Automatic duplex printing is a printer feature that flips the paper inside the machine and prints both sides of a sheet in a single job, so you never pull the stack out, turn it over and feed it back in by hand. That one capability is the reason most people search for the best duplex printers for double sided documents, and it is the filter we applied to every machine in this guide. A printer that only offers manual duplex will still produce double-sided pages, but it stops every job to wait for you.
Automatic duplex also halves the paper you pull through the machine for a given document. A 40-page report that prints single-sided uses 40 sheets; the same report on automatic duplex uses 20. Across a year of regular printing, that is a stack of paper you never buy, a drawer you keep clear, and fewer trips to a closet you have to crouch into.
There is a second thing to sort out early, because it is where most buyers go wrong: duplex printing is not the same as duplex scanning. Printing means the printer puts ink on both sides of a blank sheet. Scanning means the feeder reads both sides of an existing document in one pass. Plenty of budget all-in-ones do the first and not the second, and we label both separately for every pick below.
What follows is a roundup of ten machines, all of which have a genuine automatic duplexer rather than a manual reinsert prompt. We have covered everything from a print-only monochrome laser to a refillable ink tank for frequent colour work, and every section tells you who the machine suits and who should skip it. If you want a starting point, the Brother DCP-L2640DW is our top pick and the Canon PIXMA TS6520 is the budget route.
Table of Contents
Top 3 Picks: Best Duplex Printers for Double Sided Documents in 2026
Brother DCP-L2640DW
- 36 ppm monochrome laser
- 3-in-1 print scan and copy
- 50-page auto document feeder
- automatic duplex printing
HP LaserJet Pro MFP 3101sdw
- 40 ppm monochrome laser
- 50-sheet auto document feeder
- 7-second first page
- AirPrint and Mopria support
Canon PIXMA TS6520
- Automatic duplex colour inkjet
- 14 ppm black and 9 ppm colour
- dual-band Wi-Fi
- borderless photo printing
Those three cover the widest range of needs. The Brother handles the most document types because it prints, scans and copies with a 50-page feeder; the HP is the fastest on duplex monochrome work and suits a small team; the Canon is the cheapest way into a colour machine that prints both sides without asking you to flip anything.
Best Duplex Printers for Double Sided Documents (October 2026)
| Product | Specs | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Brother DCP-L2640DW |
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 Brother HL-L2460DW |
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| Canon PIXMA TS6520 |
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 Brother HL-L2480DW |
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| HP LaserJet Pro MFP 3101sdw |
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 Canon PIXMA TS7720 |
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 Epson EcoTank ET-2980 |
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 Canon PIXMA TR7120 |
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 HP Envy 6155 |
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 HP LaserJet MFP M235sdw |
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Every machine above has a hardware duplexer, so all of them will print both sides of a sheet in one job. They differ enormously in what happens on the other side of the glass, how fast the second side comes out, and what the ink or toner costs over a year of use.
1. Brother DCP-L2640DW – The Best Duplex Printer for Double-Sided Documents Overall
Brother DCP-L2640DW Wireless Compact Monochrome Multi-Function Printer, Copy, Scan, Duplex, Mobile Printing
Monochrome laser 3-in-1
36 ppm black
50-page ADF
250-sheet tray
Ethernet and dual-band Wi-Fi
Pros
- Automatic duplex with no reinsert step
- 36 ppm black output and 8.5-second first page
- 50-page ADF plus flatbed scanner in one box
- 250-sheet tray with 120-sheet output tray
- Ethernet alongside dual-band Wi-Fi and USB
Cons
- Wi-Fi pairing and on-printer menus take patience
- Firmware and password workflow can block PC scanning
- Scan-to-PC window can freeze and need a restart
The DCP-L2640DW is the machine I hand to anyone who prints two-sided documents as part of the job rather than as an occasional favour. It is a monochrome laser that prints at up to 36 pages per minute, flips the sheet internally and drops the finished stack in a 120-sheet output tray. On a 40-page contract that is one unattended run instead of two jobs and a manual flip at the halfway point.
It also copies and scans, and the 50-page automatic document feeder is the part that changes daily workflows. Scanning a stapled two-sided document still takes two passes, because this feeder’s duplex scanning is single-sided only, but nobody has to lift each sheet onto the flatbed by hand. That distinction matters more than most spec sheets admit, and we come back to it below.
Running costs are where a laser of this class pulls ahead of any inkjet on document work. It uses TN830 and TN830XL toner cartridges, and with a 250-sheet input tray you are refilling paper rarely. Maximum media size is 8.5 by 14 inch, so legal-size documents print without a manual feed workaround, and plain paper, envelopes and labels are all supported media.
Connectivity is the quiet strength. You get a wired Ethernet port, USB, and dual-band wireless on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz, which is the difference between a printer that stays connected and one that drops off the network when the microwave runs. The Brother Mobile Connect app handles print and scan jobs from a phone, and the machine is Energy Star certified with a one-year limited warranty.
Who the DCP-L2640DW suits
It suits anyone printing mostly black text, contracts, invoices, coursework or shipping paperwork at a moderate volume, and anyone who needs a scanner and copier in the same box. Reviewers consistently report a year or more of dependable operation once past the setup stage, which matters when the machine is on the critical path for work.
