Best A3 printers 2020: top printers for large printouts

• May 23, 2020

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Welcome to our pick of the best A3 printers of 2020. On this page you’ll find the best large-format printers that offer brilliant print quality on A3 paper sizes, making them ideal for posters, displays and portfolios.

Most printers can handle up to A4 paper sizes, but if that’s not big enough for you, then the best A3 printers in this list can help. Most importantly of all, they can print in large formats without sacrificing print quality.

This is important because there’s no point printing out large documents if they aren’t going to look good. However, if you want the best A3 printer that can produce excellent large-scale printouts, you’re going to have to budget for it carefully, as these printers can be quite costly.

However, that doesn’t mean you need to spend a fortune, as our price comparison tool will help you get the best price for the A3 printer of your choice. 

So, let’s take a look at the best A3 printers. If you need to make large printouts, these are the very best choices you should consider.

1. OKI C844dnw printer

Category: A3 colour laser printer | Print speed: 36ppm | Paper sizes: up to A3 | Paper capacity: 300 | Weight: 37kg

Smallest A3 printer

Upgradable

Expensive

What looks like your typical A4 printer turns out to be the smallest A3 printer on the market with accessories available to make it one of the largest. It can hold 300 sheets of paper in its main paper tray and 100 in its multipurpose tray, but add three more drawers and that expands to 2,540 sheets. You can even choose the banner tray upgrade for printing on rolls of paper. It can auto duplex print and has a Wi-Fi built in as standard. It uses LEDs rather than laser, but with similar effect. 

Read the full review: Oki C844dnw

2. Xerox VersaLink C7000DN

Category: 4-in-1 colour laser MFD | Print speed: 35ppm | Paper sizes: A3 | Paper capacity: 520 | Weight: 54kg

Customisable touchscreen

High resolution prints

Wi-Fi costs extra

Expensive toner

This high-end laser printer will take big bites out of your office space and your budget, but there’s nothing the VersaLink C7000DN can’t do exceptionally well. For a start it can duplex print on A3 paper and do it at a resolution of 1200 x 2400 DPI. It can also scan, copy and fax with all that functionality simplified by a sophisticated five-inch colour touchscreen. Text is exceptionally sharp and colours particularly bold and with plenty of optional modules available for boosting the paper capacity, this is a printer that will suit the demands of any medium-sized office. 

Read the full review: Xerox VersaLink C7000DN

3. Epson Expression Photo XP-970

Category: 3-in-1 colour inkjet MFD | Print speed: 28ppm | Paper sizes: A3 | Paper capacity: 100 | Weight: 8.7kg

Lifelike photo prints

Slim design

Expensive to run

No A3 duplex mode

Thanks to its surprisingly slim design, this inkjet photo printer can slide away under your desk when not in use and yet it’s big enough to hold one hundred sheets of A4 and handle A3 paper via the rear feed. It’s a multifunction device with a high-res A4-sized scanner and an auto duplex mode for A4 paper. Its real talent, however, is printing vivid and lifelike A3 photographs using six of Epson’s Claria inkjet cartridges at a resolution of 5760x1440DPI. Yes, replacing six cartridges is costly, but the expense is justified by the high print quality. This Epson Expression Photo XP-970 replaces the virtually identical XP-960 to which we awarded five stars.

4. Canon Pixma Pro 10-S

Category: Colour inkjet printer | Print speed: not given | Paper sizes: A3 | Paper capacity: 150 | Weight: 20kg

High print resolution

Excellent greyscale

Expensive to run

Expensive to buy

By using ten separate pigment inks, this professional photo printer can achieve superior greyscale and colour shading and results that are good enough to hang in a gallery. Canon’s pigment based LUCIA cartridges produce prints that are more stable and durable than dye-based inks and they can be replaced individually, so you don’t need to buy a whole new set when one runs out. It’s a substantial machine that can handle A3+ paper and comes with Wi-Fi built enabling you to print via the excellent Canon PRINT mobile app. You’ll find a full set of ink in the box. 

