A paperless environment would lack in the element of satisfaction.
- March 06, 2018
AIO Printers can play a pivotal role in your life irrespective of what your work is. Right from being a cooking enthusiast to a business tycoon, printers can play an important role. Realizing the ideal paperless office is a little far from reality. And even if it was achieved, a paperless environment would lack in the element of satisfaction. This is the reason why getting one of the best All-in-One printers for your daily needs will not be a bad idea.
Getting the Right AIO Printer
Be it making dishes or business plans, the satisfaction of a hard copy at your disposal is something a paperless office can never give you. This is something that I have come to realize after my office adopted the paperless policy for a month or so. But being professional writers, we found out the true value of documentation and bought a whole new set of AIO printers! One of the most challenging tasks for us was to find out which printer would best suit us. This was when I stumbled onto the world of AIO printers, the options, the features and the versatility of them.
I chose the best All-in-One printers based on a set of criteria that I had compiled. Right from printing speed to ink cartridge costs, everything is a principle factor if you have the best interests of your wallet in your heart. Since my office was in good terms with most vendors, we were able to test close to 78 AIO printers before coming up with the 5 of the best All-in-One printers in the market today.
What Makes an AIO printer to be one of the best AIO printers?
Over the course of testing each printer and finding out which of these can be the best All-in-One printers of today, one thing that did strike me was that each printer was ideal for a particular segment of users. This is why I think while getting an AIO printer is great, it would be a waste if you got yourself the wrong AIO printer for your needs.
Like I said earlier, while getting an AIO printer is essential, choosing the right one based on your needs is even more so. With multiple choices and millions of perspectives in the market today, it is pretty easy to get confused and buy an AIO printer that might be too much for your actual needs. Here is a list of factors I used to determine which of the printers I tested, actually stands out. This list includes everything right from functionality to maintenance costs, and can pretty much be the voice of reason in your head when choosing an AIO printer.
Though I did test a number of brands over a course of time, I found Canon and Epson to offer excellent printers for both the home and office needs. This is the reason why I chose one of each of these brands for office use and home use.
Without a doubt, the Epson WorkForce Pro WF- 4630 is the best printer you could go for when it comes to office needs. Similarly, I found the Canon PIXMA MX 922 to be the best home printer for occasional use and the Epson WF-2760 to be the best budget printer. However, if you prefer Laser printers to Inkjet printers, then the Canon ImagClass MF217W is ideal for office use and the Brother MFC-J985DW is ideal for home and small business use.
Here is a list of categories I used to compare each of the printers I tested. (Though it isn’t included in the table, cost consideration was one of the fulcrums of my choices).
SO THE 5 BEST PRODUCTS ARE:
| Device Name | Epson WorkForce Pro WF -4630 | Canon ImageClass MF217W | Epson WF-2760 Best Budget | Brother MFC-J985DW | Canon PIXMA MX 922 |
| Laser printer/Inkjet | Inkjet | Laser | Inkjet | Laser | Inkjet |
| Connectivity options | NFC, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi, USB connection, Ethernet | USB 2.0, Ethernet, Wi-Fi | NFC, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi, USB connection, Ethernet | Wi-Fi, Ethernet | Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi, USB connection, Ethernet |
| Duplex (scan both sides of a page) | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fax feature | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Printer size | 24.3 x 20.8 x 21.8 in | 15.35 x 17.36 x 14.17 in | 16.7 x 14.2 x 9.1 in | 13.4 x 16.5 x 6.8 in | 15.6 x 19.4 x 9.1 inches |
| Output Quality | High | High | Medium | Medium | High |
| Print Quantity | High Volume | Medium to High Volume | Low to Medium Volume | Low Volume | Low Volume |
Product at a glance:
- NFC, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and USB compatibility
- 50% more cost savings compared to Laser printers
- Duplex printing, scanning, copying, and faxing
- Touch screen interface
- Ideal for small to medium businesses
The Pros
- Excellent cost savings per paper
- Intuitive touch screen interface
- Multiple connectivity options
- Duplex operations
The Cons
- Graphics quality could be a little better
The Epson WorkForce Pro WF- 4630 is undeniably one of the best workhorses I had a chance to test out. The fact that the printer comes at a reasonable price and has an arsenal of features to offer the user is surreal. Most printers sacrifice on one or more of the “essentials” to save on the product cost and enhance marketability. But Epson found a way to get past this and that is why the WorkForce Pro- 4630 is on the list of the best All-in-One printers in the market today.
