Inkjet printers may be more attractive for their compact bodies and lower initial investment, but a laser printer can save you money over time compared to the cost of replacing ink, especially so if you plan to use the printer less frequently for higher quantities of black-and-white documents like text-heavy reports. Buying extra large ink cartridges in bulk bundles can also help your bottom line. Pro Tip To Reduce Ink Usage: You can save your ink by leaving the printer on between uses to prevent surges that drain faster. Laser printer toner won’t dry up between uses, but it also won’t match the saturation and lifelike images of ink either. Consumer Reports found that intermittent use-a few pages a few times per week-used more ink for routine maintenance than printing in larger batches. Unfortunately ink is used passively for printer maintenance, which means you can find yourself purchasing refills more frequently.

Ink is more expensive than toner cartridges (used by laser printers) but creates undeniably higher-quality images that can smoothly blend gradients. This liquid ink mixes to create photos and documents with richer colors, though it’s more likely to smudge when printing fine text. Inkjet printers use small nozzles to emit liquid black or color ink or dye from cartridges directly to the paper.

But if you churn out text-heavy documents like reports daily, then spending a few more bucks up front on a laser printer will get you much faster print speeds with sharper, fuller text at a lower cost per page. If you don’t print that often or that much, say the occasional school report or photo, save yourself some money and buy a quality inkjet. Inkjet printers are more popular than laser printers for home use because they’re smaller, more affordable, and create richer graphics and color photos.

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