Best printer 2023: Top printer picks from Canon, HP and more

The HP Smart Tank 5105 is our top recommended multifunction printer for a number of reasons. It can print, scan and copy (although lacks any fax functionality), its small size is easy to accommodate in a home office and its low-cost printing makes it a great value option in the long run.

HP typically uses cartridges in its printers, which are renowned for expensive running costs. But the Smart Tank 5105 uses highly efficient ink bottles instead, resulting in ink costs of just 0.7p per colour page – few printers have better running costs than this. HP even ships its printer with 6,000 pages worth of ink, so it’s possible you won’t even need to buy more ink.

Our tests showed the printing speeds to be reasonable at 10.9 pages per minute, while we were very impressed with the print quality on plain paper. This printer is not recommended for photo prints, with imperfect colour accuracy and loss of detail loss of detail with dark colours. The Canon PIXMA G650 and Instax Square Link are better options for those who want to print photos.

But if you’re happy to stick to printing documents, and fancy a great value all-purpose home multifunction printer, then the HP Smart Tank 5105 is our top recommendation.

Reviewer: Simon Handby
Full review: HP Smart Tank 5105 Review

The Canon PIXMA TS7450 is a great all-rounder printer, representing good value for money if you’re after something versatile.

We found the quality of documents to be excellent, with no obvious distortion or bleeding on ten-point text documents, and coloured graphics on plain paper looked vibrant and solid. Photos printed on glossy paper look detailed and fantastic at the same time, although do watch out for some tones being a little blanched in photos on plain paper.

The PIXMA costs around 9p or so per page using standard cartridges. Those running costs are relatively high, especially compared to ink bottle printers such as the HP Smart Tank 5105 and Epson EcoTank ET-1810. But the Canon makes up for that with a low upfront cost, and can be found for less than £100.

Its print speeds are snappy. During testing, we measured single pages of text firing out in nine seconds, while a longer five-page document took just over thirty. For a full-colour photo on plain A4, expect it to take just under a minute. All in all, you shouldn’t be waiting too long for things to print out with this Canon offering.

While this is also a good-looking printer, at 8.2kg or so, it is heavy and large, too. This means it’s only really a printer for those who’ve got the space for it, but if you do, then there aren’t many better printers for the money in our eyes than the Canon PIXMA TS7450.

Reviewer: Thomas Newton
Full review: Canon PIXMA TS7450 review

If it’s low printing costs you’re after, the Epson EcoTank ET-1810 is going to be a great printer for you.

The main appeal of this Epson comes down to the fact it utilises the EcoTank system, which allows you to refill the ink wells yourself, as opposed to buying a large handful of cartridges. The printer comes with a full set of EcoTank bottles which are good to print 4500 black or 7500 colour pages, which multiplies what you can get out of a cartridge printer by between 20 and 30 times. This works out to a print cost of around half a penny per full-colour page, which is about as cheap as printing gets.

We found the print quality of the ET-1810 to be good for the price, too. Plain paper printing provided dark text and perfectly serviceable colours. Using photo paper offered decent colour accuracy and shade control, complete with a superb glossy finish when using Epson’s own paper. The ET-18120 may not be a printer specifically designed for photography, but it should be great for those wanting to print out the odd postcard-sized snap.

The ET-1810 isn’t the most blazing fast printer out there, but it’s fine for most jobs. During testing, we found a five-page text document to take around 46 seconds to complete, with a single page clocking in at 18 seconds. Colour documents did take a smidgen longer, with it taking just over 90 seconds to print five pages’ worth of graphics. This may not be the best printer for those in a rush, but the ET-1810 is in it for the long haul, given those low printing costs.

For a £150 printer, its design and interface may seem old-fashioned, given the ET-1810 doesn’t have a screen or any form of visual interface. There isn’t an automatic duplex printing option either. For those who want an all-singing and all-dancing printer, we’d say to look elsewhere, but if you’re okay with something simple, functional and with low printing costs, the Epson EcoTank ET-1810 is an incredible option.

Reviewer: Simon Handby
Full review: Epson EcoTank ET-1810 review

The Epson EcoTank ET-3850 is an immense printer if you want something to be your office companion.

