Top 10 Best Photocopiers UK: 2026 Business Comparison
Most "best photocopier" lists are sorted by how many pages a month you print. That's useful once you know your volume, but plenty of people arrive here earlier than that. They just want to know which machines are worth a look in 2026, what they roughly cost to run, and which brand to ask a dealer about first.
So this is the overall list. Ten machines (or machine families, because copiers come in ranges that share a body and differ mainly in speed) that we'd be happy to see on a quote, from the six manufacturers that dominate UK offices. Speeds and model names come from each manufacturer's own UK or international product pages, checked October 2026. Running cost figures are published market ranges, not promises; your quote will depend on your volume and your negotiating.
If you already know you're a low, medium or high volume office, our small business list and volume guides go deeper. If you want to see what people are paying, start with our price guide.
Quick picks
Short on time? Here's where we'd start for the most common situations.
| If you are... | Look at first | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A small office printing a few thousand pages a month | Ricoh IM C2011 or Xerox VersaLink C7120 | Entry A3 colour speeds without paying for a big machine |
| A typical 15 to 40 person office | Canon imageFORCE C3100 series or Konica Minolta bizhub C301i / C361i | The sweet spot for speed, finishing options and lease price |
| Busy and colour heavy | Xerox AltaLink C8100 series or Kyocera TASKalfa MZ series | Wide speed range in one family, so you can size up later |
| Mostly black and white, lots of it | Konica Minolta bizhub 451i | Mono only, 45 pages per minute, lower cost per page than colour |
| Producing marketing material in house | Canon imageFORCE C7165 | 65 pages per minute and aimed squarely at quality colour |
How we picked
We didn't rank on brochure adjectives. Every machine here had to meet four tests.
It's current. A lot of UK copier content still recommends models that were replaced years ago. Dealers can still find them, sometimes cheaply, but you'll get a shorter service life and older security. Every family below is on its manufacturer's current product pages as of October 2026.
It's an A3 capable multifunction device, or there's a clear reason it isn't. Most UK businesses that lease a "photocopier" want copy, print, scan and usually optional fax in one box, with A3 for the occasional spreadsheet or plan.
It comes in more than one speed. Families let a dealer fit the speed to your volume rather than selling you whatever is in the warehouse.
It's widely supported in the UK. A brilliant copier is a liability if the nearest engineer is three hours away. All six brands here have national dealer networks.
1. Canon imageFORCE C3100 series
Canon has spent the last couple of years replacing its long running imageRUNNER ADVANCE DX line with a new family called imageFORCE. The C3100 series is the one most offices will be quoted. It replaces the iR ADV DX C3900 series and comes in four speeds: the C3126, C3130, C3135 and C3150, at up to 26, 30, 35 and 50 pages per minute in both colour and mono (Canon's figures, checked October 2026).
The headline feature for a busy office is the scanner. The series has a single pass duplex document feeder rated at 270 images per minute, so scanning a thick contract is a few seconds rather than a coffee break. Canon also quotes print resolution of 4800 x 2400 dpi.
Good for: offices of roughly 15 to 50 people that scan a lot and want one family they can grow with.
Watch for: finishing options (staplers, booklet makers) add to the lease. Get each one priced as a separate line.
Canon's European site also notes that the imageFORCE range was named Keypoint Intelligence's (BLI) A3 Line of the Year for 2026. Awards aren't everything, but BLI does run long lab tests and it's a reasonable sign the range isn't a dud. More on the brand in our Canon guide.
2. Ricoh IM C series
Ricoh's IM C range is one of the broadest in the market. At the A3 colour end Ricoh lists the IM C2011 (20 pages per minute), C2511 (25), C3011 (30), C3511 (35), C4511 (45), C5511 (55), C6011 (60), C6510 (65), C7010 (70) and C8010 (80), checked October 2026.
That breadth matters. It means a Ricoh dealer can quote a 25 page machine for reception and a 55 page machine for the operations floor, and both will share the same control panel, drivers and management software. Your IT team learns one system.
Good for: multi site businesses that want consistent devices everywhere.
Watch for: Ricoh sells direct as well as through dealers. Get at least one quote from each route, because the pricing and service promises can differ more than you'd expect.
See our Ricoh brand guide for more history and models.
3. Konica Minolta bizhub i-Series (C251i to C751i)
Konica Minolta's colour i-Series runs the C251i (25 pages per minute), C301i (30), C361i (36), C451i (45), C551i (55), C651i (65) and C751i (70 colour, 75 mono), based on Konica Minolta's own product listing, checked October 2026.
The i-Series is a mature family now, which is not a bad thing. Dealers know it well, parts are plentiful and refurbished stock is starting to appear for anyone on a tight budget. The C301i and C361i are the models most small and medium offices will be offered.
