Welcome to our list of the best home printers in 2018. For many homes, having a printer can be extremely useful. From printing out documents and your children’s homework, creating your own Christmas cards and posters or printing your holiday photos, there’s plenty of reasons why you’d want a printer for the home.

When you’re looking for the best home printer for your needs there are a number of things you need to take into account. First of all, there’s size. Unlike business printers, you don’t want a big, bulky, printer taking up huge amounts of room. Because you won’t need a printer that has all the features a business printer has, nor does it need to handle large amounts of printouts throughout the day, your home printer can be more compact.

There are all-in-one printers that are geared towards the home, and they are a good choice if you need a photo copier and a scanner as well as a printer in your house.

If you’re after a printer to mainly print out photographs, then there are specially-designed printers that excel at that.

Here you’ll find the very top models of printers, be they for the home or the office. This list is constantly updated, so you’ll get top advice for buying the best printer for your needs.

No matter what type of home printer you’re after, we have one for you, and our price comparison tool makes sure you get the best deals on the printer of your choice as well.

1. HP Deskjet 3630

Print speed: Varies depending on document | Paper sizes: A4, A5, A6, B5, Borderless A4, Borderless A5, Borderless B5 | Paper capacity: 60 sheets | : | Weight: 4.2kg

The Deskjet 3630 is our pick for the best home printer. It has decent print quality, a competitive price, and it can connect to mobile devices, which reflects the modern home, where more people are likely to use a smartphone or tablet than a laptop or desktop PC. It doesn’t quite have the build quality of HP’s more expensive Envy models, but if you’re looking for an initially cheap model that catches the eye when sat on a shelf, the Deskjet 3630 is a great option.

Read the full review: HP Deskjet 3630

2. Canon Pixma TS8050

Print speed: 15 ppm black, 10 ppm colour | Print resolution: 9,600 x 2,400 | Paper sizes: A4, A5, B5, DL (Envelope) | Paper capacity: 100 sheets | Dimensions: 372 x 324 x 139mm (Width x Depth x Height) | Weight: 6.5kg

The Canon Pixma TS8050 is a fantastic home printer for people who just need a small printer for occasional use, printing photos or using the scanner function. It’s a bit pricey to buy – and to run – but the flexibility and quality of the printouts is excellent. The fact that it can sit unobtrusively in your house makes it an excellent choice for home users.

3. HP Envy 5540 All-in-One printer

Print speed: 22 pages per minute | Scan resolution: 1200 x 1200 dpi | Features: Print, copy, scan | Dimensions: 161 x 454 x 410 mm | Weight: 6.82kg

The HP Envy 5540 All-in-One printer offers printing, scanning and photo printing, supports not just USB but Wi-Fi, Wireless Direct and AirPrint wireless printing, and it even offers automatic double-sided printing. This makes it an excellent home printer for busy households that need to scan and make photo copies as well as print. It does this while also being pretty affordable.

4. Epson EcoTank ET-4550

Print speed: 33ppm | Paper sizes: A4, A5, A6, B5, Envelopes (C4, C6, DL, No. 10), 9 x 13cm, 10 x 15cm, 13 x 18cm, 13 x 20cm, 20 x 25cm, 10 x 14.8cm | Paper capacity: 150 sheets | Dimensions: 515‎ x 360 x 241mm (Width x Depth x Height) | Weight: 7.4kg

Consumables are usually expensive when it comes to printers. So it is quite surprising that one vendor, Epson, single-handedly decided to challenge that status quo by allowing users to refill their printer using ink bottles. What’s even more surprising is that Epson includes two years of ink with the package; no more expensive cartridges and instead, you have enough material to deliver 11,000 pages worth of black and colour inks (that’s 700ml worth of liquid). So, if you have a house that needs to print off lots of documents (such as for school projects), then the Epson EcoTank ET-4550 could end up saving you money in the long run.

5. Canon Pixma Pro-100S

Print speed: 34 seconds | Print resolution: 4800 x 2400 dpi | Paper capacity: 150 sheets | Dimensions: 689 x 385 x 215 mm | Weight: 19.7kg

The Canon Pixma Pro-100S is, in our view, the best photo printer you can buy today, which means it also deserves a place on our best home printer list. Print quality is excellent and it can also handle print sizes of A3 and over. 

