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A color inkjet printer should handle school projects, family photos, and work documents without making you dread the cost of replacement cartridges. The real challenge isn’t finding one that prints—it is finding one that prints well and doesn’t drain your wallet on ink month after month.
I’m Mohammad Maruf — the founder and writer behind WellFizz. This guide is built by comparing the manufacturers’ published specifications and the patterns across verified customer reviews, so you get each pick’s real strengths and trade-offs instead of marketing spin.
We looked at print speed, ink economy, connectivity, and real-world reliability across six leading models to tell you which color inkjet printer actually makes sense for your home or small office.
Quick Picks
- Brother INKvestment 1365 Wireless Color Inkjet All-in-One Printer (MFC-J1365DW) — Best Overall
- Brother Work Smart 1410 Wireless Color Inkjet All-in-One Printer (MFC-J1410DW) — Top Performer
- Epson EcoTank ET-2980 Wireless All-in-One Color Supertank Printer — Best Value
- Canon PIXMA TR7120 Wireless Color Inkjet Printer — Compact Pick
- Canon PIXMA TS7720 Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer — Home Photo Star
- HP Envy 6155 Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer — Budget Champion
How To Choose The Best Color Inkjet Printer
Picking the right color inkjet printer means looking past the glossy photos on the box. You need to match the machine to how often you print, what you print, and how much you are willing to spend on refills down the road. The good news is that the specs that actually matter are straightforward once you know what to look for.
Print Speed and Your Daily Flow
Print speed is measured in pages per minute (ppm). The higher the ppm number, the faster you get your prints. A printer running 15 ppm black will finish a ten-page document in about forty seconds, while a 10 ppm model takes a full minute. For casual home use the difference is minor, but for a small office or homework-heavy household, every second counts.
Ink System: Cartridges Versus Tanks
Standard cartridge printers are cheap upfront but expensive long term. Supertank printers, like the Epson EcoTank line, use refillable ink tanks that reduce per-page cost dramatically. If you print more than a few hundred pages a month, the higher purchase price of a tank printer typically pays for itself in ink savings within the first year.
Feeder Features That Save Your Time
An automatic document feeder (ADF) grabs a stack of pages and feeds them through the scanner one by one. This is a big time-saver for copying or scanning multi-page contracts or school packets. Automatic duplex printing flips the page on its own for two-sided printing, cutting your paper usage roughly in half.
Quick Comparison
| Model | Best For | B&W Speed (ppm) | Color Speed (ppm) | Duplex / ADF | Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Epson EcoTank ET-2980 | Low ink cost over time | 15 | 8 | Yes / No | Amazon |
| Brother Work Smart 1410 | Best overall speed & features | 16 | 9 | Yes / Yes | Amazon |
| Brother INKvestment 1365 | High volume from the start | 16 | 9 | Yes / Yes | Amazon |
| Canon PIXMA TR7120 | Compact duplex printing | 14 | 9 | Yes / Yes | Amazon |
| Canon PIXMA TS7720 | Simple home photo prints | 15 | 10 | Yes / No | Amazon |
| HP Envy 6155 | Budget entry-level printing | 10 | 7 | Yes / No | Amazon |
In‑Depth Reviews
1. Brother INKvestment 1365 Wireless Color Inkjet All-in-One Printer (MFC-J1365DW)
You get a 1,200-page black cartridge and 500-page color cartridges right in the box — so you will not need refills for a long time.
If you print regularly and hate buying cartridges every few weeks, this Brother model is built for you. It comes with a 1,200-page yield black cartridge and 500-page cartridges for cyan, yellow, and magenta — that is a solid run of serious printing before you even think about replacements. At 16 pages per minute in black and 9 pages per minute in color, it matches the speedy Brother Work Smart 1410 above for raw output, but the INKvestment name signals what really separates it: the included ink volume keeps your per-page costs lower right from the start.
Buyers report that once it is running, the printer is “spectacularly fast with a stationary print head” and that output quality rivals laser printing. The 1.8-inch color display is noticeably smaller than the 2.7-inch screen on the Brother Work Smart 1410, but it still gives you clear readouts for cloud app connections like Google Drive and Dropbox. The compact 13.5″D x 15.4″W x 7.2″H footprint and front-loading paper tray make it easy to tuck into a tight desk corner.
No printer is perfect, and some owners mention that setup can be tricky — one reviewer noted it “would not connect to computer” even after trying WPS. The initial ink subscription prompts can be aggressive, so just skip past those if you prefer buying cartridges on your own schedule.
What makes it worth it
- High-yield ink included in the box saves money early
- Fast print speeds at 16 ppm black and 9 ppm color
- Automatic duplex printing cuts paper waste
- Compact footprint fits small desks
Watch out for
- Setup can be finicky, especially wireless connection
- Color output lacks intensity according to some buyers
- Only a 20-page ADF, not ideal for big scanning jobs
Your call if: you want a fast, ink-efficient home office machine with low per-page costs right from the start.