It also suits shared households where a second device needs to print without a cable, thanks to the Ethernet port plus dual-band Wi-Fi. For a home office that prints a few hundred double-sided pages a month, it is the balance point between capability and running cost that most buyers are hunting for.
Who should skip the DCP-L2640DW
Skip it if you print colour regularly, because this is a monochrome machine and colour output is not something it does at all. Also skip it if you are not comfortable with a menu-driven non-touch LCD or with the brand’s firmware and default-password process for PC scanning, which reviewers report can lock some users out of scanning until they work through it.
If your documents are cardstock, envelopes or label stock in two-sided runs, expect the software to fall back to a manual reinsert for some of those media types. That is a driver and media limitation rather than a fault, but it is the one scenario where a machine marketed as duplex will still stop and wait for you.
2. Brother HL-L2460DW – Best Print-Only Monochrome Duplex Laser
Brother HL-L2460DW Wireless Compact Monochrome Laser Printer with Duplex, Mobile Printing, Black & White Output | Includes Refresh Subscription Trial(1), Works with Alexa
Print-only monochrome laser
36 ppm black
250-sheet tray
Automatic duplex
15.6 pound body
Pros
- Reliable automatic duplex for double-sided booklets and documents
- 36 ppm with first page in 8.5 seconds
- Light at roughly 15.6 pounds for a floor or shelf unit
- 250-sheet tray plus a manual feed slot for envelopes
- TN830 and TN830XL toner with third-party options available
Cons
- No scanner or copier at all
- Button-driven Wi-Fi setup is tedious
- Small non-touch LCD
- Bundled Refresh toner trial can add unexpected overage charges
The HL-L2460DW does one job and does it well: it prints both sides of a sheet without a reinsert prompt, at up to 36 pages per minute, for a document-first household or a small team that scans on a phone instead. It weighs roughly 15.6 pounds and measures about 14.2 inches deep, so it is the smallest machine in this roundup and the easiest to place on a desk or a low shelf.
Everything a printer needs and nothing it does not are on board. There is a 250-sheet paper tray, a manual feed slot for envelopes and specialty stock, an Ethernet port, USB, and dual-band wireless on 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. Maximum media size is 8.5 by 14 inch, resolution reaches 1200 by 1200 dots per inch, and the first page comes out in 8.5 seconds.
Buyers describe it as a workhorse rather than a gadget, and reviewers repeatedly highlight the sharp text quality and low toner cost relative to cartridge inkjets. Windows, macOS and Linux compatibility is reported as reliable, which matters if a machine has to serve a mixed household rather than a single laptop.
One thing to know before you buy is that the listing includes a trial of Brother’s optional Refresh toner subscription programme. Most owners ignore it, but at least one reviewer reports a surprise page-overage charge, so decline the trial at setup if you would rather buy cartridges outright.
Who the HL-L2460DW suits
It suits people who print a lot of black text and scan rarely or not at all, and it suits anyone who wants the lowest running cost in this group without buying a machine with parts they will never touch. At 36 ppm it clears a long two-sided document faster than every inkjet here.
It also suits users who share a printer across mixed operating systems, since reviewers report dependable behaviour on Windows, macOS and Linux alike. For occasional users who leave a printer idle for months, toner does not dry in a cartridge the way inkjet ink can dry in a print head.
Who should skip the HL-L2460DW
Skip it if you need a scanner, a copier or an automatic document feeder, because this is a print-only device and there is no glass to put an original on. Also consider a different option if the on-printer button-driven Wi-Fi configuration sounds tedious, since the interface is a small non-touch LCD with limited controls.
If you print any colour at all, this is the wrong machine entirely. And if you are buying for a shared office where a machine sits within reach of many hands, note that at least one owner reported a unit that stopped working after roughly 18 months, so budget for a possible replacement over a long ownership horizon.
3. Canon PIXMA TS6520 – Best Budget Duplex Colour All-in-One
Canon PIXMA TS6520 Wireless Color Inkjet Printer, Duplex Printing, Copier/Scanner, 1.42″ OLED Display, Compact, White
Colour inkjet print scan copy
Automatic duplex
14 ppm black and 9 ppm colour
1.42-inch OLED display
Dual-band Wi-Fi
Pros
- Automatic two-sided printing at the lowest entry point in this roundup
- Dual-band wireless on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz
- 1.42-inch OLED display shows ink levels and status
- Borderless printing up to 8.5 by 11 inch
- Works with Canon PRINT
- Apple AirPrint and Mopria
Cons
- No auto document feeder so multi-page work is flatbed only
- Two-cartridge hybrid ink system ties black to the colour tank
- Slower monochrome output than laser at 14 ppm
- Listed sheet capacity of a single sheet is misleading for real jobs
The TS6520 is the cheapest way I have found to get a genuine hardware duplexer into a colour all-in-one, and that single feature separates it from most machines at this level. It prints, scans and copies, flips the sheet internally, and does it at 14 pages per minute in black and 9 in colour with a first page in 7.5 seconds black and 9.5 seconds colour.
