The 4 Best Small Printers - Winter 2025

The best small printer we've tested is the Epson EcoTank ET-2800, also sold as the Epson EcoTank ET-2803 at Walmart and Target. It's an all-in-one inkjet supertank model and the best small home printer for households that print a lot due to its high page yields and low cost-per-print. While it isn't the smallest printer, it's quite compact for storage and offers a great balance of features and performance for its size. Printed documents look sharp, and photos are fairly color-accurate and detailed, albeit slightly grainy. The flatbed scanner produces great, vivid-looking scans; however, know that the image processing boosts the color contrast and saturation, so scans aren't particularly color accurate.

It has plenty of wired and wireless connectivity options, along with support for Apple AirPrint, Mopria Print service, and support and compatibility with the Epson mobile app. The main drawback is the print speed. Unfortunately, it's pretty slow, pushing just eight black and four color pages per minute and taking about a minute and a half to print a single 4x6 photo. Also, if you don't print a lot, know that inkjet printers are prone to clogging. We recommend checking out our pick for the best small laser printer, the Brother HL-L2460DW if you plan on storing your printer for long periods between prints.

If you want a less expensive option, we recommend the Brother MFC-J1205W, also sold as the Brother MFC-J1215W at Walmart, the best compact printer we've tested for people on a budget. Its compact size is perfect for tight spaces, and the printer feels impressively well-built. Compared to our top pick, the Epson EcoTank ET-2800, this all-in-one inkjet yields fewer prints and produces grainer and less detailed photos. Still, it prints sharper documents than the Epson and has a smaller footprint while in use. It offers USB and Wi-Fi connectivity and is also compatible with the Brother Mobile Connect app, which you can use to perform maintenance tasks and order supplies from your mobile devices.

While it produces good quality scans, and its scanner's lid hinges extend slightly to accommodate thicker items like textbooks, there are some tradeoffs. It also has a slow printing speed of nine black or six color pages per minute. Finally, while this is a versatile and budget-friendly printer, it isn't the best choice if you print infrequently; again, all inkjets risk clogging if unused for long periods. 

If you only need to print a return label once in a blue moon, get the Brother HL-L2460DW or one of its variants. While this is by far the largest and heaviest printer on our list, it's quite compact compared to most laser printers, making it a great option for people in small apartments or dorm rooms. It's a monochrome print-only unit, so you can't print in color or scan anything, but there's also no risk of clogging, making it the best small home printer we've tested. It prints quickly at up to 32 pages per minute, and with a page yield of around 1,300 prints, you won't have to replace the toner often unless you have a large print load.

The toner cartridge is relatively cheap, and the drum is in the cartridge, which makes maintenance easier; however, this can also be an inconvenience if the drum gets damaged while there's still toner left, as you would have to discard the remaining toner. The major pain point is its out-of-the-box print quality. You can fix this by changing some settings on the printer; see our review for more details. There are many variants that scale features up or down depending on your needs and price point. For cheaper options, the Brother HL-L2405W loses duplex printing but maintains wireless connectivity, whereas the Brother HL-L2400D loses wireless connectivity but maintains duplex printing and most of the printing speed.

Let's say you're looking for a way to capture the moment at a special event and print small photos on the go; for this use case, get the Polaroid Hi-Print Generation 2, our choice for the best compact printer for photo printing. Given its small size and lightweight, it's eminently portable, so you can easily throw it in a bag or purse for a night out. However, it's important to adjust your expectations regarding its photo quality; photos are nicely detailed, but the color and print quality can't match other portable (albeit larger) inkjet printers, like the Canon PIXMA TR150. Still, for its niche use, this printer is the best.

It produces 2x3 portraits using Polaroid's proprietary Hi-Print Generation 2 photo paper. As for connectivity options, this printer only works with Android and iOS smartphones or with Chrome OS devices via a Bluetooth connection and its Hi-Print mobile app. You can get the printer on its own or in a bundle with packs of photo paper. Unfortunately, its photo paper is very expensive, so know that the recurring costs will quickly add up if you print a lot. Also, its battery life lasts just 20 prints, so you'll want to keep the charging cable close.