The Best Inkjet Printers of 2023

10 Best Inkjet Printers

The paperless office is still a vision of the future for many reasons. Whether in offices or private households, the written word or the explanatory picture are indispensable aids for countless tasks.

The digital text document or e-mail has replaced the work with paper documents or the classic letter in many areas, but has not completely replaced it to this day.

In addition, through extended possibilities of professional and private computer applications, such as graphics or image processing, there are new applications that increase the interest in the transfer of screen content on paper.

The printer has therefore remained one of the most important components of professional or private computer equipment for many years.

At the touch of a button, he brings the highest quality written or drawn documents to paper. Of the techniques that have been developed for this purpose over the years, the inkjet printer is the most widely used to date.

It is an integral part of countless private households and commercial offices and forms a core element of daily work. Anyone who wants to purchase a new inkjet printer is faced with an almost unmanageable range of different manufacturers with numerous product lines and several models.

Our inkjet printer report is presenting outstanding models, an overview of the basic technology, equipment features and differentiation criteria as well as further relevant information on inkjet printers provide a reliable basis for a satisfactory purchase decision.

The history of the inkjet printer

The history of printing, i. e. the transfer of characters on paper or a suitable basis, is one of the most important topics in the history of civilization.

It begins already in the second millennium BC with stamps and silk-screen printing.

Just under 3,000 years later, in 1440, printing after Johannes Gutenberg was another central invention on the way to today’s everyday printing methods.

The invention and continuous further development of electronic data processing, including the current state of computer technology, forms the basis for the development of modern printing processes.

The different known printer versions have been developed independently of each other, partly in parallel and are still being developed in parallel.

Due to the main motive of their development, a print speed appropriate to the increasing computing power, they were called fast printers in the beginning.

These high-speed printers differed from the previously used printing process, which resembled that of a typewriter and worked with individual types.

Modern printers work with so-called matrix printing. Instead, it does without individual types and prints individual small pixels, which due to their small size are perceived by the human eye as a closed typeface.

 

Particularly in private households, but also in professional use, dot matrix printers were used first, but these were quickly replaced by inkjet printers that are still in use today.

 

Laser printing has been reserved for commercial use for a long time, not least because of the associated costs, and is increasingly finding its way into private households due to continuous further development and the associated reduction in costs.

 

Ink-jet printer structure and method of operation

The printing process commonly used today in inkjet printers for commercial and private use is known as the DOD (Drop on Demand) process.

DOD printers are characterized by individual ink droplets being applied to the paper by the printer via a nozzle.

Depending on the application and manufacturer, different processes are used to eject the ink:

The so-called BubbleJet method is widely used. In the technology used by most known manufacturers, water or a solvent in the printer ink is heated by a built-in heating element.

The resulting vapour bubbles push the ink particles explosively through the printer nozzle. A distinguishing feature is the exact design of the participating nozzle, which differs slightly between manufacturers and series.

• BubbleJet process

The so-called BubbleJet method is widely used. In the technology used by most known manufacturers, water or a solvent in the printer ink is heated by a built-in heating element.

The resulting vapour bubbles push the ink particles explosively through the printer nozzle. A differentiation detail is the exact design of the participating nozzle, which differs slightly between manufacturers and series.

 

• Piezo Printer

Alternative, underutilized methods are so-called Piezoelectric Printer, which press ink through the nozzle by means of electrical voltage and pressure valve printers, which distribute ink by opening and closing individual valves at the nozzle.

Printing on paper or other suitable underlays is done in two dimensions: the print head moves horizontally over the paper as it passes vertically through the printer. In most models, both movements are performed by a stepper motor: the print head sits on rails and is horizontally driven by a toothed belt, while the paper is driven by a roller.

 

Print head cleaning

Inkjet printers from all manufacturers face a central problem: ink dries up. Necessary nozzles are clogged and the print image is significantly affected.

To prevent this from happening, i. e. to prevent the ink from drying up, commercial printers perform regular, automatic cleaning of the print head.

Cleaning is carried out by controlled spraying of ink into a specially designed sponge.

A print head cleaning can be started manually or automatically.

The intervals and conditions under which cleaning is carried out vary from model to model and make a significant contribution to the follow-up costs of an inkjet printer.

On many models, automatic cleaning is performed in pre-set cycles, and some cleaning is performed whenever the printer has been disconnected from the power supply. In any case, every cleaning process consumes printer ink.

The less a printer is used, the higher the ink consumption due to cleaning.

Depending on the size of the ink cartridges used, the majority of the ink consumption and thus the subsequent costs of a device can be generated by the cleaning process for a rarely used printer.

Some models rely alternatively or additionally on an airtight bearing of the print head. If the printer is not in use, the print head moves to a suitable storage location and remains there until the next print run.

 

Types and differentiation criteria

Inkjet printers are offered in different designs. These printer types, which all share the same printing process, specialize in specific functions and characteristics for specific applications.

Due to their properties, they are suitable for private or commercial professional use to varying degrees. In addition to its suitability for different areas of application, the design requires its acquisition and expected long-term follow-up costs.

 

Allround inkjet printer

All-round printers are what the name promises: versatile use. The widely-used devices do not explicitly specialize in one area of application, but offer the widest possible range of applications.

The printing of texts is just as uncomplicated as the printing of graphics and even photo printing in satisfactory resolutions is possible without any problems.

