15 Cool Office And Home Printers To Know In 2021

As large numbers of workers remain remote, we’ve rounded up some of the leading compact-sized printers for the home--along with larger units for upgrading the office printer fleet.

Cool Office And Home Printers

While setting up customers with office printers has long been a go-to business for many solution providers, 2020 turned that business upside down. Amid widespread office closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, countless businesses shifted their workers into the home. But as it turned out, many workers still needed to print--driving a massive demand for home printers that vendors and solution providers have been working to keep up with. For vendors that offer both office and home printers–such as HP Inc., Brother, Canon and Epson–the environment has led to new opportunities in selling single-function and multifunction printers to home workers. Other vendors, such as Xerox, have seen their smaller printers and MFPs being deployed for home usage as well during the pandemic. Yet in 2021, office usage is expected to increase significantly and formerly delayed print hardware purchases may be revived–meaning that home printers won’t be the only opportunity for solution providers in print this year. Other notable vendors in the office printer market in 2021 include Konica Minolta, Lexmark, Ricoh, Sharp and Toshiba.

Ultimately, as the new “hybrid” workforce continues, both office and home printers will be important to many customers. As part of CRN’s Printer Week 2021, we’ve rounded up 15 of the coolest office and home printers to know in 2021.

Brother HL-L2315DW

Users looking for a no-frills laser printer that’s small enough to fit into many home environments, Brother’s HL-L2315DW is an option worth considering. For its compact footprint, the black-and-white printer measures just 14 inches (width) x 14.2 inches (depth) x 7.2 inches (height). The device offers respectable print speeds of up to 24 pages per minute, along with two-sided printing capabilities, print resolution up to 2,400 x 600 dpi and a 250-sheet capacity tray. And in terms of connectivity, users can print both wirelessly and via a USB 2.0 connection on the Brother HL-L2315DW.

Canon imageCLASS X MF1127C

In an effort to “bridge the document workflow divide” between the office and home, Canon last fall debuted its new imageCLASS X Series of devices. The new lineup includes the imageCLASS X MF1127C, a color multifunction device offering print, scan, copy and fax capabilities in a compact footprint (measuring 18.8 x 18.8 x 18.4 inches). Key features include print speeds of up to 28 pages per minute, a first-print-out time as fast as 7.5 seconds and a 5-inch color touch screen, along with enhanced security, reporting and management features, Canon said.

Canon PIXMA TR150

Canon is also catering to the needs of professionals working at home with the PIXMA TR150, a compact and portable printer that can be easily moved from room to room--and can even be used with an optional battery, in addition to with USB charging. The printer weighs 4.5 pounds and measures just 12.7 x 7.3 x 2.6 inches, but still offers print speeds of up to nine pages per minute as well as prints in color or black and white.

Epson WorkForce EC-C7000

With the WorkForce EC-C7000, Epson is targeting both at-home and in-office professionals with capabilities such as simplified wireless setup, prints of up to 13 x 19 inches in size, “instant-dry” pigment ink and a number of security features, such as secure data erase. The color A3 multifunction device also offers print speeds of up to 25 pages per minute, a 550-sheet paper capacity and a first-print-out time as fast as 8.5 seconds.

Epson WorkForce Pro WF-3820

Also aimed at enabling work-from-home printing is Epson’s latest lineup of WorkForce Pro inkjet devices, including the WorkForce Pro WF-3820. The color all-in-one device offers print, copy, scan and fax capabilities, with print speeds of up to 21 pages per minute and “instant-dry” pigment inks. Key features include wireless printing, a 2.7-inch inch touch screen and a 250-sheet paper capacity.

HP Color LaserJet Enterprise MFP M480f

Seeking to meet the needs of the at-home workforce, HP’s LaserJet Enterprise 400 Series offers a reduced form factor paired with numerous business-friendly features. The series, which includes the multifunction HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M480f, offers “HP’s smallest enterprise-class experience” along with more than 100 embedded security features, according to the company. Key capabilities for businesses include fleet-wide remote management, run-time intrusion detection and self-healing from cyber attacks. The HP Color LaserJet Enterprise MFP M480f provides print speeds of up to 29 pages per minute, copying speeds of up to 28 pages per minute and two-sided scanning speeds of up to 49 pages per minute--while also featuring an 850-sheet maximum capacity, a 4.3-inch color touch screen and printing from mobile devices.

