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Business travel may not be what it was before the pandemic, but the portable scanner market has grown by leaps and bounds—not only to support employees in the field, but to help the work-from-home crowd be more efficient.
Whether you need to convert paper documents to editable text, create and maintain a database of business-card contacts, or put together an expense report with digitized receipts, a portable scanner will surely come in handy. You’ll find mobile scanners in several different flavors, with widely varying features and capabilities. Even their portability varies from model to model.
We’ve pulled together our favorite tested picks for a broad range of applications. They include a few specialty scanners for tasks like collecting business cards at trade shows or digitizing book pages in libraries. After our detailed descriptions, look for our buying guide with general advice on picking a portable scanner and a spec breakout of our top models.
Recommended by Our Editors
Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
Brother DSmobile DS-940DW
Best Manual-Feed Wireless Portable Document Scanner
Why We Picked It
As portable scanners go, the DS-940DW is fast and accurate. It comes with wireless connectivity, a complete software bundle, and a built-in battery. The battery and the ability to scan to microSD memory cards allow for cable- and computer-free operation. In addition to Wi-Fi connectivity, you also get USB 3.0 for connecting to a single computer at the office or in a hotel room. The Brother is slim, light, compact and feature-rich, making it ideal for low-volume document scanning at home or on the road.
Who It’s For
Unless you require multipage scanning, this little portable does everything you’d expect from a manual-feed document scanner. It should easily serve users at trade shows, job fairs, soccer and Little League tryouts, you name it—anywhere that data harvesting doesn’t involve more than a few pages at a time.
PROS
- Small and light.
- Fast scanning and processing.
- Accurate OCR.
- Solid software bundle.
- Easy to use.
- Autonomous scanning to microSD card.
- Wi-Fi and USB 3.0 connectivity.
CONS
- No automatic document feeder.
- MicroSD card not included.
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Flatbed | |
| Maximum Optical Resolution | 1200 ppi |
| Mechanical Resolution | 600 ppi |
| Automatic Document Feeder | |
| Ethernet Interface | |
| Maximum Scan Area | 8.5″ x 72″ |
| Film Scanning |
Learn More
Epson RapidReceipt RR-70W
Best On-the-Road Receipt/Accounting Scanner
Why We Picked It
The RR-70W ships with Epson’s ScanSmart Accounting Edition, an add-on to the company’s ScanSmart scanning utility and document management software. This portable is highly accurate, dependable, light, and compact. It’s also wireless and comes with a built-in battery, letting you use it without cabling or connecting to a computing device. If you need something more powerful for scanning stacks of financial documents—say, a full-fledged sheetfed document scanner with an automatic document feeder (ADF)—the Epson RapidReceipt RR-600W is a favorite; otherwise, the RR-70W is ideal for sporadic, small scan jobs.
Who It’s For
If you’re buying or selling on the road and need to scan one- or two-page receipts, invoices, and other papers, the RR-70W’s Receipt Manager plug-in handles the job deftly, making this scanner a good choice for just about anyone gathering small amounts of data on the fly or in cramped surroundings.
PROS
- Relatively fast
- Accurate OCR
- Strong software bundle, including ScanSmart Accounting Edition
- Built-in battery
- Compact and light
CONS
- No memory card support
- Lacks ADF
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Flatbed | |
| Maximum Optical Resolution | 1200 ppi |
| Mechanical Resolution | 600 ppi |
| Automatic Document Feeder | |
| Ethernet Interface | |
| Maximum Scan Area | 8.5″ x 72″ |
| Film Scanning |
Learn More
Epson WorkForce ES-300W Wireless Portable Duplex Document Scanner
Best Portable Multipage and Duplex Document Scanner
Why We Picked It
We choose the WorkForce ES-300W year after year because it offers almost every feature and capability of a full-blown sheetfed document scanner at a reasonable price. In fact—as we’ve said more than once—feature for feature it’s as capable as an entry-level desktop sheetfed scanner, if not quite as fast. The ES-300 comes with a 20-sheet automatic document feeder, multiple connectivity options, the ability to scan to USB flash drives without a PC, Epson’s superb ScanSmart software, and more.
Who It’s For
The ES-300W is powerful enough to serve as a light-duty scanner in several scenarios—shared by a workgroup in a home or hybrid office, or holding down the front desk at a doctor’s or dentist’s office or an auto parts store, to name a few good fits. Its ability to scan stacks of business cards or thick plastic ID’s and credit cards is an added bonus for specialized scanning tasks.
PROS
- Highly portable.
- Fast scanning and saving to PDF.
- Comes with document and business card management software.
- Battery and integrated Wi-Fi.
CONS
- Finicky when scanning documents with frayed edges.
