Technology is advancing by leaps and bounds and we cannot stay behind. If you are tired of so many papers in your office and at home and want to save space, now there are portable scanners, as the best solution to digitize your documents, photographs, etc.
A portable scanner is an essential tool to convert any image or print to digital format. It is very easy to carry around a handheld scanner, you can take it anywhere and scan wherever, without the need for cable connections. It is so compact that you can carry it inside a portfolio, bag or backpack. You can scan posters, magazine pages, photographs and all kinds of documents, and then download them to your personal computer.
The market has a wide variety of models and brands of scanners, if you are looking for one, pay attention to the following models, because we have tested several models and come up with the best portable scanners available today.
Here we list the best hand-held document and photo scanners for everyday use.
#6 Fujitsu ScanSnap ix100
As you all know, Fujitsu is well known for their scanners. The Scansnap ix100 adds to the fame. With ix100, you can scan without a computer, check scanned files instantly on a smartphone or tablet. Measuring only 1.4×10.7×1.9 inches and weighing only 14 ounces, the ix100 is extremely portable. The permanently installed Lithium battery can be charged using a computer and USB cable. You can scan up to 260 letter sized pages on one full charge.
Setting up the device is very easy. You can download and install ScanSnap mobile scanning app to the smartphone (Android or iOS) or tablet and using WiFi direct, you can start scanning. Scan to the cloud, PC or Mac. The ix100 can be categorized as a speedy scanner. It took only 6 secs to scan letter size page at 300 dpi.
The ix100 also comes with a bundle of useful software, the scan utility, document manager and business card manager and Abbyy FineReader for Optical Character Recognition. You can set manually set the scan format, color mode, and image quality or you can opt default auto settings which are pretty good.
The OCR was excellent in my testing. It could detect up to 6 points Times New Roman without any mistakes. But the business card and receipts scanning were not up to the expectations. There were a notable number of errors in all the cards scanned. Also, there is no program installed for organizing receipts.
Overall, Fujitsu ix100 is a fast, easy to use portable scanner with wifi direct.
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#5 Epson WorkForce DS30
Epson WorkForce DS 30 is Epson’s debut product in the portable scanner industry and still one of the best scanners out there. USB powered, the DS 30 measures 2.0 x 10.9 x 1.5 inches and weighs 11.8 ounces. Like all the portable scanners, the DS 30 too has a maximum resolution of 600dpi.
The set up was easy although it took some time to load all the large software. Windows 10 users don’t need to install the given drivers but may have to download drivers from Epson’s official website. The menus were easy to navigate and the scanner as a whole was very easy to use.
The DS 30 comes with some good software. Windows users can use the Document Capture Pro to organize and manage scanned files while Mac users can use Newsoft PageManager for the same. You can scan directly to cloud services too. Abbyy FineReader is the inbuilt OCR and it does a fine job reading up to 6 points Times New Roman without any mistake. To scan business cards, you can use Presto! Bizcard 5.
Now you may ask why this product, released in 2010, is still in the market. The answer is Scan Quality. Many rivals have come and gone but only a very few have crossed that line. You get crisp and bright color scanning with DS 30. But the machine has a slow scan speed as it will take around 19 seconds to scan a normal document and 44 seconds for a color photo at 600 dpi.
There is no duplex facility too. You will have to manually re-feed the scanner after scanning each side. At $82, this scanner lacks wireless options also. For the WiFi model, you will have to spend $40 more.
Overall, the ‘less-featured’ Epson WorkForce DS30 is a cheap but high-quality portable scanner for home use.
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#4 Brother DS-920DW
The DS-920DW portable scanner from Brother is an eye catchy duplex scanner. This one got almost the same look and feel as Doxie Go. You can scan to PC, Mac or SD Card with DS920. It also has WiFi support so that you can scan wirelessly to mobiles or tablets.
Measuring 1.6 x 12.1 x 2.6 inches and weighing just over 1lb, DS 920 is one of the lightest portable scanners. The device is USB powered. You get USB cable, 4 GB SD Card and a protective case with the package.