5. Epson WorkForce WF-7210DTW printer

Category: colour inkjet printer | Print speed: 18ppm | Paper sizes: up to A3 | Paper capacity: 500 | Weight: 15.5kg

Duplex A3 printing   

Deep paper trays

Expensive ink 

No front USB port

Printers aimed at the home office that can handle A3 paper are not common, but ones that can automatically print on both sides of an A3 page are downright rare. The WorkForce WF-7210DTW is one such beast and it does so quite successfully. Print quality is impressive, be that monochrome text, or a glossy photo. The long list of features includes both Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity and the two paper trays can hold 500 sheets combined.  

Read the full review: Epson WorkForce WF-7210DTW 

6. HP OfficeJet Pro 7720 printer

Category: 4-in-1 colour inkjet printer | Print speed: 22ppm | Paper sizes: up to A3 | Paper capacity: 250 | Weight: 15.5kg

Low price point  

A3 printing

A4 scanner bed

Costly cartridges

This sizable four-in-one proves that A3 printers needn’t be expensive. Although it can’t scan or duplex print anything larger than A4, this inkjet can turn out full colour photos on glossy A3 paper. It can also churn mono pages of A4 at the impressive rate of 22 per minute. We found the performance a little noisy and the build quality worryingly flimsy, but at this price, we’ll recommend it to anyone who needs a multifunction device with the occasional need for A3 printouts.   

Read the full review: HP OfficeJet Pro 7720   

7. Epson EcoTank ET-7750 printer

Category: 3-in-1 colour inkjet | Print speed: 13ppm | Paper sizes: up to A3 | Paper capacity: 100 | Weight: 10.5kg

Vivid A3 photos  

Low cost per page 

High price point 

No ADF, NFC, or fax

Epson’s second generation of EcoTank printers have refined the refillable ink system which is deployed here by a highly capable inkjet MFD. Photo quality is excellent and the ability to print on A3 paper is a real boon. The interface lacks a touchscreen and printing is slow, but the pages are well worth waiting for. If the price tag appears prohibitive, that’s because there are two sets of ink bottles in the box. Enough to print a claimed 3,600 photos!

Read the full review: Epson EcoTank ET-7750

8. Brother MFC-J6530 printer

Category: 4-in-1 colour inkjet printer | Print speed: 15ppm | Paper sizes: up to A3 | Paper capacity: 250 | Weight: 6.8kg

Affordable ink refills  

High ink/paper capacity

High initial 

The ink tanks add bulk

This capable colour MFD can not only print, scan, copy and fax, but it can do it all with A3 paper. The ingenious design also finds room for a 250-sheet deep paper tray and a 50-sheet automatic document feeder. Wi-Fi is built in and that 6.8cm display is a touchscreen. At 22 pages mer minute, it can turn out mono pages quickly and it’s not much slower in duplex mode

9. Canon Pixma Pro-100S printer

Category: 4-in-1 colour inkjet printer | Print speed: 15ppm | Paper sizes: up to A4 | Paper capacity: 100 | Weight: 8kg

This looks and feels like a professional-level photo printer, but compared to most A+ models, it’s relatively inexpensive. Nonetheless, the sturdy body houses a sophisticated eight-ink print engine capable of turning out superb quality photo prints. As well as plus-sized prints, the main paper tray can hold 150 sheets of A4. It would suit a pro, or semi-pro photographer, or sit well in an office that calls for high-quality colour prints. Unlike its predecessor, the almost identical Canon Pixma Pro-100, this model now has Wi-Fi built in.

10. Brother MFC-J5945DW printer

Category: 4-in-1 colour inkjet MFD | Print speed: 22ppm | Paper sizes: up to A3 | Paper capacity: 500 | Weight: 21kg

Rapid print speed   

High paper capacity

Inconsistent prints 

Less economical than laser

Brother has a long line-up of business printers that include both laser and inkjet models and this inkjet brings the best of both worlds. It prints high-resolution photos on glossy photo paper and with inkjet tech being smaller, Brother has managed to give this desktop unit the ability to handle A3 paper. The rapid print speed of 22 pages per minute is a fast as many lasers.

Read the full review: Brother MFC-J5945DW

Source

Editor’s note: Looking for a copier or photocopier  for your business? If you’re looking for information to help you choose the one that’s right for you, use the questionnaire below to have our partner site, BuyerZone, provide you with information from a variety of vendors for free: Today’s best printer…