Compare the Best ScannersJanuary 2021

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:

Scanner Prices

Flat-bed scanners range in price from $34 to $9,045 and in total we found prices for 162 flat-bed scanners. The average price of a new scanner is $831 and the 80% of flat-bed scanners are priced between $95 and $2,002. The most expensive scanner that we found is the Fujitsu fi-5950 at $9,044, and the cheapest is the Epson DS30 at only $35.

Flat-Bed Scanner Brands - Price Range

Fujitsu flat-bed scanners range in price from $60 to $9,044, and the average price of Fujitsu flat-bed scanners is $1,551 which is the highest average price of all flat-bed scanner brands.

Canon scanners start at $59 and their most expensive flat-bed scanner costs $6,477. The average price of Canon scanners is $1,502 which is the second highest average price of all flat-bed scanner brands.

The third highest average flat-bed scanner price out of all brands is Kodak scanners with an average price of $1,277. Kodak scanners range in price from $159 to $3,800.

Flat-Bed Scanner Brands - Average Ratings

We have analysed 448 expert reviews and 3,465 user reviews for flat-bed scanners and used this information to calculate the average rating for each brand of flat-bed scanner. Epson is the top rated scanner brand with an average rating of 87%. Fujitsu is the second best brand with 82% and Canon is the third best brand with 79%.

Biggest Flat-Bed Scanner Retailers

The biggest flat-bed scanner retailer by number of products currently for sale is eBay. We found 123 current flat-bed scanner offers from eBay. The second biggest retailer is Adorama with 113 offers. That means eBay is slightly bigger than Adorama when it comes to scanners. Overstock is the third biggest retailer with 50 current offers.

When Are Most New Flat-Bed Scanners Released?

We looked at the release dates for new scanners over the last 3 years, but couldn't see any prominent trend. The biggest month in 2020 for new flat-bed scanner releases was January, with four new scanners released that month. Eight new scanners were released in May 2019 making it the biggest month that year for new scanner releases. In 2018 most new flat-bed scanners were released in August, with 13 new flat-bed scanners released that month.

How Fast Do Scanner Prices Drop After Release?

On average scanners drop in price by 3% in the first 6 months after release.

If you are prepared to wait then you could save an average of $26 on a typical $831 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).

600 x 600 DPI is the most popular optical scanning resolution amongst new flat-bed scanners. We found 243 flat-bed scanners that are 600 x 600 DPI flat-bed scanners. We found 46 scanners that are 1200 x 1200 DPI flat-bed scanners, making this the second most frequently found 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.

Amongst new flat-bed scanners, the most popular scanner type is sheetfed / adf. We found 258 flat-bed scanners that are sheetfed / adf flat-bed scanners. We found 78 flat-bed scanners that are flatbed scanners, making flatbed the second most popular 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 381 new scanners currently listed on Kagoo, the vast majority are scanners which support colour scanning. 368 scanners out of 381 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.

The most frequently found maximum scan size amongst new scanners is A4 / us lettermm. We found 152 scanners that are scanners that have an A4 / us lettermm max scan size. The second most popular maximum scan size amongst new scanners is A4 (long)mm. We found 82 scanners that are flat-bed 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 flat-bed 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. 105 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. 85.4% of their flat-bed scanner prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.