Best printers for home and office: Brother, HP, and more
Before anything else, you need to decide between ink and laser. I will go into details when it comes to each model, but the most important thing is the type of paper, as it is a limitation rather than an advantage. Laser printers use heat in the fusing 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 alternative, which can be expensive if you print a lot.
Ink jets are the most common flavor of home printers and work as you’d expect by boiling ink until it squirts out a series of tiny holes. Didn’t you expect it? Not me! Very exciting stuff
Inkjet printers come in two flavors, with pre-filled cartridges or internal reservoirs. The latter is quickly becoming more popular thanks to better prices, greater convenience and a massive reduction in wasted plastics. If you’re buying a new printer in 2025, if it’s not a laser printer, you’ll need to choose an ink tank. They are a little more work to set up and maintain because you have to keep the tanks covered, and they have to stay in one place on a flat surface to prevent leaks. I can’t imagine many situations where a printer is constantly moving and tilting, but it’s a consideration.
Thought InkJets were cool? Laser printers work by exploding a tube full of dried plastic particles and then fusing them to paper with heat. They usually cost more, but the cost per page is much lower overall. Where a $20 ink cartridge might print 200 pages, a $60 toner cartridge can print 2,000 pages. They are usually 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 put a price on that.
There are also thermal printers that are commonly used for receipts or shipping labels. Instead of filling the printer with ink and placing it on a surface, they apply heat in precise patterns to special paper, allowing you to print low-resolution text and images, usually in one color. If you print shipping labels or simple labels 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.
