Icon: enlarge
Color printer (symbol image): Often not as good as one hopes
Photo: DivVector / Getty Images
No matter how digitally you work and learn, sooner or later almost everyone needs a printer.
This also and especially applies to home offices and homeschooling, for example when students have to print out worksheets or employees have to send reports by post.
And if you already buy a printer, it should be able to print out a few photos or a colorful picture.
Read the
complete test by Stiftung Warentest
including the test table here and browse through the extensive
test database
with more than 160 products.
unlock now
Basically, all of this works with inkjet printers, some of which are available for well under a hundred euros.
Laser printers are more expensive, but also faster and usually better, especially when it comes to text printing.
In addition, the running costs for toner cartridges are often cheaper than those for ink cartridges.
If you want to do more than just print, you can also use the multifunction device that can also scan and copy.
This text contains so-called affiliate links, through which the publisher, but never the author individually, receives a small commission from the dealer for sales.
E-Commerce Commissions: Shop Links on SPIEGEL.de - Questions and Answers
Stiftung Warentest has tested five color laser printers and seven combination devices for home use.
All of them can be integrated into the home network via cable or WLAN.
This is convenient because you can send print jobs to the printer from the sofa.
Most importantly, this way the whole family can use one printer, no matter where it is in the home.
Some of the devices even have a fax function.
That's nice, but in the age of e-mail and chat groups, it is probably a dispensable feature for most users.
No multifunction device is "good"
One printer clearly emerged as the test winner, the Canon i-Sensys LBP623Cdw.
While the testers rated all devices of very good quality for text printing, they only gave the Canon printer a “good” for color prints and at least “satisfactory” for photo prints.
You don't have to pay dearly for this quality.
With a price of 207 euros, this model is in the middle range; its printing costs are the lowest in the test.
The testers also rate the print quality of the Ricoh P C300W as "good" overall, although it is significantly weaker than the Canon model when it comes to color printing.
In terms of multifunctional devices, none of the seven models tested were completely convincing.
In the photo printing category, three HP devices were rated “satisfactory”.
All others were only "sufficient" in these categories.
The Ricoh M C250FWB delivers the best overall - but also the most expensive - prints.
The HP Color Laser MFP 178nwg has been recognized for its copier capabilities - and for its small footprint.
Wait until the printer picks up streaks
The experts at Stiftung Warentest have obviously taken aback in their test routines.
On the one hand, there is the toner level indicator of the Lexmark multifunction device MC3224dwe.
According to the testers' observations, it shows a decreasing supply of color toner even if only printing in black and white.
"Users cannot rely on this ad," says the test report.
With this device you have to print until streaks or gaps in the print image indicate a lack of toner.
The testers are equally amazed at the clear differences in the quality of color prints from Canon's color laser printer compared to the multifunction device tested.
Although both apparently have the same printing mechanism, the color print quality of the pure printer is significantly better than that of the combination device.
The experts suspect the reason in the different software of the two models.
Read
the complete test by Stiftung Warentest,
including the test table, and browse through the extensive test database.
Icon: The mirror
