OVERALL
SCORE
REASONS TO BUY
Easy to use and super convenient app
Can queue up a lot of papers to be scanned
REASONS TO AVOID
Has to be plugged into a computer to transmit
17 |50
If you are looking for the best scanner on the market and wouldn't mind saving a hundred bucks without giving up much in performance, check out the Canon ImageFORMULA R40. Compared to the Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1600, it had better optical character recognition. It also performed better in terms of software quality and ease of use. While Canon calls this an entry-level device, they have continually upgraded its performance. Due to firmware updates and hardware upgrades, the latest iteration has faster scanning speeds, better text recognition software, and improved image quality.
On the negative side, it doesn't support wireless scanning, and it simply can't compete with the incredible 67-page-per-minute speed exhibited by Fujitsu products like the ScanSnap iX1600. The good news is you can have equal scanning performance, better OCR, and a more user-friendly experience at a lower price. If 17 pages per minute is fast enough for your needs, the ImageFORMULA R40 is perfect.
Read more: Canon ImageFORMULA R40 review
An example of how fast the ImageFORMULA R40 can scan a page.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
OVERALL
SCORE
REASONS TO BUY
Great scan quality
Very small and portable
Simple operation
Good OCR
REASONS TO AVOID
Not great for long (10+ page) documents
4 |N/A
For most, the ideal scanner can quickly and conveniently digitize a short document or receipt whenever needed and then easily be stored. If you're one of these users, it's hard to beat the Brother DS-640. In our tests, this model consistently produced high-quality PDFs that looked nearly identical to the originals, almost perfectly used optical character recognition that made documents completely text searchable, and offered simple and easy-to-use document management. The most important and impressive feature is its size. The scanner is about the size of a standard power strip, weighs just over one pound, and powers over USB. All this means you can quickly plug it into your laptop when needed and then easily hide it away when not in use. You can even toss it in your backpack next to your laptop if you need to scan documents on the go. It's an ultra-compact and robust scanner at a relatively low price. This product was released in 2019 and has not changed much physically. However, it has had several driver and software updates and now supports Linux.
The only real downside to this model is its speed. Because you must manually feed each page, digitizing page after page of a document can be a slow and cumbersome process. The process gets even more time-consuming due to the lack of a duplex scanning feature, meaning you must feed every double-sided page twice. For reference, it took us two and a half minutes to digitize five double-sided pages with the Brother DS-640. This task takes 30 seconds with automatic document feeders. If you consistently scan documents over ten pages, this won't be the model for you. Still, for many people, the Brother DS-640 offers the convenience of size and simplicity at a price that won't gouge your wallet. If you want more speed and scanning performance, check out the Epson Perfection V39. It scored only a few points lower and is often available at a much lower price. For a truly low price, check out the Scanner Pro App — it's free.
Read more: Brother DS-640 review
Showing how to scan a smaller photo with the DS-640.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
OVERALL
SCORE
REASONS TO BUY
Extremely fast
Superb-quality scans
Easy operation
Touch screen interface
REASONS TO AVOID
Expensive
Imperfect character recognition
67 |50 pages
The Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1600 is our top recommendation for those who have any job or small business that demands high quality, speed, and ease of use. Thanks to a large automatic document feeder and fast pace, this model turns a 50-page document into a PDF in a flash with a single push of a button. The resulting PDF looks great because this machine can accurately and crisply render everything from tiny text to detailed graphics. The user experience is also simple, as the iX1600 offers a large LCD touchscreen with an intuitive interface that makes both setup and daily use a breeze. Fujitsu has dominated the high-speed scanning game for years and kept updating the iX1600. While the scanning speeds have not dramatically changed, and it's not clear that anyone needs it to scan faster, the software and driver updates have allowed higher scanning resolutions and improved text recognition.
This model suffered from some errors in optical character recognition, but this is a common problem for many scanners. With that in mind, the only serious downside is the premium price. Some users may not scan enough to justify the hefty price tag. However, if scanning is a major part of your workflow, the investment is well worth the time and effort you'll save and the superior-quality scans you'll receive. For a high-speed, easy-to-use, high-quality machine, look no further than the iX1600. If you scan less frequently and just want an affordable option that you can tuck away in a drawer when not in use, look to the Brother DS-640.
