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Six popular printers you can buy right now
Like flour, exercise bikes and breadmakers, decent printers have been tough to track down lately. As soon as the pandemic hit and working (and printing) from home became the new normal, printer stock went down fast.
The last thing you want to be doing with your precious time is painstakingly checking store by store, so we've done the hard work for you. Below, we've highlighted six printers to suit a range of needs that are available to buy right now and the best places to buy them.
All printers were available at the prices and stores listed on 30 July 2020.
Before you jump to purchase, read our reviews to make sure the printer you've got your eye on will do what you need it to, and do it well - whether that's turning out pages of text at speed, or high quality photo prints.
See all of our Best Buy printers here.
All-in-one printers
If you need a scanner and copier alongside a printer, an all-in-one is what you're looking for.
Epson EcoTank ET-2710
The ET- 2710 is an all-in-one ink colour inkjet printer, which uses ink tanks which you refill yourself.
Available to buy at:
- Amazon, £179.99
Ink tank printers tend to be affordable to run, but that's still no good if print quality isn't good enough, and the ET-2710 isn't cheap up front.
Find out if it's worth your money in our full Epson EcoTank ET-2710 review.
HP Laserjet Pro M28w
The HP Laserjet Pro M28w is a laser model which can scan and copy, although it only prints in black-and-white.
Available to buy at:
If you're keen on copying and scanning, it's important to go for a model which does both well.
Read our review on the HP Laserjet Pro M28w to find out how sharp copies and scans really are.
Laser printers
Laser printers, unlike inkjets, tend to be cheaper to run as they don't waste toner during cleaning cycles. They're often speedy at printing in black and white, too.
HP Laserjet Pro M15w
The Laserjet Pro M15w is quite a basic laser printer. It can't scan and copy, and only prints in black, but it does have wireless connectivity.
Available to buy at:
- John Lewis & Partners, £79.99
- Littlewoods, £109.99
As expected from most laser models, this printer won't cost you the earth in replacement toner. But with few features aside from wi-fi, does this printer produce sharp enough prints to make it a worthwhile purchase?
Read our HP Laserjet Pro M15w review to find out.
Brother HL-L2310D
This is a print-only mono laser. It's light on functions, but does offer automatic double-sided printing.
Available to buy at:
Although this printer doesn't offer much by way of features, it'll still be a good buy if you're just looking for a standard black-text printer.
Find out what we thought in our Brother HL-L2310D review.
Colour inkjet printers
Not all laser printers can print in colour and, if they can, not all do a good job at printing photos. Colour inkjets are suitable if you want to do a mixture of printing; from work letters to the kids' homework.
Canon Pixma TS5051
The TS5051 is an all-in-one colour inkjet printer, so it can copy and scan too.
Available to buy at:
- Currys, £99.99
The Canon Pixma has some useful extra features, but inkjet printers can end up costing you a lot in running costs, as they can waste ink when cleaning.
Epson Workforce WF-3720DWF
This Epson model can do the lot - it prints, copies, scans and can fax. It prints in colour, too, and has an automatic document feeder, ideal if you do a lot of scanning and copying.
Available to buy at:
- Amazon, £137.50
This Epson printer seems ideal for a home office, with wi-fi connectivity, and it prints on both sides of the page so you can save paper.
Where to buy printers
Printer stock is low across the board at the moment, but make sure you're buying from a reputable seller.
Every year, we survey thousands of shoppers to find out which online retailers offer the best service.
Find out the best and worst online shopsto make sure you're shopping in the right place.
Don't forget the printer ink
Remember to bear in mind the cost of ink when you're shopping for a printer.
Our tests estimate what a printer might cost you in ink running costs over a couple of years, but you can always buy third-party inks to cut costs, too. You can use third-party ink cartridges in most, but not all, printers, with some HP printers being a notable exception (as we explain in our recent news story on third-party ink).
Find out which inks we recommend in our best cheap printer ink guide.
