Instead of keeping your photos languishing on your camera roll or in some mythical-seeming cloud, use a photo printer to print them out and show them off. These gadgets are easy to use, cheap to run and they’re there whenever you need them.
These days, printers are easy to set up – trust us, we’ve tried many and aren’t the most patient. Gone are the days of having to spend ages uttering four-letter words under your breath while your computer tells you it can’t find a printer. They’re quick to install and most have an app that guides you through the painless process.
They’re also a lot smaller now too and can usually fit on a small table or even under a bed. Snapshot printers, meanwhile, will fit in the palm of your hand and you can sling them in your bag to take with you on the go.
But while many home printers claim to be photo printers, to really make your pics pop and be worthy of framing, you are best off using the proper equipment and some decent photo paper. A top tip from us: check the paper you buy will work in your printer. This stuff doesn’t come cheap, so you don’t want to be lumbered with the wrong type.
What will also help the quality of your printing is the ink in your printer. As a rule of thumb, separate cartridges or tanks for separate colours will produce better colours, and the wider the spectrum of coloured inks the printer takes, the better. So, six inks is best, but we’ve tested a real range here.
We’ve also tested some instant-style printers, which produce wallet-sized photos in, well, an instant. You might immediately think “Polaroid” here, and while Polaroid is still a big player in this arena, there are other brands offering similar products. These printers are often more based around producing fun prints to stick on your fridge than jaw-dropping quality.
How we tested
We looked at a real cross section of the market, from simpler desktop printers to higher-end models. Ones that do scanning and all that jazz, and straight-up printers. We also looked at A3 and A4 printers. And those aforementioned instant-photo printers. We printed the same photo on all the printers, so we could directly compare, and tried lots of different types of paper in the printers to see how that altered results. We were looking for colour and quality of the print, ease of setup, speed of printing and any extra functions.
The best photo printers for 2023 are:
- Best overall – HP envy inspire 7920e inkjet printer: £139.99, Argos.co.uk
- Best for on the go – Polaroid lab instant printer: £119.99, Polaroid.com
- Best for A3 printing – Canon PIXMA iP8750 colour inkjet printer: £269, Amazon.co.uk
- Best for cost-effective printing – Epson ecotank ET-2850 inkjet printer: £269.99, Currys.co.uk
- Best snapshot printer – Fujifilm instax link wide mobile photo printer: £139, Johnlewis.com
- Best for high-quality – Canon pixma G650 all-in-one wireless printer: £279.99, Canon.co.uk
- Best instant-printing camera – Fujifilm instax mini evo: £174, Currys.co.uk