The 6 Best Photo Printers - Fall 2023 Reviews

The best photo printer we've tested is the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-300, a professional-grade photo printer. It produces incredibly detailed, vibrant, and color-accurate pictures without banding or other artifacts. It supports borderless printing and various paper sizes up to 13" x 19", making it a great choice for large-format prints, like posters. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, USB, and Ethernet, and there's support for Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service, so you can easily print from your Apple and Android devices without installing any drivers or a third-party app.

This printer uses nine cartridges, including specific photo cartridges that work only on glossy photo paper, meaning you won't have to worry about depleting the photo ink if you need to print the occasional plain document or report. That said, the cartridges are only good for about 400 color prints, and they're expensive, so you'll have to spend a fair amount of money on maintenance. If you haven't noticed, this is a print-only model, so you'll need a separate scanner to digitize photos.

If you don't need a professional-grade printer but still want high-quality photos, get the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8500 instead, a variant of the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550 we tested. It performs identically to the flagship ET-8550 but can only print on paper up to 8.5" x 11" in size, whereas the ET-8550 supports up to 13" x 19". It also has a smaller 8.5" x 11.7" flatbed scanner (8.5" x 14" on the ET-8550). Wide-format printing is more of a niche use, so the ET-8500 probably makes more sense for most people. If you need wide-format printing or a larger flatbed scanner, the ET-8550 is an excellent choice; just expect to pay more.

Like the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-300 above, this printer produces detailed and colorful photos. The main difference is color accuracy. It isn't wildly off; it just oversaturates colors to make them more vibrant. The pictures still look amazing, but don't expect them to be exactly like the original. One major advantage it holds over the Canon printer is its lower ownership costs, as it's a supertank model that yields significantly more prints. You also get a scanner that produces high-quality scans, which is great for digitizing photos. It has the usual Wi-Fi, USB, and Ethernet connectivity and can print directly from an SD card.

For a more modest mid-range pick, we chose the Epson EcoTank ET-2800, also known as the Epson EcoTank ET-2803 at Walmart and Target. Like the pricier Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550, it's an all-in-one supertank model that yields thousands of prints with its ink reservoir filled to capacity, keeping costs of ownership very low. However, it only has a more conventional set of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ink tanks. It still prints very detailed photos, but because it has a narrower color gamut than the six-tank ET-8550, some colors, like bright, saturated tones, don't come out as well.

You can connect via USB or Wi-Fi, and there's support for Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service. This printer works with Epson's Smart Panel mobile app, which you can use to print, scan, and perform maintenance tasks. The scanner produces good-quality scans with nice coloring, but it has trouble capturing finer details, so it might not be ideal if you're looking to digitize photos. It also prints very slowly, taking around a minute and a half to print a single 4" x 6" photo.

The best printer for pictures we've tested in the budget category is the Canon PIXMA TR8620a. This all-in-one produces detailed and vibrant photos and supports various paper sizes up to 8.5" x 11". You can connect to the printer via Wi-Fi, USB, or Ethernet and print directly from an SD card. It has a high-resolution scanner, but the scan quality is only okay, so it isn't the best for digitizing photos. The main downside of this model is that, unlike our EcoTank picks above, it uses more traditional ink cartridges that run out much faster, so you'll be swapping them out pretty often. Thankfully, the cartridges are relatively cheap.

If you prefer a supertank model, get the Canon PIXMA G3260 instead. It yields significantly more prints than the TR8620a, making it incredibly inexpensive to maintain. It has a slightly wider color range than the TR8620 but isn't as color-accurate, with printed photos having a noticeably warmer tone. It also prints much slower and doesn't feel as well-built.

If you need a cheap printer to print the occasional photo, we recommend the Canon PIXMA MG3620. It prints sharp, detailed photos with decent color accuracy, and it does so fairly quickly, taking only 50 seconds to print a 4" x 6" picture on glossy paper. The main drawback is that it only uses two ink cartridges: one black and one tri-color. These ink cartridges don't last very long, meaning you'll have to replace them often. Also, since it uses a tri-color cartridge, you must replace the entire unit, even if only a single color runs out. XL cartridges are available, but you'll get fewer prints than a supertank model like the Epson EcoTank ET-2800/ET-2803. Thankfully, the cartridges are cheap, so your overall maintenance cost won't rise too quickly.

If you're looking for the best printer for printing photos on the go, check out the Canon PIXMA TR150, a print-only inkjet model with a built-in rechargeable battery. It has USB and Wi-Fi connectivity and supports Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service; you can easily connect your smartphone and start printing without installing any drivers or third-party apps. Printed photos look detailed and colorful, albeit slightly grainy. You'll have to replace the ink cartridges often, as they yield only about 190 color prints; however, they're relatively cheap, so you won't have to spend too much to maintain them over time. The internal battery supplies enough power for around 330 prints and takes about two hours to charge fully.

If you want something even more compact, get the Canon SELPHY Square QX10. It's significantly more compact, meaning it's easier to fit into a handbag. It also has an internal rechargeable battery. However, it uses dye-sublimation to print photos and can only print on Canon's 2.84" x 3.35" proprietary paper. The print quality isn't as good as the TR150, though that's to be expected, as it's designed to produce more photos with a polaroid-like appearance. The cost per print is much higher than the TR150, so it can get very expensive if you print a lot. Also, you can only print about 20 photos before the battery runs out of power.