1. Best overall
2. Best overall
3. Best SMB
4. Best hi-res
5. Best secure
6. Best compact secure
7. Best performance
8. Best feature-rich
9. Best Miniature MFD
10. Best enterprise
11. How to choose
12. How we test
Discovering the best workgroup printer is a crucial endeavor for businesses aiming to enhance their office efficiency and workflow. Workgroup printers are indispensable in bustling office environments where multiple computers need access to printing capabilities throughout the day. Unlike the best printers that may struggle with multiple connections, the best workgroup printers are designed to effortlessly manage a high volume of print jobs, thanks to their advanced onboard memory and processing power.
Our top selections in the workgroup printer category excel not only in handling an extensive queue of print jobs with ease but also in delivering consistent, high-quality output even under the strain of demanding workloads. Equipped with ample RAM and the best processors, they are capable of sustaining peak performance throughout the day. Additionally, their capacity to churn out a significant volume of documents monthly, rapid print speeds, large paper trays, and exceptional print quality make them an ideal choice for dynamic and growing offices.
Moreover, connectivity is a key feature of the best workgroup printers, with options for both Ethernet and Wi-Fi printer connections, providing the versatility needed for seamless integration into any office setup. In our comprehensive review process, we evaluated numerous printers on aspects such as print speed, paper capacity, operational costs, wireless connectivity, print quality, security features, user interface, and overall value. Dive into our guide to find the best workgroup printer that meets the demanding needs of today's offices, and utilize our price comparison tool to secure the best deal for your business.
The best workgroup printer in 2024
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Below you'll find full write-ups for each of the best workgroup printer options in our list. We've tested each one extensively, so you can be sure that our recommendations can be trusted.
The best workgroup printer overall
With a print speed of 55 pages per minute and room for a whole ream of paper on board, this compact device can keep a large work group printing continuously. While the initial outlay for this monochrome device is high, its running costs are impressively low, so you should find you save money in the long run. Although it only prints in black and white, the print quality is superb and the combined paper capacity is 700 sheets.
It is larger, noisier, and heavier than the HL-L5100DN, making it suitable for a busy SMB. Although it's compact enough to fit on a desk, it's quite heavy at 22.3kg.
There is a luxurious five-inch folding color touchscreen display that presents the printer's functions as apps, as seen on smartphones.
Read our full Xerox VersaLink B600DN review.
The best compact workgroup printer overall
This compact multifunction laser printer is a rugged and hardworking device. With its steel frame construction and robust security features, it would serve well as a shared workgroup printer in a small, but busy office.
It might lack the more refined features such as duplex scanning or an NFC module, but it does have a touchscreen interface which will reduce the time spent standing in front of it. Connectivity options include 1 x Ethernet port, 1 x USB host port, Wi-Fi, and Wi-Fi Direct. The printer supports Apple AirPrint and an iOS and Android app called Lexmark Print.
More importantly, it prints quickly and very well at high volumes. Lexmark suggests a maximum monthly duty cycle of 50,000 pages. It is not especially cheap to buy, or run, but we found the Lexmark MC3326i to be a very reliable workhorse.
Read the full Lexmark MC3326i review.
The best SMB workgroup printer
Who says a workgroup printer has to be big and bulky? The Brother HL-L5100DN is a compact printer, but don't be put off – this little workgroup printer can handle plenty of jobs, with a high print speed and large paper capacity.
It can hold 300 A4 sheets in its two in-trays and 150 sheets in the out tray. The LCD panel is just a tiny one-liner and it's hard to read at a glance because it's pretty reflective.
It does lack some features, however, such as Wi-Fi, so you'll need to make sure you can plug it in to your wired network. But for small offices where space is a premium, this is one of the best workgroup printers you can buy – and it's pretty cheap to run as well!
Read our full Brother HL-L5100DN review.
The best hi-res workgroup printer overall
Kyocera’s ECOSYS products are invariably well-built using components that are designed to last and that’s essential for a workgroup printer that could be printing flat out on a shared network.
The Kyocera ECOSYS P2040dw is a fairly compact desktop design, with room for 250 sheets of A4 paper in its main tray and enough toner in the box to print 3,600 pages. It prints quickly at 40 pages per minute, and it can do so at a higher resolution than most mono laser printers. Since it's an LED laser printer, there are fewer moving parts inside, and Kyocera claims that makes these products last longer.
There’s no touchscreen interface, sadly, but in all other respects, this modest laser printer punches well above its weight and would suit any busy SMB (small and medium-sized business).
Read our full Kyocera ECOSYS P2040dw review.
The best secure workgroup printer
As the Enterprise in the model mane suggests, this print-only device is aimed at the office, and in many ways it is the ideal workgroup printer. It’s a laser, so it prints quickly (up to 38ppm in black and white) and efficiently.
It has some of the strongest security features of any printer and it has a large tilting touchscreen interface to minimize the time spent managing jobs at the printer. It has both dual-band Wi-Fi and an Ethernet port for networking with multiple computers and there’s room for a reasonable amount of paper.
If 250-sheets isn’t enough, you can always expand on that by adding optional paper tray units as your company grows. It even has an NFC module built in so that individual users can pull down sensitive print jobs using their own NFC device.
