4 Best Printers for Students in the UK

A student's life revolves around printing dozens and dozens of documents. Be it assignments to PowerPoint presentations and notes, you can always find a student foraging for a printout. And if you outsource this task to a (paid) third-party vendor, the costs will eventually start to stack up. If you are looking for a long-term solution, then you must have thought about investing in a printer. There are plenty of printers out there, and in this post, we will help you pick one of the best printers for students.

Most of these are inkjet printers and will help you get your work done seamlessly. Do note that if you are planning to mostly print monochrome documents, a laser printer turns out to be a clever buy.

So before we get to the best printers for students, let's check out the difference between laser printers and (All-in-one) AIO inkjet printers for students. But first,

Let's talk about the primary difference between a laser printer and an inkjet printer. As you may already know, an inkjet printer relies on ink, whereas a laser printer uses a toner to churn out prints. An inkjet printer is a perfect pick for you if you plan to print photos, text documents, or graphics-laden pages. A laser printer, on the other hand, is more apt for printing just monochrome pages.

At the end of the day, you’ll also have to factor in the upfront cost associated with these printers. Laser printers are usually more expensive than their inkjet counterparts. That said, the print-per-page rate of laser printers is much less when compared to their inkjet counterparts.

Hence, you will have to calculate the approximate number of sheets that you will print along with the type. And, this should help you in deciding the right type of printer for you.

With that settled, let's check out some of the best printers for college students.

Buy

If you are looking for a basic printer to print documents every once in a while, then the Canon PIXMA TS3450 is the perfect printer for you. The device is a basic inkjet printer and can get you through simple print jobs with ease. It has a fairly modern design, and the small footprint ensures that you can position it easily on your study desk.

Setting it up is a breeze, and the Wi-Fi connectivity means you can print your documents directly from your phone. Plus, the USB connection simplifies the process of printing documents from your laptop. Canon advertises a speed of 7.7ipm (images per minute) and quite a few users have pointed out that they are satisfied with the speed.

Note that it can't print professional-level photos, even though Canon advertises it as being a document & photo printer. More notably, the printer doesn't come with an auto-duplex feature. As such, if you want to print both sides of a sheet, you will have to do so manually.

All things considered, if you want to save money and want a fairly basic printer, the Canon PIXMA TS3450 is a decent pick. The icing on the cake is that Canon ships ink with the printer too.

Buy

The Epson WorkForce WF-3820 is yet another printer for college students. It costs almost twice as much as Canon's offering. That said, it brings an exciting set of features to the table. More importantly, it's reliable and should get you through your college years efficiently. Compared to the Canon Pixma prefaced above, it bundles a few more connectivity options, and you can connect to your smartphone, laptop, and tablet, among others.

It even prints fast and has a somewhat compact form factor. To wit, the device is rated at 21 ppm for black and white printouts and the folks at PC Mag could get the advertised printing speeds. Great, right? At the same time, the multiple connectivity options, including USB and Wi-Fi Direct let you get about your printing jobs with ease. Finally, the printing quality is precise.

The 25-sheet paper tray is discrete, and you can rest assured that your paper will not collect dust when not in use.

Ultimately, the Epson WorkForce WF-3820 is a mid-range printer. Correspondingly, it lacks some premium features like ADF. What's more, since it's primarily aimed at small businesses and home offices, the cost of ink can run a bit high, especially for college students. That said, if you want a reliable printer with low upfront cost (and if your stream involves a lot of printouts), then this one proves to be a good printer for students in the UK.

Alternatively, you can check out the Brother MFC-J497DW Inkjet printer too.

Buy

HP has made a good name in the printer space for its huge range of printers, and the HP OfficeJet Pro 9012e is one of the most reliable color inkjet printers you can get at an affordable price range. It comes with an Instant Ink feature wherein, the printer sends an automatic message requesting more ink cartridges when it detects low ink. Like its counterpart above, it comes with USB, Ethernet, and Fax connectivity.

Do note that the HP OfficeJet Pro 9012e is a wired printer. While you lose out on wireless printing, it should be stated that the device delivers quality prints. And the coloured touchscreen at the top allows you to go through tasks seamlessly.

One of the major strengths of the HP OfficeJet Pro 9012 printer, especially for students, is its scanning ability. The scans are great in terms of quality and color reproduction. Moreover, the copy function can take anything you throw at it. For instance, it can deliver 99 duplicates in a single run.

Again, the printing speed is not one of 9012e's biggest strengths, and you will have to be patient when printing a bunch of documents. On the upside, the running cost of this printer is quite competitive.

Buy

The last printer on our list is a laser printer by Brother. Needless to say, the Brother DCP-L2530DW is a little more expensive than its counterparts above. However, it's the perfect pick for you if you are all about black-and-white printing. Plus, the all-in-one feature means you can scan and photocopy with ease. More notably, its compact and small footprint should easily find a place on your desks.

Apart from high-quality prints, you get a host of premium features like double duplex printing, LCD screen, and wireless connectivity. The latter means you can invoke a printout directly from your phone. Now, as prefaced previously, the L2530DW laser printer is a tad expensive, but you will save money while printing. More importantly, the device can be set up in a jiffy and you need not subscribe to any ink programs either.

To no one's surprise, the Brother DCP-L2530DW laser printer is quite popular on Amazon UK and the device has amassed over 8,000 user ratings. People love that it ships with ink, has an easy setup process, and more importantly, the print quality is great.

Suffice it to say, the Brother DCP-L2530DW offers the best bang for your buck and is one of the best printers for college students in the UK.

Apart from the ones above, there are tens and dozens of affordable printers out there. However, it's worth noting that you may eventually end up spending more if you buy cheap printers. Either the print quality is not at par or the ink dries up, thereby spoiling the printer altogether. So, we recommend coughing up a bit extra to reap benefits down the line.

Last updated on 30 March, 2023

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Namrata loves writing about products and gadgets. She has been working for Guiding Tech since 2017 and has around five years of experience writing features, how-tos, buying guides, and explainers. Previously she worked as an IT Analyst at TCS, but she found her calling elsewhere.