What to actually look for when buying a home printer
4 min read
Printer shopping is full of specs that sound important but rarely matter for typical home use. A few genuinely useful things to check instead.
Ink cost over time beats the sticker price
The cheapest printer up front is very often the most expensive one to run, because manufacturers make their real margin on ink or toner cartridges. Checking the cost per page for a printer's actual cartridges tells you far more about long-term cost than the initial price tag.
Match the printer to how you'll actually use it
Mostly documents and occasional photos: a basic inkjet or laser printer is plenty. Regular high-volume printing: a laser printer is usually cheaper to run per page. Frequent photo printing: dedicated photo inkjets handle color and detail noticeably better than general-purpose printers.
Don't skip WiFi and app support
A printer that connects reliably to WiFi and has a working mobile app saves a genuine amount of daily friction, printing from a phone or tablet without needing a cable is worth prioritizing over marginal print-quality differences between similar models.