Its 1.42-inch OLED status display is unusual at this price and genuinely useful, because you can see ink levels before you start a double-sided job rather than discovering a half-finished document. Connectivity covers USB plus dual-band Wi-Fi, and Canon PRINT, Apple AirPrint and Mopria support means phones and Chromebooks can print without installing anything.
Reviewers treat this as an affordable first all-in-one, and the recurring note is that the automatic duplex is reliable rather than aspirational. The same reviews keep landing on the same limitation, which is that there is no automatic document feeder, so a stack of double-sided pages has to be scanned and copied one sheet at a time on the flatbed.
Borderless printing up to 8.5 by 11 inch makes it usable for photos as well as coursework, and Canon includes a three-year manufacturer warranty, which is longer than most rivals in this roundup offer. Maximum media size is letter, so legal-size documents are not in scope for this one.
Who the TS6520 suits
It suits students, families and anyone who wants colour double-sided documents without paying for a laser, and it suits people whose double-sided work is mostly short pages rather than long reports. Anyone printing an occasional booklet or a set of double-sided handouts gets the feature they actually came for.
It also suits households that print from several devices, because dual-band wireless plus AirPrint and Mopria removes the driver friction that plagues cheaper inkjets. The OLED ink display helps a household with more than one person using the machine avoid wasted partial print jobs.
Who should skip the TS6520
Skip it if you handle double-sided paperwork in batches, because with no automatic document feeder every multi-page scan or copy is a manual flatbed operation and that friction returns quickly. Also skip it if you print long documents in volume, since 14 pages per minute in black is well behind the laser options here.
Be aware of the two-cartridge hybrid ink system, where the colour tank carries black ink, so a job with even a little colour pulls on the black supply. If your priority is the lowest cost per colour page, look at a refillable tank model instead of a cartridge hybrid.
4. Brother HL-L2480DW – Best Duplex Laser With a Real Touchscreen
Brother HL-L2480DW Wireless Compact Monochrome Multi-Function Laser Printer with Copy and Scan, Duplex, Mobile, Black & White | Includes Refresh Subscription Trial(1), Works with Alexa
Monochrome laser 3-in-1
36 ppm black
2.7-inch touchscreen
Automatic duplex
250-sheet tray
Pros
- Highest average rating in this group at 4.5 stars
- 2.7-inch touchscreen makes cloud print and scan targets easy
- Fast and quiet monochrome output with automatic duplex
- Sharp text and clean copies reported against earlier inkjets
- Genuine and third-party toner options both available
Cons
- Setup described as confusing until the process is worked out
- No auto document feeder so multipage copying is flatbed only
- One owner reported a firmware and power fault support could not resolve
- Output tray capacity and build are more basic than higher-priced multifunction units
The HL-L2480DW is the one to pick if a touchscreen is the difference between a printer you enjoy using and one you tolerate. The 2.7-inch screen handles job selection and cloud destinations to Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote and OneNote without a phone or a laptop in the loop, and the machine underneath is a 36 pages per minute monochrome laser with automatic duplex.
It prints, scans and copies on a flatbed, with a 250-sheet input tray, a 250-sheet output capacity and a manual feed slot for envelopes and labels. Copy runs go up to 360 at a time, resolution reaches 1200 by 1200 dots per inch, and the same TN830 and TN830XL toner family as the two cheaper Brother machines keeps supply costs comparable across the range.
Owners rate it highly for the output itself: sharp monochrome text, quiet operation, and clean copies compared with the inkjet or HP units they replaced. Connectivity is dual-band wireless plus Ethernet and USB, and the 1-year limited warranty and Energy Star rating are standard for the class.
The honest caveat is setup. Reviewers describe the initial configuration as confusing until the process clicks into place, which is a real cost if you are not technical or if the printer is going in someone else’s hands to manage. Budget an unhurried half hour with the manual before the first print job.
Who the HL-L2480DW suits
It suits users who print monochrome documents and want a screen for scanning and cloud targets rather than a blinking row of buttons. It also suits anyone who values rated owner satisfaction over feature count, since the 4.5 average in this group is the highest, with a smaller but strongly positive review base of 630 ratings.
It suits households that scan the occasional single page or a short original on the flatbed, because the touchscreen makes scan-to-cloud practical without a computer. Cheaper third-party toner options are also available, which keeps the long-term cost down for anyone printing several hundred pages a month.
Who should skip the HL-L2480DW
Skip it if you routinely copy or scan more than a handful of pages, because there is no automatic document feeder and the flatbed is the only path. If your priority is the highest duplex speed in this roundup, the HP LaserJet models below print faster on paper and are better suited to throughput than this one.
Also weigh the durability reports carefully. One owner described a firmware and power fault that support could not resolve, and the output tray and build are more basic than on higher-priced multifunction units, so it suits a desk rather than a shared office floor.
