Best Printers for Linux Mint 2026 - Work Out of the Box   

The Secret Most Printer Guides Won't Tell You: Printing and Scanning Are Two Different Problems

Here is the single most important fact for any Linux Mint user buying a printer: printing and scanning use completely separate driver stacks. Printing is handled by CUPS. Scanning is handled by SANE. A printer can print perfectly with zero configuration and still refuse to scan because the SANE backend is missing or broken. This is why so many "Linux compatible" printers get returned.

The good news is that driverless printing (IPP Everywhere) has finally matured. Modern printers that support IPP Everywhere are auto-detected by Linux Mint, and you can print without installing a single driver. The catch? Scanning still requires its own setup, usually via a package called sane-airscan or the manufacturer's proprietary backend. Every printer on this list has a verified path for both printing and scanning on Linux Mint.

Quick Picks: Best Printers for Linux Mint 2026

The Top 3 Picks Reviewed for Linux Mint

1. Brother HL-L2480DW - The Default "It Just Works" Choice

Type: Monochrome laser all-in-one
Best for: Home offices and students who mostly print text and need a reliable scanner.

If you want the single safest recommendation for Linux Mint, this is it. Brother has the best Linux driver reputation in the industry, and the HL-L2480DW continues that tradition. It replaces the long-recommended HL-L2395DW and offers 36 pages per minute, auto-duplex printing, a 250-sheet tray, and a 2.7-inch touchscreen.

The Linux Mint experience: Brother publishes official .deb and .rpm driver packages on their support site, updated as recently as mid-2025. Setup follows a well-documented path: download the Driver Install Tool, run it, and CUPS detects the printer. For scanning, the brscan4 SANE backend works reliably over USB. Wi-Fi scanning works via sane-airscan and is documented by the community.

Why it wins: It is the most community-validated mono laser for Linux. If you ever hit a snag, the answer is already on the Linux Mint forums. Multiple Mint users explicitly recommend this line for its out-of-the-box reliability.

Affiliate CTA: [Check Price on Amazon → Brother HL-L2480DW]

2. HP LaserJet MFP M234dw - The Driverless Budget King

Type: Monochrome laser all-in-one
Best for: Users who want the absolute simplest setup and value Ethernet connectivity.

HP has quietly become a strong Linux choice for printing because newer models like the M234dw support native driverless IPP printing. On modern Linux Mint, this printer is often auto-detected on the network and ready to print without installing anything-not even HPLIP. For scanning, it uses eSCL, the network scanning equivalent of IPP, which sane-airscan handles cleanly.

The trade-off: HP's inkjet subscription policies have a bad reputation, but this is a laser printer, so those restrictions do not apply. It's a compact, no-nonsense mono laser with USB, Wi-Fi, and Ethernet. The 150-sheet tray is smaller than the Brother's, but the driverless setup is genuinely the easiest on this list.

Affiliate CTA: [Check Price on Amazon → HP LaserJet MFP M234dw]

3. Epson EcoTank ET-4850 - The Long-Term Money Saver for Color

Type: Color ink tank all-in-one
Best for: Families or small offices that print color regularly and want to stop buying cartridges.

The EcoTank model is the answer to the "ink is too expensive" problem. The starter ink set bundled with the ET-4850 is rated for roughly 4,500 black pages and 7,200 color pages-often a year or more of printing for a typical home. It's a full all-in-one with print, scan, copy, and fax, plus a 30-sheet ADF, auto-duplex, and Ethernet.

The Linux Mint experience: Earlier EcoTank models had Linux driver issues, but Epson has corrected course. The ET-4850 has official .deb and .rpm driver packages and supports driverless IPP printing. Scanning over USB works via Epson's epsonscan2 backend; Wi-Fi scanning works with sane-airscan and is documented.

The honest caveat: The upfront cost is high. If you print 20 pages a month, the math doesn't work. If you print hundreds of pages a month-especially in color-the ink savings will pay back the premium within a year.

Affiliate CTA: [Check Price on Amazon → Epson EcoTank ET-4850]

How to Vet Any Printer Before You Buy (The 60-Second Checklist)

1. Search "OpenPrinting [Model Name]" - the OpenPrinting database has community-verified ratings for thousands of printers.
2. Look for "IPP Everywhere" - this is the clearest signal that printing will work without a driver.
3. Check scanning separately - search "[Model Name] sane-airscan Linux Mint" to confirm the scanner works, not just the printer.
4. Avoid GDI/host-based printers - if a printer has no built-in print language and relies entirely on a Windows driver, it will not work on Linux. No workaround exists.

The Bottom Line

For most Linux Mint users, the Brother HL-L2480DW is the safest, most reliable choice. If you want the simplest possible setup and don't need color, the HP M234dw is a close second. If color printing is a must and you print enough to justify the upfront cost, the Epson EcoTank ET-4850 will save you money on ink over time. Avoid any "great deal" printer that lacks IPP Everywhere or a documented SANE path-that is how you end up with a paperweight.