Epson WorkForce ES-550W document scanner, A4, 600 dpi, duplex, Wi-Fi

Duplex scanning means the scanner reads both sides of a sheet, so you do not have to turn the paper over by hand. Contracts, double-sided invoices and forms are digitised in full in one go, and the reverse side is never skipped by accident. When digitising an archive of hundreds of pages, this saves a considerable amount of time.

The optical resolution of 600 × 600 dpi is the real resolution of the sensor, not a figure boosted by software. For documents it is more than enough: small print, stamps and signatures remain legible even when the scanned file is zoomed in later. Colour scanning keeps notes, coloured logos and highlighting exactly as they appear on paper.

Wi-Fi support for the 802.11a/b/g/n/ac standards means the scanner can join a network on either the 2.4 or the 5 GHz band. It can stand in a shared spot, such as a corridor or reception desk, and several people can use it. Wi-Fi Direct lets a device connect to the scanner directly, without a router in between.

If the scanner sits at a single workstation, connecting it to the computer by cable is the simpler option. USB 3.2 Gen 1x1 is an interface with up to 5 Gbit/s of bandwidth, the same as USB 3.0. Colour duplex scans produce large files, and a fast interface helps them reach the computer without a wait.

Accountants, lawyers, estate agencies and small offices that regularly need to digitise paper invoices, contracts and forms. It also suits teams that want to share one scanner over Wi-Fi, and home offices where double-sided A4 documents have to go into the archive quickly without turning sheets one by one.