This site contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you purchase through our links at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This never influences our assessments. Full disclosure policy here.
Our reviews are research-based. We compile and synthesize expert reviews, manufacturer specs, and Amazon user feedback. We do not conduct hands-on testing.
The all-in-one printer market isn't glamorous, but it's full of real trade-offs that cost people money when they choose wrong. The person who buys a $100 inkjet, spends $40 every other month on cartridges, and doesn't print photos is paying 15 cents per page on a machine optimized for photos they don't print. That's expensive for no benefit.
The person who buys a $300 EcoTank for a household that prints 10 pages a month takes 10 years to break even on the ink savings.
Which category are you? That's where this guide starts.
Quick-Pick Table
| Printer | Price | Type | Speed | Best For | Monthly Pages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brother MFC-J4335DW | ~$120–150 | Inkjet (INKvestment) | 20ppm | Budget / occasional | 0–100 |
| Epson EcoTank ET-4850 | ~$299–350 | Inkjet (tank) | 15ppm | Regular home printing | 50–300 |
| HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e | ~$200 | Inkjet | 22ppm | Home office | 50–200 |
| Canon PIXMA TR8620a | ~$200 | Inkjet | 15ppm | Photo printing | 10–100 |
| HP LaserJet Pro M428fdw | ~$299–350 | Laser (mono) | 40ppm | Heavy document printing | 100–500+ |
1. Brother MFC-J4335DW — Best Budget All-in-One
Buy on Amazon → | ~$120–150
The MFC-J4335DW is the budget all-in-one that doesn't completely compromise on running costs. Brother's INKvestment Tank system uses larger-capacity cartridges that print more pages than standard replacements — the included cartridges print around 3,000 pages total (black + color combined), which is significantly above the 200–400 pages most comparable inkjet printers include in the box.
What you're getting for $120–150: wireless printing, print/scan/copy/fax, 20ppm speed, auto-duplex, 20-sheet ADF, and 4800x1200 dpi print resolution. It's a complete all-in-one feature set at a price where most competitors are charging for less.
The INKvestment Tank approach means replacement cartridges are larger-capacity standard cartridges — not the proprietary refillable tanks of EcoTank. This keeps the upfront cost down while meaningfully reducing per-page cost compared to budget inkjet alternatives. Expect to spend around $25–35 every 1,000–2,000 pages on replacements, depending on which cartridges you buy.
The print quality is adequate for documents and basic color graphics. Not a photo printer — if printing photos is a priority, look at the Canon PIXMA TR8620a instead. For a household that prints homework, forms, holiday party invitations, and the occasional boarding pass, this does the job without making you think about cartridges every month.
Specs: Inkjet (INKvestment Tank) | 20ppm mono | 4800x1200 dpi | Print/scan/copy/fax | 20-sheet ADF | Auto-duplex | Wireless | USB
Pros: Low upfront cost, INKvestment cartridges reduce per-page cost vs standard inkjet, complete feature set, reliable Brother build quality
Cons: Not a photo printer, no touchscreen, slower than laser for document-heavy use
Best for: Budget-constrained households that print occasionally to moderately and don't prioritize photo quality.
2. Epson EcoTank ET-4850 — Best for Regular Home Printing
Buy on Amazon → | ~$299–350
The EcoTank ET-4850 is the printer that breaks the cartridge replacement cycle. Not metaphorically — actually breaks it.
The tank system means you fill the printer's built-in ink reservoirs from bottles rather than swapping cartridges. The included ink bottles that come in the box are enough for approximately 7,500 pages of black and 6,000 pages of color combined. You probably won't need to buy ink for the first two years of typical home printing use. Replacement bottles cost $15–20 and last for thousands of pages.
Per-page cost: under 1 cent for black, 2–3 cents for color. Compare that to 10–15 cents on a budget inkjet with standard cartridges. At 200 pages per month, the ink savings are approximately $200/year. The $300 printer pays for itself in ink savings within 15–18 months versus a standard inkjet.
The ET-4850 isn't just a tank printer with mediocre features — it's a full-featured all-in-one. 2.4-inch color touchscreen, Ethernet and WiFi, 35-page ADF, auto-duplex printing, fax, and a flatbed scanner. The print quality is competitive with mid-range inkjet all-in-ones — not photo-lab quality, but solid for home document and occasional photo use. The color output is accurate enough for printing greeting cards, flyers, and casual photos.
