An inkjet printer covers photos, documents, school assignments, craft projects, and shipping labels with full-color output at home cost ranges from 60 dollars for entry-level models up to 400 dollars for ink-tank photo printers. The printer lives on home office desks, family hallway closets, and small business front desks where laser printers feel oversized and color matters. Quality ranges from cartridge-based budget units with 10 cent per page costs up to ink-tank printers with sub-1 cent per page costs. The wrong inkjet printer ships with starter cartridges that hold 30 pages of ink, dries out within a month of disuse, or lacks Wi-Fi and duplex on a model meant to last 5 years. After comparing 14 current inkjet printers, these seven stood out for ink cost, print speed, photo quality, and connectivity.
Picks were narrowed by ink delivery (cartridge vs tank), cost per page, print speed, duplex availability, and connectivity (Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB).
Quick comparison
| Printer | Ink type | Speed (ppm) | Duplex | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Epson EcoTank ET-2850 | Tank | 10.5 black | Yes | Overall |
| HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e | Cartridge | 22 black | Yes | Office documents |
| Canon MegaTank G3270 | Tank | 11 black | No | Budget tank |
| Epson SureColor P700 | Cartridge | N/A | No | Photo printing |
| Canon Pixma TR8620 | Cartridge | 15 black | Yes | Home office |
| HP DeskJet 4155e | Cartridge | 8.5 black | Manual | Lowest price |
| Brother MFC-J895DW | Cartridge | 12 black | Yes | All-in-one |
Epson EcoTank ET-2850, Best Overall
The Epson EcoTank ET-2850 delivers 4500 black and 7500 color pages from a single set of included ink bottles, the equivalent of 80 cartridge sets. Cost per page runs about half a cent (versus 5 to 20 cents on cartridge printers). The 2 year supply of ink is in the box.
Auto duplex, Wi-Fi, AirPrint, 30 sheet ADF for scanning multi-page documents, and a 1.44 inch color LCD. The printer pays back the higher upfront price (350 dollars) within 12 to 18 months versus cartridge equivalents.
Trade-off: 10.5 ppm print speed is mid-range. Pick HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e for office volume speed.
HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e, Best Office Documents
The HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e prints 22 ppm black and 18 ppm color, the fastest in the inkjet home/office class. 35 sheet ADF, auto duplex on both print and scan, 250 sheet input tray, Ethernet plus dual-band Wi-Fi. HP+ subscription includes 6 months of HP Instant Ink for cartridge auto-delivery.
The TROY-grade construction handles 25000 page monthly duty cycle. PCL5/6 and PostScript 3 support work with mixed PC and Mac offices.
Trade-off: HP Instant Ink subscription requires monthly billing for the discount. Standalone cartridges cost more.
Canon MegaTank G3270, Best Budget Tank
The Canon MegaTank G3270 is the cheapest ink-tank printer in 2026, delivering 6000 black and 7700 color pages from the initial ink bottles at a 250 dollar entry price. Lower cost than Epson and HP tank equivalents. Print, copy, scan, Wi-Fi.
The MegaTank's transparent ink reservoirs make levels visible at a glance. Cost per page runs sub-1 cent.
Trade-off: no auto duplex (manual flip required). Slower print speed (11 ppm) than HP OfficeJet Pro. Solid budget pick for tank technology.
Epson SureColor P700, Best Photo Printing
The Epson SureColor P700 is a 13 inch wide photo printer with 10 individual ink cartridges (pigment plus matte black plus light black plus 7 colors) that delivers gallery-grade photo prints up to 13 by 19 inches. UltraChrome PRO10 pigment ink resists fade for 200 plus years on archival paper.
4.3 inch touchscreen. Ethernet plus Wi-Fi. The printer handles fine art paper, glossy photo paper, canvas, and roll media for panoramic prints.
Trade-off: 800 dollar price tier targets serious photographers. Not for general document use.
Canon Pixma TR8620, Best Home Office
The Canon Pixma TR8620 is a home office all-in-one with print, scan, copy, fax, 20 sheet ADF, auto duplex, dual paper trays (250 sheet front plus 100 sheet rear), and a 4.3 inch touchscreen. 15 ppm black print speed.
Canon Print app for mobile printing. The dual paper trays let you keep letterhead in one and photo paper in the other.
Trade-off: cartridge-based, so ink cost runs 5 to 15 cents per page. For high-volume printing, the EcoTank wins on cost.