The software included is Nuance Paperport 12 SE for document management and OCR. Well, I gotta say this beats Epson’s Document Manager Pro and Fujitsu’s document handler. The OCR is excellent too. For business cards, DS 920 uses Presto! BizCard 6 and there is BR Receipts to manage scanned receipts. Brother DS 920 also features TWAIN and ISIS drivers so that you can scan directly from any windows applications with the scan command.
Speaking of performance, the scanner is average fast and the scan quality is good. The duplex feature can save a lot of time and effort as it scans both sides in one pass. It took 14 secs to scan a letter-sized page at 300 dpi.The only con I found was the business card and receipt scanning is below average with many mistakes encountered.
If you are looking for a nice looking scanner with the duplex feature, look no further. DS 920 is the one.
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#3 Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100i
Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100i is one of the best-designed scanners with impressive features. Measuring only 1.3 x 10.7 x 1.9 inches and weighing 12.3 ounces, the S1100 is the slimmest portable scanner.
The scanner is moderately fast and easy to use. You can set it up in a minute. There are functions like scan to cloud, searchable pdf or word. Fujitsu’s own document manager is good for managing scanned documents and CardMinder for a business card is also quite good. Abbyy FineReader does a beautiful job in OCR. It can read up to 6 points Times New Roman without mistake.
You can set your own scan settings or go with the default. It took only 9 seconds to scan the letter-sized page at 300 dpi. One thing I noticed was that the business card scanning was excellent compared to others. There wasn’t a single mistake in all the cards I scanned. You can even scan two cards at once.
Well, there are drawbacks too. The S1100 is a simplex scanner. You will need to manually flip the page for scanning both sides. It also lacks standard drivers, therefore you can’t scan from scan command in applications and it is not a wireless scanner.
But the slim and lightweight design coupled with fast scanning and other features make it excellent travel scanner.
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#2 Canon ImageFormula P-215II
Well, you might be thinking what a crappy list is this… not a single one has an automatic document feeder. Then this one is for you. Canon ImageFormula P-215II – High-quality portable scanner with ADF and duplexing. The P215 II can be used even as a desktop scanner.
The main attraction is, of course, the 20 sheet ADF but another notable feature is that you can even scan thick plastic cards using this. Weighing 2 pounds 3 ounces and measuring 1.6 x 11.2 x 3.7 inches, this can be labeled as the bulkiest portable scanner in the list.
The set up is pretty easy. You can power it up by using either USB cable or AC adapter provided. It uses the latest USB 3.0 connectivity so file transfer is really fast. You can choose whether or not to install the bundled software. If you don’t install, the device will work as a USB drive.
While installing the software, use custom install to completely install all software. The default installation skips some. The software included is CaptureOnTouch, Nuance PaperPort Pro 14, Newsoft Presto! Bizcard 6 and TWAIN drivers for windows.
Performance-wise I must say I was amazed to see the speed of this machine. It can scan a 200 dpi document in 3 seconds. Canon’s rating is 30 images per minute. Well, I think it is possible. The scan to searchable PDF is also faster than others and the OCR is excellent too. It read 6 points Ariel without mistakes. As for the business card scanning, it came out mistake free but slower than usual.
Overall, Canon ImageFormula P-215II is a heavy duty portable scanner with high scanning quality.
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#1 Doxie Go WiFi
Doxie Go WiFi is an elegant attractive portable scanner with excellent software and amazing features. This one will be perfect for Apple owners. It has inbuilt Lithium battery and internal memory to store scanned pics. Measuring 1.7 x 10.5 x 2.2 inches and weighing 15.3 ounces, this is one ultra-portable scanner in today’s market.
You can scan either at 300 dpi or 600 dpi resolution. Also, you can change the resolution quickly by taping the power button. Easy! The orange indicator denotes 600 dpi and green denotes 300 dpi.
Setting up the device is very easy. Simply connect your Doxie Go to phone and you are ready. All the software can be downloaded and installed from their official website. You can scan to cloud, searchable PDF, Word or JPG format. It stores the scanned files in internal memory and you can later organize as you wish. Internal memory has a capacity of storing 1800 scans or you can use an SD card for more storage.
The software and built-in OCR is the most user-friendly and efficient software I have ever seen. The only cons are lack of ADF and duplex. That aside, Doxie Go WiFi is the best portable scanner today.
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