5. HP LaserJet Pro MFP 3101sdw – Best Duplex MFP for a Small Team
HP LaserJet Pro MFP 3101sdw Wireless Black and White All-in-One Laser Printer, Office Printer, Duplex, Best-for-Small Teams (9D2X4F)
Monochrome laser MFP
40 ppm black
50-sheet ADF
Automatic duplex
AirPrint and Mopria
Pros
- Installation is straightforward and the Wi-Fi reconnects after outages
- 50-sheet auto document feeder alongside fast duplex printing and copying
- Quiet operation with crisp and clear text output
- Can pull a single page from a long PDF without forcing the whole job
- Owners report over a year of reliable use through a house move
Cons
- Firmware updates can lock out non-HP or previously used third-party toner
- Some owners report the Wi-Fi connection dropping and needing a reset
- Build quality and paper tray rigidity criticised as flimsy
- HP Smart software described as buggy with printers showing offline
This is the fastest monochrome duplex throughput in the group, rated at 40 pages per minute with a first page in 7 seconds and copying at up to 35 pages per minute. It is built for a small work team rather than a single desk user, and the 50-sheet automatic document feeder means double-sided-adjacent tasks such as scanning a stack of invoices do not need a flatbed.
Paper handling is a 250-sheet input tray and a 250-sheet output capacity, with letter, A4 and legal sizes up to 8.5 by 14 inch supported. It is also one of the better-connected machines here, listing AirPrint, Mopria, Ethernet, USB, Wi-Fi, wireless direct printing and HP’s Print Anywhere, which covers AirPrint and Mopria workflows that many budget inkjets handle inconsistently.
Scanning goes to email and the flatbed sits behind the ADF for originals that need the glass. Copy runs go up to 999, and the box includes an HP Black LaserJet Toner cartridge with a yield of roughly 1000 pages, so the first refill is not immediate. A one-year limited warranty covers the machine.
What reviewers like most is that setup is genuinely painless and the wireless connection holds. The same reviewers raise HP’s chip-locked toner ecosystem as the main pushback, describing firmware updates that can block non-HP or previously used third-party cartridges, plus occasional Wi-Fi dropouts and HP Smart software showing the printer offline when it is working fine.
Who the HP LaserJet Pro MFP 3101sdw suits
It suits a small team or a home office that runs a steady stream of black-and-white double-sided documents and wants the feeder to handle intake as well. If your duplex work is measured in multipage PDFs rather than single pages, the 40 ppm rating is the one that keeps a queue moving.
It also suits mixed-device offices, because AirPrint, Mopria and Print Anywhere coverage means iPhones, iPads, Chromebooks and laptops print without driver hunting. A one-year limited warranty and Energy Star status cover the usual small-team checklist.
Who should skip the HP LaserJet Pro MFP 3101sdw
Skip it if you want to use third-party toner, because the firmware and cartridge-chip behaviour is the single most repeated complaint from owners. Skip it if you print any colour, since this is monochrome only, and be cautious if a flimsy paper tray is going to cause trouble in a shared environment.
If you are not prepared to replace an HP Smart workflow when the software misbehaves, read reviews on that first. A printer that occasionally shows offline in the app can create more work than it saves for anyone without another person to troubleshoot it.
6. Canon PIXMA TS7720 – Best Duplex Printer for Double-Sided Colour Documents and Photos
Canon PIXMA TS7720 Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer – Print, Copy, Scan – Auto Duplex, 15/10 PPM, 2.7” Touchscreen, Compact Home Photo Printer with Easy Setup
Colour inkjet all-in-one
Automatic duplex
15 ppm black and 10 ppm colour
2.7-inch touchscreen
100-sheet tray
Pros
- Automatic duplex printing in a compact home-friendly footprint
- 2.7-inch LCD touchscreen for straightforward job control
- Two simple ink cartridges with no tank system to maintain
- Supports glossy photo paper and borderless printing
- Quick out-of-box setup
Cons
- Only two ink cartridges so black and colour are tied together in the colour tank
- Slow relative to laser at 15 ppm black and 10 ppm colour
- 100-sheet main paper capacity is small for high-volume duplex jobs
- No auto document feeder in this configuration
The TS7720 is the one to shortlist if your double-sided documents contain photographs, charts or colour-coded pages rather than only black text. It handles glossy photo paper, borderless prints and up to 8.5 by 11 inch sheets, and the rear tray plus cassette accept a wide range of sizes from 4 by 6 inch up to 7 by 10 inch and square formats.
Automatic duplex is built in, and the 2.7-inch LCD touchscreen makes it easy to see what the machine is doing mid-job. Speeds are 15 pages per minute in black and 10 in colour, which is quick enough for coursework, handouts and holiday photo printing but far behind the laser machines on long monochrome documents.
Its 100-sheet main paper capacity is the practical limit for duplex work, because a 100-page two-sided job needs feeding twice if you keep the tray full. Two ink cartridges, PG-285 black and CL-286 colour, keep supplies simple, and the 1-year warranty is standard for the category.
Reviewers consistently describe it as a straightforward, easy-to-set-up home all-in-one whose main appeal for this roundup is dependable automatic duplex paired with a touchscreen. The trade-off they keep naming is the simple two-cartridge ink system, where a colour job pulls on the black tank as well.
