Best business photocopiers

Photocopiers are essential to the smooth running of any business because print is far from dead, and photocopying documents, papers and key printed materials is still a core part of office life.

An entry-level photocopier will cost in the region of £500 – £1,000. A medium-volume copier will cost around £2,000, and a high volume copier can set a business back anything in the region of £5,000 to £10,000.

Faced with such a huge potential investment, it’s vitally important that you buy the best possible machine to suit your business needs and to avoid being grossly overcharged.

Startups has provided a guide to the best photocopiers for business to help you make the best choice. Read on for our top five picks. Or, to request a photocopier quote directly from a trusted UK supplier, simply fill in the form at the top of the page.

The 5 best photocopiers for business: an at-a-glance comparison

Price information for each model will be given below, but for more information on business photocopier prices, take a look at our dedicated page.

Click on the name of a provider in the table to jump to its product profile. Or, if you have common queries like “what is toner?” and “what is DPI?” then skip straight to our jargon-busting FAQs to arm yourself with the market lingo that’ll make your hunt for the best photocopier for small business a whole lot easier.

5 Best photocopiers for business: a deep dive

Now, let’s look a little closer at the features office photocopiers, their pros, cons, and pricing.

Xerox WorkCentre 6505/DN

A multifunction colour copier able to print up to
24 ppm (pages per minute) to a 600×600 dpi resolution.

Also including advanced print features such as banner, booklet and poster printing as well as drafts, blank-page skipping and fit-to-page options.

The maximum paper capacity is 500 sheets making it perfect for lower print and smaller offices, as this comparatively dinky machine can fit snugly into your workspace. The Xerox WorkCentre 6505/DN is probably the best photocopier for small business environments looking to save both money and space.

Ricoh Aficio MP 2000

A mono-network ready copier that can cope with A3 as well as A4 size copying. Featuring duplex (double sided) copying and an automatic document feeder as standard.

Capable of copying 20 ppm, the Ricoh Aficio MP 2000
is compact and efficient with a consistent resolution of
600×600 dpi and a generous paper capacity of 1,600 sheets.

This copier can also handle up to 162 gsm for any specific office document, meaning that it can print on card if you need it to.

Toshiba e-Studio 3055c

A multifunction copier able to print, scan and copy in colour and monochrome.

With a 30 ppm speed, and capacity to scan up to 73 images per minute, the Toshiba e-Studio 3055c is a speedy machine well-suited to high-volume needs.

Also producing high-resolution images at 600×1200 dpi, and featuring a generous paper capacity of 3,200 sheets, this is the machine for you if quantity and quality are at the heart of your business-copying requirements.

Canon iR 1730i

A black and white multifunction copier with a 30 prints per minute capacity at a remarkably high resolution of
1200×1200 dpi.

The Canon iR 1730i also features a paper capacity of 2,300 pages, making it stand-out from the crowd on grounds of capacity and print quality – but its high dpi almost feels wasted on its monochrome copying, which suggests you’d be paying for a feature that you won’t make the most of in black and white.

Xerox WorkCentre 6655

Able to print, scan and copy in either black and white or colour and produce 35 ppm (up to 100,000 documents a month), the Xerox WorkCentre 6655 is most suitable for growing small/medium sized businesses.

The print resolution is a very impressive 2,400×600 dpi, combined with its easy-to-use system and features such as duplex printing, booklet printing and a USB connection, and the option to opt for extras, the Xerox WorkCentre 6655 is both customisable and reliable.

Choosing a business photocopier: The next steps

We hope that this page has helped you decide on the best photocopy machine for business, having detailed copiers that address a variety of needs and capacity demands.

For further information simply complete the quick and easy form at the top of the page. This will put you directly in touch with up to four photocopier suppliers who will provide you with quotes tailored to your needs – and it will hopefully take the sting out of time-consuming product research!

Jargon-busting photocopier FAQs

What is DPI?

DPI means Dots Per Inch. The average dpi is 600 x 600 dpi. This is provided by most copiers and produces high quality copies.

What does duplex mean?

A duplex printer prints on both sides of the paper. Some do this automatically, others have certain settings to control this.

What is PPM?

PPM stands for Pages Per Minute. The average ppm produced by a photocopier is 20 ppm.

What is g/m²?

g/m² or gms stands for grams per metre squared. The average piece of A4 office paper is 80gsm.

What does monochrome mean?

Monochrome (mono) refers to a black and white image, print or copy.

What is toner?

Toner is used by photocopiers and pigments the paper to create the copies of the required
asset.
Toner is made from a combined mix of tiny plastic granules, rust, pigment and wax. A photostatic charge is passed through the granules attracting them to a photosensitive drum. The drum then transfers images to paper. Finally, a heating process seals the toner to the paper.

Do photocopiers use ink?

No. Ink is used in printers and not photocopiers. The process of pigmenting the paper is different in printers and photocopiers. In a printer, ink is placed onto the paper via a series of tiny jets which push the ink in a pattern of pulses onto the paper.