The main honest caveat: the ET-4850 is slower than laser for heavy document printing (15ppm vs 40ppm on the HP laser). If you regularly print 50+ page documents, that speed difference is noticeable. For typical home printing — 5-10 pages at a time — it's adequate.
Specs: Inkjet (EcoTank refillable tank) | 15ppm mono, 8ppm color | 4800x1200 dpi | 2.4" touchscreen | 35-sheet ADF | Auto-duplex | Ethernet + WiFi | Print/scan/copy/fax
Pros: Dramatic per-page cost savings, 2+ years of ink included, full feature set, solid print quality, touchscreen
Cons: High upfront cost ($300+), slower than laser, photo quality below dedicated photo printers
Best for: Families and home offices that print regularly (100+ pages/month) and want to eliminate the cartridge replacement cycle.
3. HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e — Best Standard Home Office Printer
Buy on Amazon → | ~$200
The HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e is the sensible center of the all-in-one market. Not the cheapest, not the lowest per-page cost, not the best photo printer. But it's well-built, reliably fast, and covers the feature set that home office users actually need.
22ppm is meaningfully faster than the Epson EcoTank's 15ppm for document printing. The 35-page ADF handles multi-page scan jobs without supervision. Auto-duplex. WiFi, Ethernet, USB. A genuine 2-in-1 scanner/copier. Print quality is above mid-range — HP's inkjet output on plain paper is consistently rated as among the best in its class for document sharpness.
The HP+ service and Instant Ink integration is where opinions split. HP+ gives you free software features and cloud printing. Instant Ink is a subscription service that monitors your ink levels and ships replacements automatically. Plans start at $3/month for 10 pages, scaling up. Whether it saves money depends entirely on your monthly page volume — for occasional users, it's convenient but not cost-saving. For moderate users (50–100 pages/month), it's roughly break-even with buying cartridges.
One advantage of the HP ecosystem: the 9015e works with HP's Smart app, which is genuinely good for mobile printing and scanning. Scanning from your phone directly to cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive) works well.
At $200, the OfficeJet Pro 9015e makes sense for households that print 50–150 pages per month, want a reliable machine that just works, and don't want to commit to the EcoTank upfront price.
Specs: Inkjet | 22ppm mono, 18ppm color | 4800x1200 dpi | 35-sheet ADF | Auto-duplex | Ethernet + WiFi | Print/scan/copy/fax | HP Smart app
Pros: Fast for an inkjet, excellent document quality, smart app is genuinely useful, HP ecosystem integration
Cons: Standard cartridge costs, Instant Ink subscription can be confusing, photo quality below dedicated photo printers
Best for: Home office users who print moderately (50–150 pages/month), want a reliable name-brand all-in-one, and appreciate mobile print/scan features.
4. Canon PIXMA TR8620a — Best for Photo Printing
Buy on Amazon → | ~$200
If you print photos at home and want the output to actually look like a photograph — not a color document — the Canon PIXMA TR8620a is the pick.
5-ink system (Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and a separate Photo Black) produces photo quality that stands up to drugstore photo prints. At 4800x1200 dpi on Canon's photo paper, the gradients are smooth, skin tones are accurate, and the output has the depth that single-black inkjet printers can't match. For printing 4x6 prints of family photos, travel photography, or anything you'd put in a frame, the 5-ink system makes a visible difference.
For documents — which is most of what home printers do — the TR8620a is adequate but not exceptional. 15ppm isn't fast, and document printing at 4800x1200 uses more ink than necessary. The Canon all-in-one is optimized for photo quality at the cost of pure document speed and economy.
Full feature set: print, scan, copy, fax. 20-sheet ADF. Auto-duplex. Wireless printing. PIXMA's app is clean and the Alexa integration means you can print from voice command ("Alexa, print my grocery list").
The FINE ink cartridges are standard replacements — not the large-capacity tanks of EcoTank. If you print heavily (photos every week, lots of documents), ink costs will accumulate. For a household that prints photos occasionally and documents moderately, the cartridge cost is manageable.
Specs: Inkjet (5-ink, 4800x1200 dpi) | 15ppm mono, 10ppm color | 20-sheet ADF | Auto-duplex | Wireless | Print/scan/copy/fax | Alexa compatible
Pros: Best photo quality on this list, 5-ink system for accurate colors, full feature set, clean app, Alexa compatible
Cons: Standard cartridge costs, slower than laser for document printing, not optimized for high-volume document use
Best for: Households that print photos regularly and want results that look like real photographs, not laser printouts.
