The 9 Best Wide Format Printers
Special Honors
Ricoh This company has a number of industrial-sized flatbed models to choose from. Their performances vary, but at the top end some can print more than 1,000 square feet per hour. ricoh.com
HP Commercial Printers If you're looking for something less consumer-level and more professional-grade, then try browsing through some of the big rigs offered by HP. Their prices are likely to be prohibitive for anybody besides print shops and deep-pocketed businesses that are serious about traditional marketing, but some can print materials as wide as 44 inches. hp.com
Editor's Notes
March 17, 2021:
While most of our previous picks continued to be good choices for this category, we did wind up removing the Epson ET-16500, due to availability issues. Although this model is still listed on the company’s website, we noticed that it’s no longer offered through several third-party vendors, leading us to wonder whether it has been discontinued.
We added the Brother Inkjet MFCJ6945DW to our list – which we thought was a nice option for small businesses, considering its relatively affordable price, two-year limited warranty and integrated fax machine – and also included the Canon imagePROGRAF TA-20 — which can crank out more than 600 square feet of poster per hour. If the 24-inch width of the TA-20 isn’t enough for you, the company also offers a 36-inch version of this one.
Our last new addition was the HP DesignJet T230. We liked this model for its sleek, compact design, but it almost didn’t get included, as the company’s T210 offering looked to be virtually identical, and was offered at a significantly better price. However, a quick conversation with the company helped clear this issue up for us, as they explained that the only real differentiator separating the two was their print speed. While the T210 can turn our 59 D prints per hour, the T230 can do 68. So, for busy offices with high-volume printing practices, paying the extra few bucks to upgrade will well be worth it. But, for individuals and smaller outfits with tight budgets, the T210 is likely to work just fine.
November 16, 2018:
Epson and HP seem to be the only major players still investing in wide format models for consumers, but that seems to be enough competition to keep both companies innovating. The Epson models that feature the company's EcoTank ink system are especially enticing.