Allround printers are mainly used in the private sector, but only for small businesses.

A central purchasing argument is the usually extremely low purchase price. However, this should always be seen and evaluated in relation to the follow-up costs and performance. Simple models are already available for less than 50 Dollar.

The performance of an all-round inkjet printer is expressed above all in the average number of pages per minute. Standard commercial all-round printers can print 15 to 30 pages of text or 10 to 20 graphic pages per minute.

In addition to the individually selected paper, the printing costs result from the costs for ink cartridges, which can vary greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer and for different models.

 

Office Inkjet Printer

Office devices are adapted to a professional working environment in terms of performance and functionality. They are designed for continuous operation and high number of pages with the highest possible printing speed and optional high quality.

Access to an office printer is ideally possible from several workstations via a suitable connection. Another characteristics of a commercial use are:

• Capacity for larger quantities of paper (magazine)
• Printing option for different paper sizes
•  Feed also for special formats (e. g. envelopes)

Relative to the performance of an Office inkjet printer, the follow-up costs are as low as possible in the form of the costs per print page.

In commercial applications, at least from a medium-sized company, inkjet printers are an exception. Due to the consequential costs and the long-term, maintenance-free usability, it is more likely to rely on laser printers.

Office inkjet printers are therefore often referred to as home office printers because their functionality and performance is more oriented towards the self-employed, sole traders and small businesses.

Some designated office printers also have software tools that enable, for example, simple authorization management that allows individual rights assignment for multiple users.

 

High performance inkjet printer

Laser printers are widely used in commercial applications and can advertise themselves by means of performance features and printing costs. Nevertheless, some manufacturers also offer :

• Inkjet printer developed and manufactured for the explicit professional commercial use.
• These models, marketed as high-performance inkjet printers, feature technical details that qualify them for professional use, especially for special requirements.

 

The models, which are also offered as business inkjet models, for example, work in some cases with the so-called Memjet technology (microelectric mechanical). In contrast to the described functional principle of an ordinary inkjet printer, the print head is immovable and has the size of a complete print page width.

Instead of a horizontal movement, printing is done by the combination of vertical movement and more than 70,000 individual nozzles (for A4 size prints) through which ink is applied. This principle enables an extremely high print quality (1600 dpi) and a high printing speed (60 A4 colour pages per minute).

High-performance inkjet printers enable significantly lower printing costs and score particularly well where high-resolution photo printing is used. In addition, some models offer useful additional functions for commercial use, such as duplex printing.

 

photo printers

Digital photography has been steadily gaining ground for some years now. Whether as a private hobby or in professional use, the darkroom or the external photo lab have lost their importance. They have been replaced by the domestic or commercially used computer with appropriate software for image viewing and processing. The results can be viewed on the screen, transferred to other devices, printed in a variety of forms and sizes by numerous suppliers or printed on a connected printer.

All modern inkjet printers are able to print photos. The individual printer types differ in print quality, print speed and the associated costs. If you intend to print photos in a quality that matches the original image and the quality of a classic photo developed in the laboratory, you need a certified photo printer.

Photo printers allow borderless printing on different paper sizes. In addition, they work with additional ink cartridges: in addition to the colours cyan, magenta, yellow and black, which are also used in other printer types, separate printing inks such as light cyan, light magenta, red, grey and green enable photorealistic printing.

Some models also feature useful additional functions. For example, card readers or a PictBridge function enable direct printing from a digital camera or a data carrier without the need for a computer.

Mini photo printers form a special form. The mobile devices, some of which use suitable rechargeable batteries, operate in 10 x 15 or 13 x 18 cm formats. Photographs are printed directly from a camera or data carrier using thermal sublimation printing, i. e. by vapor deposition of colour waxes at up to 400°C on special paper, or by conventional inkjet printing. The pictures are sealed with an additional varnish layer and are immediately smudge-proof.

Photo printers are specifically designed to print images on suitable paper. For other tasks, such as printing texts, they are only suitable to a very limited extent because, for example, the special photo inks do not allow a clean typeface on plain paper.

The comparison of the printing costs of a photo printer is mainly based on the comparison costs for a photo print in a laboratory.

 

multifunctional devices

Multifunction devices are not specifically characterized by the quality and properties of the inkjet printer itself. Multifunctional devices can be found in the Allround, Home Office and Office inkjet printer categories.

The multifunctionality refers to the connection of different office equipment with a classic inkjet printer in one device. A standard multifunctional printer:

• inkjet printer
• flatbed scanners
• photocopier
• fax

A separate fax function is not available on all models. For this purpose, multifunction printers usually have various connection options, such as a network connection, which promises additional flexibility.

 

Gel Printer

A special form of the gel printer is not so far widespread. As a development of the manufacturer Ricoh, this variant has so far been offered exclusively in different models. Instead of the usual printing ink, these models use a colour gel.
According to the manufacturer’s specifications and independent product tests, this technology is characterized by special colour fidelity and high printing speeds.

The gel dries very quickly and penetrates less deeply into the printed paper than ink. As the gel is used in solid blocks and is easily liquefied for pressure, the risk of drying decreases and no residues remain unused.

Due to the low distribution and the restriction to one manufacturer, the cost of a gel printer and the necessary color gel are still comparatively high.

 

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