Doing many day-to-day jobs without a scanner is nearly impossible in this day and age. In this digital age, we often need to digitize our important documents, photos, business cards, etc. Regardless of the reason behind digitizing them, the devices that play the primary role in getting it done are scanners.
You can use a scanner in your home or your office to perform various important functions. But the market is vast when it comes to home office scanners. So you need to know what the best home office scanner is for you and what makes them truly special. That is where we come in.
![Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1500 Color Duplex Document Scanner with Touch Screen for Mac and PC [Current Model, 2018 Release]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31txnF-hUOL._SL160_.jpg)
In this article, we will discuss the thing that makes a scanner special, and we will also review 5 top scanners for the home office currently available in the market.
5 Best Home Office Scanner Reviews
Now it is time to review the 5 best scanners in the market. Using all the information that you now have, observe the features of each of them, and determine the best home office document scanner for you.
1. Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1500
Fujitsu is one of the leading companies when it comes to scanners, and iX1500 is one of their best products. This product comes with a very compact design that takes very little space and is quite portable. It is also extremely easy to set up. You can either connect it to your phone or computer or use a USB cable.
This is understandably not the easiest scanner to use. Connecting the phone through the Fujitsu app can be quite a hassle. Additionally, you can connect only one device at a time. The performance is absolutely excellent. It accepts all sorts of papers and produces quality scans in little time.
The OCR is perfect for differentiating among documents, photos, receipts, etc. It can also be used to make PDF files. Scanning receipts with this is a little difficult, though. You should still look for a different scanner if scanning receipts is your sole purpose for buying it.
Lastly, it allows you to store your scanned files in cloud storage. But you need another app to access that feature, and that is an unnecessary hassle.
![Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1500 Color Duplex Document Scanner with Touch Screen for Mac and PC [Current Model, 2018 Release]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31txnF-hUOL._SL500_.jpg)
Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1500 Color Duplex Document Scanner with Touch Screen for Mac and PC [Current Model, 2018 Release]
6 used from $415.00
Pros
- Very compact and portable design
- Extremely easy to set up
- Accepts all sorts of papers with no issue
- Very fast and scan huge amounts of documents in very little time
- Comes with a fantastic OCR
Cons
- Connecting the phone through the Fujitsu app is quite difficult
- Performance in scanning receipts leaves a lot to be desired
- Requires a separate app to avail cloud storage
2. Epson Workforce ES-50
Compared to the last Fujitsu product we reviewed, this one is very budget-friendly. While that is a huge plus, it also gives up a lot of features.
Firstly, it doesn’t support wireless connectivity. The only way to use this is by connecting it via USB. Secondly, it doesn’t have any internal batteries. So you cannot run it without a cord and a power source. That takes some points away from its portability.
Aside from these few flaws, this scanner has many great features that make it definitely worth buying. Firstly, this Epson scanner is extremely small and lightweight. Carrying it around is absolutely no big deal. Thus it adds to the portability factor greatly.
It comes with the sheet feeding feature that makes it very convenient to use, especially for unbound documents. There isn’t a hard limit to the sheet feeding capacity, which is an added bonus.
The user interface in this scanner is called ScanSmart, and it is a genuinely fantastic UI that is very user friendly and easy to use. Additionally, it is also very powerful.
Epson WorkForce ES-50 Portable Sheet-Fed Document Scanner for PC and Mac
$99.99 in stock
Pros
- Very cost-effective
- Extremely small and lightweight making it very portable
- Has the sheet feeding feature that is instrumental in scanning documents
- Comes with a powerful and easy to use UI called ScanSmart
Cons
- Needs USB to be set up as it doesn’t support wireless connectivity
- No internal battery
3. Cannon ImageFORMULA R40
Compared to the other scanners on this list, this particular scanner isn’t lightweight. In fact, it is quite heavy, and that reduces its portability greatly. This can understandably be a flaw in the eye of many.
And since we are talking about the device’s flaws, it should be mentioned that this scanner doesn’t support any sort of wireless connection. You cannot operate it on your mobile phone. The only way to set it up is by connecting it to your computer through a USB cable.
Putting the flaws aside, let us now talk about everything good about this scanner. Firstly, it comes with an absolutely fantastic software bundle. This includes CaptureOnTouch, Readiris, and Cardiris.
CaptureOnTouch allows you to scan documents and distribute them across the management system quickly. The Readiris software is meant for PDF creation, and the Cardiris software is for scanning business cards.
Secondly, this scanner delivers when it comes to scanning quality. It can produce high-quality scans of photos, documents, receipts, and business cards. In fact, it might be the best scanner for business cards.
Thirdly, the conversion speed is also quite good. It can scan 40 pages per minute. While this rate isn’t otherworldly levels of good, it is respectable and serves you well enough.
Lastly, the OCR in this scanner is extremely accurate, and it has one of the best functioning OCRs.
Canon imageFORMULA R40 Office Document Scanner For PC and Mac, Color Duplex Scanning, Easy Setup For Office Or Home Use, Includes Scanning Software
$279.00 in stock
2 used from $256.68
Pros
- Fantastic software bundle
- Great scan quality especially in business cards
- Delivers a good amount of speed
- Very accurate OCR
Cons
- Slightly heavy
- Doesn’t support wireless connectivity
4. Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i
Most Fujitsu devices cost quite a bit more than standard scanners. But the S1300i is a relatively budget-friendly option. So if you want the Fujitsu brilliance at an affordable price, this is the scanner for you.