It’s also pretty fast as well, able to print a 4 x 6-inch photo in just 34 seconds. If you take a lot of photos on your smartphone or tablet, then the wireless printing feature will be a great help as well. If you want the very best photo printer for a reasonable price, this is the one we recommend.

6. Canon PIXMA TS9150

Print speed: ISO 15ppm black, 10ppm colour | Print resolution: 4,800 x 1,200 | Paper sizes: A4, A5, B5, LTR, LGL, 20x25cm, 13x18cm, 10x15cm, 13×13, Envelopes(DL,COM10) | Paper capacity: 120 sheets | Dimensions: 372 x 324 x 140 mm (Width x Depth x Height) | Weight: 6.7g

If you’re looking for a great all-round printer which doesn’t skimp on print quality for your photographs, then we don’t think you will be disappointed by what the PIXMA TS9150, Canon’s flagship printer, has to offer.

While it’s certainly more expensive than some of the cheap two in one printers you can pick up, it’s not a bad price for something which produces high quality prints, especially if you only need to print at A4 or below.

Best of all, the print quality here is stunning, and it also has an attractive design. While the looks of your printer may not seem that important, it does mean you don’t feel the need to try and hide it away out of sight if you’re using it at home.

7. HP Deskjet 2130 All-in-One printer

Print speed: 20 pages per minute | Scan resolution: 1200 x 1200 dpi | Features: Print, copy, scan | Dimensions: 241 x 424 x 309 mm | Weight: 3.52kg

The HP Deskjet 2130 All-in-One printer is an excellent printer for the home if you’re on a budget, and if you only need to occasionally print, scan and photocopy documents, then this is a great choice for saving money. Of course, as it has such a low price there are some sacrifices to be made, but on the whole this is a brilliant cheap printer that will happily print off documents, as well as scan and photo copy, for a very low price.

8. HP Sprocket Photo Printer

Print speed: 40 seconds | Print resolution: 313 x 400 | Paper capacity: 10 sheets | Dimensions: 75 x 116 x 23 mm (Width x Depth x Height) | Weight: 0.17kg

This small, hand-sized, photo printer isn’t for printing out professional-quality photos, but is a quick, easy and fun way to instantly print out your digital snaps – essentially turning any digital camera into a Polaroid-esque instant printer. It doesn’t use ink, so you don’t have to worry about buying replacement cartridges – instead it uses heat to transform a pre-dyed sheet of paper into your photos. It runs on batteries and has a stylish design as well. This is a great choice if your home doesn’t have space for a photo printer, but you’d still like to have one. It’s no good for printing standard documents with, though.

http://www.techradar.com/news/best-home-printer

Hulu has announced that it will finally bring offline viewing to the streaming service later this year for both its Hulu with Ads and basic Hulu subscription tiers. 

It’s the latest in a fusilade against Amazon Prime and Netflix, both of which announced offline viewing over a year ago and have supported it ever since. 

While the news means that you’ll finally be able to watch shows from Fox, Disney, NBC, CBS and others on airplanes and areas with poor or no cell reception, there’s also a significant catch to the deal: If you’re a Hulu with Ads subscriber, you’re going to download the ads you would’ve seen online with every episode. 

Offline viewing is being implemented in this way, it seems, to placate advertisers and broadcasters who count on Hulu to display ads in front of its content. While that sounds outright upsetting, the brightside is that it might encourage shows and films that might not have allowed offline viewing in the past to warm up to the idea. 

Hulu also used the forum where it announced the offline news to talk about its other advertising initiative: dynamic ads that will interrupt content during live segments for its Hulu with Live TV customers. Hulu imagines these ads will appear in between news and sports segments where ads aren’t currently, though it hasn’t stated when these dynamic advertisements would make their way into the service.

Problems with ads? Have some more content!  

Advocates of a better streaming experience will see ads as a major problem – as Hulu is using storage space on your device for advertisements and that was one reason that offline viewing has thus-far been ad-free. 

The fear here, some might think, is that Hulu’s decision could create a new norm for paid streaming services – one in which money is paid to the streaming service for downloadable content, but also that content will come with ads. Imagine if Google Play Movies rented a TV series to you for $3.99 per episode and then played ads every seven or eight minutes – just like traditional cable TV networks do.

