Fujitsu Scansnap S1100i

Product	Images / Minute	Format	Connectivity	Max. document size	ADF Tray	Weight	Price
Fujitsu Scansnap S1100i	16 IPM	A4	USB 2.0, USB 1.1	8.5 in. x 34 in. (215 x 863 mm)	No	0.77 lb. (0.35 kg)	Click for more info

The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100i is the first and our top favorite document scanner under 200 USD on this list. It has the ability to scan up to 16 images per minute. This is not something special, it’s on par with the other scanners in this article. It can handle A4 formats and its integrated image sensor can capture at resolutions of up to 600dpi. For office documents like invoices, letters or legal written documents, 300 DPI is the best balance between quality and file size. For photos, you can use the highest resolution setting of 600. The scanner connects to your computer through USB 2.0 connectivity and a USB cable is included in the package.

The maximum document size you can put in this Fujitsu scanner is 8.5 inches x 34 inches. This means the longest document that this scanner can digitize is 34 inches long. The Fujitsu ScanSnap is not a duplex document scanner, so it cannot scan double-sided papers at the same time, but no scanners under 200$ can do that.

However, it comes with all the image enhancement features that help you save time from editing in Photoshop afterwards such as automatic color detection (The ability to detect if an image is color or black & white), auto image rotation, so it can tell if you fed the paper in the scanner upside-down and auto image cropping, so you won’t have any empty black space around the document if it’s smaller than the maximum size the scanner can digitze. This scanner does not come with a background removal feature, but at least it does have automatic deskew, which will perfectly straighten your images, even if they are slightly rotated by 1 degree. The software bundle includes: ScanSnap Home, ABBYY FineReader for ScanSnap. The ScanSnap app has a lot of great features for enhancing the image quality, easy file management like automatic syncing with Google Drive, Dropbox or Evernote.

The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100i does come with Optical Character Recognition in the form of the ABBYY app (worth mentioning that all the scanners in this article are equipped with this feature). The only thing missing is an ADF tray, but for this budget, no portable scanner will offer you this feature.

The weight of this mobile color scanner is somewhere in the middle, at 0.77 lb. it’s not the lightest nor the heaviest of the scanners featured in the article. But it is a very slim scanner, just 1.8 inches thick. If you have a budget of sub-200 dollars, then this is our pick for you. If you want to increase the maximum price you are willing to pay, then the next best scanner in the price range is the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i. It has superior specs and features like Duplex scanning and ADF tray.

Doxie GO SE

Product	Images / Minute	Format	Connectivity	Max. document size	ADF Tray	Weight	Price
Doxie GO SE	7 IPM	A4	USB	8.5 in. x 30 in. (215 x 762 mm)	No	1.3 lb. (0.59 kg)	Click for more info

The Doxie GO SE is the second document scanner that costs less than 200$. It has a scanning performance of 7 pages per Minute, which is significantly lower than the other 2 scanners we featured here. It can scan paper sizes up to A4 format and has good scan quality from a resolution of 600dpi optical, more than enough pixels for office documents and good enough for scanning photos so nothing special here about it so far.

You also get USB connectivity, just like in the other portable scanners. The maximum length it can scan though is really shorter than the others at just 30 inches. But don’t worry, you will only need this feature for extra-long documents, because an A4 document is just 11.69 inches long. Duplex is again, not a feature on the Doxie GO SE, but neither do the other scanners have it for this money.

All the scanned image enhancement features are present on this compact desktop scanner such as automatic image rotation, cropping and deskew. The only features missing from it are: Background Removal and Punch Hole removal.

It’s important to note that this portable document scanner comes with integrated OCR, something that you will find on all of the scanners we selected in this article. The optical character recognition OCR software helps you convert the digital copy into an editable Word document. The Doxie GO SE weighs 1.3 lbs and it’s dimensions are 12.2 in. x 1.75 in. x 2.3 in.

