Which Business Office Photocopier Brand Is Best?

This list discusses the top copier brands, including:

1. 1. Canon

       

 

1. 1. Konica Minolta

       

 

1. 1. Hewlett-Packard

       

 

1. 1. Lexmark

       

 

1. 1. Epson

       

 

1. 1. Brother

       

 

1. 1. Kyocera

       

 

1. 1. Toshiba

       

 

1. 1. Dell

       

 

1. 1. IBM

       

 

1. 1. Samsung

       

 

1. 1. Fujitsu

       

 

1. 1. Ricoh

       

 

1. 1. Sharp

       

 

 

The Top 10 Commercial Business Photocopier Brands

No productive business environment is complete without a tremendous commercial copier.

When deciding on the right office equipment for your company, you want to make sure you are considering the top retail copier brands. The top copier manufacturers have several years of experience and have built their reputation by producing quality equipment, reliable customer service, and technical support. Investing in a reliable brand can help you avoid the hassle of technical difficulties with your new machine.

Before making your commercial copier purchase, it's best to do some research to figure out which top copier brand is the best fit for your company.

Canon

Cannon has been a top commercial office equipment brand for almost 90 years. They are best known for their versatile office equipment that can be used in any size office or home. Canon's multi-functional printers are a staple in many office environments and come in a variety of sizes for different print volumes. In fact, the Canon image RUNNER series has been a top-rated multifunction copier for a few years. Canon is aiming this mid-priced device at the small to medium-sized business by loading it with key features and giving it a fast photocopy speed. There's room for 250 sheets of paper in the main tray, plus 50 more in the multipurpose tray. It makes a fine photocopier with dual-sided scanning and duplex printing and makes it easy to print and scan via the cloud thanks to Canon's helpful companion app for iOS/Android devices.

Konica Minolta

Konica Minolta is a top commercial copier brand, with high-quality office copiers and impressive options for both colour and black-and-white needs. They offer a wide variety of office equipment, including multifunction printers, faxers, digital scanners, and more. They are also known for their superior security features on commercial copiers and are a great fit for companies that need to print sensitive documents.

HP

HP's LaserJet series has been a small office favourite for many years. HP provides both desktop and standing models for businesses, and their copiers can handle high paper outputs. HP products tend to be some of the most environmentally friendly and cost-effective options for businesses. 

If you have the space for it, this multifunction device will serve a small business well thanks to its useful 35-sheet automatic document feeder and automated photocopying skills. This is a mono machine, and it's not the fastest laser on the block, but it's quicker than any inkjet and offers an attractive blend of features and performance.

Lexmark

Lexmark products tend to be some of the most reliable, affordable options. Their modern office copiers are digital, produce superior colour quality, and are wireless, for easy connection to your business's WiFi network. Their new models also have remote connectivity features such as Air Print and Google Cloud Print, so you can easily print from a remote device.

It might look a little top-heavy, but this all-in-one A4 photocopier feels well made and offers plenty of features for the footprint that it takes up. Duplex scanning from the ADF and rapid automatic photocopying is performed flawlessly, while the print quality in both colour and mono is excellent. Duplex printing is not the fastest, but a wealth of security features and an easy interface more than makes up for the shortfall.  

Xerox

Xerox is one of the most well-known brand names in the copier industry. They are a USA-based brand and have one of the largest sections of colour copiers and printers in the world. Despite their huge range of products to choose from, they're best known for their multifunction, all-in-one printers.

This is a modest machine, but it has an impressive specification that will meet the demands of any small to medium-sized business. Xerox makes faster printers than this, but the consistent quality of colour and monoprints here is impressive, and its photocopying skills are among the best of any four-in-one we've tested. The intuitive touchscreen interface is another plus point that gives easy access to a wealth of features such as dual-sided scanning and a broad selection of security features. This feels like a premium product, and modular upgrades well support it.  

Ricoh

Ricoh has been a front-runner in commercial copy and print services for over 50 years. Their brand became an industry leader when they produced the fastest digital colour printer in 1990, at 15 pages per minute. Although they are a Tokyo based company, their headquarters is in the U.S. They service large and small businesses alike, but they are well-known as a leading manufacturer for large businesses.

Kyocera

Kyocera's most popular office products are multifunction, digital office copiers that allow printing, scanning, copying, and faxing all in one place. Businesses appreciate their products for their superior finishing features, such as creating professional reports and booklets.

Toshiba

Toshiba may not be the biggest copier company in the industry, but they produce reliable, innovative products consistently. Their E-Studio office equipment line has been a favourite among businesses for many years. Toshiba produces a wide variety of products, such as multifunction printers, wide-format printers, and digital signage.

Dell

Dell has been a leading name in office equipment for over 30 years. They offer a wide variety of office technology for businesses of all sizes. Their copiers range from desktop models to mid-size, to high-tech standing models. Dell is well-known for its innovative, advanced technological features, such as "smart" printing and high-quality graphics.

Sharp

Sharp has winning technology for commercial needs. They have award-winning digital copying and printing systems that can be customized to specific business needs. For instance, Sharp's OSA technology can be used to extract a company's document data. Their office equipment is high-tech, while still easy to use. They often have convenient touch screens and touch-of-a-button commands, such as editing and reordering pages.

Will your company need to manage sensitive information?

