If you have finally decided to go paperless – which of course, is a good thing – the one tool you will need to buy as soon as possible is a scanner. While going paperless is great, choosing the best scanner for going paperless is not an easy task. This is because you will need a scanner that is able to handle all the documents, business cards, receipts and papers that are oddly shaped so that you are able to digitize them.
Another great thing to look at as well is the software support. This is very important as it will help you keep all your scanned documents organized. You could also get a scanner that connects automatically to the Cloud allowing you to simply save everything in one centralized place for your reference when the need arises.
Not all scanners are created the same, and that is why there are hundreds of models available in the market. Before settling for a scanner for going paperless, it’s important that you first do your research so that you end up with a good scanner for your needs.
Our Recommendations
- Epson FastFoto FF-680W High Speed Scanner – Best Overall
- Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 Scanner – Best User-Friendly Scanner
- Doxie Go SE Scanner – Best In Portability
- Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i Scanner – Best In Affordability
- Neat Desk Scanner – Best In Efficiency
- Xerox DocuMate 3120 Scanner – Best For Large Quantities Of Documents
1. Epson FastFoto FF-680W High Speed Scanner
Introduction
Coming in at our #1 choice for going paperless is the Epson FastFoto. This thing blazes through documents (and photos) at a rate or 60/min, that’s 1 per second (!!), making digitizing loads of documents a breeze. It claims to be the fastest personal photo scanner in the world, which is quite the claim, and might account for its price point being higher than other options. If you are truly going paperless and have tons of archives to digitize, this is really the only choice if you want to get it done in a reasonable time frame.
Pros
- World’s fastest personal scanner (1 page per second!)
- Compact, fits easily on most desk spaces.
- OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
- Convert printed documents into usable/editable digital docs.
- Double-sided (Scan front and back in one shot)
- Photo quality is great.
Cons
- Higher price point.
- Careful with bent or curved photos, can lead to skewed scans.
2. Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 Scanner
Introduction
If you are looking for a scanner that will enable you to achieve great organization for all your documents as you go paperless, then the Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 is a great scanner to invest in.
Pros
- You can easily organize your documents with this scanner just by the touch of one single button allowing you to easily declutter your space of work by creating multi-page PDFs that are searchable. Besides, it is also exceptional when it comes to scanning documents of different shapes and sizes.
- This scanner can work with both Windows and Mac with a scanning speed of 25ppm. The scanner has a document feeder that makes it easy to scan documents that have multiple pages as you will simply need to load all the documents into the feeder and not have to feed each single page after the other.
- The scanner supports scanning on iOS and Android meaning you can also scan from your tablet or iPad. The automatic document feed can load up to 50 sheets of paper and can also scan double-sided which is perfect when you want to save on time. It has a scan correction feature that performs quality checks on the scans and corrects auto rotation for documents, color detection and removal of blank pages.
- You can also scan your documents to Cloud services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, and Evernote easily and access them from anywhere.
Cons
- Does not work well with third-party applications.
3. Doxie Go SE Scanner
Introduction
The Doxie Go scanner is a mobile scanner that gives you the flexibility of going anywhere with it. In addition, you won’t even need a computer to use it.
Pros
- This scanner is everything you’d want your modern scanner to be. One is easily able to easily fit it into a bag because of its small size and has a rechargeable battery that is powered via a USB cable. You can use it for scanning your photographs, receipts to other multi-page documents.
- Whether you are scanning documents from your Airbnb in Ibiza or from your home or office workspace, the scanner lets you easily scan color pages in about 8 seconds up to a resolution of 600dpi. It has an included memory that scans up to 400 pages per charge and is able to store about 4000 pages before there is a need to sync.
- It has the OCR technology that lets you create searchable and editable PDFs that can also be stored on cloud services such as Evernote and Dropbox.
Cons
- Supports certain types of SD cards.
4. Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i Scanner
Introduction
If you love the Fujitsu range of scanners and are looking for something more affordable than the iX500 scanner, the ScanSnap S1300i scanner is a perfect choice that helps you save on space as you enjoy the perks of owning it.
Pros
- Similar to other scanners in our review, this scanner also enables you to scan and create searchable PDFs from multiple pages just with the tap of one button. You can also scan your documents to Word and Excel files that can also be edited.
- The scanner has an automatic document feeder that allows for a double sided color scanning for your business cards, receipts, extra long pages, ID cards among others. It has the intelligent scan correction feature that checks the quality of your scans and does a color detection, blank page removal and the auto rotation for documents that are upside down.
- It has a software that is easy to use with scan speeds for both color, monochrome and grayscale of up to 12 double-sided ppm. You can scan your documents directly to the cloud services and access them for wherever.
Cons
- Users have reported software issues that sometimes fail to install or uninstall.
5. Neat Desk Scanner
Introduction
The Neat scanners come in two different varieties: the NeatDesk and the NeatReceipts. The scanner helps you go paperless quite fast as it is portable, speedy and has the capacity to handle documents of every size from full-sized paper sheets to business cards.
Pros
- You are able to scan all your documents in one batch eliminating the declutter on your office desk. The NeatDesk includes software that allows you to scan and thereafter organize your documents in a way that is much easy as well as sync them with the Neat mobile app for Android and iOS.
- The company sells value-add services such as Neat Cloud Service that basically works like Dropbox for a monthly fee or then the NeatVerify service that gives your documents that last minute eye to skim through things and ensure the document is well processed.
- It has a unique paper tray and has an automatic document feeder.
Cons
- Higher price range.
6. Xerox DocuMate 3120 Scanner
Intro
The Xerox DocuMate 3120 is another excellent scanner choice for those who want to go paperless. It’s especially a good choice for those who have huge stacks of documents that have important information on both sides and need them scanned.
Pros
- It’s a high-performance duplex document scanner making it a good choice for those who want to scan double-sided documents
- Helps you save time thanks to the amazing scan speeds of 20 pages per minute and 40 impressions per minute
- Considering it’s a high-speed scanner, this is excellent for office use
- Easily scan your plastic cards with one touch scanning through the automatic document feeder
- Easy to operate which means anyone can use it
- You can find your scanned documents with a lot of ease as you can create searchable PDF documents using the OCR feature
- The scanner has nine different preset destinations that you can send your document to automatically
- This scanner combines operational proficiency with efficient paper management making it a worthy addition to any office
- The Visioneer Acuity technology helps enhance the visual clarity of the scanned documents by correcting any imperfections
Cons
- Lacks wireless connectivity for sending your documents to your mobile devices
- Some scan settings cause the OneTouch scan to crash
Final Thoughts
Yay! Finally. It’s time to go paperless, and you can’t hide your joy as you walk around decluttering your office space. While there are more scanners for going paperless available in the market, it’s important that you do your own due diligence and ensure that you only get the best scanner for going paperless as it’ll be worth it.