
Ink printers are more affordable than laser printers, and replacement ink is less expensive upfront than laser toner, though the cost per page is more in many models. The first decision to make when buying a Brother printer is whether you want one that prints with ink or one that prints with toner. Read our shopping guide for our take on Brother printers – the features you should look for, the specifications that matter, and the “gotchas” to avoid – and you’ll be all set to find the model that’s perfect for you. Brother has made a niche for itself in the printer market with affordability and ease of use, so if you need a printer that can produce high-quality output without breaking the bank, Brother printers are the best place to start. And to make sure the model you buy is no different from the one we test, we purchase every product that enters our labs from a retailer, just like you would.Although the company got its start making sewing machines, electronics manufacturer Brother has become one of the biggest names in printers, competing with long-established brands like HP, Epson, and Canon.

Consumer Reports is a nonprofit member organization dedicated to working for a fairer, safer marketplace. These models, like every printer we test, have been put through the wringer in our dedicated labs, evaluated and scored by our testers on almost 250 data points. And speaking of that, remember that one way manufacturers make a printer smaller is by shrinking the capacity of those feed trays, sometimes to under 50 sheets or less. Note that the measurements listed for each printer below are taken when the model is ready for operation, with paper trays in place, so the footprint may be even smaller when the device isn’t in use. We also tweaked the scoring for print speed, given that today’s printers are faster than ever. Our ratings have also changed recently, placing much more emphasis on the ability to print quality text than on graphics or photos, which reflects survey data about how people actually use their printers.

We’ve picked out five of the best small printers in our ratings, including one portable model and two laser printers-notable because that tech tends to be more reliable but typically more bulky than inkjets.īecause our ratings don’t take size into account, a few of these models don’t achieve CR Recommended status, but they’re still capable of solid performance.
