Most and Least Reliable Printer Brands

Laser and inkjet printers work differently from each other, and come with distinct pros and cons. Instead of using ink, laser printers pick up powdered "toner" on a roller and fuse it to the paper with heat. Laser printers tend to be larger and are often more expensive up front than inkjets, but they have distinct advantages.

Toner cartridges don’t dry up like ink cartridges do, which means many people wind up spending less money on replacements. These printers don’t have ink nozzles, so clogs aren’t a problem. And while most inkjets use ink just to keep the nozzle clean, laser printers don’t waste toner on maintenance cycles. They also happen to churn out pages of text much faster, generally with sharper, clearer quality.

You can choose between black-and-white and color laser printers, and then between all-in-one models and single-function printers. Consumer Reports has reliability data for each of those four categories. 

Printers that use inkjet cartridges are the most popular among CR members, making up 60 percent of the units in our study. They’re versatile and typically far better at printing photos than laser printers. And they tend to be cheaper to buy.

The bad news is that in general, inkjet printers are less reliable than laser printers, which is why we advise consumers to consider laser printers. None of the inkjet brands in our survey merit a high reliability rating. The large majority of inkjets use cartridges, which are very expensive—but that’s not a problem with tank, or reservoir, printers.

Below, we’ll break down the most reliable brands for each type of printer, and highlight some of the best models from CR’s printer ratings.

Brother, Canon, HP, Lexmark, and Xerox make up the five laser printer brands represented in CR’s surveys and testing labs. This is the first year we’ve included Xerox; previously, there was not enough data available to determine a reliability score.