The 7 Best Quiet Printers for Home Offices and Video Calls, Ranked & Reviewed

Our verdict: A cartridge-free inkjet with a feeder and Ethernet, built for a shared office that wants fewer interruptions.

Epson's ET-4800 swaps cartridges for refillable ink bottles and adds an automatic document feeder, Ethernet alongside wireless, and scan, copy and fax. Its carriage-motor engine is typical of inkjets, and the price lands in the $100 to $200 range.

It wins because noise from a printer is partly about everything around the printing. A cartridge model makes a flurry of clicks, whirs and prime cycles when you swap a cartridge, and an ink tank skips most of that. The feeder means a multi-page scan runs in one pass rather than a page-at-a-time lid routine, which cuts the repeated mechanical noise. Ethernet gives a stable wired link, so the printer doesn't wake up and renegotiate Wi-Fi.

Buy it for a shared quiet office that prints and scans regularly. The caveat is that any carriage inkjet produces a continuous hum while it prints, so it is quiet in the sense of steady, not silent.

Type

Color inkjet all-in-one, ink tank

Mechanism

Carriage motor

Feeder

Automatic document feeder

Connectivity

Ethernet and wireless

Our verdict: The ink tank formula without the feeder, for a quiet office that prints regularly.

Think of the ET-2800 as the ink tank idea stripped to essentials: refillable bottles, scan and copy, wireless, and a carriage-motor engine, all for $100 to $200.

It ranks just behind the ET-4800 because it gives you the same low-fuss ink tank system without the document feeder, Ethernet port or fax. For a single desk that is often enough, since a person who prints a handful of pages a day doesn't need a feeder. Fewer ink-change routines mean fewer moments when the printer clicks and purges, and the compact build suits a bookshelf.

Choose it if you work alone and want steady, low-interruption printing. Skip it if you scan multi-page documents, because the lid scanning is manual and slower.

Type

Color inkjet all-in-one, ink tank

Mechanism

Carriage motor

Functions

Print, scan, copy

Connectivity

Wireless

Our verdict: Automatic two-sided printing on an inkjet, with no laser warm-up burst.

Brother built the Work Smart 1360 around automatic two-sided printing, then added a small 1.8 inch color screen, wireless and a trial of its Refresh ink plan. It lives in the $100 to $200 range and uses a carriage inkjet engine.

It takes third place because duplex printing is a noise topic of its own. Flipping a page makes extra mechanical sounds, but doing it automatically on an inkjet keeps the pattern even and avoids the sudden spool-up of a laser. The small display also makes setup and troubleshooting easier without hunting through an app. It ranks below the Epson tank models since it uses cartridges, so you will face cartridge swaps more often.

Buy it if you print double-sided documents and want to avoid a laser's burst. The caveat is that the subscription program is an optional extra, and cartridge ink costs more per page.

Type

Color inkjet all-in-one

Duplex

Automatic

Display

1.8 inch color

Mechanism

Carriage motor

Our verdict: A compact, low-cost inkjet with a steady hum, best near video calls when printing is light.

HP's DeskJet 4355 is the small, simple option, with print, scan and copy, easy wireless setup and a 3-month Instant Ink trial. A carriage inkjet engine drives it, and it costs $50 to $100.

It ranks fourth because it delivers the quiet pattern of a carriage inkjet at the lowest cost here. For a desk near a camera, a lower and steadier hum is easier on the ear than a sudden burst, and this printer's small size keeps it out of the way. The tradeoff is a cartridge system, so the ink runs out faster and each swap makes noise, and it has no feeder or duplex.

Pick it if you print a few pages a week and want to spend as little as possible. Skip it if you print every day, because ink cost and cartridge swaps will wear on you.

Type

Color inkjet all-in-one

Mechanism

Carriage motor

Ink program

3-month Instant Ink trial

Price bucket

$50 to $100

Our verdict: A cheap inkjet with an automatic document feeder for quiet multi-page scanning.

Canon's PIXMA TR4720 pairs an auto document feeder with a moving-carriage inkjet engine, then adds mobile printing, wireless and a legacy fax line. Expect to spend $50 to $100.

It ranks fifth because it gives you a feeder at a price where rivals offer none. Feeding a stack through once is quieter and quicker than lifting a lid for every page, so a home office that scans receipts and contracts benefits. It trails the Epson ET-2800 because it uses cartridges, and its fax function is a legacy feature most people will never touch.

Buy it if you scan multi-page documents often on a small budget. Skip it if you print heavily, where cartridge refills will cost more than an ink-tank machine.

Type

Color inkjet all-in-one

Feeder

Auto document feeder

Mechanism

Carriage motor

Extras

Mobile printing, legacy fax

Our verdict: A compact mono laser with duplex that prints in a short, loud burst and then goes quiet.

Brother's DCP-L2640DW squeezes copy, scan and automatic duplex into a compact black-and-white laser, with wireless, mobile printing and Alexa support. A fuser and drum do the work, and it costs $200 to $500.

It ranks sixth because laser noise is a different shape from inkjet noise. A fuser needs to heat up, which creates a short burst of fan and gear sound, but afterwards the printer sits silent for long stretches. People who take calls near the printer may prefer that to a long hum. It is black-and-white only and costs more up front.

Choose it if you print occasionally, mostly text, and prefer short noise to long noise. Skip it if you need color or a feeder.

Type

Monochrome laser multifunction

Mechanism

Fuser and drum

Duplex

Automatic

Extras

Alexa voice commands

Our verdict: A color laser with duplex and a 250-sheet tray, for the burst-then-silence pattern in color.

The HL-L3220CDW is Brother's color laser for small offices, rated at 19 pages per minute with automatic duplex, a 250-sheet tray, and wireless and mobile printing. Its fuser and drum engine puts it at $200 to $500.

It ranks last because it is a print-only machine with no scanner, and the color laser warm-up adds to the burst. The advantage is the same burst-then-silence behavior as the mono laser, but with color documents, and a large tray that means fewer paper reloads. At 19 pages per minute, jobs finish quickly, which shortens the noisy period.

Buy it if you need color documents and want laser behavior. Skip it if you need to scan or copy, since this model does neither.

Type

Color laser printer

Speed

19 pages per minute

Tray

250 sheets

Duplex

Automatic