The Ultimate Buying Guide: Best Printers for College Students
A reliable and economical printer is an essential tool for today’s students. Whether it’s for scanning research documents, copying coursework or printing term papers, choosing the best printer is as important as choosing the best student laptop. College students should prioritize portability, affordability, and functionality in a printer. This buying guide gives you brief reviews of top student printers.
Key Printer Features for College Students
Several key features can make a printer an invaluable asset for college students.
Wireless Connectivity
Wireless connectivity is a must-have for college students. It eliminates the need for cumbersome cables, allowing printing from virtually anywhere in the room or even across campus if the network permits. Wireless printers enable sending print jobs directly from smartphones, tablets, or laptops, making them ideal for students who are always multitasking. Essential connectivity options for college students include WiFi and mobile-printing capabilities. WiFi enables wireless printing from laptops and other devices without physical connections. Features like Google Cloud Print, or specific apps for Android, add convenience by allowing students to print directly from smartphones.
All-in-One Functionality
An all-in-one printer is a highly beneficial choice for college students. These devices combine printing, scanning, and copying into one unit, making them versatile and space efficient. They even scan notes or copy handouts. They’re particularly handy for managing both academic and personal tasks without multiple devices.
Duplex Printing
Duplex printing saves both time and resources for students. By printing on both sides of a page automatically, it significantly reduces paper usage-a valuable feature for environmentally conscious students. It also speeds up large print jobs, as there’s no need to flip pages manually. Eco-friendly printers benefit students by reducing environmental impact and saving money in the long run. Features like duplex printing minimize paper waste, and energy-saving modes cut electricity costs. Brands offering recycling programs for cartridges further enhance sustainability.
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Compact Size and Portability
Given the typically small size of student accommodation, compactness is another consideration. Portable printers can indeed meet the needs of college students effectively, especially those constantly on the move. These devices are lightweight, compact, and battery-powered, making them excellent for printing assignments, handouts, or notes on the go. While they may lack advanced features like scanning or high-speed printing, they offer sufficient functionality for basic needs.
Print Speed
For college students, a printing speed of around 10-20 pages per minute (ppm) for black-and-white and 5-10 ppm for color is generally sufficient. This speed accommodates typical needs like essays, reports, and occasional color projects without long waits. Faster speeds, often found in laser printers or premium models, are advantageous for high-volume tasks.
Ink Tank Systems
Printers with refillable ink tank systems offer excellent long-term value for students. Though the initial cost is higher, these systems significantly reduce per-page printing costs by using bulk refillable ink instead of traditional cartridges. They’re an economical choice for students with consistent printing needs, such as research-heavy majors.
Print Resolution
Print resolution matters most for assignments requiring visual elements, like charts or photos. For standard essays and reports, a basic resolution of 300 dpi (dots per inch) suffices. However, projects involving detailed images or high-quality presentations benefit from higher resolutions, such as 600 dpi or more.
Mobile App Integration
Printers with mobile app integration, such as HP Smart or Canon Print, offer students incredible convenience. These apps allow printing, scanning, and even troubleshooting directly from smartphones, eliminating the need for a computer. Features like remote printing make it possible to send jobs to the printer from anywhere, great for busy or forgetful students.
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Paper Compatibility
Standard copy paper with a weight of 20 lbs and a smooth finish works well for most college printing needs, including essays and handouts. For presentations or reports requiring professionalism, slightly heavier paper (24-28 lbs) with a higher brightness is ideal. Students printing high-quality images or creative projects should consider glossy or matte photo paper.
Cloud Printing
Printers with cloud printing capabilities, like Google Cloud Print-enabled devices, allow students to print from anywhere using their smartphones, laptops, or tablets. This is incredibly convenient during busy schedules, as documents can be sent directly to the printer without being physically present. Cloud printing also enables collaboration, allowing students to seamlessly share printers with roommates or group project members.
Voice Assistant Compatibility
Printers compatible with voice assistants, like Alexa or Google Assistant, simplify multitasking for busy students. Voice commands eliminate the need for manual setup, allowing students to print, scan, or check supply levels while focusing on other tasks. This hands-free functionality is especially helpful in tight schedules, letting students continue studying or preparing assignments without interruption.
Top Printer Recommendations for College Students
Epson EcoTank ET-2850: The Best Printer for Students Overall
The Epson EcoTank ET-2850 is one of the brand’s more affordable supertank printers and its extremely low running cost will interest cash-strapped students. It’s a pared back all-in-one device that won’t take up too much desk space, and it comes with the essential functionality you’ll need to complete your studies. That includes auto-duplex printing, high-res scanning and Wi-Fi with AirPrint compatibility.
