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Is cheap printer ink any good? read this Independent Which report

28/01/2023

Switching to third-party printer inks, rather than using original brand cartridges, could save you a lot of money. Find out why we're calling for action against big brands discouraging you from buying cheap printer ink

Some printers can be incredibly thirsty and keeping them topped up with pricey manufacturer ink can add up to to hundreds of pounds a year. 

It’s no secret that buying original-brand ink can be incredibly expensive. In fact, millilitre for millilitre, printer ink is one of the most expensive liquids on the planet - up to seven times more than Dom Pérignon Champagne.

Luckily there’s another option. Our most recent survey has revealed which cheap printer ink brands are the best - and it’s not the big names such as Canon, Brother, Epson, or HP.  Which is why we're calling on the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate whether branded ink costs are fair to consumers.

Read on to find out how to cut your printing costs and why we want the regulator to take action. 

 Which ink brands were bottom of our survey?
We asked more than 9,000 inkjet and laser printer owners about their experiences with different printer ink brands, including third-party and original brands. 

As has been the case for several years, third-party brands came out on top for both ink and toner. Owners valued their combination of decent print quality and fantastic prices. 

The big brands were once again bottom of our table. Although they offer great print quality, the sky-high prices are hard to swallow, and our printer owners feel they’re not value for money. 

  
Cut your printer ink costs
There’s a misconception that original brand ink is miles better than third-party cartridges, but our best cheap printer ink survey results show there are plenty of great third-party alternatives. These also cost significantly less than original-brand cartridges. 

For example, a set of replacement cartridges for the Epson Workforce Pro WF3820DWF costs almost as much as the printer itself. The cartridges cost a staggering £111.99*, which works out as £1.78 per millilitre of ink. 

To put this in context, if you were paying that much per millilitre of milk, you'd need to stump up just over £2,000 for a two-pint bottle. Suddenly black tea or dry cereal doesn't sound so bad. 

  
Can you trust third-party printer inks?
We know printer users are hesitant about switching to third-party inks because of a concern they won’t be as good or they’ll break your printer. 

But we’ve found these concerns are unfounded. When we surveyed nearly 3,000 Which? members who use third-party inks, only 4% had experienced problems with compatibility and only 1% found their cartridges had leaked.

If this doesn’t reassure you, bear in mind that most third-party brands also offer guarantees if a cartridge doesn’t work. Some will even replace your printer in the unlikely event that their cartridges cause irreparable damage. 

Which? calls for action over pricey printer inks
Some HP printers are designed to prevent customers from using third-party ink by employing something it calls ‘dynamic security’, which recognises cartridges with a non-HP chip and stops them working. HP maintains that this protects customers and gives them the best printing experience, but our research regularly shows that some third-party inks offer great-value printing and are highly recommended by our members.

Other manufacturers promote the use of ‘approved’, ‘original’ or ‘guaranteed’ cartridges on their websites and in instruction manuals.

In the US in 2018, HP agreed to pay $1.5million (£1.1million) to customers, and the company is now facing a second class action from people claiming an authorised software update has made their printers incompatible with other brands’ ink cartridges. However, there has been no equivalent action taken in the UK.

While it is possible to remove the ‘dynamic security’ feature from some HP printers, the process is convoluted and can't be applied to all models. We believe choosing to use third-party cartridges, especially in a cost of living crisis, should not be dictated by a printer manufacturer and should instead be an individual’s choice.

This is why we are calling on the CMA to investigate whether branded printer ink costs and particularly ‘dynamic security’ are fair to consumers.

Which? says
Lisa Barber, Which? Computing Editor, said: 'Our research shows third-party inks can offer good value and produce good-quality prints for a fraction of the cost of their premium counterparts, so it’s highly concerning that printer manufacturers are discouraging consumers from using them.

'We are calling on the competition regulator to investigate branded printer ink pricing, with a special focus on the manufacturers actively blocking customers from exerting their right to choose the cheapest ink and therefore get a better deal.'

What big-brand printer ink manufacturers say
A spokesperson for HP said: 'Dynamic security is a process that authenticates print supplies to prevent the use of cartridges without an original HP chip, or with modified or non-HP circuitry. HP includes dynamic security to protect the quality of our customer experience, protect HP’s intellectual property, as well as reduce illegal counterfeiting of HP cartridges and warranty fraud.

We contacted three other big printer manufacturers – Brother, Canon and Epson – to find out if any of their models also actively block third-party inks.

Canon acknowledged that some companies make ink that are compatible with its printers, but wouldn’t go further than that. 

Epson warned against using third-party inks but said: ‘Epson does not prevent the use of third-party ink cartridges neither at the purchase of the hardware nor through firmware updates.’ 

Brother recommends using its own inks, but confirmed all its printers accept third-party inks.

Source: Which? Read More