The 5 Best Budget Printers (2024) for every need

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You can get a broad variety of printers in today’s market at a variety of price points; consequently, it is necessary to select the best budget printers that won’t put a strain on your funds. Printing that is of high quality does not necessarily need to come with an exorbitant price tag. Although it is not uncommon to find sales and discounts on printers, we have chosen to concentrate on printers that have a reasonable Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) in order to ensure that they are affordable even when the sale season is not in full gear.

Keep in mind that our choices stress value over just going for the cheapest models, as ultra-low-cost printers typically come with minimal page yields, leading to greater long-term ink bills. If you keep this in mind, you’ll be able to choose the best printer for your needs without breaking the bank. If you’re looking for the most affordable printers, we’ve got you covered with a variety of alternatives that find a happy medium between price and performance. This will ensure that you get the most value for your money.

The Importance of Affordable Printing Solutions

Both at home and at work, it’s important to have access to affordable printing options. In a world where digital communication is the norm, people still need paper records and hard copies. Whether you’re a student, the owner of a small business, or just someone who needs to print papers at home once in a while, knowing how important it is to find cheap printing solutions can help you make better decisions and save money. In this piece, we’ll talk about why it’s important to have cheap printing and how it helps people and businesses.

• Saving money: One of the most obvious benefits of cheap printing options is that they save money. Having to pay a lot for printing can add up quickly, especially if you print a lot. By choosing printing choices that are easy on your wallet, you can lower your overall costs and keep more money in your pocket.
• Ease of access for students: Students need cheap printing so they can do their homework, write projects, and do research. It makes sure that students can get the tools they need without breaking their budgets. This makes education easier to get.

• The cost of running a small business: Budgets are often tight for small businesses, new businesses, and freelancers. With affordable printing options, they can make marketing materials, brochures, flyers, and business papers that look professional without spending too much on printing.

• Less damage to the environment: Printers that use less energy and cost less money help lessen the damage that printing does to the environment. By picking options that are easy on your wallet and save energy, you can help the environment and reduce your carbon footprint.

Best Budget Printers Comparison Table

Low-cost printers are capable of producing prints of a fair quality, particularly for text documents. On the other hand, if you need photo prints of professional quality or graphics for your business, you might need to invest in a more specialist printer that has a higher print resolution and more accurate color accuracy.

Printer	Print technology	Print speed	Print resolution	Paper size	Media types	Latest Deal
Canon PIXMA MG3620	Inkjet	Up to 10 ipm (black), 7.5 ipm (color)	Up to 4800 x 1200 dpi	Up to 8.5 x 11 inches	Paper, photo paper, envelopes, photo cards, labels	Check Price
Brother HL-L2350DW	Laser	Up to 30 ppm (black), 22 ppm (color)	Up to 600 x 600 dpi	Up to 8.5 x 11 inches	Paper, envelopes	Check Price
Pantum P2502W	Laser	Up to 30 ppm (black), 22 ppm (color)	Up to 600 x 600 dpi	Up to 8.5 x 11 inches	Paper, envelopes	Check Price
Canon Selphy CP1500	Dye-sublimation	Up to 44 seconds per photo	Up to 300 x 300 dpi	4 x 6 inches	Photo paper	Check Price
Kodak Mini 3 Retro (3×3)	Thermal	Up to 45 seconds per photo	Up to 300 x 300 dpi	3 x 3 inches	Photo paper	Check Price

List of the Best Budget Printers

There are a lot of low-cost printers that come with a variety of wireless connectivity choices, like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. This eliminates the need for physical cords, allowing you to print from your desktop computer, smartphone, or tablet device. HP, Canon, Brother, and Epson are just few of the respected companies that are known for supplying quality printers at affordable prices. Samsung is another option. However, due to the fact that the quality of products can vary even within the same brand, it is vital to conduct research on particular models and read reviews.

Canon PIXMA MG3620

Specification	Description
Printing Technology	Inkjet
Print Speed (Black/Color)	Up to 9.9 ppm / 5.7 ppm
Print Resolution	Up to 4800 x 1200 dpi
Connectivity	Wi-Fi, USB
Mobile Printing	AirPrint, Mopria, Canon PRINT app
	Check Price

The Canon PIXMA MG3620 is our best budget printer. This simple all-in-one inkjet printer is for occasional printers. Because this model features a black and tri-color cartridge, we mention ‘sometimes’. printer prints well in black and color, but printer runs out of ink rapidly, so you’ll need to replace the cartridges often. You must replace the tri-color cartridge even if only one color runs out. The ink cartridges are cheap, but it takes a lot of care and might result in fading or partial prints.

As an inexpensive scanner, it doesn’t have an automatic feeder or duplex scanning, but it scans well and is detailed. Wi-Fi, USB, Apple AirPrint, and Mopria Print Service are included. For occasional printing, this model can work. Those who print more should use a printer with a larger page yield, like our budget selection.