Think twice if: you need a large color touchscreen or scan big document stacks frequently.
2. Brother Work Smart 1410 Wireless Color Inkjet All-in-One Printer (MFC-J1410DW)
At 16 pages per minute in black, it prints a 20-page homework packet 45 seconds faster than the HP Envy 6155 — and it includes a 20-sheet automatic feeder for multi-page scans.
At 16 pages per minute in black and 9 pages per minute in color, this Brother is one of the fastest consumer inkjets you will find in its tier. Buyers call it the “fastest color printer owned” and note it stays quiet and reliable even after six months of use with original cartridges. The 2.7-inch color touchscreen is 50 percent larger than the 1.8-inch display on the Brother INKvestment 1365, which makes scrolling through cloud apps and menu settings significantly easier.
Unlike the Brother INKvestment model, the Work Smart 1410 also includes fax capability on top of print, copy, and scan, plus a 20-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF) for multi-page copying and scanning. The 150-sheet paper tray holds enough paper for a busy home office day. A reviewer mentioned that firmware updates can be tough, and a minority of customers note paper jams, so look for a return-friendly seller if you are risk-averse.
The speed and feature set here beats the HP Envy 6155 by a clear margin — 16 ppm black versus 10 ppm black means you get through a day’s tasks 60 percent quicker, and the ADF alone makes it a far better pick for anyone handling multi-page documents.
Best for moderate offices: If you print a mix of documents daily and want a clear touchscreen, solid speed, and fax capabilities, this is the balance.
One real catch: A few buyers had network setup issues that required extra patience, and firmware updates can be finicky.
Pick this for: a balanced all-in-one with strong speed, a large touchscreen, and an ADF for multi-page jobs.
Skip if: fax is irrelevant and you want the absolute lowest per-page ink cost.
3. Epson EcoTank ET-2980 Wireless All-in-One Color Supertank Printer
Three years of ink included — no cartridges, no hassle.
If your biggest frustration with printers is the constant cycle of low-ink warnings and expensive cartridge replacements, the EcoTank ET-2980 changes the game entirely. It comes with enough ink in the box to print up to 6,600 pages in black and 5,500 pages in color, which Epson says covers about three years of typical home printing. Instead of swapping cartridges, you pour ink from EcoFit bottles into supersized tanks — each bottle set is equivalent to roughly 90 individual cartridges.
Print speeds are solid at 15 ppm black and 8 ppm color, close to the Canon PIXMA TS7720’s 15/10 ppm spread. The 2.4-inch color touchscreen helps you navigate settings, and automatic duplex printing is built in. The big trade-off is the upfront cost, which sits at a premium tier compared to cartridge-based models like the HP Envy 6155 — but heavy printers will recover that difference in ink savings fast.
Just know that Epson recommends using only genuine ink, and non-genuine ink could void the warranty. There is no ADF here either, so scanning a stack of pages means doing them one by one.
Why it stands out
- Comes with 3 years of ink in the box — up to 6,600 black pages
- Refillable ink tanks eliminate frequent cartridge swaps
- Low per-page cost keeps long-term spending in check
The downsides
- Higher upfront price than cartridge models
- No automatic document feeder for multi-page scans
- Warranty requires genuine Epson ink
Who it fits: households and home offices that print hundreds of pages every month and want to stop buying cartridges.
Who it does not fit: light users who print a few pages a month and would be better off with a cheaper upfront price.
4. Canon PIXMA TR7120 Wireless Color Inkjet Printer
For the price, this Canon gives you features usually reserved for pricier models: automatic two-sided printing and an Auto Document Feeder for scanning or copying multi-page documents. At 14 ppm black and 9 ppm color, it is a step behind the Brother Work Smart 1410’s 16/9 ppm, but still fast enough for most home and hybrid work needs. The 1.42-inch monochrome OLED display is basic but shows ink levels clearly at a glance.
Reviewers point out that setup is quick and the printer “prints like a printer should print” — refreshingly straightforward. One reviewer printed 500 pages without a single jam, though they noted the starter ink ran out quickly. The 2-cartridge hybrid ink system (pigment black plus color) delivers sharp text and vivid color, and you can print borderless photos up to 8.5″ x 11″.
The small paper tray holds only 50 to 100 sheets, so heavy users will be refilling often. And some buyers flag the ink as expensive, with limited off-brand options because color comes in a single tri-color cartridge.
Perfect for light-to-moderate use: You get duplex, ADF, and good quality in a budget-minded package. Just keep the ink cost in mind if you print heavily.
Reach for this if: you need an ADF and duplex printing at a competitive price, and your print volume is modest.
Look elsewhere if: you print hundreds of pages monthly and need lower long-term ink costs.
5. Canon PIXMA TS7720 Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer
Color prints come out at 10 pages per minute — faster than any other printer here, so photo-heavy school projects and snapshots finish first.