To cushion the blow, Hulu has also announced a deal with Dreamworks Animation Studios that the streaming service will be the exclusive home to a number feature films including How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, The Boss Baby 2 and Trolls 2 in 2019, plus some of the film studio’s older films like Shrek and Shark Tale in 2020.

If 2020 seems a bit too far away, you can look forward to new original content from Hulu starting later this year: Hulu announced a number of new series including projects from J.J. Abrams, Stephen King, Mindy Kaling, George Clooney, Reese Witherspoon and Kerri Washington – the former of which, called Castle Rock, is set to debut July 25.

Via TechCrunch

http://www.techradar.com/news/hulus-offline-viewing-comes-with-an-unwanted-side-of-ads

The LG G7 ThinQ release date has been announced at today’s New York City launch event, and we know all about its features ahead of when it goes on sale worldwide. 

This is LG’s new flagship phone for 2018, and just as our exclusive reporting had predicted, it has an optional notch at the top and it takes on the AI-focused ThinQ name along with an AI button on the side. 

Sure, the G7 timing is a little behind the competition, with the Samsung Galaxy S9, Galaxy S9 Plus, Sony Xperia XZ2, Huawei P20 and P20 Pro already launched. But that just means that LG has more to prove. That’s what it’s hoping to do with the AI tech.

What exactly is in store for the come-from-behind LG G7 ThinQ? It’s a bigger overhaul compared to the mid-cycle LG V30S ThinQ. Its 6.1-inch bright display and equally bright camera give us something to get excited about.

Here’s everything you need to know about the new LG G7.

Watch our hands on LG G7 ThinQ video below to see the phone in action

Cut to the chase

• What is it? LG’s 2018 flagship smartphone
• When is it out? Announced today, mid-May for Korea and June for the US and other countries.
• How much will it cost? Still to be announced. G6 was $650 (£649, AU$1000), but G7 ThinQ could be more

LG G7 ThinQ release date and price

• LG G7 ThinQ is coming to Korea mid-May and the US and elsewhere in June
• Likely to cost more than the LG G6’s $650 (£649, AU$1,000) price

The LG G7 ThinQ was announced today at LG’s New York City launch event. We know that the release window is slated for mid-May in Korea and June for the US and other countries, which likely includes the UK and Australia, too.

The G7 has shown up several weeks later than when we got the G6 last year, but that does make sense. LG recently started redesigning the phone from scratch, and it really shows in today’s unveiling. In some ways, it’s built from the ground up.

The price is what remains a big mystery, even after the launch. In line with other LG flagships, we expect it to cost at least $650 (£649, AU$1,000), the price of the LG G6 at launch, if not a bit more. 

We’re hearing that it’ll be priced under $800 (£800, about AU$1,110), but that could mean anything. It’s really up to the individual carriers, especially in the US. If you believe some LG G7 price rumors, it may rise in price by $740 (£760, AU$1,120).

That’s a lot of cash, but it’s not as expensive as some other flagships, including the iPhone X, Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus.

LG G7 ThinQ design and display

• 6.1-inch Quad HD+ resolution with ‘optional’ top notch
• An all-screen design and glass body in five different colors
• A side-mounted power button and rear fingerprint scanner
• Waterproof IP68 and has a 3.5mm headphone jack

The LG G7 ThinQ looks like the G6 with a smaller chin and larger all-screen display that measures 6.1 inches. That’s a small, but pleasing upgrade from last year’s 5.7-inch screen. 

It has a stylish, albeit a bit plan glass body again and several color options: Raspberry Rose, New Moroccan Blue, New Aurora Black, and New Platinum Gray.

The Raspberry Rose and New Moroccan Blue colors we saw on launch day look a lot better than the New Platinum Gray we toyed with for a week. The metal frame takes on the same vibrant hue as the back glass, causing a little bit of a color outline to be visible even when looking at the display. These two colors really pop.

The G7 doesn’t have a fancy curved design like Samsung’s phones, but its understated look does accentual the big screen nicely. In fact, the screen really stands out thanks to a new Super Bright Display mode that amps up the brightness to 1,000 nits compared to the 500 or 600 nits from conventional smartphones.

You don’t normally need 1,000 nits of brightness indoors, but outdoors, this can make a big difference. You’ll actually be able to read your phone while walking down the street. And LG has designed this brightness boost mode to quit after three minutes to conserve battery life and prevent overheating.

