The HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw is one of the best color laser printers available for home offices and small businesses. We've rounded up our top picks from brands like Canon, Brother, and HP and broke down their features to help you decide which color laser printer is best for your business or home office. Printers with low printing speeds are best suited for smaller businesses that may be just starting out or home-based professionals who only occasionally deal with hard copies of documents, while higher-speed models are better for large offices with dozens of employees. Color laser printers can vary greatly in print volume and speed, so be sure to check each model carefully to see if it will suit your needs.
Some of the higher-end all-in-one models allow you to scan documents directly into email programs or network locations for faster distribution or saving, and you can even create searchable PDF documents for better organization. Many also feature wireless printing capabilities via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or cloud printing services this lets you print from your computer or mobile devices with or without an internet connection, meaning you'll be able to get your reports done no matter where you are. Most laser printers feature automatic duplex printing as well as duplex scanning and copying on all-in-one models to help save on paper as well as time. Laser printers offer faster print speeds over inkjet models as well as better monthly print volumes toner cartridges are designed to last longer than ink cartridges, letting you print thousands of pages in a month. Learn more about our review process.Ĭolor laser printers have become more affordable over the years, letting home-based professionals as well as small business owners access these higher-end units. We may receive commissions from purchases made after visiting links within our content. The Epson EcoTank ET-2800 also lacks an automatic document feeder, so if you want to scan a stack of papers, you’ll have to do it one by one, because upgrading to the ET-2800 won’t check that box.We are committed to researching, testing, and recommending the best products. If this feature is important to you, check out the ET-2850. For one, the ET-2800 doesn’t do auto-duplexing, meaning it won’t print on both sides of a page. (For truly professional-quality graphics, you need to spring for a more expensive color laser printer like the one listed below.) It doesn’t excel at printing photos, charts, and graphics, but it does those jobs about as well as any ink-stingy inkjet. It pumps out text with decent quality at admirable speed.
That difference adds up over the years, making a tank printer a smart long-term buy. In that case, the annual costs can be 10 times higher or more. That’s dirt cheap compared with the inkjets that use ink cartridges. The average ET-2800 owner should expect to use just $5 of ink per year, according to our estimates. You can often find it priced under $250, which may still sound like a lot until you factor in ink prices. The Epson EcoTank ET-2800 is a great example. The models used to be so expensive they made sense only for people who printed a lot, but they’ve dropped in price significantly. Tank printers use a refillable ink reservoir instead of cartridges, which makes for rock-bottom ink costs. If you want to make an even more informed purchase, consult our printer buying guide and our report on the high cost of wasted printer ink. They print out text with dependable quality, many excel with graphics, and all but one of them will scan and copy, too.
The models below are great for a home, home office, professional office, or small business. To make things even easier, we’ve combed through our ratings to bring you the best printers of the year, each selected to meet different needs. We combine those test results with brand reliability and owner satisfaction ratings derived from our member surveys to arrive at an Overall Score that lets you compare every model on the same scale. We purchase printers at retail and evaluate them on more than 250 data points. But with Consumer Reports on your side, the process is a lot easier. That’s easier said than done if you have only the marketing copy written on the side of the box to go by. We’ve found that most bargain-priced printers burn through hundreds of dollars’ worth of ink as the years roll by, money you can save if you buy a more ink-efficient printer that fits your specific needs. No matter what you decide, don’t run out and buy the cheapest model you can find. Laser or inkjet? Regular or all-in-one? Should you invest in a printer that uses a reservoir tank? There’s a lot to sort through when you’re shopping for the next printer for your home, home office, or small business.