The PIXMA TS7720 stands out for its color speed — 10 ppm is the fastest color output in this roundup, beating the HP Envy 6155’s 7 ppm by a noticeable margin. That makes it a strong choice when you print lots of photos, school projects, or colorful handouts. Black speed sits at 15 ppm, and the 2.7-inch LCD touchscreen makes navigating settings more intuitive than the smaller displays on the Canon PIXMA TR7120 or the Brother INKvestment 1365.
Setup is designed to be fast, and you need only two ink cartridges (one black, one color) to get full color printing. Auto duplex is built in, so two-sided prints are no extra effort. The printer lacks a fax function and an ADF, which keeps the size down but means scanning a stack of pages requires manual work.
Reviewers find the print quality good for the price, though the included starter cartridges run out faster than full retail cartridges would. If your primary need is color-heavy classroom materials or family snapshots, this Canon gives you the best color speed for the money.
What we like
- Fastest color print speed in the group at 10 ppm
- Large 2.7-inch touchscreen makes navigation easy
- Simple two-cartridge system reduces complexity
What to watch for
- No ADF or fax function for multi-page scanning
- Starter ink cartridges run out quickly
- Not ideal for high-volume monochrome document printing
Grab it for: colorful print projects, photos, and a user-friendly touchscreen at an accessible price.
skip it if: you need a fax machine or frequently scan stacks of documents.
6. HP Envy 6155 Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer
At 10 pages per minute in black, it is the slowest printer here — 60 percent slower than the Brother INKvestment 1365 — but the low purchase price suits very occasional use.
If your printing needs are occasional — a school handout here, a recipe there — the Envy 6155 gets the job done without a big upfront hit. At 10 ppm black and 7 ppm color, it is the slowest printer in this lineup, trailing the Brother INKvestment 1365 by 60 percent in black speed. Buyers confirm it is “slow speed” but note that at its price point, the print and copy quality are good, and it “works over WiFi from laptop and iPhone” without fuss.
The 2.4-inch color touchscreen gives a smooth experience model with HP’s app, which handles printing, scanning, and copying from your phone. Auto duplex printing is included, and the 100-sheet input tray covers light household use. HP’s Instant Ink subscription can cut your ink costs if you sign up, but the setup cartridges (about 120 black pages and 75 color pages) will run out quickly if you push it.
One drawback that comes up repeatedly: the ink cartridge insertion mechanism is tricky, and firmware updates can block non-HP cartridges. This is designed to work with original HP chips, so third-party ink is not a reliable option.
Fine for light duty: Good quality on basic documents and photos, but slow speed and potentially high ink costs make it a poor fit for anyone printing more than a few dozen pages a month.
Best for: very low-volume home printing where lowest purchase price matters more than speed or ink economy.
Not for: anyone printing regularly or wanting freedom to use third-party ink cartridges.
Understanding the Specs
Pages Per Minute (ppm)
This number tells you how many pages the printer can produce in one minute of steady printing. A 16 ppm black printer finishes a 10-page document in about 37 seconds, while a 10 ppm model takes a full minute. For occasional use the gap is minor, but if you print multiple documents daily, faster ppm saves you real time waiting at the machine.
Auto Duplex and ADF
Auto duplex means the printer flips the page automatically to print on both sides — you just load paper and hit print. The ADF (automatic document feeder) grabs a stack of pages and feeds them through the scanner one by one, so you can copy or scan a 20-page contract without standing there to swap each page. These two features together are the biggest time-savers a printer can offer.
FAQ
How many pages can I expect from a standard ink cartridge?
Is a color inkjet printer cheaper to run than a laser printer?
Can I print photos with a color inkjet printer?
What does automatic duplex printing mean?
Do I need an Automatic Document Feeder?
How do supertank printers work differently from cartridge printers?
Can I print wirelessly from my phone?
What is the real difference between 10 ppm and 16 ppm black speed?
Should I worry about third-party ink cartridges?
Final Thoughts: The Verdict
Across the board, the best color inkjet printer is the Brother INKvestment 1365 because it combines very fast print speeds, generous included ink, and a compact design at a mid-range price. If you want to eliminate cartridge costs entirely, grab the Epson EcoTank ET-2980 with years of ink included. And for a budget entry that handles basic home printing without fuss, the HP Envy 6155 is a solid low-volume choice.
How We Picked
We do not accept paid placement. Every pick is matched to a real buyer and a real use-case; we do not hands-on test units.
Sources & Methodology
Specifications: manufacturer listings and product documentation. Review insights: verified customer reviews, as of July 2026. Pricing: not shown on this page (it changes often); check the current price via the retailer link.
As an Amazon Associate, WellFizz earns from qualifying purchases. This does not affect which products we feature.
Mo Maruf
I created WellFizz to bridge the gap between vague wellness advice and actionable solutions. My mission is simple: to decode the research and give you practical tools you can actually use.
Beyond the data, I am a passionate traveler. I believe that stepping away from the screen to explore new environments is essential for mental clarity and physical vitality.