Who the PIXMA TS7720 suits
It suits families and students producing double-sided coursework, project write-ups and photo printouts where colour matters on at least some pages. The touchscreen is also a genuine advantage for anyone setting up a printer for a child, a parent or a relative who will not open a laptop.
It suits anyone who would rather not learn a refill system. Two drop-in cartridges with no tanks to top up and no bottles to track means the machine can sit for weeks between uses without any special maintenance ritual, which is the practical advantage over a tank printer for light and irregular colour work.
Who should skip the PIXMA TS7720
Skip it if you print long double-sided documents in volume, because 100 sheets of paper capacity and inkjet speed will make you refill and wait more often than a laser would. Skip it if you need an automatic document feeder, because this configuration does not have one.
Also consider it carefully if your colour printing is regular rather than occasional, because a two-cartridge system ties black to the colour tank and the cartridges are the running cost. For heavy colour output, a refillable tank model is the cheaper path over a year.
7. Epson EcoTank ET-2980 – Best Duplex Printer for the Lowest Ink Cost per Page
Epson EcoTank ET-2980 Wireless Color All-in-One Supertank Printer – Black
Refillable EcoTank all-in-one
Automatic duplex long-edge and short-edge
6600 pages black and 5500 colour ink in the box
Epson Smart Panel app
Pros
- Ink cost per page dramatically lower than cartridge inkjet competitors
- Refillable EcoFit bottles are simple to load and do not dry out between uses
- Automatic duplex with both long-edge and short-edge flip options
- Setup through the Epson Smart Panel app is well guided with no invasive sign-up
- Up to 3 years of ink in the box as listed by the manufacturer
Cons
- Paper jams reported frequently during double-sided printing
- Scanning software and scan quality criticised as dated and low quality
- Tiny control screen with hard-to-read icons and a bright blinking power light
- Slow colour printing at roughly 30 seconds to a minute per page
- No auto document feeder
The ET-2980 is the pick when double-sided colour printing is frequent enough that cartridge cost per page starts to hurt. Epson lists up to 6600 pages of black and 5500 pages of colour ink in the box, and the EcoFit bottles refill in a few simple steps. On pure ink economics, nothing else in this roundup is in the same territory.
It is also the most flexible duplexer here for binding. Automatic duplex supports both long-edge and short-edge binding, so you can produce a booklet-style flip in portrait or a landscape flip without switching to a manual feed, which is a small detail that matters when you print double-sided cards or folded handouts.
Setup runs through the Epson Smart Panel app, which reviewers describe as well guided and free of invasive sign-up steps, and that matters given how many brands now push an account wall during installation. Connectivity is USB and Wi-Fi, and the machine prints at 15 pages per minute black and 8 in colour with resolution up to 4800 by 1200 dots per inch.
The important caveat for this roundup is duplex reliability. Reviewers report paper jams frequently during double-sided printing, which is a real problem in a machine whose main selling point is double-sided colour work. Scanning quality and scanning software also draw repeated criticism, and the control screen is small with hard-to-read icons.
Who the EcoTank ET-2980 suits
It suits households, teachers and home businesses that print double-sided colour regularly enough for cartridge costs to accumulate, and it suits anyone who wants to stop counting ink cartridges. Owners who moved up from the previous generation of tank printers describe it as a clear step up.
It also suits people who print across several media types, since envelopes, glossy photo paper and plain stock are all supported, and sizes run from 3.5 by 5 inch up to 8.5 by 14 inch. Refillable bottles that do not dry out between uses suit irregular printing schedules better than cartridge inkjets.
Who should skip the EcoTank ET-2980
Skip it if duplex reliability is non-negotiable for you, because repeated jams during double-sided printing are the most consistent complaint from owners. Skip it if you need an automatic document feeder or a scanner worth relying on, since scanning quality is regularly criticised.
Also skip it if colour speed matters. Roughly 30 seconds to a minute per colour page is slow next to every laser in this roundup, and the tiny control display with a bright blinking power light is an irritation in daily use rather than a one-off annoyance.
8. Canon PIXMA TR7120 – Best Value Duplex Printer With a Document Feeder
Canon PIXMA TR7120 Wireless Color Inkjet Printer, Duplex Printing, White – Home Printer with Copier/Scanner, Auto Document Feeder, Compact Design, Intuitive Control Panel
Colour inkjet all-in-one
Automatic duplex
Auto document feeder
1.42-inch OLED display
Legal size support
Pros
- Automatic duplex printing at a low entry price
- Auto document feeder handles multi-page scanning and copying
- Dual-band Wi-Fi for stable wireless printing across devices
- 1.42-inch OLED display shows ink levels and status
- Handles envelopes glossy photo paper labels and borderless prints
Cons
- Two-cartridge hybrid ink system limits ink efficiency and photo quality
- Heavier and taller than similar compact inkjets at 18.1 pounds
- Slow monochrome speed of 14 ppm and 11 ppm copying
- 100-sheet paper capacity is modest
The TR7120 is the combination we found hardest to argue with: automatic duplex plus an auto document feeder, in a colour all-in-one, at a low entry point. The feeder is the differentiator. Most budget machines with duplex have no feeder, which means double-sided originals still get scanned one page at a time on the glass.
