Deciding which one to go for can be a bit of a minefield, given all of the things you need to consider. Handily, we’ve decided to weigh in and help out. Our team of experts test multiple printers a year, taking into account print quality, as well as running costs, general design, and more. And based on these test results and reviews, we’ve assembled this list of the very best. Of course, everyone will have different budgets and needs for a printer. Therefore, we’ve made sure to include a variety of options, ranging from those that use ink bottles for affordable running costs to cartridge-based options with cheaper upfront fees. If you can’t see a photo printer you like right now, be sure to bookmark this page, as we’ll be updating it with new entries as more printers pass through the Trusted Labs in 2022 and beyond. And for more of a general look, be sure to check out our list of the best printers money can buy.
Best printers at a glance
Best overall photo printer: Canon Pixma GS650 – check priceBest versatile photo printer: Epson EcoTank ET-2750 – check priceBest budget photo printer: Canon Pixma TS205 – check priceGreat long term cost: Canon Pixma G550 – check priceBest for smartphones: Instax Square Link – check price
This is especially thanks to the fact it offers a six-ink setup, offering two additional bottles, compared to more standard printers, in the form of another grey and red. The enables the printer to offer a wider array of colours, as well as better shade control, resulting in some brilliant printed photos. We found the G650’s dyes to be perfect for photo paper too. The trade off for such good photo paper printers is that the G650 is one of the slowest document printers we’ve tested. If you need to have those photos or text in a rush, you may want to look elsewhere. In addition, functions such as duplex (double sided) printing or faxing aren’t here, but you do get an especially speedy scanner that, in testing, proved to have some great colour reproduction. This is also an affordable printer to run thanks to low running costs – the G650 comes with a set of ink bottles that can print up to 8000 colour pages or 3800 postcard size photos. And with replacement bottles costing £11, each picture will cost around 2p a go, which is fantastic value. The fact these are refillable is also beneficial to the environment with them potentially stopping a lot of plastic going into landfill. Reviewer: Simon HandbyFull review: Canon PIXMA G650 review As well as being a photo printer, the ET-2750 is also a decent scanner. This is one of the speedier prints we’ve tested too, taking 1 minute 13 seconds to print a colour photo on plain A4. On higher quality paper, it took around a few seconds longer. The print quality itself is excellent, with great results on glossy paper and higher-quality photo papers especially. The Epson ET-2750 offers some of the cheapest per-print costs of any printer we’ve tested. Colour refills are £8.49 each, and with these, you’ll be able to get 6000 pages before needing a refill. For black ink, these retail for £13.99, although you’ll be able to get 7500 pages worth of print outs before needing to fill it up again. Epson’s EcoTank printers have always been some of the most economical out there, and the ET-2750 helps to prove that yet again. At 5.5kg, it’s lightweight compared to other all-in-one printers, and with dimensions totalling 187 x 375 x 345mm, it’s also compact. This is also a smart printer, with oodles of connectivity on offer. The ET-2750 works with Apple AirPrint, as well as Epson’s own iPrint app too, which allows you to print directly from cloud storage services. You can even perform routine maintenance tasks such as nozzle and printhead cleaning, right from the comfort of your phone. Reviewer: Thomas NewtonFull review: Epson EcoTank ET-2750 review Its print quality for general documents may be prone to smudging, but we found that photos printed on glossy paper looked excellent, with rich and natural colours. The same cannot be said for printed graphics, but for such an affordable printer, we found the photo printing quality to be more than good enough. As well as offering decent quality output, the print speeds for the TS205 are also okay, with a colour photo on plain A4 taking 46 seconds, while glossy photo paper output took nearly 4 minutes. Print costs for the TS205 are in line with other affordable cartridge-based inkjet printers, with an average-per-page cost of 10p across black and colour ink – the black PG-545 cartridge will run you £16.49 for a 180 page yield, while a colour CL-546 cartridge will set you back £19.99 for the same yield. There are XL cartridges available for both black and colour that don’t cost too much more and offer nearly double the page yield, halving the cost per page. This is also one of the lightest printers out there, with a total mass of just 2.5kg. Of course, as a single-purpose device, it’s not expected to weigh a ton, but that lightweight build still means it won’t be a pain to move around. This is also a good-looking printer too, and doesn’t look cheap in the slightest. While there isn’t a dedicated display for control, it’s still an easy printer to set up and use, with it being a case of downloading the right drivers for your operating system, installing them, and connecting the printer up. Reviewer: Thomas Newton Full review: Canon Pixma TS205 review This model utilises refillable bottles as opposed to cartridges, which immediately makes refills more cost effective. To boot, the G550’s bottles will last for either 3700 black pages or 8000 colour pages. It’s capable of 3800 10x15cm colour photos, giving you a cost per page of just 1.7p, which is some of the lowest we’ve ever seen. This is especially thanks to replacement bottles costing just £11. As well as offering great value for money, the G550 delivers great quality printouts. This printer offers a six-ink setup, with an extra red and grey ink option, which helped to provide smooth shade transition in coloured printouts, as well as a neutral and exceptionally detailed greyscale print. While some of our colour samples may not be up to standard against other six-inkers, there’s a noticeable difference compared to more standard four-ink printers. Admittedly, it may not be the fastest printer in the world, with a print time of nearly seven minutes to print a single borderless A4 photo, but at least the results are good. This is a remarkably simple printer, especially given it’s a single function device so you can’t copy or scan images. That being said, it does have a display alongside offering convenient control over key features with some actual buttons. The fact it’s a six-ink printer is also a handy given the extra oomph it gives to photos, as well as the fact the ink is refillable, saving waste and also saving you money with much lower printing costs than more standard cartridge-based inkjets. Reviewer: Simon HandbyFull review: Canon Pixma G550 review This is very much a photo printer, and it gives snaps a retro instant camera feel with a modern twist. You can edit snaps in the companion app before printing and even add AR elements that can be seen through someone else’s phone thanks to a QR code. While our reviewer found this something of a novelty, it remains a neat trick if used correctly. The Instax Square Link prints square 6.2cm x 6.2xcm images and requires the Square Instant film. While printing time is stated to be 15 seconds and developing time 90 seconds, our reviewer noted the whole process took a little longer. Print quality is great, it charges via USB-C and easily slips inside a bag if you want to take it on the go. Reviewer: Hannah Davies Full review: Instax Square Link review