Good for: offices that want a proven platform and a big dealer pool to get competing quotes from.
Watch for: check how long the dealer expects to support the model you're signing for. A five year lease on a model that's mid way through its life is fine, but get it in writing that parts and toner will be available for the full term.
4. Xerox AltaLink C8100 series
Xerox's AltaLink C8100 is the brand's main A3 colour office range. Xerox UK lists five models: the C8130, C8135, C8145, C8155 and C8170, running at up to 30, 35, 45, 55 and 70 pages per minute respectively. Xerox gives maximum duty cycles of 90,000 images a month for the C8130, 110,000 for the C8135 and 200,000 for the C8145 (checked October 2026). Duty cycle is the absolute ceiling, not a target, so treat it as a sign of how robust the engine is rather than how much you should print.
The C8100 also has a tablet style touchscreen and Xerox's app gallery, which is useful if you want scan to cloud workflows without buying separate software.
Good for: busy offices with heavy colour and a need for headroom.
Watch for: the C8170 is a serious machine. If your volume doesn't need it, the lease difference against the C8145 is money wasted.
Our Xerox guide has more on the brand.
5. Xerox VersaLink C7100 series
The VersaLink C7100 is the smaller sibling, with three models: the C7120, C7125 and C7130, at 20, 25 and 30 pages per minute (Xerox, checked October 2026). It's a genuinely compact A3 colour machine, which matters in small offices where the copier ends up in a corridor.
Good for: offices of 5 to 15 people who need A3 and colour but not much speed.
Watch for: finishing is more limited than on the AltaLink. If you need booklets, look higher up.
6. Kyocera TASKalfa MZ series
Kyocera's newest office A3 family is the TASKalfa MZ series, which Kyocera calls EvolutionNext. Kyocera lists six colour models from the MZ2501ci to the MZ7001ci, running from 25 to 70 pages per minute, plus four mono models (checked October 2026). In March 2026 Kyocera's US arm also announced the Nova series for very high volume work, at up to 105 pages per minute mono and 80 colour.
Kyocera's long standing pitch is durability. The company states that BLI named it the 2025 to 2027 Most Reliable A3 Brand. Its long life drum design has historically meant lower consumable costs per page than some rivals, though you should judge that on the click charge you're actually quoted.
Good for: offices that want to keep running costs predictable over a long lease.
Watch for: UK model availability can lag the US announcements. Ask the dealer which exact models they can supply and service. See our Kyocera guide for more.
7. Sharp BP-70C series
Sharp's BP-70C series is its mid to upper A3 colour range. The BP-70C55, for example, is quoted at up to 55 pages per minute in colour and mono, and Sharp says you can swap toner and paper without pausing the job. Sharp UK's A3 colour page lists engine speeds from 25 up to 65 pages per minute across its current models (checked October 2026).
Sharp machines tend to come with a large, clear touchscreen and a reputation for being straightforward to use. That counts for more than people think in an office where nobody owns the copier.
Good for: offices that want an easy to use machine and a strong local dealer.
Watch for: Sharp sells largely through dealers, so service quality depends heavily on which one you pick. Check reviews of the dealer, not just the machine. More in our Sharp guide.
8. Konica Minolta bizhub 451i (mono)
Not everyone needs colour. If your office prints invoices, forms and reports rather than brochures, a mono machine can cut your bill noticeably. Colour pages typically cost several times as much as mono ones on a service contract (see the cost table below), and many offices pay for colour capability they barely use.
The bizhub 451i is a 45 page per minute A3 mono machine from the same i-Series family as the colour models above, so it shares their control panel and software. Konica Minolta also lists the 361i, 551i, 651i and 751i if you need a different speed.
Good for: accounts teams, solicitors, logistics offices and anyone printing mostly black and white.
Watch for: ask yourself honestly whether "occasional" colour is really occasional. If it isn't, a colour machine with a low mono click charge may be cheaper than running two devices.
9. Canon imageFORCE C7165
The C7165 is Canon's pitch at offices that want near print room quality from an office copier. Canon quotes up to 65 pages per minute (checked October 2026). It's aimed at marketing teams, estate agents and schools that produce a lot of colour material and are tired of sending it out.
Good for: in house colour production at office volumes.
Watch for: this is a big, expensive machine. Run the numbers against outsourcing your print before you sign. If your colour volume is a few hundred pages a month, it won't pay for itself.
10. Ricoh IM C2011 (small office pick)
We've included the bottom of Ricoh's range separately because it answers a common question: what's the smallest proper A3 colour copier I can lease? At 20 pages per minute the IM C2011 is the slowest current A3 colour model on our list, and for a small office that's often plenty. Twenty pages a minute means a 10 page document is done in about half a minute.