Brother HL-L2350DW

Specification	Description
Printing Technology	Laser
Print Speed (Black)	Up to 32 ppm
Print Resolution	Up to 2400 x 600 dpi
Connectivity	Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB
Mobile Printing	Brother iPrint&Scan, AirPrint, Google Cloud Print
	Check Price

If you only print black-and-white papers, a monochrome laser printer might be better. The Brother HL-L2350DW is similar to the Brother HL-L2325DW, which we’ve tried and like. There’s nothing wrong with the HL-L2325DW; it’s just hard to find right now. The HL-L2350DW is your best bet because it works almost as well as the HL-L2325DW, but it prints a little faster. It has the usual Wi-Fi and USB connections and works with Brother’s mobile companion app, which lets you print from your phone or do maintenance chores.

It seems to be well made and can print up to 32 pages per minute of sharp-looking documents fast. It can print about 1200 pages, and the toner refill is inexpensive. Plus, since it only prints in black and white, you only need to change one cartridge. The drum is a separate unit that costs extra to change, but it usually lasts for about 12,000 prints, so you won’t have to do it too often. The worst thing about it is that it doesn’t have a camera.

Pantum P2502W

Specification	Description
Printing Technology	Laser
Print Speed (Black)	Up to 22 ppm
Print Resolution	Up to 1200 x 1200 dpi
Connectivity	Wi-Fi, USB
Mobile Printing	Pantum Mobile Printing App
	Check Price

Get the P2502W from Pantum. Like the Brother printer, this one doesn’t have a camera and can only print. It also makes good-quality papers and can print a little more than 2,000 pages. The drum is built into the toner cartridge, so you don’t have to replace it separately. This makes maintenance easy. It can print 23 pages per minute, which is fast, but it takes a while to warm up and can’t print on both sides automatically.

Unfortunately, this printer likes to push printed sheets off the output tray. This can be inconvenient because you’ll have to move your prints back into the right order. This problem can also make the copies not line up right, which wastes more time and paper. It doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does, it’s annoying. To avoid all that trouble, you should get the Brother. This type can do the job, but you should be aware that you might run into problems sometimes.

Canon Selphy CP1500 Wireless Compact Photo Printer

Specification	Description
Printing Technology	Dye Sublimation
Print Size	4×6 inches (postcard size)
Connectivity	Wi-Fi, USB, SD card slot
Mobile Printing	Canon PRINT app, AirPrint, Mopria
Battery Option	Available (sold separately)
	Check Price

Most fully portable photo printers today print wallet-size or larger, thus the Canon Selphy CP1500 is one of the few 4-by-6-inch options. Fortunately, compromises aren’t required. Continuing the Selphy family of portables, the CP1500 has a solid feature set, dye sub technology that produces drugstore-quality photos, and a low running cost of 30 cents every 4-by-6-inch shot. The price includes paper and dye rolls.

With the paper cassette and dye roll, the CP1500 weights 2.5 pounds, but not the optional battery, which prints 54 photographs each charge. It can print from an SD or microSD card, a USB flash drive (Type-C, not Type-A), an iOS or Android phone or tablet, or a macOS or Windows PC via USB cable or Wi-Fi. In our tests, the CP1500 printed each sample photo in under a minute with a protective covering. The dye sub image is waterproof, requires no drying, and has a 100-year lifespan.

Kodak Mini 3 Retro (3×3) Portable Printer

Specification	Description
Printing Technology	Dye Sublimation
Print Size	3×3 inches
Connectivity	Bluetooth, USB, Kodak Mini 3 App
Mobile Printing	Kodak Mini 3 App (iOS and Android)
Printing Speed	Approx. 50 seconds per print (3×3 photo)
	Check Price

The “Retro” portion of the name of Kodak’s pocket-size photo printer, the Mini 3 Retro, refers to the fact that it can print photographs with a 3-inch square format that are either borderless or have narrow white borders, similar to those found on old-fashioned prints from drugstores. Kodak’s four-pass dye-sublimation technology, which produces significantly superior output quality than the zero-ink (Zink) output of many small photo printers, makes both of these options look terrific, but the first one is preferable in our opinion since it has a more defined appearance.

The Mini 3 Retro is offered in two different pricing points and three different colors: white, yellow, and black. It also comes in a version that costs $141.99 and includes a dye roll and enough media for 8 prints, while the version that costs $156.99 includes enough media for 68 prints. Simply sliding the refill cartridges into the printer is all that is required to load them for use. You can choose from 30-, 60-, or 90-printer packs.

Key Factors to Consider When Buying a Budget Printer

When looking for a cheap printer, it’s important to keep a few things in mind to make sure you get the most for your money. Even though cheap printers save you money, you need to know what you need from a printer to find one that meets your needs without sacrificing quality. Here are the most important things to think about when getting a cheap printer:

• Technology for printing: Decide if you need an inkjet printer or a laser printer. Laser printers are better for high-volume black-and-white printing, but inkjet printers are more flexible and can print in color and on pictures.
• Print Resolution: Check the printer’s print quality, which is shown in dots per inch (dpi). When it comes to images and photos, a higher dpi means better print quality.
• Speed: Think about how many pages you can print per minute (ppm). Faster print speeds are good for busy offices, but people who print at home may be more interested in other benefits.
• Print Volume: Figure out how many pages you print on average each month. Choose a printer with a job cycle that fits your needs well to make sure it will last.

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