It prints at 14 pages per minute black and 9 in colour, copies at up to 11 pages per minute, and handles media from 4 by 6 inch photo paper through 7 by 10 inch, square formats, US number 10 envelopes, card stock and letter. Maximum media size is legal at 8.5 by 14 inch, so longer documents print without a manual feed workaround.
The 1.42-inch OLED display shows ink levels and status at a glance, which stops half-finished duplex jobs caused by a cartridge running out mid-run. Connectivity is dual-band Wi-Fi plus USB, and Canon PRINT, Apple AirPrint and Mopria support covers phones, tablets and Chromebooks without extra software.
Reviewers give it strong marks for the same reason we picked it: duplex and a feeder together, plus a simple setup and stable wireless. Media support runs to envelopes, glossy photo paper, labels and plain paper, and borderless printing works up to 8.5 by 11 inch for photo output.
Who the PIXMA TR7120 suits
It suits home and hybrid workers handling multi-page double-sided documents, which is exactly the group the feeder serves. It also suits anyone moving from a printer with no scanner, or upgrading from a machine that made them flip a stack by hand for every job.
It suits people who want a status screen without a large panel, and it suits anyone printing a mix of double-sided documents, labels, envelopes and occasional photos. The AirPrint and Mopria support means shared devices in a mixed household print without driver work.
Who should skip the PIXMA TR7120
Skip it if space is tight, because at 18.1 pounds it is the heaviest compact inkjet in this roundup and taller than the models around it. Skip it if you print long monochrome documents in volume, since 14 pages per minute and 11 pages per minute copying will feel slow against a laser.
Be aware of the two-cartridge hybrid ink system, which limits ink efficiency and photo quality compared with a machine using separate colour cartridges. If you print colour often, a refillable tank model will cost less per page over a year.
9. HP Envy 6155 – Best Duplex All-in-One for Phone-First Printing
HP Envy 6155 Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer, Print, Scan, Copy, Duplex Printing Best-for-Home, 3 Month Trial of Instant Ink Included, AI-Capable (C2WR7A) Portobello
Colour inkjet all-in-one
Automatic duplex
2.4-inch colour touchscreen
10 ppm black and 7 ppm colour
Dual-band Wi-Fi
Pros
- Automatic two-sided printing in an inexpensive home all-in-one
- 2.4-inch colour touchscreen makes job setup straightforward
- Dual-band Wi-Fi that detects and resolves connection issues automatically
- HP P3 colour output including borderless photos
- Built with at least 60 percent recycled plastic
Cons
- Slow print speeds of 10 ppm black and 7 ppm colour
- No auto document feeder so scanning and copying are flatbed only
- Works only with HP chips which blocks non-HP cartridges
- Wi-Fi only with no USB or Ethernet connection
- Only a 100-sheet input tray
The Envy 6155 is the lowest-cost way in this roundup to get automatic duplex, a flatbed scanner, a copier and a 2.4-inch colour touchscreen in one box. That combination makes it a good fit for a student room, a first apartment or a home office where the printer is mostly driven from a phone rather than a laptop.
Wireless is the whole connectivity story, and it is a good one. Dual-band Wi-Fi on 2.4GHz and 5GHz automatically detects and resolves connection problems, and HP’s AI print formatting handles web pages and emails that would otherwise print with broken columns. Colour output uses HP P3 technology and supports borderless photos.
Speeds are 10 pages per minute in black and 7 in colour, copying at up to 10 pages per minute, with resolution up to 4800 by 1200 dots per inch. Media support covers envelopes, labels, plain paper and transparencies, and maximum media size is letter, so legal-size documents are not covered.
The box includes an HP 68 setup black cartridge with a yield of roughly 120 pages and an HP 68 tri-colour setup cartridge at roughly 75 pages, so a new machine starts you off with a small amount of ink rather than a full set. That is worth knowing before the first double-sided colour job of the year.
Who the HP Envy 6155 suits
It suits students and families who print short double-sided colour documents, forms and homework, and it suits anyone who prints mainly from a phone. The colour touchscreen is a genuine advantage in a shared home because the person printing does not have to open a menu tree or a print dialog.
It also suits anyone who wants automatic connection recovery rather than a network troubleshooting session. HP’s AI formatting for web pages and emails is quietly useful for the kind of printing households actually do, where documents come from a browser tab instead of a file.
Who should skip the HP Envy 6155
Skip it if you print in volume, because 10 pages per minute black is the slowest in this roundup and a 100-sheet tray is a small buffer. Skip it if you need wired networking or USB, since this model is wireless only with no Ethernet port at all, which is a problem on a locked-down office network.
Skip it if you intend to use third-party cartridges or toner, because the machine works only with HP chips and circuitry. And skip it if you scan in batches, since there is no automatic document feeder and every page goes onto the flatbed by hand.