Good for: small offices of up to around 10 people that need A3 and colour.
Watch for: if you don't need A3 at all, a desktop A4 multifunction device will usually be cheaper still. Our low volume list covers that territory.
Cost per copy table
The lease is only half of what you pay. The other half is the cost per page, often called the click charge, which normally covers toner, parts, labour and engineer visits. These are published UK market ranges, checked October 2026.
| Page type | Published range | Typical small business range | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| A4 mono | 0.35p to 1.5p | 0.5p to 1.0p | Digital Office; ExpertSure |
| A4 colour | 3.5p to 10p | 6p to 10p | Digital Office; ExpertSure |
| A3 mono | 0.4p to 3.0p | 1.0p to 2.0p | ExpertSure |
| A3 colour | 7p to 20p+ | 12p to 20p | ExpertSure |
ExpertSure also notes that A3 pages are conventionally charged at double the A4 rate. Midshire publishes rates from 0.35p mono and 3.5p colour, which gives you a sense of what a competitive offer at decent volume looks like.
For a real world reference point, a Ricoh rental agreement published on the government's Contracts Finder site (let under the Crown Commercial Service RM6174 framework to an NHS trust) shows 0.37p per mono page and 2.85p per colour page. That's a large public sector contract with serious buying power, so treat it as a floor, not an expectation.
What does this mean in practice? Take an office printing 3,000 mono and 500 colour pages a month. At 0.8p mono and 7p colour, that's £24 plus £35, so £59 a month in clicks before the lease. Cut the colour rate to 5p and you save £10 a month, or £600 over a five year lease. That's why the click charge deserves as much attention as the headline lease.
Lease vs buy
Most UK businesses lease their copier, and for good reasons: no big upfront cost, a fixed payment, and a new machine at the end of the term. As a published guide, Midshire puts a new desktop A4 colour machine at roughly £22 a month and a new mid sized floor standing A3 colour machine at roughly £49 a month (checked October 2026). Those are lease costs only, with clicks on top.
Buying makes sense in a narrower set of cases:
- your volume is low and steady, so you won't outgrow the machine
- you have the cash and would rather not pay finance charges
- you're happy with a refurbished machine and a separate service contract
Leasing makes more sense when:
- you want to spread the cost and keep cash in the business
- you expect your needs to change within five years
- you want one supplier responsible for the machine, service and supplies
The thing that catches people out is not the choice itself but the contract. Lease agreements are often five years, can renew automatically, and are expensive to leave early. Our contracts and lease guide covers what to look for before you sign.
What to ask before you choose
Whichever machine you end up with, ask every dealer the same questions so you can compare like for like:
- What's the total quarterly cost, including lease, minimum click charges and any fixed service fee?
- What are the mono and colour click rates, and do they rise each year?
- Is there a minimum monthly volume, and what happens if I print less?
- What's the engineer response time, and is it a target or a guarantee?
- What exactly happens at the end of the term? Is there automatic renewal, and how much notice do I need to give?
- How is data on the hard drive wiped when the machine leaves?
Get the answers in writing. The cheapest quote on paper can be the most expensive one by year three if the click rate escalates or the minimum volume is set above what you print.
FAQs
Which photocopier brand is the most reliable?
There's no single answer, and anyone who gives you one is selling something. Kyocera states that BLI named it the 2025 to 2027 Most Reliable A3 Brand, and Canon holds BLI's 2026 A3 Line of the Year. In practice the dealer that services the machine has as much effect on your experience as the badge on the front.
How fast does my photocopier need to be?
For a small office, 20 to 30 pages per minute is usually enough. Busy offices of 20 to 50 people tend to land on 30 to 45. Above that you're into dedicated high volume territory. Speed costs money, so don't pay for pages per minute you'll never use.
Is it cheaper to lease or buy a photocopier?
Buying is often cheaper over the life of the machine if you have the cash and your needs are stable. Leasing spreads the cost and bundles service. The total cost over five years, including clicks, is the number to compare.
Do I need an A3 photocopier?
Only if you regularly print or copy A3, such as spreadsheets, plans or posters. Many A3 machines cost little more than their A4 equivalents on lease, so it's worth asking for both prices. Our A3 guide has more detail.
What's a good click charge?
Based on published UK ranges, anything around 0.5p to 1.0p mono and 6p to 10p colour is typical for a small business. If you're quoted above 1.5p mono on a modern machine, push back.
Get quotes
The best way to find the right machine at the right price is to get several quotes for the same specification and compare them on total cost, not the headline lease. Use the form on this page to tell us what you need and we'll put you in touch with suppliers who can quote. It's free, and there's no obligation to go ahead.