Compare the Best ScannersFebruary 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:

Flat-Bed Scanner Prices

In total we found 158 flat-bed scanners ranging from $35 to $11,118. A new flat-bed scanner costs on average $849 and 80% of flat-bed scanners are priced between $85 and $1,800. The cheapest scanner that we found is the Canon CanoScan LiDE 120 at only $35, and the most expensive is the Fujitsu FI6400 at $11,118.

Scanner Brands - Price Range

The average price of Kodak scanners is $1,973 which is the highest average price of all scanner brands. Kodak scanners range in price from $274 to $9,947.

Fujitsu scanners start at $160 and their most expensive flat-bed scanner costs $11,118. The second highest average flat-bed scanner price out of all brands is Fujitsu scanners with an average price of $1,955.

Canon flat-bed scanners range in price from $35 to $4,663, and the average price of Canon flat-bed 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 405 expert reviews and 3,420 user reviews for flat-bed scanners and used this information to calculate the average rating for each brand of flat-bed scanner. The top three scanner brands are Epson, Fujitsu and Canon. Epson has an average rating of 87%, Fujitsu has an average rating of 83% and Canon has an average rating of 78%.

Biggest Scanner Retailers

We found 208 current offers for scanners from eBay making it the biggest flat-bed scanner retailer. That is much bigger than the second biggest retailer, Adorama for whom we found 106 current offers for scanners. The third biggest retailer is Overstock with 44 current flat-bed scanner offers.

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

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

That means a saving of $42 on a typical $849 new flat-bed scanner if you wait 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).

We found 225 flat-bed scanners that are 600 x 600 DPI flat-bed scanners, which makes this the most common optical scanning resolution amongst new flat-bed scanners. We found 42 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.

Sheetfed / adf is the most frequently found scanner type amongst new scanners. We found 236 scanners that are sheetfed / adf scanners. We found 75 scanners that are flatbed flat-bed scanners, making this the second most frequently found 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 356 new scanners currently listed on Kagoo are flat-bed scanners which support colour scanning. 343 out of 356 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.

The most popular maximum scan size amongst new scanners is A4 / us lettermm. We found 135 scanners that are flat-bed scanners that have an A4 / us lettermm max scan size. A4 (long)mm is the second most common maximum scan size amongst new scanners. We found 76 scanners that are flat-bed scanners that have an A4 (long)mm max scan size.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for 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. 147 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 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. 70.7% of their flat-bed scanner prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.