Access to the features of a photocopier should be controlled with PIN numbers or passwords. Also, ensure that the MFP only prints the required copies to ensure data security. And think about whether the USB port should be disabled to mitigate any risk.

Does your business require remote printing?

With the rise of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), printing from mobile devices is fast and efficient. Look closely at the apps that will use the photocopier to ensure these connect securely. An MFP can be a cost-effective asset that a business can build its workflow around. 

With digital copiers now coming with a number of configurations, it's critical to assess your business' needs and match them to the right one.

Best Office Copier List Criteria

The criteria listed below are certainly not the only factors to consider when purchasing an office machine. Your company may have unique needs that are not covered in this review, so it is important to consult an industry professional before making a final decision.

• • Reliability - each machine ran the recommended number of impressions listed by the manufacturer and was assessed based on the number of misfeeds that occurred during the test.

 

• • For instance, a machine claiming an average monthly duty cycle of 200,000 impressions/prints would be tested by running 200,000 sheets through the machine.

 

• • Image Quality - rates how well the copier performs in the areas of:

 

• • Colour Print Quality (business graphics and photographic images)

 

• • Black Print Quality (text, halftone range, halftone fill, line art, and solids)

 

• • Print Density (measures density of a printed image with blocks of all solid colours based on the average of two readings each for cyan, magenta, and yellow, and four different locations for black output)

 

• • Gamut Variance Readings (assesses the distance between colours)

 

• • Ease of Use - is the design and interface intuitive? This category is measured in the areas of print, scan, copy, job management, multitasking, and feedback.

 

• • Security - what features are included to secure data, including network user authentication, biometric, ID card, common access, and more.

 

• • Features - the variety of apps and tools included with the device, as well as other hardware features like additional memory and hard drive capacities. This category is broken down into three criteria: specifications, solutions, and environmental. 

Pricing

When it comes to pricing out a copier for your office, you need to consider what features you need. Though most MFCs function the same, there are many product lines with varying degrees of functionality. That level of stratification within the copier market means that prices can vary wildly from one machine to another. It's also important to keep in mind other, ongoing costs, including extended service and warranty plans.

Through our information-gathering efforts, we found models that cost as low as $300 for the more budget offerings, while the more high-end machines ran as high as $50,000. While the machines on the higher end had significantly more complex feature sets with a focus on serving niche businesses, many manufacturers offer a lease option to ease the sticker shock.

Ink, Toner and Paper Will Add to Operating Costs

It makes sense that the initial cost of a copier is what commands your attention, but you also need to consider the overall operating costs. As a business owner, you will need to maintain paper and ink supplies regardless of whether the device uses inkjet cartridges or toner.

Replacement ink cartridges come with high price tags, so replacing them on a scale will cost you. Toner tends to last longer but is largely used for monochrome printing only. Some copiers have built-in ink reservoirs that manufacturers say reduce ink costs since you only need to buy bottles of ink rather than replacement cartridges, and the ink lasts longer. Whether that's a feature you need will depend largely on how often you and your employees rely on the machine.

Remember the Additional Costs

Along with traditional operating costs associated with MFCs, consider the extra costs that come with operating such a machine. Sunk costs that come from poorly constructed or prohibitively slow machines take a toll on a business. It's for that reason that you want to avoid purchasing the cheapest machine; rather, go for the one that fits your budget and can provide the best functionality.

Low-cost machines that seem inexpensive and appear like a benefit can cause problems later. Similarly, factors like copy speed can help or hinder worker productivity and collaboration from an operational perspective. Memory capacity is another factor since higher memory means the machine will be faster at processing each job.

It's just practical business sense to conduct a cost-benefit analysis before committing to a specific copier. For a copier that will serve as the workhorse for many employees, speed may be the top deciding factor. For design-centric businesses, such as ad agencies or architectural firms, ink cost and image quality are more important. Or perhaps a colour copier won't fulfil your needs, in which case, you might need a wide-format printer.

Contracts and Customer Service

While you can buy a copier for your business outright, some models have rather large price tags. In those instances, it may be best to lease the machine and add its monthly cost as an operating expense. Known as "managed print" in the printing world, leasing has become a more popular option, since newer models with more advanced features frequently enter the market, pushing even modern machines closer to obsolescence.

Capital leases allow you to claim the machine a business asset, and operating leases permit you to mark the machine as an operating expense. Managed print services generally bundle things like ink or toner, paper and maintenance, into a monthly cost. Most leasing agreements last between three and five years, which is just enough time to consider upgrading to a new machine if you need to.

While leasing may be an attractive option, it comes with some downsides. You may not need to make a large down payment on the copier, but you will pay interest on it, which increases your overall costs.

Conversely, you can keep the copier for as long as you want if you buy it outright, potentially resulting in overall savings, if you own it for a long time and don't feel the need to upgrade every few years. Buying outright also means you're not tied down to a multiyear contract, allowing you some more flexibility in your decision-making.

The decision to purchase or lease a copier depends on your cash flow situation and which option benefits you the most in terms of maintenance and service, features, accessories, and supplies.

Repair Costs

Depending on how you obtain the machine, you may not have to worry about repair and maintenance costs at all. Most leases include some regular maintenance within their terms. In some cases, however, an additional extended warranty or service agreement will be offered for an added cost. What's covered under those plans can vary from one manufacturer to another, so you may be left holding the bag for any repair costs that fall outside of the agreement's terms.