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Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
Printer reliability is not great across the board and satisfaction is pretty poor, too. The scores were quite similar between the brands for reliability, owner satisfaction and customer service satisfaction, so there's no one brand that we can say is any better or worse than the others.
It's worth noting though that while Brother has the highest reliability score of 81%, it's closely followed by Samsung at 79%. This is a big shift from our last printer survey, when Samsung had the worst reliability score by a wide margin.
Brand | Reliability score (%) | Owner satisfaction score (%) |
---|---|---|
Brother (667) | 81 | 83 |
Samsung (50) | 79 | 79 |
Fuji-Xerox (106) | 76 | 82 |
HP (692) | 75 | 79 |
Canon (829) | 74 | 78 |
Epson (670) | 72 | 79 |
Other (66) | 79 | 86 |
Average (3080) | 76 | 80 |
NOTES: Number in brackets shows the sample size. Reliability scores are based on data from a five-year purchase period, 2015–19. For the reliability scores, differences of 8% or more between brands are significant.
Of the people who bought their printer in the last five years:
Across brands, there were similar gripes. Ink, cartridges and consumables were too expensive or ran out quickly, and issues with wireless connection, setting up and remaining connected were common.
Brand | Service satisfaction score (%) |
---|---|
Canon (70) | 68 |
Epson (79) | 67 |
HP (86) | 67 |
Brother (50) | 66 |
Other (41) | 65 |
Average (326) | 67 |
Laser printer owners are more satisfied than inkjet owners across the board. Inkjet multi-function printers (MFPs) and standard printers were both below average, though inkjet MFPs were not below by a statistically significant amount.
Brand | Reliability score (%) | Owner satisfaction score (%) |
---|---|---|
Laser (B&W) (319) | 84 | 85 |
MFP laser (B&W) (131) | 83 | 84 |
Laser (colour) (134) | 83 | 83 |
MFP laser (colour) (368) | 78 | 83 |
MFP inkjet/photo (1526) | 73 | 79 |
Inkjet colour/photo (577) | 73 | 76 |
Average (3055) | 74 | 80 |
Reliability scores are based on the incidence of problems reported in the last 12 months for products bought no longer than five years ago. Only brands with more than 50 responses are included; brands with fewer responses are pooled into the 'Other' category. The results are weighted to account for age.
Owner satisfaction scores are rated by brand on a scale of 1 (Terrible) to 7 (Excellent), then converted to a score out of 100. At least 50 cases are required for a brand to be included.
Service satisfaction scores are also rated by brand on a scale of 1–7, but only by members who had contacted the brand manufacturer for customer service or support. Ratings are converted to a score out of 100 for brands with a minimum of 50 cases.
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.