Compare the 10 Best Inkjet PrintersOctober 2017

There are 2 main types of printers available on the consumer market - inkjet and laser printers. Both have strengths and weaknesses, and your choice will largely depend on what you plan on using your printer for. This guide will concentrate on information about inkjet printers - for a detailed rundown of laser printers, please see the guide under the Laser/LED printer category.

So, inkjet printers. As the name would suggest, these printers function by squirting a thin, focussed stream of black & coloured ink onto the page. This process makes inkjet significantly slower than laser printers, however there are capable of printing far more vivid colours, higher detail photos, and are generally far more preferable for colour-dependant printing.

Ink Cartridges

Inkjet printers are generally cheaper than laser printers, however they have significantly higher running costs. This is because the individual ink cartridges used for the printing (usually 4 - black, yellow, magenta & cyan) are expensive to purchase, and are used up far quickly than toner cartridges for laser printers. Therefore though inkjet printers may seem like a good bargain when you first buy them, they may be a false saving if you only print black and white documents - a laserjet will save more money in the long term.

On the subject of cartridges, there are two main types of ink cartridges used for these printers - dye and pigment inks. While there isn’t a massive difference between the two, dye inks give more vivid and brighter colours, whereas pigments inks are more resilient, and less prone to fading. However recent improvements to both types of ink have shortened the gap between them, meaning you won’t really go wrong with either choice of ink type.

Print Quality

When choosing an inkjet printer, print quality is among the most important considerations. The output quality of the printers on our site are measured in dots per inch (dpi) - higher dpi printers use more ink in denser configurations. This allow for far more detail and colour depth to be packed into every inch of the printing, leading to far higher quality prints.

It is also important to consider the number of print nozzles when choosing an inkjet printer. The more nozzles a printer has, the higher the density of ink it can apply to the page. Printers with a very high number of nozzles will be more expensive than other models, but you will gain far higher-quality prints from it, so it may well be worth the expense.

Photo Printing

While not as high quality as dedicated photo printers, inkjet printers are still effective at printing high-quality photos - far more so than laser printers. If you are interested in using your inkjet to print photos, it would be best to look for the printer with the highest print quality (dpi and colour depth). You will also need specialist photo paper to get the best results from photo printing - this paper is thicker and has a glossy coating that is specifically designed to stop the inks from blotting or merging, and provide a professional-level result when printing photos at home.

Print Speed

Inkjet printers are significantly slower than their laser printing cousins. However even within inkjet printers, there is a significant variety in print speeds - some models of inkjet printer can take double the time to print a page when compared to newer and more efficient models. All of our printers have detailed stats on the number of pages they can print a minute, broken down into black and white, colour, photo, etc. This will allow you to make the best decision as to the printer that best suits your needs.

Connectivity

Most models of inkjet printers have several different network connectivity options to make printing easier and more efficient. Ethernet connectivity is now a common feature in modern printers - so data can be transferred over a network without having to plug your computer into the printer directly. This makes it far easier to share printers with groups: the printer can be placed in a central area and used freely by everyone around.

Additionally, many models of inkjet printer also have wifi and/or bluetooth connectivity. These options mean that you do not even have to use a wire to use the printer - data can be transferred over wireless connection.

Finally, the newest models of printers have support for cloud or app printing. These options allow you to send a document to print from anywhere in the world - from a browser over the cloud, or from an app on your smartphone. While you will pay more money for these options, the convenience they provide may be worth the extra expenditure.

Inkjet Printer Prices

We currently list 84 inkjets ranging from $29 to $3,299. A new inkjet costs on average $336 and 80% of inkjets are priced between $60 and $654. The HP Z3200 is the most expensive inkjet that we found at $3,299, and the HP DeskJet 1112 is the cheapest at only $30.

Inkjet Printer Brands - Price Range

The %8highest average inkjet printer price out of all brands is Lexmark inkjets with an average price of $654. Lexmark inkjets start at $654 and the most expensive Lexmark inkjet printer costs $654.

HP inkjets range in price from $30 to $3,299, and the second highest average inkjet printer price out of all brands is HP inkjets with an average price of $412.

The third highest average inkjet printer price out of all brands is Canon inkjets with an average price of $375. Canon inkjets range in price from $50 to $1,458.

Inkjet Brands - Average Ratings

We have checked 168 expert reviews and 2,806 user reviews for inkjet printers available online and used this information to calculate the average rating for each brand of inkjet printer. Brother is the top rated inkjet brand with an average rating of 89%. Canon is the second best brand with 86% and Epson is the third best brand with 80%.

Biggest Inkjet Printer Retailers

The biggest inkjet printer retailer by number of products currently for sale is eBay. We found 118 current inkjet printer offers from eBay. The second biggest inkjet printer retailer is Amazon US with 35 offers. That means eBay is over 3 times bigger than Amazon US when it comes to inkjet printers. Adorama is the third biggest retailer with 26 current offers.

When Are Most New Inkjets Released?

Over the last 3 years we couldn't see any prominent trend in the release month for new inkjets. February was the biggest month in 2016 for new inkjets, with 18 new inkjets released that month. In 2015 most new inkjet printers were released in September, with 133 new inkjet printers released that month. 18 new inkjets were released in July 2014 making it the biggest month that year for new inkjet printer releases.

How Fast Do Inkjet Prices Drop After Release?

In the first 6 months after release, inkjet printers drop in price by 39% on average. That means a saving of $131 on a typical $336 new inkjet printer if you wait 6 months before buying.

Maximum Resolutions

Maximum printing resolution.

The most common maximum resolution amongst new inkjet printers is 4800 x 1200 DPI. We found 74 inkjet printers that are 4800 x 1200 DPI inkjets. The second most frequently found maximum resolution amongst new inkjet printers is 760 x 1440 DPI. We found 70 inkjet printers that are 760 x 1440 DPI inkjet printers.

Colour Printing

This indicates whether the inkjet printer is capable of printing in colour, or whether it's limited to black and white only.

Of the 260 new inkjet printers currently listed on Kagoo, the vast majority are inkjets which support colour printing. 246 out of 260 inkjet printers are inkjets which support colour printing.

Print Technologies

We found 246 inkjets that are inkjets that have an Inkjet Print technology, which makes Inkjet the most frequently found print technology amongst new inkjets. We found 6 inkjets that are inkjets that have a Laser Print technology, making this the second most frequently found print technology amongst new inkjets.

Biggest Inkjet Retailers

The biggest inkjet retailer by number of products currently for sale is eBay. We found 118 current inkjet offers from eBay. The second biggest inkjet retailer is Amazon US with 35 offers. That means eBay is over 3 times bigger than Amazon US when it comes to inkjets. Adorama is the third biggest retailer with 26 current offers.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Inkjet Printers?

The store that most frequently offered the cheapest price on inkjet printers is eBay and offers the cheapest price on 47 inkjet printers.

Proportion of Inkjets for Which Each Retailer is Cheapest?

eBay most frequently has the cheapest inkjet prices (found to be cheapest for 39.8% of its inkjets).