5. HP LaserJet Pro MFP M428fdw — Best for Office Document Printing
Buy on Amazon → | ~$299–350
The M428fdw is the office workhorse on this list. It's monochrome (black and white only), which is the right decision for an office all-in-one where 90% of printing is documents, forms, and reports that don't require color.
40ppm at 1200x1200 dpi. That's fast. A 50-page document exits this printer in about 90 seconds. At a home office or small business where you're regularly printing lengthy documents, invoices, or reports, the speed difference vs. inkjet is immediately felt. You stop waiting at the printer.
Laser toner doesn't dry out. This is the underrated advantage for home offices that go through alternating heavy and light printing periods. You print 200 pages one week and nothing for two weeks. The LaserJet is ready when you come back. No head-cleaning cycles, no blotchy first pages, no wasted toner on maintenance.
Per-page cost at 1,200-page toner: approximately 3–4 cents per page. At 3,000-page high-yield toner: approximately 1.5–2 cents. Both are significantly cheaper than standard inkjet at scale.
The 50-sheet ADF, auto-duplex, Ethernet, and wireless make it a genuine office machine. The 2.7-inch color touchscreen is unusual for a laser printer at this price and makes navigation genuinely intuitive — you're not hunting through menus to scan to email.
What it doesn't do: color. If color printing is important, look at the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP (higher price). This is a mono-only machine — which is right for most office use but limiting for everything else.
Specs: Laser (mono) | 40ppm | 1200x1200 dpi | 50-sheet ADF | Auto-duplex | 2.7" touchscreen | Ethernet + WiFi | Print/scan/copy/fax
Pros: Fastest printer on this list by far, excellent per-page cost, laser reliability, touchscreen, 50-sheet ADF
Cons: Monochrome only (no color), heavy (34 lbs), highest upfront cost, bulky footprint
Best for: Home offices and small businesses printing 100–500+ pages per month, mostly documents, where speed and per-page cost matter more than photo capability.
Buying Guide: How to Choose an All-in-One Printer
Calculate Your Monthly Page Volume First
This single number determines the right choice more than any other factor.
- Under 50 pages/month → Brother MFC-J4335DW (budget) or HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e
- 50–200 pages/month → Epson EcoTank ET-4850 or HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e
- 200+ pages/month → HP LaserJet Pro M428fdw
Buying a laser printer for 10 pages/month means a decade to recoup the ink savings. Buying a standard inkjet for 500 pages/month means spending $50+ every month on cartridges.
Do You Need Color?
All inkjets on this list print color. The HP LaserJet M428fdw is monochrome only.
If 90%+ of your printing is documents, monochrome laser is significantly cheaper to operate and faster. The occasional color document you can print at a copy shop for less than buying a color laser printer.
If color is important: any of the four inkjets handle it well. For accurate color in business graphics and presentations: HP OfficeJet Pro. For photo-quality color: Canon PIXMA TR8620a.
Is the ADF Important?
Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) lets you load a stack of pages and scan or copy them automatically without manual page flips. For scanning 10+ page documents regularly, this is essential. For scanning one page at a time, it's a nice-to-have.
All five printers on this list include an ADF. Capacity ranges from 20 sheets (Canon, Brother) to 50 sheets (HP LaserJet). More sheets = fewer interruptions for large scan jobs.
Wireless vs Wired Setup
All five printers support WiFi. Most also support Ethernet for wired connections. USB is included for direct connection.
Recommendation: set up via WiFi initially, then add Ethernet if your router is nearby and you need more reliable connectivity. Ethernet eliminates wireless connection issues entirely — for an office printer that multiple people use, wired is more reliable.
The Bottom Line
Best budget: Brother MFC-J4335DW — $120 upfront, INKvestment cartridges reduce ongoing costs, full feature set.
Best for regular home printing: Epson EcoTank ET-4850 — tank system eliminates the cartridge cycle, 2+ years of ink included, strong long-term value.
Best home office: HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e — fast, reliable, good app, moderate per-page cost.
Best for photos: Canon PIXMA TR8620a — 5-ink system produces genuine photo quality, full all-in-one features.
Best for heavy document printing: HP LaserJet Pro M428fdw — 40ppm, laser reliability, lowest per-page cost for high volumes.
If you're still deciding between inkjet and laser technology generally, our inkjet vs. laser printer guide walks through the full trade-off analysis before you commit to either path.
Top comments (0)