The best compact, secure workgroup printer overall
The Ricoh SP 3710DN is compact, but feature-rich laser printer that’s well suited to a small business with high volume print demands. There’s plenty of room for paper in the main tray and enough toner for 7,000 pages, so it will keep printing with minimal downtime.
The print rate is fast at 32 pages per minute, which will suit a shared office situation. It also prints securely with a feature called Locked Print holding sensitive print jobs until you authenticate at the device when you're ready to pick up your documents.
You can use the inbuilt NFC tag to do this by simply touching the printer with your smartphone. The printer supports Mopria, Apple AirPrint, and Google Cloud Print.
The SP 3710DN is also an energy-efficient printer that has an auto sleep mode for powering down the printer when it's sitting idle.
The best workgroup printer for performace
The Oki C650 claims to be the world’s smallest high performance color printer cramming every conceivable feature into a unit that could quite easily sit on your desk.
The maximum duty cycle recommended for this model is a staggering 100,000 pages per month, so if you have a small office and very heavy print demands, this hardworking laser will serve you well. It has a standard 250-sheet paper capacity and an optional paper tray to store up to 880 sheets.
It can duplex print of course and turn out pages in mono, or color at a fair clip, but it can also print banners up to 3.5 meters long. It has an Ethernet port for networking within a workgroup and NFC for when you need to collect private print jobs at the printer by touching your NFC-enable smartphone. This an expensive and uncompromising printer suitable for serious workgroups.
The best feature-rich workgroup printer
Ricoh’s colour printer comes with the essential features, such as Wi-Fi connectivity, duplex mode and secure printing built in, which makes it an ideal workgroup printer. Speed isn't the fastest, nor is the 250 sheet capacity the largest, but print quality if fantastic – and don't forget this printer will print in both mono and color.
This printer integrates well with Wi-Fi, and has a hard button for making a Wi-Fi Direct connection. There is NFC for linking your Android phone in one tap and support for Apple AirPrint and Google Cloud Print.
The printer has two USB ports, one for flash memory drives and one for the PC. Ricoh has also included a USB data cable in the box, which is not commonly done by manufacturers now.
Read our full Ricoh SP C261dnw review.
The best Miniature MFD workgroup printer overall
If you need an all-in-one device to serve a small workgroup in a small office, this inexpensive laser printer makes a lot of sense. If it looks a little top-heavy, that’s because the impressively small footprint isn’t much larger than a sheet of A4. But that doesn’t stop it from swallowing 250 sheets of paper and offering an automatic document feeder that can hold 50 more.
The printer has a tilting control panel mounted conspicuously on the front, but the display is a simple two-line LCD. There is a button keyboard accompanying it, so entering Wi-Fi passwords won't take long.
Lexmark includes enough black toner for a somewhat stingy 700 monochrome prints, but high capacity replacements are available that can print 6,000 pages. With duplex printing, Wi-Fi and security features included, it can do nearly everything a much more expensive MFD can.
Read our full Lexmark MB2236adw review.
The best econimical enterprise workgroup printer
Don’t be put off by the price tag. If you run a business with heavy and varied print demands, the Brother MFC-L9670CDN could serve you well and save you money. It comes with all the security and features you would expect from an enterprise-class multifunction printer and some impressive specifications. It prints very quickly in duplex mode and the quality is colorful and consistent.
Capacity is another strong point with room for 520 sheets in the main paper tray and scope to upscale to 2,600 sheets. But it’s the capacity for toner that makes the Brother MFC-L9670CDN so competitive. There’s a generous amount of toner in the box while upgrading to Brother’s super high yield cartridges ensures that you are paying less per page for toner than any other Brother product. Consider also the user-friendly touchscreen and NFC connectivity, and the Brother MFC-L9670CDN looks more like a bargain.
Read our full Brother MFC-L9670CDN review.
We've also featured the best black and white laser printers.
How to choose the best workgroup printers for you?
How to choose the best workgroup printers for you?
Whether it's a home printer or a business printer for your office, the best printers on this page can help you quickly and easily print off documents perfectly, all while keeping running costs low.
However, when deciding on the particular model of workgroup printer that would be best for you, your main considerations are probably going to be your budget, as well as other factors such as print quality and print speed.
Wireless connectivity might be an additional deal-breaker, and for those remote working size and weight might also be important considerations so as to not have the workgroup printer take up too much space in the office.
The best workgroup printers: How we test
Each workgroup printer we source for testing is measured on our test bench, and the results are critically compared with every other printer we've reviewed. Rather than relying on the manufacturer’s quoted figures, we time the first page out and print speeds in single sheet and duplex mode using a standard ten-page document and a stopwatch app.
To compare print quality, we print out the same set of test documents on every machine. These twelve test pages include text of varying font sizes and colors, mixed image and text pages, a set of photos, and a series of test patterns designed to assess sharpness, color fidelity, contrast, and grey scale. We also calculate running costs, compare functionality and consider each product’s versatility, design, and build quality.
The overall score reflects all of these parameters and overall value for money.
Read more on how we test, rate, and review products on TechRadar.
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