



Is it fair to say that printers are a necessary evil? Wirecutter and Reddit agree that printers just... kind of suck. Many of them are slow, loud and bulky, and if you’re not a business owner or student who’s constantly printing, you may not think you need to own one... until that one extremely important document or photo needs to be printed and you’re left scrambling to find the closest FedEx or library that will let you use their printer. As someone who dealt with that just a few months ago, hear me out: Even printer haters should have one in their home offices.
It’s a purchase that can prevent major logistical headaches, whether you use it daily or only on occasion. Though it’s true that the market for good printers is pretty limited on a budget, some are worth your money according to reviewers and reputable product testers. Don’t worry; you don’t have to fork over more than $200 for any of the ones we found.
Whether you need an all-in-one printer for daily use, or just want a bare-bones option for printing every now and then without tearing out your hair in frustration, these under-$200 printers are good investments. Keep reading for our picks to transform your next printer experience from a nightmare into barely an inconvenience.
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Promising review: "I specifically bought this product because our last printer was a pain in the neck for scanning. We had to put each page in one in time. Then when that was done I would combine them to make a PDF. I could easily spend 15 minutes or more scanning one piece of mail. This printer allows me to put many sheets on the top and automatically scan them all front page and back page and turn them into a combined PDF file. Also I can be on the other side of the world and operate the printer using the web app." — D. Mann
Promising Walmart review: "I recently had to downsize my living/working quarters. I regretfully had to get rid of my Brother color laser printer, still fairly new, which was too big for my new space. This new Brother MFC-J4335DW fills basically the same needs but at one third the size. The ink technology is also very impressive especially when compared to previous inkjet printers I had. This is a must have for quality and wireless printing, copying, faxing and scanning. Perfect for a small office at home." — macmaitre
Promising Amazon review: "For the price, this is an amazing machine. Printing, copying and scanning all work very well and are simple to use. I found setup to be very easy. The included CD makes software installation a piece of cake and the software makes for easy and efficient printing and scanning from a desktop icon. You can also scan directly from the machine to your PC or laptop. I had another Brother laser printer for over five years which served me well but wanted to go paperless and needed a scanner. The document feeder makes multipage scanning and copying really easy. While the document feeder is supposed to be limited to 35 pages, I have found it will handle 50 pretty easily. Also, the provided software allows you to continue to add pages to a document so you can just continue to scan as many pages as you want to the same document. It's great. This isn't going to print, scan or copy 50 pages a minute, but the 30 or 35 it does isn't bad. I love it and would recommend it to anyone for home or small office applications." — Garry S. McGrath
Promising Target review: "Great home printer! We had a dinosaur of a printer that was huge and wouldn’t update anymore. We knew we wanted another HP printer, so we decided on this little one. It’s been great so far. I’ve printed all kinds of things and even photos turn out great." — happy
Promising Amazon review: "Ideal printer for my home office. Easy set-up, great graphics, quiet, and easy to use. Way better than my old printer, which lasted for almost 20 years. It was also a Canon printer with the same footprint as this, so no difficulties with placement." — Jim H.
Promising Amazon review: "This is a great option if you don’t need color. It’s small, lightweight, and fast. It uses a cartridge that makes lots of copies, so you are not buying expensive ink all the time. It also makes copies and scans. It was super easy to set up, and I can print from my phone or my ipad on my home wireless." — Rubolly
Promising Staples review: "I run a small business from home selling stickers and art prints. This printer was appealing to me for the wide format and use of pigment ink. It's lightning fast, makes high quality image prints, and was super easy to set up. Best yet, I didn't have to shell out $700+ for a Canon. Super happy with my purchase; highly recommend!" — Staples Customer