The Best Cheap Printers
Why we like it: The Brother MFC-J805DW has some of the lowest maintenance costs of the all-in-one printers (print, copy, and scan) that we evaluated, yet it still delivered sharp text and good-enough images in our tests. Out of the box it comes with enough ink to print 1,080 pages in black-and-white or 720 pages in color. When you’re ready to replace the included cartridges, a new ultra-high-yield set will cost $120. Although that might seem a bit high (sometimes more than the cost of the printer itself), that set gives you enough ink for 6,000 text pages and 5,000 pages in color, which works out to less than 1¢ per black-and-white page and 4.7¢ for each color page. In our tests, text was dark, graphics were vibrant, and photos printed on glossy paper exhibited excellent sharpness but had a slightly warm and greenish look. This model is a solid choice for casual use, whether you’re printing documents or a photo to stick on your fridge.