Read more: Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1600 review
The iX1600 can scan a variety of paper sizes, including receipts.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
OVERALL
SCORE
REASONS TO BUY
100-page automatic document feeder
Fast
Excellent quality of scans
REASONS TO AVOID
Expensive
Somewhat complicated installation
21 |100 pages
Among the scanners our team has tested, the Fujitsu Fi-8170 stands out as one of the top performers. Its impressive speed sets it apart, making it an excellent choice for efficient scanning. Additionally, a high-capacity design that can handle 100-page documents means it will easily handle large volumes and make short work of big tasks. Moreover, its overall scanning quality and user-friendly interface make it well-suited for demanding scanning tasks requiring dialing in scanner settings.
Unfortunately, the Fujitsu Fi-8170 isn't perfect. It is best suited for business tasks, like text documents and receipts, and its photo scanning performance could have yielded better results. It's also many times more expensive than others in the field. Nonetheless, the Fi-8170 is a great scanner for those who require the ability to scan large documents quickly and easily. If you want a better balance of great performance and price, our top recommendation is the Canon ImageFORMULA R40, which has a 60-page document feeder and scores high across all our test metrics.
Read more: Fujitsu Fi-8170 Sheetfed review
The Fujitsu is an exceptionally fast scanner that can handle large documents quickly and easily with its 100-page document feeder.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
OVERALL
SCORE
REASONS TO BUY
Great for portability
Can go up to 1200 dpi
Wireless
REASONS TO AVOID
Slow
No feed tray or output tray
8 |N/A
Epson hit it out of the park with the Epson WorkForce ES-60W. It is light, fast, compact, incredibly mobile, and easy to use. Not only is it amazing for those who need scanning on the go, wireless scanning, or scanning to the cloud, but its performance also rivals some of the best desktop and flatbed-style scanners on the market today.
Unfortunately, the Workforce ES-60W is slower to operate without a feed or output tray. Larger stacks of documents can be a lengthy and even tedious chore, requiring manually feeding each sheet into the device. If you don't typically need to digitize multi-page documents and want great performance and robust features on the go, there is no better choice than the ES-60W. If you scan infrequently, the Brother DS-640 is an even more affordable portable scanner with above average scan quality.
Read more: Epson WorkForce ES-60W review
Scanning an individual photo with the ES-60W.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
OVERALL
SCORE
REASONS TO BUY
Inexpensive
High-quality scans
Great text recognition
REASONS TO AVOID
Slow and laborious for multi-page documents
N/A |N/A
For only a few bucks, the Scanner Pro App provides all the firepower needed if your scanning needs are ordinarily just a few receipts or a 1-2 page document per week. This app uses powerful software to turn your smartphone's camera into a high-quality scanner. If you have a flat, relatively monochrome surface against which to snap an image, the scans are automatically cropped and appear surprisingly crisp. Since the resulting files end up on your phone, it is effortless to attach them to emails or texts or upload them to the cloud storage service of your choice. It even offers optical character recognition, rivaling the software's accuracy on dedicated scanning devices.
Relying on your phone's camera to scan documents has some inherent drawbacks. The process is relatively slow due to the need to frame each shot. It's not a big deal when working with one or two pages, but it can quickly become a time-consuming task when scanning multiple-page documents. You must also be careful not to cast shadows on the materials you're scanning, or the result may look smudged. Still, the Scanner Pro App is an incredibly inexpensive way to scan receipts and short documents on the go and can likely replace a dedicated model for many people.
Read more: Scanner Pro App review
It takes about 20 seconds to scan and save a document using the Scanner Pro App.
Credit: Chris McNamara
89
87
79
77
70
$31066
64
$12063
60
$35051
$199
We used speed tests and side-by-side comparisons to help us determine which scanner had the best overall performance.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
To bring honest and unbiased results, we buy and hands-on test each product in this list. Our review process comprises over 150 hours of setup, software installation, file management, spot-checking optical character recognition, and scanning paper documents, IDs, and passports. We put each model through more than 20 different tests and used each one in just about every way possible. The most important metric here is Scanning Performance, which accounts for 35% of the overall score. To gauge performance, we divide it into two main sections: Black and White Scanning (text) and Color Photo Scanning. Whether you're seeking a powerhouse to turn giant stacks of paper into text-searchable PDFs or need an efficient way to digitize your receipts, we can help you find the perfect device.
