Best printers of 2014 at any price

Thinking of buying a printer as a gift for a friend or a family member? Or maybe you just need one for yourself. Consumer Reports has more than 110 models in our Ratings to choose from. Most people these days choose an all-in-one inkjet that can scan, copy, and fax in addition to printing—and we've picked one of Consumer Reports' top models in that category. But if you need raw speed for a small business, a laser printer is a better choice, and we've suggested top-performing color and black-and-white laser models, as well. Whatever your needs, one of these machines should do the job: They're among the best printers of 2014.

—Terry Sullivan

All-in-one inkjet: Canon Pixma MG5620 ($70)

This wireless Pixma is one of just a few all-in-one inkjets that can print both excellent quality photos and excellent pages of text. Plus, it does both very quickly, which is important when you want to get your holiday photos ready to show by New Year's. It also gives you a number of options for cloud-based printing when used in conjunction with Canon's printing mobile app.

For more on printers, check out our buying guide.

B&W all-in-one laser: HP LaserJet Pro 400 MFP M425dn ($400)

It's big, somewhat pricey, and doesn't print in color, but this black-and-white laser prints out pages of text faster than most in its class: 20 pages per minute. Plus, it's very economical. Each page only costs 2.3 cents per page, which is cheaper than most of its competitors. It has some convenient extras too, like a second paper tray.

Color all-in-one laser: Dell C2665dnf ($300)

This all-in-one color laser is large and a bit pricey, but it offers a lot. It does an excellent job at printing pages of text, and a decent job at printing out photos. Plus, it takes care of both very quickly. It's also excellent at producing graphics and copying. It has some useful extras as well, including an auto feeder that lets you scan or copy a stack of pages and includes an auto duplexing, so you can print both sides of a page with no loss of quality.