CastleScore October 2026: The Printers That Moved
Last Updated:After September's big rebuild, October is a month of changing places at the top. The inkjet list has a new #1 for the first time since we launched the rankings, a newer Canon MegaTank takes over from the old one, and a Canon colour all-in-one breaks into the laser Top 10.
The CastleScore rates every printer from 0 to 100 on six weighted pillars: owner sentiment, expert consensus, true cost to run, reliability and longevity, features and usability, and value for money. Here's what moved this month and why.
The short version
October 2026 at a glance
- New inkjet #1: the Epson EcoTank ET-2980 climbs from #2 to #1 (+1, now 90, Castle Elite).
- Longtime leader slips: the Brother MFC-J4335DW drops from #1 to #3 (−2, now 89) as Brother phases it out.
- 2 new entries: Canon PIXMA MegaTank G3290 (inkjet #4, 88) and Canon Color imageCLASS MF753Cdw II (laser #6, 85).
- 2 departures: the Canon PIXMA G3270 (taken over by the G3290) and the Brother HL-L3300CDW (pushed out of the laser Top 10).
- Laser #1 unchanged: the Brother HL-L2460DW holds the top spot at 90 for another month.
- September's rankings are preserved at castleink.com/pages/castlescore-september-2026.
Inkjet: a new #1
| Printer | Rank | Score | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Epson EcoTank ET-2980 | #1 ▲1 | 90 | Street price has settled around $230–$250, down from about $270, and its expert scores stay the best of any home inkjet. |
| Brother MFC-T780DW | #2 ▲1 | 90 | Tom's Guide named it its best-value all-in-one in September. It still has the lowest cost per page we track. |
| Brother MFC-J4335DW | #3 ▼2 | 89 | The replacement J4355DW is now the model on shelves. Retailers point buyers to it, and Brother sells the J4335DW as refurbished. |
| Canon PIXMA MegaTank G3290 NEW | #4 | 88 | Takes over from the G3270, adding auto duplex and a touchscreen while keeping the same GI-21 bottles. |
Why the Epson took the top spot. The Brother MFC-J4335DW led our inkjet list for two straight months, and nothing about the printer itself got worse. Brother has simply moved on: the MFC-J4355DW is now the model in stores, and fewer retailers are carrying the old one new. A printer you plan to keep for five years needs support, parts and stock behind it, so its Reliability & Longevity and Value scores came down. Meanwhile the Epson ET-2980's regular sale price has dropped. That's enough to swap their places: the ET-2980 and the Brother MFC-T780DW are now joint leaders at 90, with the Epson ahead on owner and value scores.
Canon's MegaTank changes over. The PIXMA G3270 leaves the list and the G3290 takes its place. It adds automatic two-sided printing and a 2.7-inch touchscreen, and it runs at roughly 0.4 cents a text page and 0.9 cents a colour page. Canon no longer sells it direct, but it is still widely stocked at retailers. A correction while we're here: the G3270 and G3290 both use GI-21 ink bottles. Our September listing named the wrong bottle.
The successor creeps up. The Brother MFC-J4355DW holds #7 at 84. RTINGS finds it performs almost identically to the J4335DW, with the older model keeping a slight edge on cost per page. As more owners buy the J4355DW, its owner rating is climbing.
The rest of the inkjet list is steady: Epson ET-2850 (#5, 86), Epson ET-2903 (#6, 85), HP OfficeJet Pro 9125e (#8, 81), Epson WorkForce Pro WF-3820 (#9, 80) and Brother MFC-J1205W (#10, 78).
Laser: same leader, one new arrival
The top five lasers don't move. The Brother HL-L2460DW and MFC-L2820DW share the top score at 90, the HL-L5210DW is still the cheapest laser to run (about 1.9 cents a page), and the Brother MFC-L8930CDW and Canon LBP246dw II hold #4 and #5 at 86.
| Printer | Rank | Score | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canon Color imageCLASS MF753Cdw II NEW | #6 | 85 | Tom's Guide's best all-in-one overall in September: a fast colour laser with a single-pass duplex scanner, fax and a big touchscreen. Colour toner costs keep it out of the top five. |
| Brother MFC-L3780CDW | #7 ▼1 | 84 | Score unchanged; moved down one to make room for the Canon. |
| Brother HL-L2405W | #8 ▼1 | 83 | Score unchanged. |
| HP Color LaserJet Pro 3201dw | #9 ▼1 | 82 | Score unchanged. September's price cut to about $280 has held. |
| Canon imageCLASS MF275dw | #10 ▼1 | 81 | Score unchanged. Canon has delisted it, so stock is limited. |
Out: the Brother HL-L3300CDW (79) drops out of the Top 10. It is still a capable colour laser, but it now sits just below the cutoff with the same open firmware reports as the MFC-L3780CDW.
What this month says about buying a printer
Successor models matter as much as reviews. Two of this month's biggest moves happened because a newer model took over: Brother's J4335DW gave way to the J4355DW, and Canon's G3270 to the G3290. If a review recommends a printer, check whether the maker has already replaced it.
Watch the sale price, not the list price. The Epson ET-2980 reached #1 partly because its everyday street price dropped. Supertank printers cost more upfront, so a $20–$40 price cut changes the value case more than you'd expect.
See the full October 2026 CastleScore rankings →Top 10 inkjet printers · Top 10 laser printers · PrinterIQ Finder · How the CastleScore works · September 2026 archive
How we score. Every printer earns a 0–100 CastleScore from six weighted pillars: owner sentiment (28%), expert consensus (18% inkjet / 20% laser), true cost to run (24% / 18%), reliability and longevity (13% / 18%), features and usability (12% / 11%) and value for money (5%). Cost-per-page figures come from real cartridge and toner pricing. AI-assisted, human-verified: we use AI to read owner reviews and expert tests at a scale no team could match by hand, and our editors set every final ranking. Prices are street prices at the time of writing and change constantly. Some links to retailers are affiliate links.
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An independent 0–100 score for every printer, refreshed monthly from thousands of owner reviews and expert tests — plus what the ink or toner actually costs to run. See this month's Top 10 inkjet and laser rankings, or use the PrinterIQ™ finder.
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