It is time for an update on our article Best Printer of 2020 as the New Year is well underway. Not much has changed when it comes time to find the Best Printer of 2021 that is available in New Zealand from our major retailers. Here at Affordable Ink we sell ink cartridges not printers, but we have some recommendations if you are buying a new printer.
The best printer of 2021 still depends on how you use your printer. Every user will have different needs from printing the crossword each day, printing the kids homework or photos for the fridge, printing invoices or marketing materials, or real estate agents printing screeds of paperwork for customers to sign. Depending on your needs this will determine which is the Best Printer of 2021. We saw a lot of older printers resurrected during 2020 lockdowns as people were forced to work from home.
Best Low Volume Printer of 2021
If you print very little then a two cartridge inkjet printer from Canon is a good choice. (MG3060, TS3465 or TR4560) All of these printers are still available in 2021. This does break our Two Rules for Buying a New Printer but there is a reason for this. These printers usually have the basic functions of printing, copying and scanning. Inkjet printers do not like doing nothing as the ink in the printhead dries up. If you have a two cartridge printer, every time you replace the cartridge you replace the printhead. This dramatically extends the life of the printer. These printers are cheap to buy as most of the technology is contained in the cartridge itself. They may not be the most efficient or cheapest to run but if you only print occasionally these are a good choice.
The cost to buy these printers is usually less than $100 and the cost to run them using Affordable Ink compatible cartridges is around 20 cents per page.
Best Home Printer of 2021
Inkjet printers are the best for photographs and general home use. Choose a printer with 4, or up to 6 colours if photo printing is important to you. All manufacturers make printers in this range but our pick of the best printer of 2021 would be the Canon TS or TR printers (TS8360, TR8660). The TR come with a document feeder for scanning or copying piles of pages. Our second choice is the entry level Brother MFC-J printers (MFC-J491DW) which is a solid basic printer with cheap running costs.
The printer cost is usually in the range $100 – $300 depending on the exact model with running costs of 10 – 12 cents per page using Afffordable Ink.
Best Business Printer of 2021
Consider the Epson Workforce range (WF2830) or the business machines from Canon MB range (MB2160). If you want to print in A3 then take a look at the Brother printers (MFC-J5330DW) as they have a few machines with this functionality.
The Canon machines have a design flaw that you cannot remove a cartridge until it is empty, but if you have a faulty cartridge you cannot empty the cartridge. This creates the classic Catch-22 scenario. There is a work around for this elsewhere on our blog. For a business user check out the laser printers below as well.
These printers typically cost $100 – $400 with a running cost of 4 – 5 cents per page using Affordable Ink.
Best Black Only Laser Printer of 2021
If you only need to print in black consider the Laser printers from Brother. Laser printers use a dry powder instead of ink when printing. They do not dry out if left for a while between prints and they typically print a lot faster than inkjet printers. The DCP1610 is a good entry level scanner, copier, printer for home use and the MFCL2713DW is a great printer for a small business. Be aware some of the cheaper laser printers can only print, with no scanning or copying functions like the HLL2375DW.
Laser printers can cost many $1000s of dollars to buy, but the printers recommended here are between $200 and $400 with running costs of 2 – 3 cents per page.
Best Ink Tank Printer of 2021
Ink Tank printers are a relatively new innovation pioneered by Epson with their Eco Tank printers. These printers are cheap to run but very expensive to buy. If you print very large quantities in colour these printers are worth considering. We would recommend the Epson ET2710 or Epson ET3700 printers. Note the Canon megatank printers promise a lot, but do not deliver. The printer we purchased lasted less than six months before the print quality became so poor we replaced it. It was still on its original colour ink, so Canon cannot blame our ink for this result. Online reviews have similar experiences. It appears Epson has more reliable ink tank printers.
The cost of these printers wil be $300 – $500 to buy, but printing costs are in the region of 1 cent per page using Affordable Ink.
Best Printer of 2021
It does depend on what you want to print as to what is the best printer of 2021, but we have selected the best printers in our experience for different users. Take a look for specials on particular models at Warehouse Stationery or Noel Leemings. Before you buy a printer please check our website to confirm the price and availability of cartridges. This could save you a lot of money in the long run.
** Note the printing costs outlined in this article are based on Affordable Ink prices April 2020 and the manufacturers page yield for printing in colour at 5% coverage.