Top 7 Best Printers For Small Offices: 2026 UK

Small offices have an awkward choice. A proper floor standing photocopier feels like overkill for five people. A cheap inkjet from the supermarket feels fine until the second cartridge runs out in a fortnight. The sensible middle ground for most small offices is an A4 multifunction printer from one of the big office brands: a compact box that prints, copies and scans, sits on a desk or a cabinet, and is built for a working week rather than a school project.

This guide covers seven good options in 2026, how to think about running costs, and whether to buy or lease.

Printer vs copier

The line between "printer" and "copier" has blurred. Most office devices now do both, plus scanning. The real differences are size, paper handling and how they're sold.

	A4 multifunction printer	A3 photocopier
Paper sizes	Up to A4	Up to A3
Size	Desktop or small cabinet	Floor standing
Typical speed	30 to 40 ppm	20 to 80 ppm
How sold	Bought outright or leased	Usually leased with a service contract
Running costs	Toner bought separately, or a click contract	Usually a click contract
Best for	Up to about 10 people, low to moderate volume	Bigger teams, higher volume, A3

If you rarely print A3 and don't need booklets or heavy finishing, an A4 device is usually cheaper to run and easier to live with. Our photocopier with printer guide explains more about multifunction devices.

The top 7

Speeds and model details below come from each manufacturer's product pages, checked October 2026.

1. Canon imageFORCE C1333 series

Canon describes the C1333 series as "compact A4 colour multifunction devices delivering all the essential functionality you need for efficient printing and scanning". It's the smallest of Canon's imageFORCE colour devices and the one most small offices should start with. There's also a print only version, the C1333P, if you don't need copying or scanning.

Good for: offices of 2 to 8 people who want a proper office device without the size of a copier.

2. Canon imageFORCE C1700 series

A step up from the C1333, the C1700 series is described by Canon as "a compact A4 colour device to power everyday productivity". Pick it if your volume is a bit higher or you want stronger workflow and security features.

Good for: small offices with steady daily printing and scanning.

3. Ricoh IM C320F

Ricoh lists the IM C320F as an A4 colour multifunction device at 32 pages per minute. It's compact, includes fax as the F suggests, and shares Ricoh's familiar control panel with its bigger machines.

Good for: small offices that still send the odd fax, and businesses already using Ricoh elsewhere.

4. Ricoh IM C431

The IM C431 is Ricoh's faster A4 colour option, listed at 40 pages per minute in colour and 43 in mono. It's a good fit for a small office that prints more than a few thousand pages a month but still doesn't need A3.

Good for: busy small offices, or a department within a bigger business.

5. Konica Minolta bizhub C3321i

Konica Minolta lists the bizhub C3321i as an A4 colour device at 33 pages per minute. Like the rest of the i-Series, it uses a tablet style touchscreen that staff will find familiar if your bigger machines are Konica Minolta too.

Good for: small teams wanting colour at a modest volume.

6. Konica Minolta bizhub C4051i

At 40 pages per minute in colour and mono, the C4051i is the faster Konica Minolta A4 colour option. It suits small offices with higher volumes or several people printing at once.

Good for: small offices of 8 to 15 people that print a lot of A4.

7. Konica Minolta bizhub 4051i (mono)

If you only print in black and white, a mono machine cuts both the purchase price and the running cost. Konica Minolta lists the bizhub 4051i at 40 pages per minute, A4 mono.

Good for: offices printing invoices, letters and forms, with no need for colour.

Honourable mention: Kyocera ECOSYS

Kyocera's ECOSYS range of A4 printers and multifunction devices is built around long life components, and is worth a look if low running costs are your main priority. Model line ups change often, so ask a dealer for the current ECOSYS equivalent to the machines above.

Need A3?

If you do need A3, the smallest current A3 colour copiers include the Ricoh IM C2011 (20 pages per minute) and the Xerox VersaLink C7120 (20 pages per minute). Our low volume list covers this end of the market.

Toner costs

With an A4 printer, running costs come down to toner, plus the occasional drum or maintenance kit. The fair way to compare is cost per page: the price of a cartridge divided by how many pages it prints.

Manufacturers measure yields using international standards, so you can compare like with like. ISO/IEC 19752 covers mono toner and ISO/IEC 19798 covers colour toner. Both measure yield using a standard test page, so a cartridge rated at 3,000 pages under ISO/IEC 19752 can be compared fairly with another rated the same way.

Working it out is simple:

cost per page = cartridge price ÷ rated yield

For example, a mono cartridge costing £60 with a rated yield of 6,000 pages works out at 1p a page. A colour page uses four cartridges (cyan, magenta, yellow and black), so add the per page cost of each.

These are illustrative numbers, not real prices for any model above. Always check the current price and ISO yield for the exact cartridge before you buy a printer, because a cheap printer with expensive, low yield cartridges is one of the oldest traps in office print.

A few tips:

• Buy high yield cartridges where they exist; the cost per page is usually lower.
• Check whether a drum is separate. Some printers need a drum unit replaced every so often, which adds to the cost per page.
• Compare with a click contract. Published UK click rates run roughly 0.35p to 1.5p mono and 3.5p to 10p colour (Digital Office, checked October 2026). If you print a lot, a contract that includes toner and service can be cheaper than buying cartridges.

Our toner cost guide goes into more detail.

Buy or lease

For a small office, buying outright is more common with A4 printers than with big copiers. The device costs less, and toner is easy to buy.

Buy if:

• your volume is low and predictable
• you're happy to buy toner and handle the odd fault yourself or on a break fix basis
• you want no long term contract

Lease if:

• you'd rather pay monthly with toner and service included
• you print enough that a click contract beats buying cartridges
• you want someone else responsible when it breaks

As a published guide, Midshire puts the lease on a new desktop A4 colour machine at about £22 a month, with clicks on top (checked October 2026). If you lease, read the contract carefully: term, notice period, automatic renewal and click rates all matter. Our lease cancellation guide explains the traps.

FAQs

Is a printer or a copier better for a small office?

For most offices of under 10 people that don't need A3, an A4 multifunction printer is cheaper and smaller. Move to a copier if you need A3, finishing or much higher volume.

What's the cheapest printer to run?

The one with the lowest cost per page for your mix of mono and colour. Divide cartridge price by ISO rated yield for each model you're considering.

Should I lease a printer?

If you print enough to benefit from a click contract, or want service included, leasing can make sense. Low volume offices often do better buying outright.

Do I need colour?

Only if you print customer facing material or colour charts. Mono devices are cheaper to buy and run.

How fast does a small office printer need to be?

Around 30 to 40 pages per minute is plenty for most small offices.

Get printer and copier quotes

Not sure whether you need a printer or a copier? Use the form on this page to tell us how many people you have and roughly how much you print, and we'll put you in touch with suppliers who can advise and quote.