We use four rating metrics in our hands-on tests:We usein our hands-on tests:
Steven Tata and Max Mutter began testing home office products in 2016. In the intervening years, they've used and analyzed hundreds of scanners, printers, shredders, and Chromebooks. That experience has given them a unique understanding of evaluating the quality of printed and digital text and images and the common pitfalls of software controls for common desktop devices. Their knowledge allows them to accurately assess whether a scanning device can do everything it needs without creating too many complications or annoyances for the user. Matt Spencer, who has a background in engineering and has tested hundreds of household items, also assisted in testing these devices.
We've tested dozens of scanners over the years of all shapes and sizes to help you find the best fit for your needs.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
Despite an increasingly digitized world, some institutions still use paper documents to communicate important information. That's where a scanner comes in, allowing you to digitize the vital information on those scattered scraps into an easily organizable, searchable, and savable format. Since scanning is an essential and annoying task, we focused most of our scoring on how well and quickly each model can digitize documents. If you're not sure how to narrow down the options here, we outline the most important features to look for and how to ensure a scanner aligns with your daily usage expectations.
When it comes to digitizing documents, you're mostly paying for two things: speed and scan quality. High-priced models like the Fujitsu iX1600 ScanSnap or Fujitsu Fi-8170 get crystal clear text and can tear through pages in a flash. A more inexpensive model like the Canon ImageFormula R40 or the Brother DS-640 can still provide impressive scan quality at slower speeds. The Epson Perfection V39 offers a reasonable value for scanning photos, but you again sacrifice the ability to scan long documents.
A scan is useless if it isn't legible, making scanning performance the most important metric in our tests, weighing 35% of the overall scores. Our first step in finding the best model is to assess the quality of each model's scans. Our testing focuses on printed type, handwritten notes, and receipts. In this round of tests, we found that every model could generally produce great-looking text, with a few exceptions. However, differences were apparent regarding how well each model could render color documents. These days, it is more common to want to print a digital photo, but occasionally, you need to digitize a printed photograph. Document scanners haven't traditionally been ideal for photos, but we still test their capabilities by scanning some images to see how well each model performs in that capacity. We then grade each model based on the scan clarity and color accuracy.
The Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1600 shared the top ranking in our scan quality tests. It produces crystal clear characters on an entirely white background, renders text documents and graphs to near perfection, and does a surprisingly good job scanning photos and maintaining accurate colors and composition. It didn't earn a perfect score because it can occasionally make some images look oversaturated.
The Canon ImageFORMULA R40 shared the highest ranking for near-perfect black-and-white scanning and above-average color scanning performance. Although the sharpness of the digitized photos was nearly as good as the original, there was some minor over-darkening of dark areas and overly brightened light areas. In contrast, other models maintained more true light and dark distinctions.
The iX1600 produced the highest quality scans in our testing.
Credit: Steven Tata
The above-average Workforce ES-60W and the Brother DS-640 challenge other top models. The scanning performance from the compact and portable ES-60W was surprisingly good and challenged the notion that only traditional desktop or flatbed style scanners can offer premium performance.
The Brother DS-640, despite its relatively low price tag, also earned high scores on our scan quality scoreboard. Throughout our tests, it rendered PDFs with clear text and accurate colors. It even did a decent job of scanning photographs (though we wouldn't feed treasured old photos through it for fear they'd be bent — a flatbed model is still best for this application).
Even as a budget model, the Brother DS-640 produced some of the most quality scans of our test group.
The two Epson flatbed models that we tested ranked slightly lower. Although they did not score as high, both produce excellent-quality photo scans and are more than up to the task of digitizing your family albums. The V600 can even scan film negatives, something the V39 cannot do. They both create great-looking digital copies of text documents, but much more slowly than the dedicated document models.
