The best printers for college students

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The Insider Pick:

• High-quality printers for college students are easy to set up, can print documents directly from any smartphone or tablet without a cord, and use ink or toner cartridges that don't cost an arm and a leg.

• The Samsung Xpress C430W Wireless Color Laser Printer is our top pick because it has a small footprint, prints text clearly and quickly, and offers good color graphics at a reasonable price.

A good printer can be an invaluable convenience on campus and off. When you are closing in on a deadline, you don’t want to have to run to the library or computer lab to print out your assignment. An affordable printer that takes up minimal space and prints quickly from your smartphone or tablet can save the day.

If you don’t do your research when looking for a printer, you are likely to get burned. Just about every printer has its strong points and a fair number of negatives. When shopping, it’s important to have a good idea of exactly how you plan to use your printer.

Will you mainly use it for printing out text? Or, are you going to want color graphics? Do you want the ability to copy and scan in addition to printing? If you mainly want a printer that can print out black-and-white text, you can save a lot of money by avoiding color printers or all-in-one setups.

In our research, we found that laser printers initially cost more than their inkjet counterparts. However, in the long run, the laser printer toner cartridges last much longer than ink cartridges. And, though they cost more, toner cartridges tend to have a lower cost per printed page. If you are a math or accounting major, we recommend calculating the precise cost per printed page for the cartridges of the printers you are considering. If you don’t want to do the math, you can assume you will be better off long-term with a laser printer.

Pay close attention to printer model numbers. Most manufacturers put out dozens of models with slight differences. To ensure you are purchasing the exact printer that we recommend, follow the links included with each review.

While researching the best printers for college students, we looked at thousands of expert and buyer ratings and reviews of dozens of models. Our guide features printers that are mobile-friendly, cost-effective, and have an intuitive interface.

Here are our picks for the best printers college students can buy:

• Best overall: Samsung Xpress C430W Wireless Color Laser Printer
• Best black-and-white laser: Brother HL-L2360DW Compact Laser Printer
• Best black-and-white all-in-one: Canon imageCLASS MF244dw Wireless Duplex Laser Printer
• Best affordable: HP ENVY 4520 Wireless All-in-One Photo Printer
• Best graphics: Canon TS9120 Wireless All-In-One Printer
• The best printers under $100
• The best tech for college students

Read on in the slides below to check out our top picks.

The best printer for college students overall

Samsung

Why you'll love it: If you don’t need a scanner or copier and just want a machine that can print quickly in color, the Samsung Xpress C430W Wireless Color Laser Printer is your best bet.

The Samsung Xpress C430W Wireless Color Laser Printer allows you to print directly from your mobile device using the Samsung Mobile Print app, which works with Google Cloud Print and AirPrint.

If you have an NFC-enabled Android device, you can simply tap it to the laser printer, and it starts printing. The versatile paper tray supports 3-by-6-inch cardstock for creating flashcards as well as regular 8.5-by-11-inch plain paper for printing out homework.

Samsung advertises that the printer can produce 19 pages of black and white text per minute and 4 pages of color per minute, which is important for putting those last-minute touches on your papers. And, the overall size is about 12 by 15 by 8 inches so it should fit in even the smallest of dorm rooms. Samsung also offers a one-year limited warranty on the hardware for this printer.

Consumer Reports recommends this Samsung Xpress printer because the color graphics quality was very good and the black text printing was quite fast. The printer received top marks for maintenance ink use and text quality as well. However, there were a number of negatives the reviewers pointed out. If the color runs out, then you cannot print at all — not even in black and white. Also, the cost per page of printing text works out to about 5.3 cents.

About 67% of the Amazon buyers who rated the Samsung C430W printer left a positive review. The most helpful review noted that this model printed crisp text and worked well for schoolwork. Another buyer appreciated how easy it was to set up and recommended it for small printing jobs at home.

However, there were a few negatives: the paper tray sticks out a couple of inches when letter paper is inserted, and it may take a little searching to find the right printer drivers if your computer doesn’t have a disc drive. 