Epson ES-50

Product	Images / Minute	Format	Connectivity	Max. document size	ADF Tray	Weight	Price
Epson ES-50	10 IPM	A4	USB 2.0	8.5 in. x 72 in. (215 x 1828 mm)	No	0.59 lb. (0.26 kg)	Click for more info

The Epson Workforce ES-50 is the third best scanner that you can buy for under 200$. It’s the fastest scanner out of this selection with a scan speed of 22 Images per minute. It can scan A4 documents at an image resolution of 600 dots per inch and this pixel density is why it will be your photos and documents scanner with a color depth of 24-bit when scanning in color, a value that matches the one most computer monitors use. The scanner comes with 2.0 connectivity and it’s able to scan documents that are up to 72 inches long. However you should be aware that scanning very long documents is difficult when the width is just on the limit of the scanners or else they will become paper shredders.

Like the other compact mobile document scanners, it doesn’t have duplex scanning but it comes with intelligent photo scans correction features such as automatic color detection (The scanner knows if a document is color or black & white), image rotation (It can flip the image if you put the paper in the scanner upside-down), image cropping (if the paper is smaller than A4, you won’t have any black space around the image) and automatic deskew (If you fed the paper in the scanner a bit skewed, it corrects it, even up to 1 degree).

One great document scanning feature that this color scanner has and that the other 2 scanners do not is the Punch Hole Removal (This can remove the punch holes in the digital images, so you can’t tell it has holes in it) and Background Removal (This feature cleans the image background, so if the paper is dirty or old, it makes it look perfectly white and new). Epson provides drivers for this scanner for pc and mac on their website. There are TWAIN drivers available for download for both operating systems, Windows 10 and Mac OS (Which includes any macbook air, pro or iMac).

The scanner comes with great Nuance OCR for text recognition and converting JPEG, TIFF and Bitmap images to searchable PDFs or text documents and the scanning software provides Digital ICE features like Dust and Scratch removal and just like the other two, it is a sheetfed scanner that does not come with an automatic document feeder ADF tray. It’s dimensions are: 10.7 in. x 1.3 in. x 1.8 in. and it weighs just 0.59 lb. which is really light compared to the average. Epson also makes portable photo printers in the same form factor as this one, notably the WF100.

Epson also makes the epson workforce es-400 if you need the fast scanning speeds but it is above the 200$ price budget. If you want an Epson scanner that specializes in photos and has a sheet feeder then the Epson FastFoto FF-680W is a great option at just around 800 dollars.

Which is the best document scanner under 200$?

So here are our 3 best scanners under 200$. as you may have noticed, all 3 are portable scanning devices because that’s all that you can buy on this budget. The reason we chose the ScanSnap S1100i as the best scanner and not the feature packed and fast Epson ES-50 is because users have been happier with the Fujitsu after they bought it and it has proven to be a more reliable scanner and better value for money. Features and specs are not always everything. However if you want the most feature-packed, go for the Epson ES-50. It’s worth mentioning that all 3 scanners listed here will not let you down. There are some scanners not included in this article because either of price or performance, like the Fujitsu ScanSnap IX100, the Fujitsu ScanSnap IX1500 & ix100s, the Epson Workforce ES-200, the Brother ImageCenter ADS-2800W, Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i, Brother DS-620 mobile scanner and other Brother dsmobile scanners, canon imageformula p-215ii, the RoadWarrior 4D. Flatbed scanners like the Canon CanoScan Lide models also were not included because they are mostly photo scanners and here we are looking just at productive document scanners with automatic feeders. If you want to read about flatbed scanners with a high dynamic range that can also scan 35mm film negatives and medium format film like the Epson Perfection V600 or the epson perfection v39 (This particular one is not capable of scanning film). We will also be reviewing dedicated film scanners and color laser printers together with all-in-one printers soon. All of the scanners presented here are products which you can buy on Best Buy or Amazon.