Compare the Best ScannersOctober 2020

Scanners are devices used for digitising physical material such as documents and photos, and turning them into digital images for archiving, sharing and editing. They are extremely helpful peripherals, since they allow you to easily digitise large amounts of paper very quickly, meaning less clutter and mess on your desk! This guide will look at the major considerations when choosing a scanner, so you can find the device that is right for you.

There are several different types of home scanners available, though they can be largely placed into two main categories: flatbed or sheetfed:

Automatic Document Feeder

An additional extra mostly commonly found in sheetfed scanners is an automatic document feed (ADF). This is a system that allows you to place a stack of paper into the scanner, and the scanner will automatically feed in the documents, scan them, then eject them from the machine. This is extremely helpful for anyone needing to digitise a lot of documents at once, since you can queue 50 pieces of paper at once, and the scanner will take care of the rest. Not all scanners have this system, but it is worth seeking out if you routinely find yourself bulk-scanning documents.

Resolution & Scan Speed

As mentioned above, not all scanners scan at the same quality. The scanning resolution is measured in dots per inch - the higher the dpi, the better the quality of the scan. Very high resolutions also allow you to expand small photos into larger prints - something that is not possible with low-resolution scanners. High resolution is also important for retaining fidelity when scanning photos. As a rule 300dpi is perfectly fine for black & white text, but won’t suffice for photos - you will need something with at least 1,200dpi or higher.

It’s also important to consider the scanning speed of the peripheral. Different models of scanners can have extremely varying scan speeds - with some taking twice as much time to scan a page as others. The scanners on our site are measured in the amount of pages they can scan per second, split out into colour, black & white, photo, etc. While the speed may not make a difference if you only scan a single document every once in a while, if you routinely scan large amounts of paper, this can add up to a substantial time saving.

Extras

Finally, there is a host of other considerations when choosing a scanner. These can include:

Flat-Bed Scanner Prices

The price range of scanners is from $44 to $14,713 and in total we found prices for 170 scanners. A new scanner costs on average $1,086 and 80% of scanners are priced between $109 and $2,600. The Panasonic KVS8147J is the most expensive flat-bed scanner that we found at $14,713, and the Visioneer Mobility is the cheapest at only $45.

Flat-Bed Scanner Brands - Price Range

The highest average flat-bed scanner price out of all brands is Panasonic scanners with an average price of $7,168. Panasonic scanners start at $436 and their most expensive flat-bed scanner costs $14,713.

Kodak scanners range in price from $295 to $10,086, and the second highest average scanner price out of all brands is Kodak scanners with an average price of $2,218.

The average price of Fujitsu flat-bed scanners is $1,600 which is the third highest average price of all scanner brands. Fujitsu flat-bed scanners range in price from $120 to $9,044.

Flat-Bed Scanner Brands - Average Ratings

We have checked 56 expert reviews and 405 user reviews for flat-bed scanners and used this information to evaluate the average rating for each brand of scanner. Epson is the top rated flat-bed scanner brand with an average rating of 86%. Fujitsu is the second best brand with 84% and Xerox is the third best brand with 77%.

Biggest Flat-Bed Scanner Retailers

The biggest scanner retailer by number of products currently for sale is eBay. We found 113 current scanner offers from eBay. The second biggest retailer is Adorama with 112 offers. That means eBay is very close in size to Adorama when it comes to scanners. Overstock is the third biggest retailer with 49 current offers.

When Are Most New Scanners Released?

Over the last 3 years we couldn't see any noticeable pattern in the release month for new flat-bed scanners. Four new flat-bed scanners were released in April 2019 making it the biggest month that year for new flat-bed scanner releases. The biggest month in 2018 for new scanner releases was August, with 13 new flat-bed scanners released that month. In 2017 most new flat-bed scanners were released in October, with 10 new flat-bed scanners released that month.

How Fast Do Flat-Bed Scanner Prices Drop After Release?

In the first 6 months after release, scanners drop in price by 3% on average.

That means that on a typical scanner costing $1,086 you could save on average $34 by waiting 6 months before buying.

Optical Scanning Resolutions

'Optical scanning resolution' denotes the detail level of the image produced by the scanner, measured in dots per inch (DPI).

The most frequently found optical scanning resolution amongst new scanners is 600 x 600 DPI. We found 239 scanners that are 600 x 600 DPI flat-bed scanners. We found 45 scanners that are 1200 x 1200 DPI scanners, making 1200 x 1200 DPI the second most common optical scanning resolution amongst new scanners.

Scanner Types

A scanner is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting, or an object, and converts it to a digital image. Common examples found in offices are variations of the desktop (or flatbed) scanner where the document is placed on a glass window for scanning. There are different types of scanners e.g. flatbed, pen, sheet-feed.

The most common scanner type amongst new flat-bed scanners is sheetfed / adf. We found 254 flat-bed scanners that are sheetfed / adf scanners. We found 77 scanners that are flatbed scanners, making flatbed the second most popular scanner type amongst new scanners.

Colour Scanning

Colour scanning denotes whether the scanner has the ability to scan in colour, or whether it's limited to black & white scanning.

The vast majority of the 376 new scanners currently listed on Kagoo are flat-bed scanners which support colour scanning. 359 out of 376 are flat-bed scanners which support colour scanning.

Maximum Scan Sizes

Maximum scan size refers to the dimensions in millimetres of the largest document that the scanner can digitise.

We found 150 scanners that are flat-bed scanners that have an A4 / us lettermm max scan size, which makes this the most frequently found maximum scan size amongst new scanners. We found 80 scanners that are scanners that have an A4 (long)mm max scan size, making A4 (long)mm the second most common maximum scan size amongst new scanners.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Flat-Bed Scanners?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying scanners. For each retailer it shows the total number of scanners where they currently have a market leading price. The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying scanners. 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. 99 of their scanner prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.

Proportion of Flat-Bed Scanners for Which Each Retailer is Cheapest?

Assessing how cheap each retailer is for scanners by counting the number of cheapest prices for that retailer, makes the retailers that offer the greatest number of flat-bed scanner prices more likely to offer the greatest number of cheapest prices. The chart below considers the proportion of each retailer's flat-bed scanner prices that are the cheapest compared to other retailers. The cheapest retailer that we found using this approach was eBay. 87.6% of their scanner prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.