10. HP LaserJet MFP M235sdw – Best for the Fastest Duplex Jobs
HP LaserJet MFP M235sdw All-in-One Laser Wireless Printer, Scan/Copy, Black & White, Duplex, Best-for-Office
Monochrome laser MFP
28 ppm duplex and 30 ppm single-sided
ADF with scan to email and PDF
150-sheet tray
Dual-band Wi-Fi
Pros
- Fastest documented two-sided output in this roundup at up to 28 ppm duplex
- Plug-and-print setup with Ethernet configuration in about ten minutes
- Crisp and true black output compared with the previous unit it replaced
- Reliable Wi-Fi across MacBooks iPads Windows laptops and phones
- Built-in security features with scan to email and scan to PDF
Cons
- Scanning and copying are single-sided only
- HP software and network scanning setup described as messy
- Lower print resolution of 600 by 600 dpi and copies at 300 by 300 dpi
- Toner cartridges are costly and can be hard to source
The M235sdw is the machine to look at when the two-sided job itself is the bottleneck. It prints 30 pages per minute single-sided and up to 28 pages per minute in duplex, which makes it the fastest documented two-sided throughput in this group and the closest thing here to a small shared office unit.
It has an automatic document feeder with scan to email and scan to PDF, which is more useful than a flatbed in a workflow sense even though the ADF itself is single-sided. Copy runs go to 99 at a time, the first page comes out in 7 seconds, and the tray holds 150 sheets with a 150-sheet output capacity.
Connectivity is thorough: AirPrint, Mopria, Ethernet, USB, Wi-Fi, wireless direct printing and a self-resetting dual-band radio, plus built-in security features aimed at office deployment. The box ships with a preinstalled HP Black Original LaserJet Toner cartridge and a one-year limited warranty covers the machine.
Owners coming from inkjets or from older Brother and HP LaserJet units highlight the crisp black text, the fast duplex throughput and near-instant setup, with Wi-Fi holding steady over a year of use. The recurring drawbacks are single-sided-only scanning and copying, messy HP software, and the cost and availability of genuine toner.
Who the LaserJet MFP M235sdw suits
It suits a home office or small team whose double-sided work arrives in bursts and needs to clear quickly, and it suits users replacing an inkjet who want black text that looks like a laser original. Ten minutes of setup and a first page in 7 seconds mean it is usable almost immediately.
It also suits offices that need scan to email and scan to PDF as a routine part of document handling, and it suits mixed-device environments because AirPrint, Mopria, USB, Ethernet and dual-band Wi-Fi are all present. The security features matter if the unit is going onto a managed network.
Who should skip the LaserJet MFP M235sdw
Skip it if you scan or copy double-sided originals, because scanning and copying are single-sided only and a two-sided original has to be run through twice and recombined by hand. That is the single most important thing to know about this machine.
Skip it if print quality at high magnification matters, since 600 by 600 dpi printing and 300 by 300 dpi copies are the lowest specifications here, or if print colour matters at all, because there is no colour path. Reviewers also describe the software and network scanning setup as messy, and genuine toner as costly and sometimes hard to source.
Duplex Printing vs Duplex Scanning: The Difference That Trips People Up
Duplex printing means the printer puts ink or toner on both sides of a blank sheet. Duplex scanning, sold as a duplex ADF, means the document feeder reads both sides of an existing original in a single pass. They are separate features, and many budget all-in-ones have the first without the second.
In this roundup, not one machine has a two-sided ADF. The Brother DCP-L2640DW, the HP LaserJet Pro MFP 3101sdw and the HP LaserJet MFP M235sdw all have feeders that read one side per pass, as do the Canon models with feeders. The Canon TR7120 is the cheapest machine here that combines duplex printing with any feeder at all.
The practical consequence is simple. A twenty-page two-sided contract you have scanned or copied will take two runs with any machine on this list, followed by recombining the two stacks. If your workflow is scanning double-sided paper into a digital file several times a week, buy a machine built for it, and expect to move outside this group.
The feature that trips people up the most often is not scanning at all, it is manual duplex. A listing that says duplex but means the printer prints one side and then asks you to flip the stack is a different product experience entirely, and that is why every machine in this roundup was confirmed to have a hardware duplexer rather than a reinsert prompt.
Why Some Jobs Fall Back to Manual Duplex
Even on a machine with a proper automatic duplexer, some print jobs stop and ask you to reinsert pages. The cause is almost always the media rather than the machine, and there are four common triggers.
1. Card stock and heavier paper. Duplexers are specified for a paper weight range, and once you go past the top of that range the machine cannot turn the sheet reliably, so the driver reverts to printing both sides in two manual passes.
2. Envelopes and label stock. Envelopes and most label sheets are single-sided by nature, and drivers frequently refuse to run them through the duplex path even when a two-sided label sheet exists. Print them one side at a time.
3. Mixed paper sizes in one job. A job that mixes letter, legal and A4 in a single queue can fall back to manual handling because the duplex path assumes a consistent size. Print same-size documents together.
4. A driver or settings change. The two-sided option can disappear entirely after an update or a new device profile, even though the hardware is unchanged. Open the print dialog, set Two-Sided to the printer’s default setting, and update the driver before assuming the duplexer has failed.