HP DeskJet 4155e, Best Lowest Price
The HP DeskJet 4155e is the budget all-in-one inkjet at the lowest price tier (90 dollars). Print, scan, copy, Wi-Fi. The compact footprint (16.7 by 6 by 9.4 inches) fits small desks and closet shelves.
HP+ subscription gives 6 months Instant Ink. Mobile app printing. 8.5 ppm black, 5.5 ppm color.
Trade-off: no ADF, manual duplex (flip the paper). Suitable for occasional home use, not office volume.
Brother MFC-J895DW, Best All-In-One
The Brother MFC-J895DW combines print, copy, scan, fax, 20 sheet ADF, dual paper trays, and auto duplex in a compact home office all-in-one. 12 ppm black, 10 ppm color. Brother's INKvestment Tank uses larger high-capacity cartridges with up to 1 year of ink in the box.
The brand's reputation for reliability and customer service is the strongest among inkjet makers. 2 year limited warranty.
Trade-off: cartridge-based cost per page is higher than tank printers. Pick EcoTank for serious volume.
How to choose
Match ink type to volume
Cartridge for under 500 pages per year. Ink tank (EcoTank, MegaTank, SmartTank) for 1000 plus pages per year. Pigment ink for photos that last decades.
Print speed matched to office volume
8 to 12 ppm for home use. 15 to 22 ppm for home office and small business. Above 22 ppm requires a workgroup or laser printer.
Duplex and ADF for office work
Auto duplex cuts paper use in half. ADF (20 to 35 sheet) speeds up multi-page scanning and copying. Skip both on photo-focused printers.
Wi-Fi and mobile printing
Built-in dual-band Wi-Fi plus AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, or Mopria for phone and tablet printing. Ethernet for fixed-location reliability.
For related reading, see our breakdowns of best laser printers 2026 and best document scanners. For how we evaluate office electronics, see our methodology.
The inkjet printer class covers home offices, photo printing, craft projects, and small business document work across cartridge and tank formats. Match the ink type to your volume, prioritize duplex and ADF for documents, and the printer will deliver thousands of pages through the typical 5 to 7 year printer lifecycle.
Frequently asked questions
Inkjet or laser printer for home use?+
Inkjet for color photos, occasional documents, and craft projects. Laser for high-volume black-and-white text documents (legal, contracts, reports). Inkjets cost less upfront (60 to 250 dollars) but ink runs 0.05 to 0.20 dollars per page. Laser costs more upfront (150 to 400 dollars) but toner runs 0.02 to 0.05 dollars per page. For under 500 pages per year, inkjet wins on total cost. For 1000 plus pages per year, laser wins.
What is an EcoTank or ink tank printer?+
EcoTank (Epson), MegaTank (Canon), and SmartTank (HP) printers refill from large ink bottles rather than cartridges. Each bottle prints 4000 to 7500 pages of black text, compared to 250 to 500 pages from a standard cartridge. The printers cost 250 to 400 dollars upfront but ink runs 0.005 to 0.01 dollars per page (10 to 20 times cheaper than cartridges). For households printing 2000 plus pages per year, tank printers pay back in 12 to 18 months.
Do I need duplex printing?+
Duplex (automatic two-sided printing) cuts paper use in half and is required for legal documents, school papers, and corporate reports. Most inkjets above 100 dollars include duplex. Photo printers and craft printers often skip duplex because photos are single-sided. For office and document use, prioritize duplex. For photo and craft printers, duplex is not essential.
How important is print resolution?+
1200 by 1200 dpi covers all text and most photo work. 4800 by 1200 dpi and 5760 by 1440 dpi are common photo printer specs that affect highlight and shadow detail in glossy prints. The difference between 1200 and 4800 dpi is visible on photo paper at close inspection but invisible on plain paper documents. For text and casual photos, 1200 dpi is plenty. For framed photo prints, 4800 plus dpi matters.
Do inkjet printers dry out if not used?+
Yes. Inkjet ink in the cartridge and printhead can dry into clogs within 2 to 6 weeks of disuse. Most inkjets run an automated head-cleaning cycle on startup, which uses ink to flush the nozzles. Print at least one page per week to keep the heads clear. For occasional use (under 10 pages per month), consider a laser printer instead. EcoTank and similar tank printers have sealed printheads less prone to drying.
Alex Patel
Alex Patel writes for The Tested Hub.