The first thing I checked out was the printing quality and what was delivered was truly stupefying. Being an inkjet printer I knew that the results of printing images would be great. However, when it came to black and white text I was skeptical at first. The Epson surprised me with better than laser clarity and quality! I, however, knew the general rule of thumb when it comes to inkjet printers. Better quality always meant more ink, which meant more replacement, which in turn meant significant maintenance costs. But the Epson somehow seemed to defy this and churned out copies at an alarming rate without cartridge replacement. This was when I knew that the WorkForce Pro WF- 4630 is one of the best All-in-One printers in the market today.
But in today’s intensely competitive environment the printer would never survive solely based on the economy as its selling point. This is when I started exploring its other features. The Printer has a substantial 330-page paper tray which is divided into 2 sections. The main drawer holds 250 sheets of paper while the multipurpose tray can hold another 80 sheets.
The printer is also duplex, meaning it can print, scan, copy and fax both sides of the page without you having to turn it around manually. The maximum capacity of the feeder tray is 35 sheets. This not only saves a considerable amount of time but also makes the entire process of daily documentation a lot easier.
The printer also has a great interface. In place of the conventional buttons, Epson has introduced an intuitive touch screen that lets you pair the printer and do more. The printer has a speed of 20 pages per minute which is pretty good for an inkjet. The printer has a 4800 x 2400 dpi resolution for printing purposes that demand high resolution.
The AIO printer also comes with all kinds of options when it comes to connectivity. The Epson WorkForce WF- 4630 is compatible through NFC which means you don’t have to manually pair your smart device every time. The printer supports Wi-Fi Direct which lets you print any document on any device connected to your network. This means that everything right from your iPhone to Android devices can print documents directly without a PC in the middle. The printer can be connected to the PC using the conventional USB interface.
The manufacturer is also rolling out high-yield cartridges that surpass the average lifespan of an inkjet cartridge. The printer can save up to 50% cost per paper when compared to Laser printers, making it highly economical and yet not lacking in quality. Coming at a reasonable price, the printer is, without a doubt, one of the best All-in-One printers of 2018.
Product at a glance:
- Printing speed of 23 pages per minute
- Great cost savings per page
- Justified pricing point
- Excellent print quality
- Prints up to 2400 pages per toner
The Pros
- Highly Economical
- One of the fastest AIO printers in the market
- Excellent text and image quality
The Cons
- Unresponsive touch control
- Interface lacks any physical button
- Not Duplex
The Canon ImageClass MF217W cuts it really close to the Epson Workforce Pro series. However since this AIO printer does not offer all the features that Epson WorkForce Pro offers, it comes second in the list of the best All-in-One printers of 2018.
For starters, the Canon ImageClass MF217W is a Laser printer. This means better economy compared to inkjet counterparts and better cost savings per page. Putting the printer to test, what struck me more than the savings was the sheer speed of printing. When it comes to Laser printers, the typical time taken to print 15 pages would come to more than a minute. However, the Canon ImageClass was able to print close to 20 pages in less than a minute, that too without sacrificing on print quality.
However, speed is not everything when it comes to being one of the best All-in-One printers . I then got exploring the other features that the printer offers. The printer has a paper tray that can hold 250 sheets of paper. It, however, lacks a Duplexer which is one of the reasons why it comes number 2 on the list of the best All-in-One printers . The ImageClass series, however, has a more costly counterpart that supports duplex printing, scanning, faxing and copying.
I found the ImageClass MF217W to give me a good run for more than 2300 pages per toner. The scanning quality is remarkable and so is the graphics. However, the time taken by the printer to churn out such pieces of art is alarmingly less compared to counterparts.
The printer has a touch interface which can be used for all the 4 purposes the printer is designed for. However, the touch interface can seem a little unresponsive at times. The best thing to do would be to use the PC interface when connected to the computer and the touchscreen while paired to smart devices. The ImageClass MF217W offers a range of connectivity options which includes USB 2.0, WiFi Direct and Ethernet. The printer is best suited for small scale businesses that do a lot of documentation and need a reliable device at a low price.