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Flatbed | |
| Maximum Optical Resolution | 1200 ppi |
| Mechanical Resolution | 1200 ppi |
| Automatic Document Feeder | |
| Ethernet Interface | |
| Maximum Scan Area | 8.5″ x 11″ |
| Film Scanning |
IRIScan Book 5 Wi-Fi
Best Handheld Wand Scanner for Books and Magazines
Why We Picked It
Wand scanners are relatively rare. But that doesn’t mean the IRIScan Book 5 earned its place here by default. This Canon subsidiary makes great scanners. This particular device comes with ReadIRIS, a highly capable scanner interface and OCR package, as well as the IRIScan Book App for scanning to iOS or Android handheld devices. IRIScan makes two versions of the Book 5: the Wi-Fi version that we tested, which comes in black, and a non-Wi-Fi version that comes in red, turquoise, or white. The differences between the two are minimal (other than the lack of Wi-Fi) so if the Wi-Fi version is out of stock, you could consider the other model instead.
Who It’s For
The Book 5 Wi-Fi is a good value for students, researchers, and anybody else who needs to scan book or periodical pages. Since it scans directly to microSD cards, this wand scanner should lighten the load of anybody who needs to digitize material that can’t be fed through a sheetfed scanner.
PROS
- No computer required
- Fast, accurate OCR
- Comes with USB cable, 4GB MiniSD card, and vinyl drawstring carrying case
- Easy to set up and use
- Capable of scanning directly to a computer
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Flatbed | |
| Maximum Optical Resolution | 1200 ppi |
| Mechanical Resolution | 1200 ppi |
| Automatic Document Feeder | |
| Ethernet Interface | |
| Maximum Scan Area | 8.5″ x 11″ |
| Film Scanning |
Learn More
Epson WorkForce ES-300WR Wireless Document Scanner—Accounting Edition
Best Portable Scanner for Financial Data
Why We Picked It
The ES-300WR is our Best Portable Scanner for finance types thanks to the addition of Epson’s ScanSmart Accounting Addition plug-in, a.k.a. Receipt Manager. This software lets you scan not only receipts but invoices, statements, and other financial documents. It comes with all the power and functionality of ScanSmart itself, a capable scanner interface with first-class document and business-card archiving features.
Who It’s For
This Epson serves two important functions: first, scanning and archiving financial data, and second, digitizing and managing documents. Accountants and tax professionals who travel to client locations will get good service from this portable. So will entrepreneurs who gather documents and keep track of their own expenses.
PROS
- Fast.
- Highly accurate OCR.
- Powerful software bundle.
- Long-lasting battery.
CONS
- ScanSmart Accounting Edition software only compatible with QuickBooks and Excel CSV.
- No memory card support.
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Flatbed | |
| Maximum Optical Resolution | 600 ppi |
| Mechanical Resolution | 1200 ppi |
| Automatic Document Feeder | |
| Ethernet Interface | |
| Maximum Scan Area | 8.5″ x 44″ |
| Film Scanning |
Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1300
Best AC-Powered Compact Scanner with ADF
Why We Picked It
Like most Fujitsu scanners, the ScanSnap iX1300 is well-built and easy to use, and it comes with the company’s top-notch scanning utility plus document, business-card, and financial data management software. Better yet, the iX1300 utilizes Fujitsu’s innovative, space-saving U-Turn Scan and Return Scan paper paths, in which the flip of a switch sends paper exiting the scanner in a near-upright position, saving several inches of desk space. And like most of today’s portable scanners, the Fujitsu is highly accurate and relatively speedy.
Who It’s For
The ScanSnap iX1300 is a highly capable semiportable scanner for hotel rooms, remote offices, your home or hybrid office, or any other location that has access to AC power but is low on space for a dedicated desktop scanner.
PROS
- Fast for a portable scanner
- Accurate OCR
- Supports both wireless and USB 3.2 connections
- Robust ScanSnap software bundle
- Innovative U-turn Scan and Return Scan save desk space
CONS
- No battery for untethered operation
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Flatbed | |
| Maximum Optical Resolution | 600 by 600 pixels |
| Mechanical Resolution | 600 pixels |
| Automatic Document Feeder | |
| Ethernet Interface | |
| Maximum Scan Area | Legal |
| Film Scanning |
Learn More
ClearClick QuickConvert 2.0
Best Portable Photo/Negative Scanner
Why We Picked It
While you’ll find several portable “photo scanners” on the market, some are sheetfed and a few are flatbed models. The handheld ClearClick QuickConvert is one of a kind—you place it over one photo at a time (with no need to remove the pic from an album), or place a photo or negative in the scanner’s removable base. Despite being one of the least expensive photo negative scanners available, the device scans both photos and negatives well, with accurate colors and good detail. It does its job quickly and precisely.
Who It’s For
Got a stack of photos and/or negatives to digitize, but not a lot of cash to spend? