A printer is a pretty essential piece of home office equipment. But, you have a lot of choices in which printer you get. Whether you’re looking for a device to print out your files and little else, or a machine capable of replacing a full office set up, you’re going to need to shop around a bit.
Three of the major brands that make printers today are HP, Brother and Canon. Each of them makes a lot of different printers, but they have some pros and cons that make them better printers for different needs.
Which of these brands makes the best printer for a different person, which is the best for you depends on your needs. Each makes a great printer for a specific set of purposes. You’ll need to think about why it is that you need a printer.
This is essentially your list of wants from a device. What do you need it to do? How do you need it to look? What level of user-friendly interface do you require? Because each of these is going to decide who makes the best printer for you.
HP vs Brother vs Canon printers
The main difference between HP and both Brother and Canon is that HP printers tend to be the most expensive of the three. Brother offer some great bargains and laser printers, whilst Canon really specialise in photo printers.
Each brand will offer different models depending on what you are looking for. It’s more reliable to look at a printer individually and see what it can do – whether it’s capable of duplex printing, or how many pages per minute you’re able to print.
We’ve broken down the pros and cons of each brand, so you can find who makes the best printers for your home office and what you need out of a device. We’ll look at print speed, print quality and ink costs too.
So overall, we can look at the three brands in more detail to notice some difference between them broadly.
HP Printers – The Best Wi-fi Printers
The modern home office is a little more complicated than a PC with a word processor connected to a simple printer. HP does a great job of making printers that accommodate the high-tech nature of modern offices.
If you work connected to cloud services and need a printer that slots into that kind of environment, then HP is a great choice. They also make printers with a great quality and speed, but it is their tech integration that makes them stand out.
If you’re looking for a printer that works with a variety of devices and fits easily into your online infrastructure, then HP is the best bet for you. Their printers are easy to configure to work over WIFI, Airprint, and even as an Alexa enabled device.
HP also offers some great customer service, for troubleshooting any technical issues is made quite simply. If you have any issues with your printer, you can usually get in touch with HP and they’ll help you out.
The majority of these printers offer integration with cloud office software like Google with Google Cloud Print. If you’re working collaboratively at home, you’ll often find yourself working with files hosted on an online service like this.
They make it simple to collaborate with others or share instant up to date data. Having a printer that is ready out of the box to be part of your online workplace can save you a lot of hassle.
While this is a major selling point, a decent HP printer isn’t going to let you down in the more mundane departments. They print fast, with most offering a variety of printing options like photos and double-sided as standard.
They aren’t the cheapest models available, but you do get a high-quality printer for your money. If you’re looking for a great printer that works easily online, then a HP is your best bet.
Pros
Cons
Brother Printers – Ideal performing printers & cost effective
Brother makes great printers that stand to replace the big machines you’d see in a traditional office. A brother printer will usually offer more traditional office services that the other manufactures don’t.
They can print in as many options as the competition, but most offer copying without having to go through extra software, high-quality scanning, and even fax. These printers can serve as a full photocopier, fax, and printer in a home office.
Brother printers can copy, scan, and fax in full colour without any loss of quality. These functions are things that some offices are really going to need. They can also print at a high speed, great quality, and offer some integration with online services. The majority slot in a home office really well with these options.
If you’re looking for a printer that can do a little more than a standard printer, then a Brother printer is the best one for you. They tend to have an excellent print speed, as well as being reasonably priced for what you’re actually getting.
Pros
Cons
Canon Printers – Great for Photos and High Quality
Canon printers tend to be on the more expensive side of the market. These devices are built for specialist use, with the majority offering really high-quality photo printing. These types of services are really useful for some types of home offices.
On top of this, they can manage the normal requirements you’ll have from a modern home printer, like double-sided printing easily and fast printing.
They offer great connectivity for wireless devices, and some web printing facilities to allow you to print remotely. The main selling point of Canon printers is usually their quality.
However, they do offer quite a lot of budget devices. These fulfil the basic functions but lack the bells and whistles you might want. This makes a lot of Canon printers great all-rounder printers, for a home office without any special requirements.
If you’re looking for a printer for high-quality printing or photos, then a Canon is going to be the right one for you.
Pros
Cons
Conclusion
Canon, HP and Brother all make great printers for a different audience. Which of these is the best printer is ultimately going to depend on what you need a printer for.
Some home offices don’t need fax, while others might have no need for smart device integration. The best printer will depend on your needs, but each of these companies has some areas where they excel. HP tend to make the best printers for online connectivity..
Brother make great printers for offices that need photocopying faxing and similar service. This means that if you’re looking for a black and white laster printer, then you’ll want to look at Brother first (and maybe Epson too).
Canon makes great devices for high-quality photo printing and budget printers that don’t drop too much in quality. Which one is exactly right for you will depend on your needs. Out of these options, you should be able to find the perfect one for your home office.
