When choosing a printer, you’ll see options are flooding. From various single to multifunctional inkjet to laser printers, you’ll just get lost in the crowd. Many of them claim to be the cheaper solutions while others are pricy, yet they could be useful for what you pay.
However, when you’re conscious about efficient ink uses, you might be wondering which printer uses less ink?
Well, that’s a hard nut to crack!
And today, we’ll cover some of the high-quality and most popular models that use less ink. More importantly, discuss what factors will affect the ink uses. So we hope to make you a little more confident in choosing your best match!
What Factors Affect Ink Uses of a Printer?
There’re a lot of things to consider about an ink-efficient printer. But many people would let them fall by the wayside unconsciously. It’s sometimes mainly because of the cheap price tag. So, they just look at the cost and jump into that.
But with the cheapest options, cost-saving and quality printing with high page yield isn’t always guaranteed. That’s why we’ve laid some important criteria that affect the uses of ink in a printer. So make sure you criticize your choice with these factors.
And those are as follows;
Page Yield
It defines the number of pages that can be printed by a cartridge. This is defined by the manufacturer and it's a variable term. So, depending on the cartridge type, page yield can vary a lot. In fine, higher page yield means a printer uses less ink.
Ink Usability
While some printers are specified for dye-based, some use both dye and pigment-based inks. With the versatile option, you get the way a little more expanded towards the goal. And you can choose between the two options to perform your expected printing jobs easily.
So this will come as a great advantage which reduces the agony. Alongside, both color and black ink cartridges should be supported for versatility.
Ink Availability
You'll see many times people are complaining about ink availability of a particular model they own. This is very crucial and boring when companies specify printers with their inks. Hence, you wouldn't be able to use any third-party cartridges.
And if the cartridges are pricy, this adds the next level of frustration! So you’re kind of trapped into buying pricy cartridges each time. But, the other side of the pond might be better with one that has great ink availability.
Ink Price
You might have come across a lot of stylish yet cheap inkjet printers that are advertised as incredibly versatile. For instance, you can copy, print, scan, or fax as needed. Yet, choosing one by just considering its look and cost isn’t always a good practice.
One important thing you should keep in mind that the cheapest devices could be a giant ink consumer sometimes. Some companies would make their profits from inks rather than printers. It’s like the price of cartridges will sometimes cross the rate of a new printer.
So PLEASE NOTE, check the refilling expenditure for the future. And the cost per page is determined by dividing page yield by the price of the cartridge.
Inkjet vs. Laser: Which Printer Uses Less Ink?
So, which printer uses less ink inkjet, or laser? In this segment, we’ll talk about the differences between laser and inkjet and their efficiency;
Inkjet Printer
These are most commonly multipurpose. You aren’t only printing, but also scan, copy, or even fax documents very easily. So they are highly versatile and compact, thus saving space and allowing you to replace several other machines.
And you’ll need ink cartridges filled to operate the printer. It could be either dye-based or pigment-based or even both. And you can print important office documents to any bright-looking colorful images or photos.
So for small-scale image-based documents printing that needs to focus on graphics, this is the best option with the type of inks you'll need.
Laser Printer
These devices don’t use ink; it’s rather toner cartridges that are typically more pricy. However, being expensive they last for a long time. And, provided the large-scale jobs are handled very well in comparison to inkjets. It’s also worth mentioning that the printing speed is much faster as well.
So if you're printing lots of text-based documents daily and wanted to save on inks, laser printers would be a great choice. You can print lots of pages compared to an inkjet. Although the upfront cost might seem to be more than inkjets, laser printers use less ink in the long run, indeed.
So, that’s it and hopefully, the battle of Inkjet vs. laser printer about ink uses has ended up in your mind!
A Few Printer Models That Use Less Ink
A printer is defined to be ink efficient based on its performance that depends on a few criteria. We've already discussed those in the previous sections. Now, it's time to explore some popular models that use less ink.
And those are;
1. HP OfficeJet Pro 8025
This HP OfficeJet Pro 8025 is highly versatile that allows you to print, copy, or even scan documents wisely. It enhances your productivity, thus allowing you to save up to 50% on ink very efficiently. So the cost will be pretty much affordable and it makes all your printing jobs like a piece of cake!
2. Epson ET-2750
ET-2750 is an incredible printer, widely known for its ink-saving properties. For the most part, it doesn’t have cartridges; rather it has 4 refillable reservoir tanks. So you can store a decent amount of ink to serve you for about 2-year at no hassle.
To give you an idea, with the tanks filled, it’s possible to print about 6,500 black and 5,200 color pages. As you can see, it has a high page yield allowing you to save up to 80% on your regular expenditures.
3. MFC-J805DW
This model is introduced by the famous brand, BROTHER. And we like the incredible engineering that makes it stand among the list of printers that uses less ink.
The cartridges are engineered with a high volume capacity to hold more ink. Best of all, you’ll get supply for 1-year. So you get a higher page yield to get cost-saving and flawless printing for the year.
4. Canon G7020
In our findings, this is the last printer on our list that uses less ink. This is made by CANON (G7020), assuring you’re getting a quality device from a reputed manufacturer.
The best part is that it has an extraordinary ink volume capacity. Guess what? For any color printings, the cost can be as low as 1 cent per page. Likewise, black page printing costs can be as low as 0.3 cents. So that's highly a cost-effective solution for any home or office printing needs.
Conclusion
As you can see that based on a certain type, there will be some specific benefits. So choosing your perfect device is mainly depended on your personal needs and requirements. So you'll have to define that first.
And we’ve discussed the most things on it to help you make a wise selection. Hopefully, that sheds a little light on the ink uses of printers.