Best Printer For Small Business In 2024
If you’re looking for the best printer for your small business, we’ve got everything you need to know right here.
For small businesses, it’s important that you find something that’s cost-effective, reliable, and doesn’t take up a whole lot of space! We’ve selected a number of options here that we think tick all the right boxes, with varying budgets in mind.
Let’s dive right in.
Products at a Glance
Features and considerations
Modern printers do much more than add ink or toner to a page to make a pretty printout. They can connect you to cloud services so you can scan to or print from them, for example.
It’s easy to assume all modern printers are colour, but you can still buy monochrome printers. These can be cheaper to run than colour printers due to having only one black consumable.
You should buy a device that uses individual colour cartridges if you buy a colour printer and not tri-ink cartridges. Individual cartridges can be replaced when a colour runs out. When a colour in a tri-ink cartridge runs out you must throw the whole thing away, which wastes remaining ink.
You should consider ink-tank printers if you need or want an ink-based printer. These let you fill ink reservoirs instead of using cartridges and are typically better value.
You also need to consider:
- Print speed in pages per minute (ppm)
- Resolution
- Ink or toner yield (how many prints you’ll get from a cartridge)
- Network connections
- Consumable costs
How we picked the best printers for small business in 2022
The best printer for you depends on how much you print, its extra features and your budget. We’ve chosen four printers for small business in 2022 that provide the best combination of specs, features and price. These devices should satisfy the needs of most owners. It’s worth using a printer before purchase if possible so you can be sure it meets your needs.
Product Reviews
- Four-colour ink tank device
- 2.7in touchscreen and buttons
- Access to cloud services
The Canon MAXIFY GX7021 is a high-end colour ink tank MFP that lets you print, copy, scan and fax documents. The tanks let you print more pages compared to ink cartridges, which saves you money and time spent changing them. Indeed, you can get page yields of up to 14,000 for colour inks and up to 6,000 for black ink.
The MAXIFY GX7021 has two 250-sheet input paper trays and a 100-sheet rear paper tray, giving a 600-sheet input capacity. This means it can take a full paper ream so you won’t have part of one left lying around.
Mopria and Apple AirPrint support lets you print to the MAXIFY GX7021 from your Android and iOS devices. This means your staff can use a variety of devices with it, which increases their productivity and efficiency. As does MAXIFY Cloud Link, which lets you connect to cloud services.
You can connect the MAXIFY GX7021 to your network using Fast Ethernet or dual-band Wi-Fi, and to your PC via USB, whcih lets you position the device where you want and gives you plenty of connection flexibility.
You interact with the MAXIFY GX7021 using a combination of a 2.7in touchscreen and physical buttons, which gives you quick access to info without looking at a PC and increases efficiency.
This is the best printer for small business in 2022 if you need a consumable-efficient and multifunction colour device.
- Prints, copies, scans and faxes
- Mobile device support
- 2.4in colour touchscreen
- Only 250-sheet input tray
The Epson ET-M3170 is a multifunction printer that lets you print, scan, copy and fax documents, all in one unit. It uses a reservoir to store ink and comes with an ink bottle that’s rated to last 6,000 pages. This should save you money compared to cartridges and time spent changing them.
The Epson ET-M3170 only prints black, which makes it suitable for printing common business documents such as mailouts. It can print on both sides of paper, so it can save money on paper and help protect the environment.
You can print to the Epson ET-M3170 natively using your iPad or iPhone thanks to AirPrint. You can print to it using the Epson Connect mobile app for iOS and Android devices, too. This offers your workers convenience and the flexibility to use modern work devices other than a PC.
You can connect the ET-M3170 to a PC using USB, Ethernet or Wi-Fi, and can print from USB flash drives. This gives you plenty of options for device placement and use. Plus, it’s compatible with the Alexa and Google voice assistants for further ease of use.
We’d prefer a 500-sheet input tray so you can put a whole ream of paper in it, but 250 sheets isn’t bad.
This is the best printer for small business in 2022 if you need a monochrome all-in-one device.
- Fast print speed
- Business-focussed security and admin features
- Not cheap
The HP LaserJet Pro 4001dne is a fast monochrome single-function printer that has business-focussed features. It can print up to 42 Letter-size pages per minute (ppm) and up to 40 A4 pages per minute, which makes it ideal if your small business regularly prints large documents.
The 4001dne has a 250-sheet input tray and 100-sheet manual feed, but you can buy an optional 550-sheet input tray, which gives the printer a combined 900-sheet input capacity and means fewer trips to fill the printer with paper.
The HP LJ Pro 4001dne is designed for tams of up to 10 people, making it ideal for small businesses. It also has HP Wolf Pro security built into it, so security settings are already configured for peace of mind. Plus, you can use HP Smart Admin to manage one or more HP 4001dne printers.
The HP Smart app lets you print from and scan to the HP 4001dne, check the toner level and more, which provides ease of use and convenience to you and your employees.
You can subscribe to HP’s Instant Ink programme. Toner is then delivered automatically when you need it so that you never run out.
This is the best printer for small business in 2022 if you need a fast and business-focussed laser device.
- Android and iOS mobile printing support
- Access to popular cloud services from the printer
- No Ethernet connection
The Brother MFC-J1010DW is an inexpensive all-in-one colour device that lets you print, scan, copy and fax documents.
You can scan to and print from cloud services such as Google Drive, One Drive and Dropbox, which boosts your productivity and efficiency, as you can access cloud documents without need of a PC. You can also scan to popular office document formats such as Excel, Word and PowerPoint.
Connect the Brother MFC-J1010DW to your network using its built-in Wi-Fi adaptor, or access sit using Wi-Fi direct. This lets you and your business access the Brother MFC-J1010DW from multiple device types and place it almost anywhere.
The Brother MFC-J1010DW is compatible with Apple AirPrint and Mopria, so you can print directly from Android and iOS devices. This gives your staff the freedom to use various devices to work, not just their PCs.
Which type of printer can be cost effective for a small business?
We’d say it’s worth going for a low-cost inkjet printer. There are a number of very affordable options on the market – especially if you go for a basic model with no scanner built in.
Is a laser printer better for a small business?
In terms of sheer speed, yes, and nowadays they’re quite a lot smaller than they used to be. They can be a little more costly, however, so we’d say they’re best used if you plan on printing a high volume of documents.
Our Verdict
The Canon MAXIFY GX7021 isn’t cheap but it does everything that a small business needs. Its ink tanks provide economical and long-lasting full-colour printing, it can scan, copy and fax and it’s mobile friendly.