The Epson Perfection V39 creates great scans of everything from photos to book pages.The Epson Perfection V600 also creates great photo scans with a slightly higher resolution than those from the V39.The Scanner Pro App performed impressively in our scan quality testing, much better than expected. This app allows you to create high-quality and text-searchable PDFs with no extra hardware by turning the camera on your phone into a scanner. The resulting scans are nearly flawless if you find the perfect lighting. However, it is easy to get shadows on the corners of the document. While this doesn't detract from the scan's usefulness, it can look odd.
The Scanner Pro App, which uses your smartphone's camera to create PDFs, created the best some of the best color scans in our testing.
Let's face it: nobody likes the scanning process, so the faster you can get it over with, the better. We scanned a double-sided, 10-page document on each model to test speed and timed how long it took from loading the first page to opening a complete PDF and gave the results a 30% weighting in the overall scores of each product. We then converted these times into page-per-minute (ppm) figures. Models with automatic document feeders were much faster than those that required loading each page individually.
The Fujitsu is an exceptionally speedy scanner.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
The Fujitsu iX1600 ScanSnap is the fastest model we tested; it blew through our 10-page duplex document in seconds. Its automatic document feeder aided this speed, which can handle up to 50 pages, allowing you to buzz through mid-length documents quickly.
Whether big or small, black-and-white or color, the Fujitsu Fi-8170 makes swift work of any task.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
The Fujitsu Fi-8170 performed slightly slower than its iX1600 sibling. While its page-per-minute average speed of 21 is slightly behind its sibling's speed, it has a much larger 100-page automatic document feeder. The automatic feeder allows you to blaze through a 100-page document in just a few minutes, a feat that would require slowing down to reload the document feeder of the iX1600 and nearly all other scanners we tested. The capacity of the Fi-8170 earned it recognition for being one of the best high-volume scanning devices you can put in your home office.
Large document capacity and speed are key features of the Fi-8170.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
The Canon ImageFORMULA R40, while not nearly as fast as the ScanSnap scanners, is a very fast model. It was able to handle an average of 17 pages per minute, and with a large feed tray, it can make quick work of larger tasks with no compromises in scanning quality.
The DS-640 is great for individual documents. The need to hand-feed it makes it slow for larger documents.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
One of the lower-scoring scanners, the Scanner Pro App, requires that you place each page you want to scan onto a monochrome surface, frame it within the camera on your phone, and snap a picture. This process takes more time than feeding a piece of paper into a machine, but with that said, we were surprised by how quickly the app could scan a document. It can automatically recognize the edges of the paper, so you don't have to fuss too much about perfect framing. Combining these features allowed us to scan three double-sided pages in a minute.
The Xerox Duplex Combo, although only an average to above-average model, is a flatbed style scanner that also incorporates a feed tray and is reasonably fast. It is an interesting hybrid that is fairly run-of-the-mill but might be an okay option for those seeking a more versatile device.
The manually-fed Brother DS-640 is slower, but quite affordable and much more portable.
Credit: Laura Casner
The painfully slow scanning speed of the Plustek ePhoto Z300 is a real let down.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
A device's software can easily make or break your scanning experience. Ideally, you want software that makes installation simple, offers intuitive file management, and can make scanned documents text-searchable using Optical Character Recognition (OCR). We installed our scanners' software packages onto multiple Macs and PCs, managed thousands of files with each OS, objectively rated OCR accuracy to find the best software, and gave this metric a 20% weighting in the overall scores.
Regarding optical character recognition, there are two new contenders in town, and neither is our overall top-rated model. The Canon ImageFORMULA R40 and the Epson WorkForce ES-60W outperformed every other device we've tested to date, giving the manufacturer of the most premium scanners a wake-up call.
The ES-60W is great for scanning individual receipts.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
We were surprised by the software capabilities offered by the simple Scanner Pro App. It spits out PDF files that you can easily manage within your phone's native file system and transfer directly into an email or text message or save to cloud services like Google Drive. It also has optical character recognition that is about 95% accurate. Finally, you can change all of its various options via a familiar mobile touchscreen interface, which is much easier than sifting through the PC-based software packages of the other models we reviewed.
Thanks to great optical character recognition, the Brother DS-640 also ranked highly in our software tests. The OCR is backed up with easy installation, operation, and file management, whether using a PC or Mac.
Some of the models we tested offered a range of software packages from just good to great.
Credit: Chris McNamara
Although it is the all-around best scanner in our product lineup, the Fujitsu ScanSnap iX600 does a less than stellar job when it comes to accurate and reliable character recognition and has a significant amount of room for improvement.
The Epson Perfection V600 performed poorly for its included software. We feel like we spent more time than necessary wading through clunky menus before getting the scan settings we wanted. The software also did not seem to run well on any of our Mac devices, often freezing or crashing. The Epson Perfection V39 has very similar software, with a couple of extra features, like automatically recognizing that you're scanning two photos at once and creating two separate files.
In addition to incredible speed and a large capacity, the Fujitsu Fi-8170 software package is well-designed and a good interface makes it easy to operate.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
User-friendliness is the last metric we test for, and it has a 15% weighting in the overall scores. Initial setup, including unboxing, calibrating, and getting a scanner to communicate to its associated software, can either be a simple and straightforward task or one so frustrating that it makes even the slickest model not worth buying. Additionally, small touches like how easy it is to load and unload paper and a clean user interface can make a model feel user-friendly or like it's been sent to turn your office chores into a never-ending purgatory. We connected each of our models with multiple different devices. We spent hours scanning various documents, receipts, ID cards, and more to uncover all the minor annoyances that might leave you wishing you'd bought a different model.
Luckily, most of our models were relatively easy to use, with multiple models sharing some great scores for the ease of use test metric. No model is perfect, but these top-performing models generally provide an easy setup and good user experience. The Canon ImageFORMULA R40 is one of those models. It took less than 10 minutes to set up and is incredibly easy and intuitive to use. It ranks slightly higher than the overall top model in this regard, giving the top model a serious run for its money.
Scanning receipts with the Canon ImageFORMULA is easy due to its intuitive design that's built for all kinds of paper materials.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
Another notably easy-to-set-up, easy-to-use, and incredibly convenient model we tested is the Epson WorkForce ES-60W. It took only 10 minutes to set up. Still, other factors like IOS compatibility, a compact format, wireless scanning, and battery-powered operation make it stand out. Its user-friendliness does suffer a little due to the requirement of manual feeding, as it lacks a feed tray, but that is an understandable trade-off for a scanner you can fit into a laptop case.
The Epson is quick and compact.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
The Fujitsu iX1600 ScanSnap took us 15 minutes to get up and running, including a firmware update, and it was easy to get it to communicate with both Mac and PC devices. The automatic document feeder is easy to load, and the single-button interface keeps everything simple. Finally, the relatively large touchscreen controls provide a much more intuitive interface than any other model.
A good document feeder and paper tray, like on the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i pictured here, can make life much easier.The slim and portable Brother DS-640 offers a generally good overall user experience.Both the Epson V600 and V39 flatbed models have easy-to-understand controls and talk to both Macs and PCs without any fuss. However, they do lack some of the convenient features of the document-oriented models, namely an automatic document feeder, which can make scanning long text documents quite cumbersome.
The Canon ImageFORMULA is highly adjustable.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
Features like loading trays, a cumbersome interface, or overly advanced settings can add a lot of complication to a scanner. The Plustek ePhoto Z300 has none of those complications, and while it is underwhelming overall, it is a fairly easy model to use and deserves mention for its straightforward design.
No trays, duplex features, manual feeding, and no interface to speak of, make this one of the simplest scanners to operate.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
They may not be the most exciting devices, but finding the right scanner can improve organization in your life, help preserve memories, and even increase productivity. Even if your job doesn't explicitly require one, having a quick and easy way to digitize documents, photos, and receipts can keep things tidy, permanently preserved, and more organized. We hope that our detailed testing results will help you choose the model that is best for your home or small office needs
Finding the best scanner is crucial for both office and home office settings, as it offers a convenient and accurate way to digitize documents and printed materials for archiving and sharing.
While the best all-in-one printer with scanning capabilities provides a compact solution for digitizing documents and photos, the best standalone scanners excel in delivering high-fidelity reproductions, making them indispensable for a robust backup strategy.
In our search for the best scanner, we've extensively tested various models to suit different needs, from business requirements to budget-friendly options. Our comprehensive review process involved comparing scanning speeds, output resolutions, and build quality. We also evaluated the intuitiveness of each scanner, its pricing, and overall performance to ensure that our recommendations cater to a wide range of users.
