Printers Tested: The Winners Of The Stiftung Warentest 2020

2023 Author: Sheila Hailey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-26 15:18

• Test winner printer at Stiftung Warentest
• Top model for multiple printers
• Test winner B / W laser printer at Stiftung Warentest
• Buy printers 2020: you should know that

The best printers in 2020: an overview of all test winners

placement	product	price	offer
Stiftung Warentest winner	Epson Expression Photo XP-8600	approx. 176 euros	Epson Expression on Amazon
Top model for multiple printers	Epson Ecotank ET-2750	approx. 272 euros	Epson Ecotank on Amazon
Test winner laser printer (B / W)	HP Laserjet Pro M118dw	approx. 118 euros	HP Laserjet Pro at Cyberport

Printer bestseller on Amazon

Test winner at Stiftung Warentest: Epson Expression Photo XP-8600

Epson Expression Photo XP-8600 3-in-1 A4 printer

Now from € 141.99 at Otto Similar offer at Amazon price can now be higher. Price from 14.05.2020 23:39 h

The Epson Expression Photo XP-8600 can print, scan and copy. It has two paper trays, for normal paper (which it can print on both sides) and photo paper. You can send documents to the device from your smartphone and tablet using an app, or you can use Apple's AirPrint standard.

With a score of 1.9 at Stiftung Warentest, the Expression Photo XP-8600 achieved the best printing result across all devices. The overall grade 2.7 made him the test winner among the models without fax. Not only texts, but also photos are very convincing. The product testers were not very convinced of the copy function, let alone the ink costs: According to their calculations, a text page costs 6 cents, an A4 photo 1.80 euros. If you do not print very much, this device is best used. Because with inkjet printers without expensive cartridges the printing costs are lower (see next model), but the acquisition costs are higher.

Advantages:

• Very good print quality
• Very good quality

Disadvantage:

Printing costs quite high

For multiple printers: Epson Ecotank ET-2750

EPSON EcoTank ET-2750 printer scanner copier

Now from € 277.00 at Cyberport Similar offer at Amazon price can now be higher. Price from 2020-27-07 00:03 a.m.

If you print a lot, choose a model with large ink tanks instead of cartridges. The acquisition costs are then higher for the printer itself, but the printing costs are considerably lower. Stiftung Warentest refers to the test in issue 4/2019 for this device category, specifically to the Epson Ecotank ET-2750. He achieved an overall grade of 2.2, and a printing grade of 2.3. Its printing costs are said to be just 0.2 cents for a text page and 8 cents for an A4 photo. Ink bottles, which according to the manufacturer are enough for 4500 black and white and 7500 color pages, are included.

This model can also print, scan and copy on both sides and supports the common standards for printing from different computers and smartphones via WiFi.

Advantages:

• Low printing costs
• Very good quality

Disadvantage:

Print quality not quite as good

Test winner black and white laser printer: HP Laserjet Pro M118dw

HP LaserJet Pro M118dw b / w laser printer

Now from 116.97 € at Amazon Similar offer at Cyberport price can now be higher. Price from 27.07.2020 00:04 a.m.

The printer should just print - and quickly? Laser printers score at a high speed. The HP LaserJet Pro M118dw was able to position itself at the top of the black-and-white laser printer in test 9/2019 of the Stiftung Warentest, with a mark of 2.5 - whereby the lack of the ability to print color pages led to devaluation. A text page comes at a toner cost of 3 cents. A toner that is sufficient for 1000 pages according to the manufacturer is included.

With duplex printing and a WiFi module for Google Cloud Print, AirPrint and the manufacturer's own HP ePrint, it offers important functions like the inkjet colleagues above. However, he cannot scan and copy.

Advantages:

• Fast printing
• No printhead that dries up quickly as with inkjet printers

Disadvantage:

• Black and white printing only
• Cannot scan and copy

Printer: How it was tested

The latest test winner had to prove itself to the competition in several categories at the Stiftung Warentest. Print quality, water and light resistance accounted for 20 percent of the overall grade, as did the ink costs. Copy and handling were weighted at 15 percent each, scanning, versatility and environmental properties at 10 percent. By the way: In 2020, Stiftung Warentest changed the rating and weighting of individual categories slightly compared to previous tests. The test grades are therefore not entirely comparable.

Buying a printer: you should know that

How can you avoid high color printing costs?

The price difference for A4 photo printing can be enormous: The printing costs can range from a few cents to several euros - for a single page! If you are printing documents with pictures, you should consider buying a printer with large ink tanks (see the Epson Ecotank above). If there are a lot of prints, it can be worthwhile to take out a print subscription that some device manufacturers offer. For example, there is also the Epson Ecotank with two years of unlimited printing, the surcharge is around 180 euros.

If you only rarely want to print out a full-page photo, you don't need an expensive printer with ink tanks: Here, the way to the photo booth in a drugstore makes sense. If there are several pictures, ordering from MediaMarkt is worthwhile - a single page (20x30) only costs 49 cents. And the quality is even better there.

To the MediaMarkt photo service

Better to use laser printers than inkjet printers?

Laser printers generally score with high printing speeds and low operating costs. Those who print little benefit from laser printers in that the ink does not dry out quickly. However, the print result for color pages is usually not as good as for inkjet printers. In addition, laser printers can significantly increase the fine dust pollution in the room. If you have positioned your printer near the desk, you should equip it with a filter and replace it regularly.

Printer bestseller on Amazon

Does it have to be a 3-in-1 printer or is a simple model enough?

3-in-1 or 4-in-1 printers (the latter with fax) are widespread and comparatively cheap. It is therefore not surprising that the top 10 best-selling printers on Amazon are all multi-function devices. But if you hardly ever copy or scan, you don't necessarily need the scan function - see, for example, the above-mentioned laser printer from HP. If you have to copy something, you can take a picture of the document with your smartphone camera and send it to the printer. All printers listed above have a WLAN module and support the print protocols from Google and Apple.