Compare the Best ScannersSeptember 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:

Scanner Prices

Scanners range in price from $28 to $15,233 and in total we found prices for 170 scanners. The average price of a new scanner is $1,089 and the 80% of scanners are priced between $85 and $2,399. The Epson Workforce DS-30 is the cheapest flat-bed scanner at only $28, and Fujitsu fi-5950 is the most expensive at $15,232.

Scanner Brands - Price Range

The highest average scanner price out of all brands is Panasonic scanners with an average price of $5,355. Panasonic scanners range in price from $436 to $14,713.

Fujitsu flat-bed scanners range in price from $145 to $15,232, and the second highest average scanner price out of all brands is Fujitsu flat-bed scanners with an average price of $1,877.

The average price of Kodak scanners is $1,372 which is the third highest average price of all flat-bed scanner brands. Kodak scanners range in price from $329 to $3,800.

Flat-Bed Scanner Brands - Average Ratings

We have checked 440 expert reviews and 3,463 user reviews for flat-bed scanners and used this data to determine the average rating for each brand of flat-bed scanner. The top rated scanner brand is Epson with an average rating of 87%. The second best brand is Fujitsu with 84% and the third best brand is Canon with 79%.

Biggest Scanner Retailers

The biggest scanner retailer by number of products currently for sale is eBay. We found 118 current scanner offers from eBay. The second biggest retailer is Adorama with 105 offers. That means eBay is slightly bigger than Adorama when it comes to scanners. Overstock is the third biggest retailer with 49 current offers.

When Are Most New Flat-Bed Scanners Released?

We looked at the release dates for new flat-bed scanners over the last 3 years, but couldn't see any evident trend. Last year most new scanners were released in May, with four new scanners released that month. 13 new flat-bed scanners were released in August 2018 making it the biggest month that year for new flat-bed scanner releases. October was the biggest month in 2017 for new scanners, with 10 new scanners released that month.

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

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

A typical new flat-bed scanner costs on average $1,089. By waiting 6 months before buying you could save on average $35.

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 frequently found optical scanning resolution amongst new scanners. We found 237 scanners that are 600 x 600 DPI flat-bed scanners. We found 45 flat-bed scanners that are 1200 x 1200 DPI scanners, making this the second most frequently found 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.

We found 251 flat-bed scanners that are sheetfed / adf flat-bed scanners, which makes this the most common scanner type amongst new flat-bed scanners. The second most frequently found scanner type amongst new scanners is flatbed. We found 77 scanners that are flatbed 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 373 new flat-bed scanners currently listed on Kagoo, the vast majority are flat-bed scanners which support colour scanning. 96% of flat-bed scanners 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 147 scanners that are scanners that have an A4 / us lettermm max scan size, which makes A4 / us lettermm the most frequently found maximum scan size amongst new scanners. We found 80 flat-bed scanners that are flat-bed scanners that have an A4 (long)mm max scan size, making this the second most frequently found maximum scan size amongst new flat-bed scanners.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for 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 flat-bed scanners by counting the number of cheapest prices for that retailer, makes the retailers that offer the greatest number of scanner prices more likely to offer the greatest number of cheapest prices. The chart below considers the proportion of each retailer's scanner prices that are the cheapest compared to other retailers. The cheapest retailer that we found using this approach was eBay. 83.9% of their scanner prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.