Additionally, considering the importance of digital document management, we've included insights on the best cloud storage and best photo storage and sharing sites. These services enhance the functionality of scanners by providing secure and accessible platforms for storing and sharing scanned documents.
For those who work extensively with PDFs, we've also explored the best Adobe Acrobat alternatives, the best PDF editors, and the best free PDF editors. These tools, combined with the best scanners, create a comprehensive document management system. They allow for efficient editing, annotation, and sharing of scanned documents.
Moreover, don't forget to check out the best cloud backup and best free cloud storage options to provide additional layers of security for any digital documents you scan. Our guide aims to help you find the best scanner that not only meets your scanning needs but also integrates seamlessly into your wider document management and storage solutions.
Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
Below you'll find full write-ups for each of the entries on our best scanner list. We've tested each one extensively, so you can be sure that our recommendations can be trusted.
Best scanner for documents
(Image credit: Fujitsu)
For fast, accurate scanning
Average Amazon review:Optical scan resolution:
600 x 600 DPI
Scanning speed:
80 ipm
Interface:
USB
View at AmazonView at Amazon+
Fast and accurate scanning
+
Compact enough to fit anywhere
-
Only a USB connection
The Fujitsu Image Scanner fi-800R - also known as the Ricoh fi-800R - is a compact and fast document scanner with some impressive features that make it truly one of the best scanners around right now. The fi-800r includes Fujitsu's return scan and U-Turn scan technology, and it has a return scan feature. On top of all of that, this scanner also is smart enough to auto align and straighten out the files being scanned utilizing it's Active Skew Correction technology.
Fujitsu's Image Scanner fi-800R is sadly limited by simply a USB connection, however we haven't seen that stop people from grabbing this scanner for work, especially work on the go, or work in smaller office spaces. In these scenarios, relying on a quick and easy USB connection is sometimes even preferred.
Best scanner for photos
(Image credit: Canon)
Best scanner for photos
Optical scan resolution:
4800 x 4800 dpi
Scanning speed:
300 dpi
Interface:
USB Type-C
Feeder capacity:
Flatbed
View at AmazonView at AmazonThe Canon CanoScan LiDE 400 is a classic flatbed scanner, great for photos and documents. With a scanner like this, there is no hopper to load up several documents or photos at a time. Instead, each file needs to be loaded one by one.
Something interesting about this scanner is that rather than laying flat on a desk or table, this scanner has a kickstand that will help it angle up a bit.
Continuing on, this model has some advancements in its ability to scan text documents and even process them better compared to previous models. However, like other scanners, this model is still only a wired connection. No Wi-Fi, no Bluetooth. All that being said, this is a very easy to use and quality scanner that is great for images, and documents alike.
Best for basics
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
Perfect for low-volume tasks
Our expert review:
Scanner type:
Sheetfed
Document feed capacity:
20 Sheets
Maximum scan DPI: :
1200
Pages per minute:
30 B&W, 30 Colour
Images per minute:
60 B&W, 60 Colour
Duplex scanning:
Yes
Dimensions:
296 x 104 x 125 mm
Check AmazonVISIT WEBSITE+
Highly portable
+
Easy to use
+
Scans to USB drive and computer
-
Tiny touch screen
-
Flimsy construction
-
Not ideal for some workflows
Not everyone needs huge scanners that can eat document piles in seconds and spit out any paperclips left in them, and the Epson ES-C380W was designed for those less demanding jobs.
Able to run up to 20 pages at a time through its double-sided scanner, the Epson ES-C380W is simple to use, has a small desktop footprint and is light enough to carry to a remote site. In addition to handling bulk paper processing, it also has an alternative flat paper path that can cope with thicker input up to 5mm deep. But it can‘t scan books, regrettably. The scan speed is 30 pages per minute for text documents and double that for images, although that assumes you can reload the 20-page bin very smartly.
Once pages are scanned, they can be directed to network locations or Cloud storage using the Epson ScanSmart tools. In addition to this redirection, there are some other workflow-friendly features, like blank page skipping, that can save time and effort for those using it.
