Compare the Best ScannersMarch 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:

Flatbed Scanners: These scanners consist of a large rectangular ‘bed’, onto which the documents are placed. The lid is closed, and the scanner runs the length of the document, creating a digital copy. These scanners tend to be slower than sheetfed models, and require far more deskspace when using.

However on the plus side they produce higher-quality scans, and are also better for scanning photos and delicate documents. Large-size flatbed scanners are also the best option for scanning large documents and photos (A3 and larger).

Sheetfed Scanners: These scanners look a bit like fax machines - a feed at the top of the device takes the paper and runs it past a static scanning unit. The paper is then discharged the bottom of the device, and a digital copy is generated. Because these scanners don’t have to fit the whole document at a time, they can be significantly smaller - indeed many sheetfed scanners are a fraction of the size of an average flatbed scanner. This means they are far easier to transport and store.

This portability comes at a cost - most sheetfed scanners aren’t nearly as powerful as their flatbed cousins, and so the scanning quality isn’t quite as good. However, for simple black & white document scanner, they should be more than sufficient. Therefore if all you need is to digitise your bills and invoices, a sheetfed scanner might be the best option.

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:

Scanner Prices

We currently list 155 flat-bed scanners ranging from $35 to $11,118. On average, a new flat-bed scanner costs $838 and 80% of flat-bed scanners are priced between $81 and $1,990. The most expensive scanner that we found is the Fujitsu FI6400 at $11,118, and the cheapest is the Canon CanoScan LiDE 120 at only $35.

Flat-Bed Scanner Brands - Price Range

Kodak flat-bed scanners start at $425 and their most expensive flat-bed scanner costs $9,947. The highest average flat-bed scanner price out of all brands is Kodak flat-bed scanners with an average price of $2,436.

Fujitsu scanners start at $139 and their most expensive scanner costs $11,118. The average price of Fujitsu scanners is $1,899 which is the second highest average price of all scanner brands.

Canon scanners range in price from $35 to $4,663, and the average price of Canon scanners is $1,052 which is the third highest average price of all flat-bed scanner brands.

Flat-Bed Scanner Brands - Average Ratings

We have evaluated 419 expert reviews and 3,367 user reviews for flat-bed scanners and used this data to evaluate the average rating for each brand of flat-bed scanner. Epson is the top rated scanner brand with an average rating of 86%. Fujitsu is the second best brand with 83% and Canon is the third best brand with 79%.

Biggest Scanner Retailers

The biggest scanner retailer by number of products currently for sale is eBay. We found 125 current scanner offers from eBay. The second biggest retailer is Adorama with 104 offers. That means eBay is significantly bigger than Adorama when it comes to scanners. Overstock is the third biggest retailer with 44 current offers.

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

On average scanners drop in price by 5% in the first 6 months after release.

If you are prepared to wait then you could save an average of $40 on a typical $838 new flat-bed scanner 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 flat-bed scanners is 600 x 600 DPI. We found 225 flat-bed scanners that are 600 x 600 DPI scanners. We found 41 flat-bed scanners that are 1200 x 1200 DPI scanners, making 1200 x 1200 DPI the second most popular optical scanning resolution amongst new flat-bed 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.

Amongst new flat-bed scanners, the most frequently found scanner type is sheetfed / adf. We found 236 flat-bed scanners that are sheetfed / adf flat-bed scanners. We found 74 flat-bed scanners that are flatbed scanners, making this the second most frequently found scanner type amongst new flat-bed 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.

Of the 355 new scanners currently listed on Kagoo, the vast majority are scanners which support colour scanning. 342 scanners (96%) are 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 135 scanners that are flat-bed scanners that have an A4 / us lettermm max scan size, which makes A4 / us lettermm the most common maximum scan size amongst new scanners. The second most frequently found maximum scan size amongst new flat-bed scanners is A4 (long)mm. We found 76 flat-bed scanners that are scanners that have an A4 (long)mm max scan size.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Flat-Bed Scanners?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying flat-bed scanners. For each retailer it shows the total number of flat-bed 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. 101 of their flat-bed 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 flat-bed 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. 80.8% of their flat-bed scanner prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.