Pros: Easy to set up, prints text quickly and clearly, good color graphics quality, compact

Cons: High cost per page of printing, doesn’t print if a color runs out, doesn’t scan or copy

Buy the Samsung Xpress C430W Wireless Color Laser Printer on Amazon for $199.99

The best black-and-white laser printer for college students

Brother

Why you'll love it: The Brother HL-L2360DW Compact Laser Printer has a relatively high upfront cost, but if you only want to print text, it will save you in toner expenses in the long run.

The Brother HL-L2360DW Compact Laser Printer only does one thing, but it does it well: It prints your homework, papers, and other documents in black and white. When you consider that the assignments for most classes will rarely require color printing, this becomes an attractive option.

The Brother printer is the most expensive model on our list, but the toner cartridges tend to last longer than color laser or ink alternatives.

This printer supports wireless networking as well as high-speed corded connections. At about 15 by 7 by 14 inches, it’s similar in size to our top pick. And, with the Amazon Dash Replenishment service, the HL-L2360DW automatically orders toner when the levels are low so you aren’t hung out to dry during finals week.

A reviewer at CNET recommends the Brother HL-L2360DW printer because he appreciated the small footprint and easy installation process. He thought it was best for people looking for a text-only printer that won’t break the bank when refilling the toner. Yet, he was a bit miffed that the “starter” toner cartridge that came with the unit depleted quickly.

PCMag recommends the Brother printer for micro offices, but the reviewer noted that the quality of the graphics and text were below par. Geek Beat liked that it was fast and reliable. The tester found it outperformed more expensive units he had worked with. However, getting the printer up and running and changing the settings was difficult.

Ratings of four stars or more are pretty rare for printers on Amazon, but the Brother HL-L2360DW Compact Laser Printer has an average of about 4.1 stars. Buyers noted that set-up was easy using the provided CD along with YouTube tutorials. And, connecting via Wi-Fi is easy as long as you have your Wi-Fi and SSID passwords handy.

There appears to be a recurring problem of the printer lapsing into Deep Sleep mode and staying there. But, if you go to General Setup > Ecology > Sleep Time and press the down arrow and cancel at the same time, you can toggle the Deep Sleep mode.

Pros: Small, uses toner efficiently

Cons: Only prints in black, questionable print quality, small screen, relatively expensive

Buy the Brother HL-L2360DW Compact Laser Printer on Amazon for $176.40 + $15.78 shipping

The best black-and-white all-in-one printer for college students

Canon

Why you'll love it: The Canon imageCLASS MF244dw Wireless Multifunction Duplex Laser Printer is an affordable solution when you want to be able to copy and scan but don’t need color.

One of the big selling points of the Canon imageCLASS MF244dw Wireless Multifunction Duplex Laser Printer is its ability to print quickly and clearly. Canon advertises that from power on, the printer’s warm-up time is 14 seconds, and you can have the first page in your hands 6 seconds after that. The print speeds are up to 28 pages per minute.

Additionally, the MF244dw is mobile device friendly and compatible with Google Cloud Print, Mopria Print Service, Apple AirPrint, Canon Print Business, and more. The toner cartridges yield about 2,400 pages of print so you aren’t constantly shelling out cash for ink. Canon backs this printer with a one-year limited warranty

There are several reasons why the reviewers at Consumer Reports recommend the Canon imageCLASS MF244dw printer. First of all, based on two years of regular use, they calculate the total cost of this printer will be $220 factoring in the initial purchase of the printer and buying toner supplies. The testers also noted that this model did an excellent job of printing black text quickly and clearly. But, they did find that the machine takes up a lot of space, and it was a pain entering the Wi-Fi encryption key.

Approximately 80% of the Amazon buyers who reviewed the Canon imageCLASS MF244dw Wireless Multifunction Duplex Laser Printer gave it four or five stars. One buyer was impressed with how they could print several thousand pages with a single toner cartridge. They also found it easy to set the printer up.

This was not the case for all buyers, though. One self-described tech-savvy person said it took them two hours. They still gave the printer four stars and recommended skipping the included disk and going directly to Canon’s online support.

Pros: Prints text quickly and clearly, duplex printing, efficient toner use, one-year warranty

Cons: Several buyers had trouble with the set-up, no color printing

Buy  the Canon imageCLASS MF244dw Wireless Multifunction Duplex Laser Printer on Amazon for $139.99

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