One issue with this design is that it appears somewhat flimsy, and it only comes with a single year of warranty. Another problem is the relatively high price compared with similar Canon and Fujitsu offerings. If this scanner were cheaper and slightly better made, and Epson sold it outside Europe, we’d be more impressed.
Read our full Epson ES-C380W review .
Best portable scanner
(Image credit: Brother)
A portable scanning powerhouse
Optical scan resolution:
600 x 600
Scanning speed:
16ipm
Interfaces:
Wireless 802.11 b/g/n, Wi Fi Direct, Micro USB 3.0
VISIT WEBSITE+
Small size
+
Wi-Fi and USB connectivity
-
No ADF (Automatic Document Feeder)
The Brother DSmobile DS-940DW is a portable document scanner that is easy to use and has both Wi-Fi and USB 3.0 connectivity. Unlike many other scanners, this one actually has rechargeable batteries, allowing it to be operated without being plugged in for maximum portability.
All in all, this scanner is a fantastic value for a manually fed portable document scanner, especially one with the companion software that is available. This may not be the document scanner you choose for large scanning jobs, but it's pretty handy to have for if you are on the go, or just need to scan occasionally and don't want a large scanner on your desk.
Best scanner for small businesses
(Image credit: Brother)
Highly accurate and fairly fast
Optical scan resolution:
600 dpi
Scanning speed:
120 ipm
Interface:
USB, Wi-Fi, Ethernet
Feeder capacity:
100 sheets
View at Amazon+
Fast and reliable scanning
+
Accurate OCR
-
Doesn't work with Mac
The Brother ADS-4900W is a mid-range document scanner with a reasonable price tag of $700. The scans from this machine are accurate and efficient and quite fast, especially for the small size of this scanner. For those who need to scan files to simply store on a flash drive, this ADS-4900W can scan direct to flash drive without the use of a computer at all. Compared to other, similar scanners, this model is a bit lighter and smaller, making it a great on the go scanner, as well as one that is tucked out of the way for the occasional use.
One downside of this scanner, for some, is the lack of solid Mac support. However, for PC users, there are a number of companion applications that can help make sure all is running smoothly
Best scanners: FAQs
A scanner is an electronic machine that captures text and images from physical documents and converts them in digital formats. These converted digital scans are generally stored on computers, and can be viewed and edited using computer apps.
The best scanners provide a great way to digitize old photos, letting you modify images in the best photo editors or pairing the process with the best cloud storage to securely back-up your pictures.
Scanning and digitizing old photos is fairly straightforward, provided your scanner has good accuracy for capturing every shot. The process works the same as scanning documents. Alternatively, some apps, like Microsoft's Office Lens, let you use your phone to capture physical media and covert them to digital images.
You can find out more in our guide How to scan and digitize old photos.
When choosing the best scanner for yourself, start with evaluating whether you want a dedicated device - most of the best all-in-one printers feature scanning tools, although they may not match the accuracy of a fully focused scanner. Also consider what you're scanning, as alongside scanners for documents, the best photo scanners excel at reproducing images.
You'll want to consider the size of the documents you plan to scan. If they're tiny photos, a small scanner will work well. But if you need to scan larger sizes of photos and documents, then a large scanner is apt.
You'll then want to check the scanner's resolution. The higher the resolution, the better the digitized quality of the documents. 1200 to 3200 dpi is suitable if you plan to scale up scans to decorate your home, but 300 dpi should be fine for most other cases.
Lastly, you'll want to look out for the network connectivity features, scanning enhancements, scanning speed, and the machine's price.
How we test the best scanners
Every year, we test hundreds of office equipment essentials, from the best printers for WFH to the best small business printers and the best standing desks.
Whether we're rating the best office chairs or scanning tools for digitizing and backing up documents, we undertake a rigorous testing process to uncover the products are best for every use-case.
To test the best scanners, we compare scanning resolution, scanning speed, and designs. We assess any additional functionality, like printing and copying, and evaluated if they added enhancements to the digitized scans.
During our comprehensive evaluation of each model, we explore paper capacity, scan quality, network connectivity, and dimensions. We also explore what types of users the scanners are best suited to, and whether user interface was intuitive and easy to use.
Lastly, we considered whether the scanners had additional features like card reader compatibility and ADF, and their pricing - from premium models to value for money options.
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