Product at a glance:
- Ideal for home use
- Cheap and affordable price point
- Great set of features
- Excellent connectivity options
The Pros
- No cutbacks in features despite being a budget printer
- Great text clarity
- Great connectivity options
The Cons
- Paper tray has slightly lower capacity
- A little slow compared to other WorkForce models
- Does not show great cost savings per page
The Epson WF 2760 is yet another printer from the WorkForce series. As far as being one of the best All-in-One printers goes, this printer certainly packs a punch. While the WorkForce Pro 4630 is more of a heavy duty AIO printer ideal for office use, the WF-2760 is ideal for personal use or home use.
The printer is designed to come into the budget range of AIO printers which are cheap, affordable yet highly reliable. It uses the same precision core used in the WorkForce series from Epson and I saw no lapse in performance though the printer is a cheaper alternative to classic heavy duty AIO printers.
The printer comes with a primary tray that can hold more than 120 sheets of paper and an ADF that can hold 30 sheets at a time. Using Inkjet technology, the printer might not be as cost effective as heavy duty AIO printers but will be perfect for home and micro-business users.
The reason I put the WF 2760 in the list of the best All-in-One printers is because despite being a budget inkjet, it does not cut back on features. The printer comes loaded with all the benefits that all devices in the Epson WorkForce series have.
I, however, found the printer to have a printing speed a bit below par when it comes to what is expected out of the WorkForce series from Epson. The printer only did around 13 pages in a minute, which is fine for personal use but could have been a little faster. However, that is the only real disadvantage I could see with the printer.
The print quality, be it text or images, is excellent. This did not come as a surprise since the printer uses Inkjet technology. However what did surprise me was the arsenal of features.
The printer supports duplex in printing, scanning, copying and faxing. This is something not seen in general AIO printers for home since most makers cut back on features to lower the price point. But if going duplex is great then imagine my surprise when I found out the range of connectivity options seen in business AIO printers in this printer.
The Epson WF 2760 supports NFC, Wi-Fi direct and ethernet connectivity when it comes to wireless options. This lets you pair your smart devices running on Android or iOS to print directly. It also lets any device connected to your network use the printer. It also comes with the standard USB 2.0 interface for having a wired connection to your PC for conventional printing and uses.
The printer also comes with an intuitive touch screen interface. It comprises of physical buttons for functions like copying and a number pad for selecting the number of copies and fax functions. The Epson WF 2760 is, without doubt, one of the best All-in-One printers that is ideal for home use.
Product at a glance:
- Great cost per page savings
- High text printing speeds
- High yield per toner
- Ideal for low volume use
The Pros
- High-Cost savings per page
- Easy to use
- Duplex
- Affordable
The Cons
- Low capacity
- No USB port
- Slow printing speed for color graphics
The Brother MFC is one of the most economical printers that I ever had the chance to use over my course of selection. If what you have in mind is to get a functional All-in-One printer that gets the job done without causing much of a dent in your savings, then this is one of the best All-in-One printers you can go for in terms of economy.
The Brother MFC-J985DW is a laser printer which in turn promises better printing speed compared to inkjet counterparts. The printer is priced in a justified range which makes it suitable for home use as well as small businesses. While I would suggest the printer for its economy and cost savings per page, the same cannot be said for its connectivity options. While Epson and Canon have found ways to reduce cost without cutbacks on features, the same cannot be said for this AIO printer.
The printer can hold up to 100 sheets in the paper tray which is too less if being used for business purposes. However, it supports duplex operations which can save a great deal of time when it comes to copying, scanning, printing or faxing. The printer consists of an ADF that can hold up to 20 sheets of paper. One of the biggest advantages is the speed of the printer when it comes to execution (be it printing or other functions).
The average yield per toner that I got out of the printer bordered at 2400 pages. This is by far one of the best yields I have encountered and this is the reason why I vouch for this printer if cost savings is one of your biggest considerations. But the printer is not without flaws and one of the most annoying and unnecessary cutback is the absence of the USB port for direct connections to a PC.
The printer supports Wi-Fi and Ethernet connections but has no provision to directly wire your PC to the device. This means that the computer will also have to be connected to the network to get the job done. I found this unnecessary and annoying since even the most rudimentary printers have a USB interfacing port and it frankly makes things easier when you want PC-Printer connectivity. The printer, however, supports all smart devices through its wireless compatibility and can scan, fax and copy documents even with the control on your phone through an app.
