Compare the Best Photo PrintersNovember 2018

Photo printers are a subsection of standard printers, specifically designed for printing photos taken from digital cameras. While most devices can still be used to print standard black & white documents, their real strength lies in their ability to print high-quality photos, posters and prints, with a colour depth and resolution far higher than most inkjet or laser printer. In this guide we will outline the main considerations when choosing a photo printer, allowing you to decide on the best model for your needs.

Cost

First up, cost. Photo printers are specialist peripherals, and the inks and components used are far higher quality than most other printers. Because of this, photo printers are generally far more expensive than a comparable inkjet or laser printer.

Therefore in order to get the best value for money from a photo printer, you should be using it frequently specifically to print photos. Otherwise, you may gain more value from buying a high-quality inkjet or colour laser jet printer (which can still print photos, just not at such a high resolution), and using the services of a copy shop or print kiosk if you want to print especially high-quality photos.

Resolution & Colour Depth

Photo printers are largely defined by the resolution and colour depth they are able to print at. Resolution is measured in dots per inch (dpi) and governs how detailed the resulting print is, especially when photos are blown up to larger sizes than they were originally taken at. If the printer has a low supported resolution, then the prints may look blurry or out of focus, whereas extremely high resolution photos (for instance, those with a DPI of 3,000 and above) will continue to look sharp and full of detail even when blown up to poster-sized prints.

Colour depth is a measure of the colours the printer can produce - a higher colour depth means a greater visual fidelity between the print and the original photo.

With both of these attributes, higher values lead to a better overall print output. However they also usually come with increased price, so you should balance the quality you design from your prints against your budget. Most of our photo printers have a detailed breakdown of these attributes, allowing you to choose more intelligently.

Paper Sizes

The other defining factor of a photo printer is the supported print size. Some photo printers are the size of standard inkjet or laser printers, and can print up to A4 size. Others are much smaller, and can only print dedicated photo sizes (e.g - 4 x 6, 5 x 7 or 10 x 4 inches). These ‘small format’ photo printers are generally cheaper and more portable, but are incapable of printing large photos.

On the other end of the scale, some photo printers are much larger, and come with the ability to print at A3 scale or even larger. These printers usually come equipped with a very high resolution & graphical fidelity… and a price tag to match. These models will most likely only be of interest to professional photographers or serious hobbyists.

Connectivity

While most photo printers work via a USB connection with your computer, several more advanced models have increased connectivity options. These can include:

Photo Printer Prices

In total we found 39 photo printers ranging from £29 to £499. The average price of a new photo printer is £180 and 80% of photo printers are priced between £50 and £450. The Canon iP2850 is the cheapest photo printer at only £30, and OKI C831n is the most expensive at £499.

Photo Printer Brands - Price Range

The highest average photo printer price out of all brands is OKI photo printers with an average price of £499. OKI photo printers range in price from £499 to £499.

Epson photo printers start at £38 and their most expensive photo printer costs £450. The second highest average photo printer price out of all brands is Epson photo printers with an average price of £207.

The third highest average photo printer price out of all brands is Canon photo printers with an average price of £197. Canon photo printers start at £30 and their most expensive photo printer costs £489.

Photo Printer Brands - Average Ratings

We have analysed 437 expert reviews and 7,285 user reviews for photo printers and used this data to determine the average rating for each brand of photo printer.

Biggest Photo Printer Retailers

We found 38 current offers for photo printers from Amazon UK making it the biggest photo printer retailer. That is slightly bigger than the second biggest retailer, eBay for whom we found 34 current offers for photo printers. The third biggest retailer is Ebuyer with 14 current photo printer offers.

When Are Most New Photo Printers Released?

We couldn't see any evident pattern in the release dates for new photo printers over the last 3 years. The biggest month last year for new photo printer releases was June, with three new photo printers released that month. In 2016 most new photo printers were released in September, with six new photo printers released that month. January was the biggest month in 2015 for new photo printers, with six new photo printers released that month.

How Fast Do Photo Printer Prices Drop After Release?

On average, in the first 6 months after release, photo printers drop in price by 1%. If you are prepared to wait then you could save an average of £1 on a typical £180 new photo printer by waiting 6 months before buying.

Maximum Resolutions

'Maximum Resolution' indicates the largest image resolution (detail level) that the photo printer is capable of printing at.

We found 9 photo printers that are 4800 x 1200 DPI photo printers, which makes 4800 x 1200 DPI the most common maximum resolution amongst new photo printers. 300 x 300 DPI is the second most common maximum resolution amongst new photo printers. We found 9 photo printers that are 300 x 300 DPI photo printers.

Maximum Print Sizes

'Maximum Print Size' is the largest possible size paper that the printer is capable of printing onto. Larger sizes mean that the photo printer is more versatile, and can handle different print jobs.

Amongst new photo printers, the most common maximum print size is A4 / Letter. We found 12 photo printers that are photo printers that have an A4 / Letter max print size. The second most frequently found maximum print size amongst new photo printers is A6. We found 9 photo printers that are photo printers that have an A6 max print size.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Photo Printers?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying photo printers. For each retailer it shows the total number of photo printers where they currently have a market leading price. The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying photo printers. For each retailer we took all of their prices and looked at what proportion of those prices where the cheapest on the market. The cheapest retailer that we found was eBay. 23 of their photo printer prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.

Proportion of Photo Printers for Which Each Retailer is Cheapest?

Assessing how cheap each retailer is for photo printers by counting the number of cheapest prices for that retailer, makes the retailers that offer the greatest number of photo printer prices more likely to offer the greatest number of cheapest prices. The chart below considers the proportion of each retailer's photo printer prices that are the cheapest compared to other retailers. The cheapest retailer that we found using this approach was eBay. 67.6% of their photo printer prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.