Before anything else, you need to decide between ink and laser. I will go into detail for each model, but the most important consideration is paper type, as this is a limitation rather than an advantage. Laser printers use heat in the bonding process, which means if you regularly print on windowed envelopes or photo paper, you’ll need to either use an inkjet printer or switch to a thermally safe option, which can be cost prohibitive if you print a lot.
Inkjets are the most common flavor of home printers, and they work as you’d expect, boiling ink until it spreads through tiny holes. You didn’t expect it? Neither do I! Pretty exciting stuff.
Inkjet printers come in two flavors, with either prefilled cartridges or built-in tanks. The latter is quickly becoming more popular for its better price, more convenience and massive reduction in waste plastic. If you are buying a new printer in 2025, you should choose an ink tank, if not a laser printer. They are a bit more work to setup and maintain, since you have to keep the tanks on top and keep them in one place on a flat surface to avoid leaks. I can’t imagine many situations where a printer would be constantly moving and tilting, but it’s a consideration.
Best printers for home and office
Were you cool with InkJets? Laser printers work by blasting a tube full of dry plastic particles, then fusing them to paper with heat. These have an upfront cost, but the cost per page is much lower overall. Where a $20 ink cartridge can print 200 pages, a $60 toner cartridge can print 2000. They are much faster than inkjet printers and you don’t have to worry about them drying out Plus, the pages come out of the printer nice and warm, and you really can’t beat that.
There are also thermal printers, which are typically used for receipts or shipping labels. Instead of filling the printer with ink and depositing it on the surface, they apply heat to specific patterns on special paper, which allows you to print text and images at low resolution and usually in one color. If you print shipping labels or simple stickers at home, these can save you a lot of time and ink costs, but they have more limitations.
Laser printers are my preferred type, as long as your paper type and budget can support them, but most home users will be happy with an ink tank printer.