Printers: who each type suits, and who it doesn't
The first thing to understand about printers is that there is no single best one, only the best one for how you print. The cheapest unit on the shelf can be the most expensive to own, and the right choice depends almost entirely on two things: whether you need colour, and how many pages you print. Get those two answers straight in your head before you look at a single model, and the whole decision becomes simple.
An inkjet sprays liquid ink and is the all-rounder: it prints colour, photos and documents, and the all-in-one versions also scan and copy. It suits most homes. Its weakness is that the ink can dry in the heads if the printer sits unused for weeks, wasting ink on cleaning cycles, and cheap cartridge models can cost a fortune to refill. A mono laser uses dry toner fused by heat, prints only in black, and is faster, sharper on text and far cheaper per page, with toner that never dries out. It suits anyone whose printing is mostly letters, forms and homework. An ink-tank printer like the EcoTank is an inkjet that swaps cartridges for refillable bottles, giving you colour at a laser-low running cost in exchange for a higher purchase price.
The single most important thing: the running cost, not the price tag
This is the rule that saves people the most money, and the one shops least want you to know: the price on the box is rarely the real cost of a printer. Many printers are sold cheaply because the manufacturer makes its profit on the ink afterwards, the classic razor-and-blades model. A bargain cartridge inkjet can quietly cost more in ink within a year than it cost to buy. So before you compare features, work out roughly how much you print, and choose accordingly:
- You print a lot, including colour (a busy household, photos, kids' projects): an ink-tank printer such as the Epson EcoTank ET-2850. Higher to buy, by far the cheapest to run.
- You print a moderate amount and want an all-in-one (the odd document, scan and copy): a cartridge inkjet such as the Brother MFC-J1010DW, ideally with an ink plan if you print colour regularly.
- You print mostly black text (letters, forms, study, work): a mono laser such as the HP LaserJet M110we or the budget Pantum BP2300W.
Crucially, a more expensive printer is not automatically better. Paying for photo quality you never use, or speed you do not need, is wasted money. Our cheapest printer to run guide goes through exactly where the cost hides and how to avoid the worst of it.
Inkjet or laser: the choice most people get wrong
Here is the honest answer to the question we get asked most: buy a laser if you print mostly black text, and an inkjet if you need colour, photos or only print now and then. The reasoning is simple physics and economics. Lasers print crisp, smudge-proof text faster and cheaper per page, and their toner does not dry out, so a laser left untouched for a month prints perfectly the moment you need it. That makes a mono laser the most reliable choice for the very common "I only print occasionally, but when I do it has to work" household.
Inkjets earn their place when colour matters, when you want photos, or when you need scanning and copying in one machine, which is most homes. The trap to avoid is the cheap cartridge inkjet bought with no thought to ink: it is the single most expensive way to print. If you want an inkjet and you print regularly, either buy an ink-tank model or put a cartridge printer on an ink subscription. We lay out the full case both ways in our inkjet vs laser guide, because this one decision matters more than any brand.
All-in-one or print-only: do you need a scanner?
Most homes are better off with an all-in-one (print, scan, copy), because the day will come when you need to scan a contract, copy a passport or send a signed form, and a 3-in-1 inkjet does all of that for only a little more than a print-only model. If you also deal with multi-page documents, a unit with an automatic document feeder like the Canon PIXMA TR4750i saves a lot of fiddling with the scanner glass. If, on the other hand, you genuinely only ever print, a single-function mono laser is smaller, cheaper and often more reliable, with one less thing to go wrong. The right answer comes down to whether scanning is part of your life, and for most working-from-home and family households, it is.
How we chose these six
We deliberately picked printers that cover the full range of real UK needs rather than six near-identical inkjets. There is the ink-tank all-rounder for low-cost colour, the compact value inkjet, the budget all-in-one with a document feeder, the photo specialist, and two mono lasers at different price points for text-heavy homes. Every model here is a brand that is genuinely available and supported in the UK, and each one earns its spot for a specific buyer. If you start by working out how you print, you will find your printer on this list. Our full buying guide covers the rest: speed, connectivity, duplex, and the features worth paying for.
BEST OVERALL 