Despite its obvious disadvantages, I still find the Brother MFC-J985DW to be a printer that meets expectations. It certainly deserves a spot amongst the best All-in-One printers in the market today because of its economy. It also has an intuitive 2.7-inch display that lets you toggle features and set optimum thresholds when it comes to printing high-resolution images and graphics. However, the slow turnaround time of the printer when it comes to printing images makes it far from ideal if photo printing is what its primary use is going to be.
Product at a glance:
- Range of connectivity options
- Directly reads and writes to optical discs
- 3 inch LCD display/interface
- Great print quality
- The best printer for home use
The Pros
- One of the cheapest AIO printers in the market today
- Great printing speed for a home printer
- Amazing Text and Picture quality
The Cons
- Not meant for heavy use
- Can get damaged if printing exceeds low to medium volume
The Canon PIXMA MX 922 is one printer that deserves a spot amongst the best All-in-One printers. The PIXMA 922 is a versatile printer from Canon that has all the features an ideal AIO printer should have and yet costs very little compared to other printers.
The PIXMA 922 is designed for light use and low volume printing. I found the printer as the ideal printer for home use (if printing is something that is done sparingly and once in a while). The printer uses Inkjet technology and can easily print 15 pages a minute in monochrome and 10 pages a minute in color. But the best part is the bundle of features that Canon offers even at such a low cost.
The printer has a standard 250 sheet capacity primary paper tray. It is also equipped with an ADF for scanning, copying and faxing purposes. The ADF can hold up to 35 sheets at a time.The PIXMA MX 922 works in full duplex mode. This means that the printer uses both sides of the sheet automatically while printing. The ADF also works in duplex meaning both sides of the sheet are scanned, copied and faxed without any manual flipping around. This not only saves time in copying but also makes the printer easier to use and saves on paper cost while printing.
Equipped with a 5 ink cartridge bank, the print quality, be it text or color is superb for the cost at which the printer can be bought. The graphics quality in color image prints is in league with some of the best All-in-One printers in the market today, and the same can be said for monochrome text.
The PIXMA 922 is equipped with a 3 inch LCD screen that functions as a user interface and as a portable display unit while printing using optical discs or USB drives. The printer can copy documents directly to optical discs, without the use of a PC and I found this one feature alone to be adequate to include the printer amongst the best All-in-One printers in the market today.
The connectivity options offered include Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi direct, USB interface and Ethernet. This means pretty much all devices are compatible with the printer if they are connected to the same network. The PIXMA MX 922 is, not a printer designed for heavy use. As a result, excessive usage might lead to damages the device. However if what you are looking for is an AIO inkjet available at a cheap price that can get the occasional printing needs catered to, then the PIXMA MX 922 is the printer to go for.
Verdict
After testing out 78 AIO printers, it was a hard job to shortlist 5 of them. What I did was give the cost of the printer and the savings in cost per page a great deal of priority in choosing. There are printers available in the $300 price range that can offer all the features quoted above. But I felt that if the same could be delivered within $200, it is worth considering. As a result, you will find that every printer in this list of the best All-in-One printers in the market today range between $80 to $180.
Each of these printers is ideal for one segment of users or the other. While the WorkForce Pro WF- 4630 is a healthy choice for a documentation intensive work atmosphere, it would be a tremendous waste of money if used for occasional home use. The PIXMA MX 922 while being the champion for occasional printing needs, will undoubtedly get fried if used to print a large number of pages every day.
In my opinion, I would say the WorkForce Pro WF- 4630 is best suited for Print intensive offices. It not only saves a great deal in per page printing but also offers reliable print quality and performance. However, if your office does not have a print-intensive atmosphere but could still use an AIO printer, then going for the Canon ImageClass MF217W would be a wise thing to do. It costs lesser than the WorkForce Pro and yet offers economical printing when it comes to medium volume use.
The next three printers, which include the Epson WF-2760, the Brother MFC-J985DW and the Canon PIXMA MX 922 are printers that are built for low to medium volume use and best suited for homes or small-scale businesses. These printers, besides costing comparatively less, offer economical and reliable printing without sacrificing on quality.
Are you wondering why other popular brands like HP and Samsung are not mentioned here? If this was a top ten list, then those brands would surely have made it. But one of the major reasons why those printers are not included in this best All-in-One printers list is because these brands trade-off between cost and quality and features offered. Since I wanted to include printers that ultimately benefit the consumer with cost considerations as one of the major perspectives, I found the above 5 All-in-One printers to get the job done.