFP 3101fdw
- Pros
- Printer, Scanner, and Copier
- Monochrome printer
- Laser technology
- Mobile and dual-band wireless connectivity
- Easy-to-use companion app for mobile devices
- Fast print speeds of up to 35 ppm
- Supports duplex printing
- Includes HP Wolf Pro Security so your information is always secure
- 1200 x 1200 dpi for high-quality black-and-white printing
- 1500-page starter cartridge included with purchase
- Under $310
- Cons
- No color support
- Supports documents up till 8.5″ x 14″ in size
HP Color Laserjet Pro MFP 3301fdw
- Pros
- Printer, Scanner, and Copier
- Color printer
- Laser technology
- Mobile and dual-band wireless connectivity
- Easy-to-use companion app for mobile devices
- Fast speeds of up to 26 ppm for both monochrome and colored prints
- Supports duplex printing
- Features an automatic document feeder with a 250-sheet tray
- Includes HP Wolf Pro Security so your information is always secure
- 1 black toner cartridge and 3 color toner cartridges included with purchase
- Under $530
- Cons
- Supports documents up till 8.5″ x 14″ in size
- Relatively lower print resolution at 600 x 600 dpi for both black-and-white and color printing
Here are our recommendations for each specific requirement
Best Economic Office Printer
HP DeskJet 4155e Wireless Color Inkjet Printer
Best Laser Color Printer
Canon Color imageCLASS MF653Cdw
Best Inkjet Color Printer
Best Monochrome Printer
Best Small Office Printer
Computer Printer Accessories
Best Print Paper
Amazon Basics Multipurpose Copy Printer Paper, 8.5″ x 11″
Best Photo Paper
HP Everyday Photo Paper, Glossy, 4″ x 6″
Best A4 Paper
Important Things to Consider When Choosing A Printer
Print Technology
Printer types are either inkjet or laser. Laser printing has better quality and greater printing speed but is costlier.
- Inkjet Printers: Suitable for printing photos and color documents
- Laser Printers: Ideal for printing text documents and graphics
Printing Speed
Print speed refers to the number of pages a printer can print, the faster, usually the better.
Paper Quality
The print quality of a printer refers to the resolution it can render for a print. The higher the dpi, the better the print quality. Although not that important a factor for regular office printing, getting a higher-quality printer is recommended if you want to print high-quality photos and illustrations.
Connectivity and Compatibility
Printers offer different connectivity options like wireless printing through mobile devices and other standards like Apple Air Print or Mopria.
Budget and Cost Considerations
When looking for an office printer, you should not think of it as a one-time investment. Although the initial cost is not that much, the running costs which include replacing cartridges, toners, or pages are sure to be considerable.
Productivity and Efficiency
Features like automatic document feeders and scanning trays coupled with wireless controls make for an efficient and flexible printing solution for your home office.
Space and Operation
Consider the size and footprint of the printer and its weight, if you want to place it on a counter or table. Similarly, the noise a printer makes can often lead to distractions and should be thought of in advance if you foresee considerable prints in your everyday tasks.
Brand and Customer Support
A printer has a lot of moving parts and requires constant technical support in terms of software updates and physical maintenance to give you a seamless printing experience. So make sure the brands you buy from have good customer support and reputation.
Investing In A Good Printer Is An Investment In Productivity
So there you have it, a lot of variety exists in the market for printers. But if you know about the different aspects of printers, making the right decision to buy can become less confusing and more enabling. After understanding the specifications and their impact on your work, you not only increase productivity but also enhance the capability of your work as well.
We hope this guide to the best home office printers was of use in making the right choice for your office at home.
To read about the ergonomics of home office monitors, read our blog by clicking on the link.
You can read about what the Optimal Standing Desk setup looks like on our blog in the Home Office section.
Read more about the other essentials required to set up the ideal home office on Remote Turtle.
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References
- Does printing make you more productive? (n.d.). https://www.storaenso.com/en/newsroom/news/2021/12/does-printing-make-you-more-productive ↩︎
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