We found it to be a useful multifunctional device, given it can not only print but also scan and copy. Handily, the ET-3850 features an automatic document feeder, which we found allowed documents to be scanned and copied with relative ease, giving you access to all of this printer’s facets at once. 

As an EcoTank printer, this Epson is able to take advantage of the incredibly low print costs, made possible by its refillable tanks. That’s arguably a major reason why it seems like such an expensive printer. The ET-3850 claims to be able to print a volume of 14,000 black or 5,200 colour pages before needing to be fully refilled. Compared to a standard cartridge-based printer, the money saved for such a large print volume is ridiculous.

For an inkjet printer, the ET-3850 is absurdly quick. We found it to deliver a five-page text document in 31 seconds, while a 20-page document registered a speed of around 10 pages a minute, printing in just under two minutes. For colour printing, the speeds were just as impressive, with a five-page sample printing in the same 31 seconds as a mono document.

There isn’t a touchscreen on offer here, but the colour screen with button controls that the ET-3850 has worked well and is functional. If you’re after a compact printer, then this Epson option should more than suffice.

Reviewer: Simon Handby
Full review: Epson EcoTank ET-3850 review

The Canon PIXMA G650 is one of our favourite printers for producing photos. That’s mostly thanks to its six-ink setup, which means it has two additional ink bottles than your average printer, resulting in greater shade control and a wider colour gamut. In our tests, the Canon printer delivered great results, making it a great option for those who want a home photo printer.

We also found this printer to be excellent at scanning, proving extremely quick and flaunting accurate colour reproduction. If you need a high-quality scanner for your home at a reasonable price, there aren’t many better.

Standard document printing is decent too thanks to the low-printing costs, although we wouldn’t recommend this Canon if you only want a printer for such workloads. Our tests showed it to be one of slowest document printers we’ve reviewed in a long time, while the printer’s dye inks are more suited to photo paper than plain paper. It’s also missing useful features such as duplex printing and faxing.

Nevertheless, if you’re more interested in printing photos than documents, and also need a speedy scanner, then the Canon PIXMA G650 is a terrific option worth considering.

Reviewer: Simon Handby
Full review: Canon PIXMA G650 review

The Canon PIXMA TS5350i isn’t going to win the race for best overall printer and, if value is the priority, there is even some better picks there. But, if you’ve only got £50 to spend on a printer, the TS5350i is the one for you.

It may cost less than £50 but it comes with a bunch of features and gets the job done to a suitable standard at a decent speed. The range of specs are surprisingly good for the low-low price and it does a strong job when it comes to photo printer as well. Being a three-in-one multifunction printer, you’ll find printing, scanning and copying all onboard this cheap device.

What slightly damages this low-cost printers value proposition is the cost of ink, which isn’t the cheapest on the market. Thankfully, Canon’s printer ink subscription service eases the blow and is your best option if you are going to get plenty of use out of this printer.

Reviewer: Simon Handby
Full review: Canon PIXMA TS5350i review

The Instax Square Link is one of three instant “Link” printers sold by Fujifilm. While each printer in this series has its own unique feature set, the deciding factor here ultimately comes down to film size – that is if you want to print mini, wide or, in this case, square photos. 

The Square Link makes it easy to print bright and detailed 6.2 x 6.2cm images on the go with help from the smartphone app. Photos take just 15 seconds to print, though we found film development lasted a few minutes once the paper was ejected from the printer. 

The editing controls in the app are very basic, but offer a convenient way to crop and rotate your images and boost the brightness, saturation and contrast before you hit print. You also have the option to edit the images in a third-party app before uploading them. 

There’s a good range of features available through the Instax Square app, including stickers, filters, collage templates and themed frames. 

There’s also an AR Print option not found on other Instax printers. This feature allows you to attach secret augmented reality messages and animations that can be unlocked by scanning the QR code on the print. 

Instax Connect is another Square Link-exclusive feature that gives you the ability to decorate images before sending them to friends and family to print. There’s even a calendar to make sure you don’t miss any important birthdays or holidays. 

The printer itself is quite chunky, but still small enough to slip into most small bags, making it a great option for taking on the go. 

Of course, being an instant printer (and not an instant camera) also means you also have the option to snap photos when you’re out and wait until you get home to print them, making the Square Link a convenient gateway into instant photography. 

Reviewer: Hannah Davies
Full review: Instax Square Link review