10 Best Portable Printers 2024 in the United States

Even though more and more texts are available in digital form these days, a good printer is still an essential piece of equipment for any home office. Many of the printers on the market today can handle most jobs that you need done, from making copies to scanning documents for PDFs to sending faxes. And, believe it or not, they can still be used to print that paper that you just wrote—what a concept! Today’s digital printers are fast, reliable, take up virtually no space on your desk, and best of all, are extremely affordable. At this point, it’s pretty hard to find a bad portable printer, but it’s just as easy to find the best one for you. Here’s what to look for.

All-In-One Printers: All-In-One printers are the ideal option if you want to turn your desk into a home office. These printers allow you to print, scan, and fax documents with a few clicks. If you’re looking to get serious work done from home, an all-in-one printer is an indispensible tool.

Photo Printers: You can use most commercially-available printers to print pictures, but if you’re serious about photography or other kinds of visual art, it’s worth your time and money to seek out a high-quality photo printer. The level of detail that a photo printer will give to your images can’t be beaten.

Wireless Printers: Fortunately, most printers on the market these days allow for wireless use. Setting up the network is usually pretty easy, and once you’ve got it up and running, you can print from anywhere in the house without being tied to your desk.

Monochrome Printers: If your needs are simple, look for the right tool for the job. Monochrome printers don’t have all of the functions that some of that some of the other options on the market offer, but they don’t need to—they’re for users who need a simple, straightforward machine that can provide lots of high-quality single-color prints without any problems.

Not surprisingly, the reviews customers give about the printers they buy tend to focus on why they bought it (if you buy a printer to print out pictures of your kids, you’re going to talk more about the photo printing capability, etc.), but there are some common themes in the comments.

Speed: This is one of the most common topics customers address when reviewing their printers, for good or for bad: does it turn out the paper quickly? To show how important speed is, there are a number of negative reviews (for instance, 1- or 2-star reviews on Amazon) that start by saying that the print quality is excellent, the price is low, everything is fantastic…but the printer is just too slow for them.

Ease of use: Customers don’t want to have to be or rely on tech experts to get their printers to work. Many reviewers talk about how easy the printer is to use and how quickly it can be set up; the term “plug and play” is very popular.

Easy upkeep: Related to ease of use, reviewers prefer printers that don’t require a lot of babysitting. They want machines that have print cartridges that are easy to buy in stores and to install when they get home. They also want printers that are easy to load and don’t get jammed up. These are pretty common concerns, and you’re probably thinking they make sense, so be sure to look for comments about upkeep before placing your order.

Portability: For a number of customers, a portable printer is just that: a machine that goes on the road with them. If you’re planning on taking your printer on the road, pay attention to comments that talk about how much space it takes up in a car, how easy it is to maintain while on the road, and, maybe most importantly, is it smartphone compatible?

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind when you’re looking for your ideal portable printer:

• Know what you need. If you’ve never scanned a document or sent a fax, then you probably don’t need a printer that would allow you to do those things—they’re great options, but you’ll be better served finding a printer that does a good job of providing the services that you need. On the other hand, if you need a printer that can handle a lot of different jobs, you’ll want to take some time and find the all-in-one that serves your particular needs best.
• Ease of installation and use. A great printer is an invaluable tool, but you’ll want to make sure that it’s one you can use. Fortunately, there are printers available to serve the needs of all users, from tech experts to people who just want to be able to unload the box and turn it on. If you choose the printer that’s the best fit for your technical abilities, you’ll be able to get the most out of it.
• Cartridges, cartridges, cartridges. The unfortunate reality is that your printer will eventually run out of ink. It’s pretty easy to find ink cartridges for almost all commercially-available printers, but look for models that make things easier for you. Some companies offer online cartridge replacement ordering, which is helpful. Many printers have a very useful feature that sends an alert to your computer when their ink supplies are running low. Regardless of how you plan on using your printer, you’ll want to find one that allows you to check its ink levels, so that you don’t run out at the worst possible time. It’s also a good idea to look for a model with cartridges that are easy to replace when they run empty.
• Printing speed. There aren’t any really slow printers on the market, but some are definitely faster than others. If you plan on doing a high volume of printing, you’ll probably want to find a printer with a higher pages-per-minute rate, which will save you a lot of time.
• Paper trays. This is one feature that many buyers overlook, but which can save you headaches down the line. Look for a printer that can hold a large number of papers and that is easy to reload.

HP: Hewlett-Packard (commonly known as HP) is one of America’s oldest and most successful electronic companies, having been established in 1939. The company has long been one of America’s most prominent tech companies, and even though it has gone through its share of struggles in recent years, HP still took in over $100 billion in combined revenue in 2014.

Canon: Another one of the old-guard electronic companies. Canon was founded in Japan in 1937 as a camera company, so it makes sense that they would eventually move into printing and scanning devices. The company took in over $30 billion in combined revenue in 2014.

Xerox: Xerox developed one of the first home printers—which is fitting, as they are one of the leading manufacturers of commercial copiers. Xerox’s products include a range of copying and printing devices for commercial and home use.

Epson: Like the other leading companies on this list, Epson has been around for a long time, having been established in Japan in 1942. In 2012-2013, the company took in nearly $10 billion in revenue.

Brother: A newcomer to the industry when compared with some of the others, Brother was founded in 1954. Their products are very well-received—Brother’s printers have won PC Mag’s Readers Choice Award for six years in a row going into 2015.