Compare the Best ScannersJune 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

In total we found 168 scanners ranging from $34 to $14,214. On average, a new scanner costs $792 and 80% of flat-bed scanners are priced between $89 and $1,685. The most expensive scanner that we found is the Fujitsu fi-5950 at $14,214, and the cheapest is the Epson DS80W at only $35.

Scanner Brands - Price Range

Fujitsu scanners range in price from $82 to $14,214, and the highest average flat-bed scanner price out of all brands is Fujitsu scanners with an average price of $1,694.

The second highest average scanner price out of all brands is Canon flat-bed scanners with an average price of $1,483. Canon flat-bed scanners range in price from $59 to $6,477.

Kodak flat-bed scanners start at $299 and their most expensive scanner costs $3,800. The average price of Kodak flat-bed scanners is $1,178 which is the third highest average price of all scanner brands.

Scanner Brands - Average Ratings

We have analysed 497 expert reviews and 5,682 user reviews for scanners and used these reviews to calculate the average rating for each brand of scanner. The top three flat-bed scanner brands are Epson, Fujitsu and Kodak. Epson has an average rating of 85%, Fujitsu has an average rating of 80% and Kodak has an average rating of 79%.

Biggest Flat-Bed Scanner Retailers

The biggest flat-bed scanner retailer by number of products currently for sale is eBay. We found 134 current flat-bed scanner offers from eBay. The second biggest retailer is Adorama with 102 offers. That means eBay is significantly bigger than Adorama when it comes to flat-bed scanners. Overstock is the third biggest retailer with 50 current offers.

When Are Most New Flat-Bed Scanners Released?

Over the last 3 years we couldn't see any obvious trend in the release month for new scanners. In January 2020, four new flat-bed scanners were released making it the biggest month that year for new flat-bed scanner releases. The biggest month in 2019 for new scanner releases was May, with nine 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.

How Fast Do Scanner Prices Drop After Release?

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

That means that on a typical flat-bed scanner costing $792 you could save on average $24 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).

Amongst new scanners, the most popular optical scanning resolution is 600 x 600 DPI. We found 244 scanners that are 600 x 600 DPI flat-bed scanners. We found 47 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.

We found 260 flat-bed scanners that are sheetfed / adf scanners, which makes sheetfed / adf the most frequently found scanner type amongst new flat-bed scanners. We found 77 flat-bed scanners that are flatbed flat-bed scanners, making flatbed 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 382 new scanners currently listed on Kagoo, the vast majority are flat-bed scanners which support colour scanning. 97% of 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.

Amongst new scanners, the most common maximum scan size is A4 / us lettermm. We found 151 scanners that are scanners that have an A4 / us lettermm max scan size. We found 83 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 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. 122 of their flat-bed scanner prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.

Proportion of 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 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. 91% of their scanner prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.