Having a portable printer with you wherever you are will give you a chance to print any document, whether it is a business trip you are on, or a family vacation at the beach. Since the device is quite compact, it is easy to put in a laptop case or a backpack, so you can print anything at any time at any place. TechTrends put together a list of the best portable printers in 2022. Keep reading to find our which one is best for your needs.
Most of the printers that are portable have a small size and weight less than 5 pounds. In addition, since they have Wi-Fi connectivity as well as an optional battery, these portable mobile printers give you a chance to print even in cases that you are away from an outlet. Some of them have rechargeable batteries as well as car charges in case you are on the road. Notwithstanding the fact that they are small, they still can print full pages so they are functional for when you are not at your office. In addition, some of the models even increased the functionality of these portable devices by adding more exotic technologies such as black-and-white thermal printing, or shifting scanning and copying to another machine, such as a smartphone.
The list below will help you make the best decision among the best portable printers in 2022 out there. Without further ado, let’s get to it. When choosing the best one for yourself, take some key factors into consideration, including portability, battery, function, printing needs and price range.
Best Portable Printers in 2022
In the past, people could only print in the house, at an office, or at the copy place nearby. However, at this day and age, as we live in a modern world, anything can be done on the go, including printing. Whether you need to print pictures or documents, with the use of one of the best portable printers in 2022, it is as easy as it can get. You can connect them to your phone with USB cables, Bluetooth or even Wi-Fi connectivity, and print high-quality pictures, texts, or sometimes postcards. We narrowed down a list of the best portable printers in 2022 that are compact, light, and easy to carry. Here are the best small compact portable printers in 2022:
- HP OfficeJet 250: The best portable printer overall
- Canon Pixma TR150: The best portable printer bargain
- Epson WorkForce EC-C110: The best portable printer for business
- Brother PocketJet 773: The best portable printer for pure mobility
- HP Tango X: A decent portable printer for fast, high-quality prints
1. HP OfficeJet 250
Specifications:
- Printer Type: Inkjet
- Features: Print, copy, scan
- Display: 6-inch color touch screen
- Ink: Two cartridges (black & tri-color)
- Connectivity: USB 2.0, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct
- Cost per page: 9 cents (black), 23 cents (color)
- Cost per page (high-yield): 7 cents (black), 17.3 (color)
- Travel Size (W x D x H): 15 x 7.8 x 3.6
- Travel Weight (with battery): 7 pounds
- Battery life: 225 pages
Maximizing what can be done on the go, HP OfficeJet 250 offers quick scanning and copying as well as printing very fast, with great quality. As one of the best portable printers in 2022, it is a little expensive; however, it has many incredible features in a very small package. One of the most significant payoffs is its touch screen, which is 2.6-inch large, making operation much easier. In addition to that is a 10-page automatic document feeder that is used for scanning and copying. Among all the other printers on the list, this is the only one that does scanning and copying aside from printing. Although the scans might not be as straight as one would imagine, it is good enough for the go.
This printer is able to print text very quickly using the battery power. Six pages of color graphics and text can take about 1:57 to be printed, but the average is 2:27. Moreover, the photo printing is also quick as in order for a 4 x 6-inch glossy photo to be printed, it took 37.6 seconds; if put at the high-quality setting, it takes about 50 seconds. The only other one that somehow close to this printer in that area is the HP Tango X, which takes 1:15. The average time it takes for copying a color page is 28.7 seconds.
However, the black-and-white gets copied in 16 on average. This speed does not sacrifice quality, though, as the printed documents and pictures are high quality and rich and well-saturated, with a lot of details, while the texts are sharp. Scans also appear very accurate and attractive, with lots of details. We highly recommend this as one of the best small compact portable printers in 2022.
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2. Canon Pixma TR150
Specifications:
- Printer Type: Inkjet
- Features: Print
- Display: 4-inch monochrome OLED display
- Ink: Two cartridges (black & tri-color)
- Connectivity: USB 2.0, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct
- Cost per page: 5 cents (black), 14.8 cents (color)
- Cost per page (high-yield): not available
- Travel Size (W x D x H): 7 x 7.3 x 2.6
- Travel Weight (with battery): 1 pounds
- Battery life: 330 pages
The Canon Pixma TR150 is so small that you can carry it in your backpack but it is big enough to print documents and photos from 4×6 to 8.5 x 11. Moreover, it has a two-cartridge system and it has an affordable ink. One of the main features of this portable inkjet printer is its photo printing as it can show very amazing colors and details. In addition, it can print larger pictures, but it does not have the ability to scan or copy. You can move this printer everywhere as it has a built-in battery and it also supports Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. The ability to produce great photos and the fact that its ink cost is quite low makes this one of the best portable printers in 2022.