HP OfficeJet Pro 9015

Another compact-sized, business-friendly printer from HP’s lineup is the OfficeJet Pro 9015. The device offers print speeds of up to 22 pages per minute, a 35-page auto-feeder and security capabilities including secure boot with self-healing and secure erase (which ensures that old documents and sensitive information are completely erased). Other key capabilities include self-healing Wi-Fi, which detects when a Wi-Fi connection is lost and attempts to recover the connection. If the connection can‘t be automatically recovered—for instance, due to a change of the Wi-Fi password—the OfficeJet Pro will intelligently guide users to address the issue on the control panel, HP said.

HP ENVY Pro 6455

From HP’s consumer portfolio, the recently launched ENVY Pro 6455 offers all-in-one capabilities--printing, copying, scanning and faxing--at an affordable price point. Key features include both color and black-and-white printing, print speeds of up to 10 pages per minute, wireless connectivity and a 35-page auto document feeder.

Konica Minolta bizhub 4750i

With Konica Minolta’s recently launched lineup of new A4 devices, the vendor is bringing over the user interface and software compatibility from its A3 line to its A4 portfolio. The new models include the bizhub 4750i, an A4 monochrome multifunction device that replaces the 4752 model in Konica Minolta’s lineup. The bizhub 4750i offers print speeds of up to 50 pages per minute, 5 GB of memory pre-installed, a 256 GB self-encrypting solid-state drive and mobile connectivity.

Lexmark MC3426adw

As part of Lexmark’s GO Line devices for SMBs, the MC3426adw is a multifunction device that offers strong speeds, but with a more compact form factor to fit into smaller spaces. The device’s first-print-out time can reach as fast as 5.9 seconds, while color printing can reach up to 24 pages per minute and mono can reach up to 40 pages per minute.

Ricoh IM C6500

Print hardware manufacturers have also continued to roll out new models focused on office settings, such as Ricoh’s IM C6500. Aimed at high-volume offices, the color laser multifunction device offers printing speeds of up to 65 pages per minute along with copy, scan and optional fax capabilities. Print resolution can reach up to 2,400 x 4,800 dpi, while the device features a paper capacity of up to 8,100 pages.

Sharp MX-B427W

In February, Sharp expanded its lineup of print devices with four new desktop models, targeted for use either in the office or the home. Those include the Sharp MX-B427W, a monochrome multifunction device with a number of built-in security features such as IP address and protocol filtering. Print speeds on the MX-B427W can reach up to 42 pages per minute, and the device is enabled with wireless connectivity in addition to copy, scan and fax capabilities.

Toshiba e-STUDIO330AC/400AC

Another notable new office printer offering is the Toshiba e-STUDIO330AC/400AC--a duo of color A4 multifunction devices that include features such as Toshiba’s e-BRIDGE user interface that enables “effortless, walk-up programming,” along with the company’s e-BRIDGE CloudConnect platform for continuous remote monitoring, diagnostics and firmware updates, Toshiba says. Print speeds can reach up to 40 pages per minute and the devices offer a first-copy-out time of less than seven seconds.

Xerox AltaLink C8170

Xerox’s AltaLink C8170 enhances productivity with the ability to use an array of on-device apps and with advanced capabilities such as ultrafast scanning. The color MFP enables scanning documents at up to 270 images per minute, with print speeds of up to 70 pages per minute. With the inclusion of Xerox’s ConnectKey app interface, the AltaLink C8170 can access cloud services such as Microsoft Office 365, Dropbox and Google Drive, as well as numerous other apps.

Xerox WorkCentre 6515

At JustTech, a La Plata, Md.-based partner of Xerox, home printing devices that were added for customers last year included compact-sized A4 models such as Xerox’s WorkCentre 6515 multifunction printer. The color laser MFP offers print speeds of up 30 pages per minute and resolution of up to 1,200 x 2,400 dpi, along with copy, scan, fax and email capabilities.