10 Best Photo Printers Reviewed

Here are 10 of our favorite printers that excel at creating spectacular prints

Your office printer is great at churning out documents, and your home printer is a jack of all trades, master of none—it prints fine, but your photos don’t have that luster that screams “frame me and put me on the wall.” Thankfully for aspiring paparazzi or those simply hoping to fill family picture albums with timeless portraits, here are 10 of our favorite printers that excel at creating spectacular prints. We’re not talking super-expensive, professional photo printers either: Just great models that produce photos as good as, or in some cases better than, your local Eckerd or Walgreens…

Epson Artisan 700, $200

With its sexy piano black finish, this printer’s looks are a sign of great things to come when it actually starts churning out your memories. It’s a step down from its more-expensive brother, the Artisan 800, which simply has more features. For your everyday photo needs, however, the 700 creates vivid prints that won’t smudge, get scratched, and are water- and fade-resistant. This means, according to Epson, they will last four times longer than lab prints. The Artisan 700 excels at printing photos fast as well: 4×6 or 5×7 prints take as little as one minute, while 8×10s take around three minutes when printed on premium paper at best quality. There are two paper trays, meaning you can hold regular paper and photo paper in the printer at the same time so you don’t have to constantly switch out your paper stock too. (There is also a tray hidden inside the printer for printing directly onto CDs or DVDs.) And, like many good photo printers these days, you don’t need a computer—you can pop your memory card directly into the printer and preview and edit your photos right on the device’s LCD display. PictBridge support lets you connect your camera and print from it, as well. Plus, with its Wi-FI and Ethernet networking capabilities, all computers can print to just one printer. What really matters, however, is image quality, and photos from the 700 are ultimately bright, clear and detailed.

Canon PIXMA iP4600, $100

It’s no surprise that photography experts Canon made it onto our top printers list a couple of times. The manufacturer’s new iP4600 is incredibly easy to use, produces smashing photos, and is a steal at only $100. You can print photos directly from your camera and edit them through the printer itself, fixing demon eyes, evening out facial tones, and optimizing brightness, contrast, and color saturation. Two photo trays means you don’t have to swap out paper to print photos or documents either. What makes these prints special though is the fact that Canon has reformulated its inks, improving the longevity of photos and making them even more vibrant and breathtaking. Photos from the iP4600 are definitely worthy of framing and hanging on your wall.

Polaroid Pogo, $150

So you aren’t a photo enthusiast, but you do have a camera phone and take some pretty fine snapshots if you do say so yourself: You’re in luck. Polaroid recently announced their new Pogo Instant Mobile Printer that, incredibly, uses no ink. Instead, the printer uses thermal printing technology from Zink (zero ink). This allows the printer to have a very small form factor and weigh only 8 ounces: It fits in the palm of your hand. The printer produces equally diminutive prints (only 2×3 inches) that can be transferred from your phone via USB or Bluetooth. While print quality is just so-so and producing photos on it proves a pricey endeavor, it’s still a fun little tagalong.

HP Photosmart B8550, $299

This printer is a little more expensive than some of the other models in our roundup, but it also produces photos up to 13×19 inches. Until relatively recently, printers that were able to print photos this size were going for as much as $600, so the B8550 is actually a bargain. 11×14s from the unit look incredible, with eye-catching colors and none of the dullness you get with lesser all-in-one printers. As is de rigueur in the world of photo printers these days, you can print right from your USB stick, memory card, or camera too, and an LCD screen lets you preview photos before printing. Two photo trays further ensure you don’t have to swap out paper stock when switching between photo and regular print jobs. If you’re looking for larger than average, high-quality prints, this champ is worth a look.

Kodak ESP 9, $300

Kodak’s ESP9 is another pricier model in our lineup, but it holds the promise of low cost per page—which makes the extra money you’ll spend a bit more palatable. Prints cost 2.3 cents per monochrome image and 6.9 cents per color page, according to Kodak. Like other models we’ve featured, you can print directly from your camera thanks to PictBridge, as well as memory cards and USBs, and there is an LCD for previewing photos before you hit print. Here, again, two paper trays let you switch between document and photo printing without changing paper stock. The ESP 9 is speedy with photos, with 4×6s appearing in less than a minute and 8×10s under two minutes. Of course, we wouldn’t include any model that didn’t produce fine-looking prints, and the ESP 9 is no exception. To wit, 8×10s looked especially wonderful, with a sharpness and clarity that rivals pro lab prints.

Epson PictureMate Dash, $150

Our printer posse wouldn’t be complete without some of the truly dedicated photo printers on the market, and you really can’t go wrong with Epson’s PictureMate Dash. Although it’s a little cumbersome, with the battery option (an extra 50 bones) the Dash is totally portable at just over 5 pounds, letting you spit out prints on the scene—a great party trick. And it does so with great speed and agility, churning out 4×6 prints in less than 45 seconds. The printer features a nice, relatively large, tiltable 3.6-inch LCD screen. You can edit photos from the printer’s front panel as well. But what you’ll really have fun with is the printer’s great images. You’ll spend hours printing out photos and watching them come to life with incredible detail.

Canon Pixma MP980, $300

The Canon Pixma MP980 has all the standard features you’ve come to expect from a good photo printer: It prints directly from your camera or memory card, lets you preview photos on the LCD display, etc. What you are really getting with the MP980, however, are top-notch pro-quality prints. Black-and-white photos are crisp and clean, while color prints will do your memories justice: They are frame-worthy to be sure. According to Canon, your prints will last for 30 years behind glass. And, as an added bonus, the printer can scan and print your old slides.

HP A826 Home Photo Center, $250

We love this printer as much for its interesting looks as for the fine photos it creates. First off, it has a 7-inch LCD touch screen and stylus that let you scroll through, select, preview, and edit your photos in a larger format and with more convenience than with most other printers. It offers photos up to 5×7 inches and prints from PictBridge cameras, USBs, and memory cards. The “Get Creative” option also lets you do interesting things to your images, like draw on them. But that’s all gravy. What you’ll really love about this dedicated photo printer are its consistently beautiful images. From sports shots to portraits to landscapes, you’ll get a gorgeous image every time.

Sony PictureStation DPP-FP90, $200

This portable dye-sublimation printer is small in stature (only 2.6 pounds), but big on quality. It’s a great travel companion, accepting memory cards and USB sticks, plus cameras with PictBridge compatibility. Users can preview photos on the 3.6-inch LCD screen and print a 4×6 snapshot in less than 45 seconds. Auto Touch-up will automatically correct your images too, fixing things like red eye and exposure. Prints from the DPP-FP90 are durable, bright, and pack a lot of punch. Definitely check the Sony out if you are looking for a compact printer that produces excellent shots.

Lexmark X7675, $200

This printer is not only a great all-in-one model – it’s an excellent photo printer as well. Standard features include PictBridge compatibility and the ability to print from a memory card or USB drive. In tests, 4800×2400 dpi prints looks flawless from the X7675, and you can also print photos in several different sizes. The company’s Productivity Studio and Imaging Studio software further let you auto-edit and crop photos as well. Plus, you can print from anywhere with the printer’s Wi-Fi connection. Translation: This one’s up there with the Canon MP980 and Epson Artisan models – and it’s $100 cheaper to boot!