Amazon Prime Day printer deals are getting low on time and usually, the best discounts come out in the final hours. If you’ve been delaying that home-office upgrade, now is the time to save on workhorse lasers, ink tanks for volume and compact photo-ready inkjets — many of them at or matching their 52-week lows according to price-tracking firms like Keepa and CamelCamelCamel.
Below those attention-grabbing numbers, pay attention to the cost you’re actually going to have to pony up and own: ink or toner price, page yields and features that save time and trees.
Because ISO/IEC page-yield universal standards make apples-to-apples comparisons possible, and the right choice can cut your cost per page to a fraction of what you’re paying now.
Top Prime Day printer picks you will want in your cart
For high-volume home offices, ink tank models like the Epson EcoTank and Canon MegaTank invariably offer the best long-term value. Some ship with the equivalent of thousands of pages’ worth of bottled ink in the box, and Keypoint Intelligence has documented sub–one-cent black-and-white costs for selected tank models. Adrienne also says that if you’re regularly printing out weekly reports, school packets and shipping labels, something with a midrange-size tank — like the ones in an Epson’s ET-3850 or a Canon’s G3270 style or class — is built to pay you back quickly.
If your whole existence is spent in spreadsheets and text docs, a monochrome laser is still the no-fuss choice. Budget standouts like Brother’s HL-L2350DW-class printers are small, fast and usually cost around 2–3c per page on standard toner (cheaper with high-capacity cartridges). I would focus on finding automatic duplexing and a print speed of at least 32 ppm — both things matter more in real life than a slight resolution bump.
Families who seek crisp images and good everyday utility may want to watch for all-in-one inkjets such as Canon’s Pixma TS-series and Epson’s Expression Premium XP-models. Five-ink photo-centric models can extend color fidelity a good bit beyond basic tri-color cartridges, and the best bargains throw in an automatic document feeder for scanning stacks. Editors and photo clubs regularly recommend the XP-7100–like class for snappy family prints at less than lab costs.
Small-business shoppers should comb through office-ready AIOs like HP OfficeJet Pros and Brother INKvestment Tank lines. But then let’s say you should have at least a 250-sheet and preferably articulated 500-page paper capacity, dual-band Wi‑Fi (so it can work on both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radio bands), and an automatic-duplexing 30-sheet ADF. Models such as HP’s 9000-series and Brother’s J1200-series often throw in enterprise-friendly perks — scan-to-cloud shortcuts, solid mobile apps, firmware that IT admins won’t hate.
Inkjet vs laser: how to save more on printing costs
Generally speaking, comparable ink tanks deliver the lowest ongoing cost — sometimes a fraction of 1 cent per black page and probably about 1 or 2 cents for color, depending on brand and paper. And cartridge-based inkjets can run the gamut — maybe 5 cents to 9 cents for black, and 15 cents to 25 cents for color — so any discount that comes with extra high-yield cartridges could change the math. Lasers fall in the middle, offering sharp text, quick output and black-and-white costs that generally run about a few cents per page.
Whatever you decide, check and compare yields against ISO/IEC 24711 (inkjet) or 19752 (mono laser) to ensure a level playing field. Manufacturers include these standards in the specs; if they don’t, that should set off a red flag.
Before you click, check the fine print and terms
Some printers are shipped with “starter” cartridges that print orders of magnitude fewer pages than their retail replacements, sapping your enthusiasm for a cheap doorbuster. Tank printers may come with enough ink for a year or more of moderate use; that’s money you won’t lay out. Read the in-box yield disclosures closely.
Look out for locked ecosystems and subscriptions. HP+, Instant Ink and comparable services can make life easy, but Consumer Reports and other watchdogs suggest getting to know what you’ll be signing up for — on some printers, updates have restricted third-party cartridges. If you want something more flexible, choose models that are widely known to support a wide range of consumables and have clear firmware policies.
And don’t forget build and sustainability indicators. ENERGY STAR and EPEAT indicate reduced power consumption, while duplex printing can reduce waste on multi-page documents by half or more. For families and hybrid workers, that’s more important than headline speed.
How to identify a real deal in the final hours
Cross-check the model number — suffixes like “a,” “e,” or “DW” could denote different duty cycles, trays, or ADF features. A surprisingly low price for a similar-looking model may not include duplex scanning or a second paper drawer. If you’re not sure, consider features designed to save time: ADF with duplex, multiple paper sources and dependable Wi‑Fi.
Search for value bundles: extra ink bottles, high-yield toner or extended warranties can best a little bit cheaper bare-bones price. According to IDC, print is still a vital part of workflow for most small and microbusinesses: You’ll pay a little extra upfront for your ideal configuration, but you won’t find yourself scrambling to pick up supplies at the last minute — at whatever price is prevailing — later on.
The bottom line: deals this great on a time-tested printer don’t last long. If there is a model that fits your page volume, has ISO-verified yields and comes with the features you’ll use on a weekly basis, drop it in your cart before the window closes.
