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Is your paper recycling bin overflowing on a regular basis? Are you tired of hassling with a ton of paper documents and filing systems at your office?
Our experts review the top scanners so you can focus on uncluttering your office, organizing your data, and feeling good about saving those trees.
What Is DPI?
Before we get into the reviews, we think it’s important to explain a little more about DPI.
DPI refers to the dots per inch (similar to the resolution on a TV or monitor). 72 DPI is standard for web, and 300 is typical for print.
Anything over 300 is better quality but will output a much larger file (doubling the resolution quadruples the file size) size. So we don’t recommend such a high DPI unless you are scanning highly detailed sources like film negatives or slides. Higher DPI also slows down the time it takes to scan a document. For example, a 1200 DPI page could take over a minute, whereas 300 DPI scans in a matter of seconds.
The output image resolution we provide in each scanner’s specs lets you know its available DPI range.
Best Desktop Scanner Reviews
In this article, we’ve focused on medium-level output scanners for office environments. If you’re looking for a scanner that’s a bit heartier, some of our top picks also offer higher-grade models that are excellent for heavy-duty scanning needs.
Winner: Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1500 Scanner Review
The Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1500 Scanner for PC and Mac is our top pick for the best document scanner. This color scanner has the largest daily capacity for heavier workloads out of our the scanners we reviewed and offers among the highest page per minute scanning rates.
It also has a generous fifty-page automatic document feeder and a built-in GI microprocessor that allows for PC-less scanning. This allows scanned documents to be sent directly to both iOS and Android mobile devices.
The Fujitsu ScanSnap even features an automatic receipt and business card recognizer, which allows you to compile data into appropriate databases quickly.
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Pricing & Tech Specs
- Price:
- Warranty: one year
- Double-sided scanning
- Pages per minute: 30 (color)
- Paper tray capacity: 50 pages
- Output image resolution: 600 dpi (dots per inch, higher is better; see What is DPI? above for details)
- Maximum paper length: 34 inches
- Weight: 7.5 lbs
- Dimensions: 11.5″ x 6″ x 6.3″
Video: Everything You Need To Know About The Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1500 Desktop Scanner
Watch how the Fujitsu ScanSnap saves you time and helps you go paperless!
Runner-Up: Epson WorkForce ES-400 Review
Our number two pick for the best desktop scanner is the Epson WorkForce ES-400 Duplex Document Scanner. Like our winner, the Epson is PC and Mac compatible, scans to the cloud, and easily syncs with mobile devices. Its lower price and rapid scan speed make it a great choice for home offices.
What kept the Epson out of our top spot? While speedy, it doesn’t handle quite the daily workload that Fujitsu can, and the image resolution is a little lower. Also, if you want to connect to an office network via WiFi, you’re out of luck—unless you purchase the network interface unit, which will run you an additional $300! Still, the price is hard to beat for the number of features and level of functionality you get.
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Pricing & Tech Specs
- Price: $334.95
- Warranty: one year
- Double-sided scanning
- Pages per minute: 35
- Paper tray capacity: 50 pages
- Documents per day (recommended): 4,000
- Output image resolution: 300 dpi
- Maximum paper length: 36 inches
- Weight: 8.1 lbs
- Dimensions: 11.6″ x 6.6″ x 6.3″
3rd Place: Kodak ScanMate i1150 Review
The Kodak ScanMate i1150 document scanner takes our third spot as one of the best scanners. This scanner is an excellent choice for offices that need extremely speedy but lower volume scanning. Its special technology allows for a whopping forty pages per minute scanning for your first ten documents, making it a great option if you need to scan documents for waiting customers or last-minute needs.
It also has a barcode reader and a convenient slot for small plastic cards like a driver’s license.
What are its downsides? The Kodak ScanMate i1150 isn’t WiFi-enabled and doesn’t sync with mobile devices, and it’s significantly heavier than many similar scanners.
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Pricing & Tech Specs
- Price:
- Warranty: three years
- Double-sided scanning
- Paper tray capacity: 50 pages
- Pages per minute: 40ppm
- Documents per day (recommended): 3,000
- Output image resolution: 100 to 1,200 dpi
- Maximum paper length: 34 inches
- Weight: 9.3 lbs
- Dimensions: 14.6″ x 11.2″ x 9.7″
Best Scanners By Category
In addition to our top three picks for best scanners, we’ve broken down our other top choices based on categories, in case you’re looking for a more specific scanning need. Click one of the options below to jump to a specific “Best For” category, or just keep reading!
Portable | Photo | Flatbed | Mobile | Printer-Scanner Combo
Best Portable Scanner: Brother DS-620 Review
When it comes to versatility, it’s easy to see why the Brother DS-620 Mobile Scanner wins as our best portable document scanner. At an extremely affordable price, this scanner is can scan anything from business cards to 8.5 x 14” documents.