Pros:
- Large ink tanks
- Plenty of inbox ink
- Very low running cost
- Simple design
Cons:
- No paper tray
- Small LCD
- Few features
- Not great for photos
Epson has held back a few premium features in order to keep the price competitive, so there’s no frontal paper tray, just a 100-sheet rear tray, and no touchscreen or NFC. And being one of Epson’s entry-level EcoTanks, it has a more modest Micro Piezo print head than you find inside the more expensive models, which have more nozzles to play with. Nonetheless, this printer passed all of my pint tests and performed without a hitch throughout.
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It’s not Epson’s best when it comes to photo printing, but the print quality is good enough for copying coursework and printing dissertations without running up a large ink bill. Epson’s bottled ink is up to 90% cheaper than its cartridge ink and there’s loads in the box. The five bundled bottles should yield up to 20,000 pages before you need to buy more.
HP Smart Tank 7001/7005: The Best HP Printer for Students
The HP Smart Tank 70017005 (US/UK) is a relatively affordable all-in-one tank printer that runs on cheap bottled ink. It’s quite basic, in that there’s no touchscreen, USB Host port, NFC or ADF (automatic document feed).
Pros:
- Neat design
- Bluetooth simplifies setup
- HP Smart for desktop
- Plentiful inbox ink
Cons:
- Flimsy build quality
- Small display
- Feeble paper handling
- No NFC or USB Host
However, it can scan Letter-sized documents, auto-duplex, and has a decent 250-sheet paper input tray. It also has dual-band wi-fi and Bluetooth which really speeded up the setup procedure. In the test, it printed quite quickly at 15ppm (pages per minute) in simplex mode and worked smoothly in duplex mode.
Pages of black text look sharp and bold, while photos look especially bright, sometimes garishly so. On the whole, my test pages printed satisfactorily across the board. I experienced paper jams any time I asked the printer to duplex with imperfect paper, so make sure you load new paper carefully. It’s not the strongest supertank in its class, but breaking away from cartridges makes it an economical and worthy choice for students.
Canon PIXMA G3270/G3570: The Best Canon Printer for Students
The Canon PIXMA G3270/G3570 is the entry-level all-in-one in Canon’s refillable MegaTank lineup, so you can expect just the basic list of features, but big savings when it comes to consumables.
Pros:
- Cheap for a MegaTank
- Affordable ink
- Broad paper compatibility
- Lots of inbox ink
Cons:
- Manual duplex only
- No front paper drawer
- Limited paper capacity
- No ADF, or USB Host port
As a three-in-one, you can scan, copy and print in color on any paper up to A4 in size. It also has Wi-Fi built so you can print from your smartphone using Canon’s companion app, but you’re not getting a touchscreen, a front-loading paper tray, or an auto duplex mode.
I found the small display quite hard to read and the lack of auto-duplex is rather annoying when you’re printing a long document, but the rest is good news because this stripped-back MegaTank prints crisp simplex pages consistently and quite quickly for an inkjet.
True, it costs considerably more than a cartridge-based equivalent, but with bottled ink being around 90% cheaper and enough ink in the box to print 6,000 mono pages and 7,700 color pages, your running cost will be way lower.
Brother DCP-J1800DW: The Best Student Printer with Cutter
At first glance, the Brother DCP-J1800DW is regular budget all-in-one inkjet, but it has a cool extra feature. It’s basic business printer aimed at the home worker with modest print demands.
Pros:
- Print and cut A4 to A5
- Integrated ADF
- Compact design
- Touchscreen interface
Cons:
- Slow to duplex print
- Can’t cut A5 to A6
- No USB Host port
- Small ink cartridges
It’s compact enough to fit on a shelf while incorporating a useful 20-sheet automatic document feeder and offers both USB and Ethernet ports with neat cable management.
There’s also a guillotine. Wait, what? It’s the first printer of its kind to come armed with an internal blade for chopping A4 down to A5. This unique selling point could prove invaluable for reducing your paper cost along with your document size, but even if you never use the cutter, this is a good printer.
As a cartridge-based inkjet, the ink bill is always going to be high, but I found that the print quality is strong enough to justify the price. Both text documents and photos on coated photo paper turned out well throughout my tests. Unless you plan to print a high volume of pages, this ingenious inkjet would suit student life well.
Brother HL-L2865DW: The Best Mono Laser Printer for Students
This modest mono laser printer has all the right features for working from home and a strong enough specification to recommend it for office duty too. With two input paths, one of which can hold 250 sheets of paper, and a cartridge large enough to yield 3,000 pages (not included), it has the capacity to handle a heavy workload.