LG returns the sleep/wake button to the right side of the phone after making the rear fingerprint sensor double as a clicky power button in the previous generations of its smartphones. This makes the LG G7 ThinQ feel more like a conventional smartphones. There’s also an extra button by the way of the AI button on the left side.

The new AI button calls up Google Assistant with a single press or Google Lens with a double press. LG, thankfully, isn’t attempting to make its own AI assistant in the way the Samsung is trying to force it’s work-in-progress Bixby AI onto everyone. It’s relying on Google, and for good reason. It’s the machine learning leader.

The LG G7 ThinQ includes is IP68 water-resistance, enough to prevent dust and water damage (it supposed to survive at least up to 1.5m under water for 30 minutes). And yes, it includes a 3.5mm headphone jack.

LG G7 ThinQ camera and battery

• Dual-lens 16MP rear cameras, one for wide angle photos
• AI-powered scene recognition and Super Bright mode
• Upgraded 8MP front-facing camera
• 3,000mAh battery, smaller than the G6 battery

The LG ThinQ has two vertically stacked 16MP camera on the back, and they’re both equipped with OIS and AI scene recognition software.

The AI Camera, as LG calls it, is supposed to switch modes based on the subject it sees (think: person, animal, food, etc). It then adjusts the color filters and brightness of the camera accordingly. It’s all done automatically and the interface even displays words of what it thinks it sees right on the screen (which can be unintentionally funny when it gets things very wrong).

AI is also used in the camera brightness mode, which LG calls its Super Bright Camera. This mode can make photos and video four times brighter than what saw on the LG G6, though the max resolution drops to 4MP for photos and 1080p for video (divide the max by 4). That still may be worth it versus a darkened image. 

The dual-lens camera pairs a normal lens that has a fast f/1.6 aperture and a wider lens that has a 107-degree field of view meant for ultra-wide photos. That’s good for capturing more of what’s in front of you. The front-facing camera has also been improved in the G7 over past LG phones, now touting up to 8MP.

The LG G7 ThinQ battery may be our biggest concern. It has a 3,000mAh capacity and is supposed to prove all-day battery life. But it doesn’t sound as comforting as the LG V30 battery size that was 3,300mAh. We’ll have to judge the performance in our final review. Thankfully, it does have QuickCharge 3.0 and wireless charging to boot.

LG G7 ThinQ power and storage

• Powered by the Snapdragon 845 chip and Android Oreo
•  4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, microSD card slot
• Variant with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage exists – somewhere

The LG G7 ThinQ is launching the newest Qualcomm chipset, the Snapdragon 845. It also has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage in its normal configuration. The microSD card slot provides expandable storage if you need more.

That’s going to be plenty fast for most people, and a big step up over the G6, which included the older Snapdragon 821 chipset when other phones in its class were launching with the Snapdragon 835. LG waited to launch its new phone with flagship-level specs, and that’s a good thing for everyone.

Need more? LG is also making an LG G7+ ThinQ with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, but details on this souped-up version of the phone haven’t been revealed yet. You may see this version internationally under the regular LG G7 ThinQ name.

Still waiting for the Android Oreo update on your phone? Well, upgrading to the LG G7 gets you the new software right away. It’s carrying Google’s latest version of the operating system, and we’re hoping that LG becomes quicker with issuing future updates (like it has promised), as Android P is around the corner.

Other LG G7 ThinQ features

• Powerful ‘Boombox’ speaker
• Far-field voice recognition

The LG G7 ThinQ has one large speaker it calls the Boombox Speaker. It’s a chamber spanning the entire phone that’s supposed to provide louder audio and deeper bass.

We saw (and heard) this amped up speaker in action when it was placed on a wood table and then a hallow wooden box. It really reverberates nicely, although LG equipped its phone with a single bottom-firing speaker, so it’s going to be easy to accidentally cover up the speaker grille compared to phones with stereo speakers.

There are also powerful microphones on the LG G7 ThinQ, with the company touting that its phone has far field voice recognition. That pairs nicely with the Google Assistant button and the trigger words ‘Hey Google.’ It’s supposed to be able to hear you like a smart speaker.

We’ll continue to update this page as LG announced the exact release date and pricing information, whenever this post-launch information comes about. Stay tuned.

http://www.techradar.com/news/lg-g7-thinq-release-date-price-news-and-features