Although it can be carried in a backpack as it weighs only 4.5 pounds, the printed photos and documents are excellent. Moreover, it cost only $199, which is reasonable for the features it provides. Once opened, it features a larger size, wit 50-page paper tray, a lot of connectivity and a basic control panel. If you want to print a five-page long document, it only takes 38.7 seconds.
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3. Epson WorkForce EC-C110
Specifications:
- Printer Type: Inkjet
- Features: Print
- Display: 4-inch color LCD
- Ink: Two cartridges (black & tri-color)
- Connectivity: Wireless, Wi-Fi Direct
- Cost per page: 8 cents (black), 17.8 cents (color)
- Travel Size (W x D x H): 2 x 6.3 x 2.4 inches
- Travel Weight (with battery): 5 pounds
- Battery life: 100 black-and-white pages / 50 color pages
Among the four models on the list of the best portable printers in 2022 that have a battery, the Epson WorkForce EC-C110 is the cheapest. Business users will find this printer quite pleasing as it is the lightest, with 3.5 pounds of weight. When you lift the lid and lean it back, it becomes a 20-sheet input tray. There is a compact 1.4-inch color LCD with four control buttons, with the prints coming out a slot on the panel’s front. In order to change the setting, configure Wi-Fi or do anything else, you can work with the LCD and push the buttons. You also need to confirm the paper size before you load it every time.
However, the printing speed is slower than the other ones on the list, with a photo printing taking 1:11 at a default setting. If you want to get a higher resolution of printing, then you have to wait for 3:59. In addition, it takes 7 minutes for a snapshot to be printed when it is connected to an iPhone, which is quite slow. However, the quality is not jeopardized as texts are printed looking dark and sharp, while color graphics are natural looking with many details. In addition, glossy photos appear quite attractive when printed. Moreover, in comparison with other portable printers’ average, the cost per page is lower. We highly recommend this as one of the best portable printers in 2022.
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4. Brother PocketJet 773
Specifications:
- Printer Type: Direct thermal
- Features: Print
- Display: None
- Ink: N/A (Uses thermal paper)
- Connectivity: USB 2.0, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct
- Cost per page: 3 cents (black only)
- Travel Size (W x D x H): 10 x 2.2 x 1.2 inches
- Travel Weight (with battery): 1 pounds
- Battery life: 600 pages
Th fourth one on the list of the best portable printers in 2022 is the Brother PocketJet 773, which presents a very convenient method for printing documents in a small package. The smallest and lightest on this list is this printer, but it only prints in black-and-white, with the use of special thermal-reactive paper rather than standard printer paper. However, it does print onto papers for photos. Since it does not use ink cartridges, you shouldn’t be concerned about getting out of ink. It is designed in a way that it is suitable for police patrol car, it uses roll paper as well as fan-folded paper and individual sheets. Among its accessories are cases to put roll paper and fanfold paper in and a cigarette lighter adapter.
While it can print documents from a PC, some parts of the text might seem lumpy around the edges, reminding us of a dot-matrix printer. The quality of text may also be low when printed from an iPhone. Graphics that are in black-and-white appear quite pixelated. In addition, compared with the mobile inkjet printers, this printer might be slower. When printing a six-page text and graphics, it took about 3:46, although it was black-and-white, not color. Furthermore, the cost of paper is not cheap as there is a need for specialty thermal paper, with a hundred of them costing $13.99, or 14 cents per page. Despite the price of this thermal printer being high, for those in need of a printer that generates important documents on the go, without running out of ink, this one is a great choice.
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5. HP Tango X
Specifications:
- Printer Type: Inkjet
- Features: Print (Scan and copy via smartphone app)
- Display: None
- Ink: Two cartridges (black & tri-color)
- Connectivity: Wireless, Wi-Fi Direct
- Cost per page: 5 cents (black), 21.8 cents (color)
- Cost per page (high-yield): 7 cents (black), 18.1 cents (color)
- Travel Size (W x D x H): 3 x 9.7 x 3.6 inches
- Travel Weight: 5 pounds
- Battery life: N/A
The HP Tango X is a compact printer, also known as one of the best portable printers in 2022, that can be used in a home and outside. It is quite light in weight; 7.5 pounds, which makes it a lot less heavy than the first one on the list. However, it does not have a USB port as it is wireless only. While other portable printers have the option of a battery, this one does not have any. There is just one exit slot and no output tray. For making use of this portable printer, you are going to need a PC or a smartphone since it does not have a control panel or a screen. The printing time is also very quick, whether it is a text document or mixed graphics and text, but it is not as fast as the OfficeJet 250.
You do not have to worry about the quality, as it produces reliable and good quality documents and pictures, with many details and sharp edges. Each page costs 8.5 cents on average, but if it is colored page, it takes about 21.8 cents. Since it does not have a battery, the mobile capabilities become limited; however, it is still in the category of portable printers.
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