Pros:
- Handy manual feed slot
- Rapid duplex print rate
- Reasonable toner price
- Decent paper capacity
Cons:
- Small display
- Can’t duplex heavy paper
- Photos lack definition
- No USB Host port
But being a laser rather than an inkjet, it’s equally happy to stand idle for long periods, so it would also suit someone who prints infrequently. While it lacks the niceties you find on more expensive printers, such as a touchscreen or front USB Host port, it does come with dual-band wi-fi, AirPrint and some robust security features.
I was impressed by its print rate, especially in duplex mode, but disappointed that it couldn’t duplex print on paper heavier than 106gsm. The print quality is consistent and sharp enough for business use. It’s not the blackest of black toner available, but the cartridges are competitively priced and with enough toner in the box for 1,200 pages, the Brother HL-L2865DW looks like a pretty good deal to me.
Canon PIXMA GM4050: The Best Mono Ink Tank Printer for Students
The Canon PIXMA GM4050 is the first monochrome printer to be added to Canon’s cartridge-free MegaTank range and one of the few black and white inkjets around. It’s also the only one that can be retrospectively upgraded to full color, if required. This unique proposition is sweetened by its very low consumables cost and the generous amount of ink in the box. The three bunded bottles should yield up to 1,800 pages.
Pros:
- 18,000 page yield
- 35-sheet ADF
- Optional color upgrade
- Decent print quality
Cons:
- Slow to print
- No photo paper
- Not Mac compatible
- Small display
It’s a 3-in-1 device with a scanner, a 35-sheet ADF (automatic document feeder) and room for 250 sheets of paper in its main paper tray. While the low cost per page beats any laser printer, it cannot compete on print rate, which is a sluggish 13ipm (imprints per minute).
I found the tilting two-line display quite hard to read and its lack of AirPrint or Mac compatibility was irritating. The black and white print quality, however, is good enough to recommend. Adding the optional tri-color cartridge meant that I could also print in color, which is potentially useful, but less economical and still no good for photos because it can’t handle photo paper. This is a novel product that fills a niche very well.
Additional Printer Recommendations
Affordable and Reliable: Monochrome Laser Printer
The Brother HL-L2460DW is simple, fast, dependable, easy to set up, and affordable to operate. And because it’s a laser printer, it can sit for weeks or months between print jobs and start up again without trouble. It’s small enough to sit out of the way on a bookshelf, too. Though it’s less than half the price of our color laser pick, the HL-L2460DW matches that model’s paper capacity with a roomy 250-sheet tray.
The Best All-Around Home Printer: Inkjet All-in-One
The HP OfficeJet Pro 9125e isn’t HP’s most powerful inkjet all-in-one, but it is the best one for most people. It is remarkably easy to set up and use, hitting the sweet spot of speed, print quality, and reliability in a way that other printers can’t match. Its running costs are reasonable at 3.2 cents per page for black-and-white pages and 12.8 cents for color, with the option to join HP’s Instant Ink program for set-and-forget refills and cheaper color printing. The printer’s sleek design also helps it stand out from stodgy-looking competitors.
A Home-Office Powerhouse: Color Laser Printer
The Brother MFC-L3780CDW is faster than our other picks, capable of printing clearer text and graphics, and has robust security features that make it suitable for sensitive data like legal or medical documents. This printer’s color touchscreen is simple to operate and less frustrating than what you get on some competing models. It also has a USB port that can accept thumb drives bearing JPEGs, PDFs, and TIFF files.
Gallery-Worthy Prints at Home: Photo Printer
The Epson SureColor P700 is capable of delivering gallery-quality prints up to 13 inches wide, and it can print panoramas up to 10 feet long. It can also print on a huge variety of media, including metal and CDs. Though its color photos caught our eye while we were testing for the best photo printer, we especially loved its black-and-white output, which is as close as you can get to traditional darkroom prints at home.
Inkjet vs. Laser Printers: A Quick Guide
The key difference lies in functionality and cost. Inkjet printers are better for color and photo printing, making them ideal for creative majors or visual projects. They are generally more affordable initially but may have higher ink costs. Laser printers excel at fast, black-and-white document printing, perfect for text-heavy needs like essays and lecture notes.
If you frequently print in color, you’ll probably want an inkjet. If you don’t, we recommend buying a black-and-white laser printer instead. These models spit out crisp text at impressive speeds, and they tend to be far more reliable.
Tank Printers: An Economical Alternative
With tank printers, which use refillable ink reservoirs instead of disposable ink cartridges, you can spend less than $10 a year on bottled ink as opposed to $100 or more for ink cartridges. Color laser printers are also an option, though their relatively high purchase price and toner costs make them better suited to a small business or a graphics pro.
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