If duplex jams start on a machine that previously ran clean, check paper weight and moisture first, then re-seat the paper in the tray so it sits within the guides. A duplexer that jams on heavy stock is behaving as designed, not failing.
How to Choose a Duplex Printer in 2026
Most of the decision comes down to four questions, and answering them in order removes almost all of the risk from buying a duplex machine.
1. Do you need a scanner and a feeder? A printer that only prints is smaller, cheaper to run and has fewer parts to fail. An all-in-one adds a flatbed, and an auto document feeder adds intake speed. If your double-sided originals also need scanning, the feeder matters more than the touchscreen.
2. What is your real monthly volume? Under roughly 200 double-sided pages a month, a cartridge inkjet is fine. Between 200 and 1000, a monochrome laser usually wins on running cost. Above 1000, a laser with a large tray and an ADF is the sensible choice, and you should check the recommended monthly page volume rather than the headline speed.
3. Monochrome laser or colour? If documents are black text, laser is faster, cheaper per page and does not dry out when idle. If colour appears regularly, compare cartridges against refillable tanks. A tank printer such as the EcoTank ET-2980 lists ink in the box for thousands of pages, which is the cheapest route to frequent colour output.
4. How much colour, and how often? Occasional colour suits a cartridge all-in-one. Regular colour suits a tank. Frequent colour plus a feeder is where the trade-offs get harder, and where you should expect to pay more for the machine and less per page.
Watch the subscription layer before you buy. HP Instant Ink cartridges can stop working if a plan is cancelled, HP+ machines lock in genuine HP supplies, and Brother’s optional Refresh programme adds page overage charges if you leave a trial running. None of these is a reason to avoid the brands, but all of them are worth declining at setup.
On connectivity, look for dual-band Wi-Fi on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz rather than the word wireless, and check whether there is a physical Ethernet port if the printer will live on an office network. AirPrint and Mopria support means phones and Chromebooks print without driver installation, and the HP LaserJet models here cover both.
On duplex mechanics, longer edge binding suits portrait documents and short edge binding suits landscape or folded formats. Only the EcoTank ET-2980 in this group offers both, so if you print booklets or wide double-sided cards, check the binding option before you commit.
One last check is model freshness, because roundups go out of date faster than printers do. Compare model numbers carefully rather than assuming similar-sounding units are interchangeable, and check what replaced a model you are considering if that machine has been around a while. If your printing is photo-led or craft-led rather than document-led, our guides to photo printers and sublimation printers cover the other side of the market, and our 3D printer picks cover fabrication rather than paper.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best duplex printer with two-sided printing?
The Brother DCP-L2640DW is our overall pick because it combines a hardware automatic duplexer with print, scan and copy in one compact monochrome laser body, plus a 50-page automatic document feeder, 36 pages per minute output and both Ethernet and dual-band Wi-Fi. If you only ever print black text and never scan, the Brother HL-L2460DW is simpler and lighter.
What is a good printer that prints both sides of documents automatically?
Any machine with a hardware duplexer rather than a manual reinsert prompt will do. The quickest way to tell is to check that the listing states automatic two-sided printing rather than manual duplex, then confirm the driver exposes a Two-Sided option. In this roundup every pick has a real duplexer, ranging from colour inkjets to monochrome lasers at 36 to 40 pages per minute.
What are the disadvantages of duplex printing?
The main disadvantages are a slower duplex speed than the headline single-sided rating, occasional paper jams in the reversing duplexer, and restricted media support. Card stock, envelopes and label stock often fall back to a manual reinsert because the driver will not send them through the duplex path. A colour second side can also show slight bleed-through on heavier inkjet paper.
What is the best laser printer with auto duplex?
For black-and-white documents, the Brother HL-L2460DW is the simplest choice at 36 pages per minute with a 250-sheet tray. For a small team that needs a feeder and faster duplex throughput, the HP LaserJet Pro MFP 3101sdw rates 40 pages per minute with a 50-sheet automatic document feeder. The HP LaserJet MFP M235sdw is documented at up to 28 pages per minute in duplex.
Why does my printer say manual duplex?
Usually the media, not the machine. Card stock above the supported weight, envelopes, label stock, and mixed paper sizes in one job can all force the driver to drop back to a manual reinsert. The other common cause is a settings change: a driver update or a new device profile can remove the two-sided option, and restoring the printer’s default duplex setting in the print dialog brings it back.
Conclusion: The Best Duplex Printers for Double-Sided Documents
The Brother DCP-L2640DW is the best duplex printer for double sided documents for most people, because it prints, scans and copies with a real hardware duplexer, a 50-page feeder and a 36 pages per minute monochrome engine that costs far less per page than any inkjet here. Choose the HP LaserJet Pro MFP 3101sdw if duplex speed on black documents is the priority, the Canon PIXMA TS6520 if you want colour duplex at the lowest entry point, and the Canon PIXMA TR7120 if a document feeder matters more than inkjet speed.
Two things decide it for most households: whether your double-sided work is black text or colour, and whether you also need to scan. Check the duplex ADF row in the table before you buy, because a machine that prints both sides is not the same as one that reads both sides. Then set up the machine, print one test double-sided page, and only then start real work.