Powered via a USB connection, this scanner doesn’t require batteries or an additional AC power supply, making it even more portable — and it fits easily into a briefcase! You can save your scanned documents in many applications and file formats, including PDF and JPEG. This portable scanner also comes with PageManager, which allows users to organize scanned files as well as edit, save, and send them.
Pricing & Tech Specs
- Price: $150.97
- Warranty: 1 year
- Windows and Mac OS
- Pages per minute: 8
- Output image resolution: up to 1,200 dpi
- Weight: .88 lbs
- Dimensions: 11.4″W x 2.1″D x 1.4″H
Best Scanner For Photos: Canon imageFORMULA DR-C225 Review
If you need to scan photos and documents, we highly recommend the Canon imageFORMULA DR-C225 scanner. In addition to a ton of great scanner features (25 pages per minute, WiFi-enabled, cloud scanning, software that syncs with apps, etc.), this scanner has an impressive array of photo features. The Canon imageFORMULA DR-C225 straightens and removes shadows from scanned images, detects color documents and photos in mixed batches, and automatically adjusts the output resolution for optimal image quality.
This scanner has a couple of potential drawbacks. It doesn’t sync with mobile devices and doesn’t handle as much daily volume as our top document scanner picks.
Pricing & Tech Specs
- Price: $381.20
- Warranty: 1 year
- Windows and Mac OS
- Double-sided scanning
- Paper tray capacity: 50 pages
- Documents per day (recommended): 1,500
- Pages per minute: 25
- Output image resolution: up to 1,200 dpi
- Weight: 5.95 lbs
- Dimensions: 11.8″W x 6.1″D x 8.7″H
Best Flatbed Scanner: Epson Perfection V600 Review
If you prefer a flatbed scanner, the Epson Perfection V600 Color Photo, Image, Film, Negative & Document Scanner is our top choice. The Epson Perfection V600 does a great job scanning documents, but its real “wow factor” is in scanning photos, negatives, slides, and film—with 6400 x 9600 dpi resolution!
Features include the ability to remove tears and creases with both film and prints, one-touch color restoration, and Arcsoft Photostudio. When scanning documents, you can use the Epson Perfection’s Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software that easily converts them into editable text. You can also scan to email, create PDFs, and more.
Pricing & Tech Specs
- Price: $349.99
- Warranty: 2 years
- Windows and Mac OS
- Weight: 9 lbs
- Dimensions: 11″W x 19″D x 4.6″H
Best Mobile Scanner: Tiny Scanner Review
Are you on the go frequently and need to scan something quickly? The Tiny Scanner smartphone app lets you scan documents from your phone. It’s pretty cool. All you do is take a picture, and the app can straighten it and make it look more like a scanned document than a photo of the document. You can also password protect your documents right from the scanner, so people can’t access your saved files. It saves all the scans in the app, and you can create folders to organize them. You can also upload an existing photo to turn into a scan. Tiny Scanner works well, and best of all, it’s free. The only downside is that it has a limited number of app integrations.
Best Printer Scanner Combo: Canon PIXMA MX922 Printer Review
This printer scanner combo lets you use AirPrint on any compatible iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. This printer scanner also can fax. With its 35 sheet document feeder, you can copy, scan and fax quickly without feeding them in one page at a time. It can also print double-sided without flipping the page over manually. This Canon printer is also Google Cloud Print capable, meaning you can print from anywhere using the app.
Price & Tech Specs
Infographic: How To Organize Your Office For Maximum Productivity
Learn how to increase your productivity while minimizing paper and clutter on your desk with this Infographic.
Save Trees, Time, And Money
Office scanners are the best bets for a wide variety of businesses—commercial, government, physicians, attorneys, and many more. A study by Purdue University found that a single attorney can go through up to 100,000 sheets of paper in one year alone (that’s 12 40-foot tall trees)!
With today’s software and technology, there’s no need to be dealing with and wasting so much paper. Consider the benefits versus the relatively low cost of purchasing an office scanner. Digitized workspaces are more efficient and can be searched, indexed, and organized in seconds by team members across your organization.
OCR Makes Your Scanned Text Editable And Searchable
Scanners with OCR (Optical Character Recognition) can digitize text, which means you’ll be able to sort, edit, and manage text from a scanned document just like you could with a document typed in MS Word. Typically though, it’s included in the software bundle. So, if your scanner doesn’t support OCR out of the box, don’t fret. There is plenty of software out there that will do the trick. We recommend Adobe Acrobat DC.
Reduce Clutter Further With A Receipt Scanner
Staying organized in the office doesn’t end with just scanning full-sized documents. You can also take your clean up and digitizing a step further with a receipt scanner.
And once you’ve scanned all those papers and filed them away electronically, you can scrap your paper trail safely with a paper shredder.
Decide on a scanner? Let us know which one in the comments!
Tagged With: Comparison