Speaking of the Fujitsu brilliance, this scanner gives you great examples of that through its features. Firstly, the scan quality is just excellent. You can get high-resolution scans in a very short time. Secondly, this is very lightweight and small, like most Fujitsu scanners.
Thirdly, the software used in this scanner is more than enough to fulfill all your requirements. The settings menu, the PDF converter, the management software, everything is absolutely top-notch.
Lastly, this device is very easy to set up. It supports both a wireless connection and a USB connection. And the scanner works well with both of them.
When it comes to the flaws, you can point to the limitations in the scanner, you can point to the limitations in the document feeder capacity and the OCR. The feeder can only take 10 documents at a time, and the OCR isn’t always 100% accurate.
And the latter often leads to trouble in differentiating among the different types of files you need to scan.
Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i Portable Color Duplex Document Scanner for Mac or PC
4 used from $199.00
Pros
- Very budget-friendly for a Fujitsu device
- Very small and lightweight
- Provides high-quality scans in little time
- Has a fantastic software system
- Extremely easy to set up
Cons
- Feeder capacity limited to 10 pages only
- Problems in differentiating files due to an inaccurate OCR
5. Brother DS-720D
The last product from our list is an underrated scanner that often goes unnoticed while discussing the best scanners, but it seriously deserves some attention. For starters, the scan quality is very good, and it can scan almost anything, starting from A4 papers to plastic cards.
And the 30p PPI resolution is good enough for running day to day scans. But this device takes 12-13 seconds to scan one page, which is very slow. Speaking of that, it is indeed quite budget-friendly, and that is definitely one of the perks of getting an underrated device.
Moreover, the scanner is very mobile and portable as well owing to its small size and lightweight. It supports both a wireless connection and a USB connection, which is rare for a scanner of this price range.
Furthermore, the OCR is also very accurate and performs its functions remarkably well. It very easily separates the photos, documents, business cards, and receipts from each other.
However, the other features need serious improvements. This device does almost nothing exceptional to separate itself. Furthermore, the images aren’t even self-aligned. You have to align them yourself to make sure the scans are perfect, which can be an additional hassle.
Brother DS-720D Mobile Color Page Scanner, White (DS720D)
4 used from $189.85
Pros
- High-quality scanning
- Very lightweight and portable
- Supports both USB and wireless connections
- Very accurate OCR
- Budget-friendly
Cons
- Very slow
- The software leaves much to be desired
What to Look for before Buying
Before we move further with the reviews, let us first make sure you know all the things you need to take into consideration before buying the best scanners for home.
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Type of Media
You need to first consider the way you will be using the scanners. And you can use it to scan old photos, or you could use it to scan official documents. You can even scan pages of books and magazines, film strips, business cards, or stamps if you want.
There are also scanners that can scan 3D objects like coins. So depending on your usage, the ideal scanner for you will differ.
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Flatbed vs. Sheet Feeder
As the name suggests, flatbed scanners are scanners with a flat surface where you have to keep your photos or documents to scan them. These are perfect for photos, 3D objects, or bound materials. However, it gets tiring if you have to scan multiple pieces of paper or photos.
If you regularly need to scan five or ten pages a day, then you need a sheet feeder. This will greatly reduce your hassle. The best document scanners for the home office always come with sheet feeders.
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Duplex
Duplex scanning is for those people who need to scan both sides of a page. Not all scanners have these features, but it is generally a handy feature to have. So you should definitely lookout for this.
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Resolution
Ordinary scanners with 300 PPI are usually good enough to meet your needs when it comes to photos or documents. If you opt for a higher resolution, 600 PPI is absolutely perfect.
However, if you need to scan film strips or stamps, then you need a scanner with higher resolution as these require greater details. For this, a resolution of 4800 PPI is adequate.
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Software
Lastly, you should make sure you are well aware of all the things your scanner is able to do, i.e., the type of software it has. This includes its OCR functionality, text indexing, PDF conversion, management software, etc. Always try to make sure that the scanner has the software to do the works you need from it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here we have the most commonly asked queries regarding the best home office scanners:
- What is the fastest scanner for documents?
Speed is definitely a priority when it comes to home office scanners. The first product on our list, i.e., the Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1500, is the best device when it comes to speed. It can scan 24 images in about 1 minute.
- What is the best scanner for small businesses?
For small businesses with a small capital, you should look for a scanner that doesn’t cost you much but still gives you a solid performance. On that end, we recommend the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i. It is very budget-friendly but still gives you a more than satisfactory performance.
- What is the easiest scanner to use?
Ease of use doesn’t always translate to quality, but it is nonetheless an important factor in any scanner. Even in this department, we will have to go with the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i. It is easy to set up and very easy to operate through the mobile app.
- How do I scan thousands of documents?
If the documents can be unbound, then it is best to get a scanner with an efficient sheet feeder. With a proper sheet feeder, you can scan 3000 documents in a day. You can also convert the documents into PDF files with good OCR. That will save you the trouble of proofreading.
- What should I look for when buying a scanner?
You should look for a scanner that meets your specific needs. And you should be careful of features like flatbed and sheet feeder and determine which one you need more. You should make sure the scanner has a good resolution and great software.
- What are the four types of scanners?
The four types of scanners are-
- Flatbed scanners
- Sheetfed scanners
- Production scanners
- Hand scanners
Conclusion
Scanners have become absolutely essential in this day and age. So it is also essential to know about these scanners.
We hope we could satisfy your thirst for knowledge and provide you with a full proof buying guide to help you in your endeavor. Follow our advice wisely and buy the best home office scanner that fulfills your unique set of requirements.