Compare the Best Inkjet PrintersDecember 2020

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.

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 Prices

The price range of inkjets is from $43 to $5,399 and in total we found prices for 92 inkjets. The average price of a new inkjet printer is $468 and the 80% of inkjets are priced between $78 and $895. The most expensive inkjet printer that we found is the HP DesignJet Z5200 at $5,399, and the cheapest is the HP Envy 5010 at only $44.

Inkjet Brands - Price Range

The highest average inkjet price out of all brands is Xerox inkjet printers with an average price of $2,454. Xerox inkjet printers start at $254 and their most expensive inkjet costs $4,655.

Epson inkjets start at $65 and their most expensive inkjet costs $1,900. The second highest average inkjet price out of all brands is Epson inkjets with an average price of $516.

The average price of HP inkjets is $442 which is the third highest average price of all inkjet brands. HP inkjets range in price from $44 to $5,399.

Inkjet Brands - Average Ratings

We have checked 396 expert reviews and 4,300 user reviews for inkjet printers and used this data to determine the average rating for each brand of inkjet. The top rated inkjet brand is HP with an average rating of 86%. The second best brand is Epson with 82% and the third best brand is Canon with 78%.

Biggest Inkjet Printer Retailers

The biggest inkjet printer retailer by number of products currently for sale is eBay. We found 200 current inkjet printer offers from eBay. The second biggest retailer is Adorama with 33 offers. That means eBay is over 6 times bigger than Adorama when it comes to inkjet printers. Overstock is the third biggest retailer with 15 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. In April 2019, 36 new inkjets were released making it the biggest month that year for new inkjet printer releases. In 2018 most new inkjet printers were released in December, with 22 new inkjet printers released that month. The biggest month in 2017 for new inkjet printer releases was September, with 29 new inkjets released that month.

How Fast Do Inkjet Prices Drop After Release?

On average, in the first 6 months after release, inkjets drop in price by 11%.

If you are prepared to wait then you could save an average of $50 on a typical $468 new inkjet printer by waiting 6 months before buying.

Print Speeds (Colour)

'Print Speed' measures how long it takes the inkjet printer to print a single colour A4 page at normal quality.

The print speeds (colour) of inkjets range from 1ppm to 75ppm. The print speeds (colour) of the majority of inkjets range from 1ppm to 7ppm. The inkjet with the fastest print speed (colour) is the HP PageWide Pro 750d, which is a 75ppm print speed (colour, normal quality, A4/US Le inkjet printer and is available at $799.99. The inkjet with the slowest print speed (colour) is the Canon PIXMA PRO-1, which is a 1ppm print speed (colour, normal quality, A4/US Le inkjet and sells for $549.00.

Maximum Resolutions

Maximum printing resolution.

We found 179 inkjets that are 4800 x 1200 DPI inkjet printers, which makes this the most frequently found maximum resolution amongst new inkjets. We found 68 inkjet printers that are 5760 x 1440 DPI inkjets, making this the second most popular maximum resolution amongst new inkjet printers.

Wi-Fis

'Wi-Fi' denotes whether the laser printer has a support for wireless communications or not.

Of the 477 new inkjets currently listed on Kagoo, the vast majority are inkjets with a Wi-Fi. 412 out of 477 inkjets are inkjets with a Wi-Fi.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Inkjet Printers?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying inkjets. For each retailer it shows the total number of inkjets where they currently have a market leading price. The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying inkjet printers. For each retailer we took all of their prices and looked at what proportion of those prices where the cheapest on the market. The cheapest retailer that we found was eBay. 130 of their inkjet prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.

Proportion of Inkjet Printers for Which Each Retailer is Cheapest?

Assessing how cheap each retailer is for inkjet printers by counting the number of cheapest prices for that retailer, makes the retailers that offer the greatest number of inkjet printer prices more likely to offer the greatest number of cheapest prices. The chart below considers the proportion of each retailer's inkjet printer prices that are the cheapest compared to other retailers. The cheapest retailer that we found using this approach was eBay. 65% of their inkjet printer prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.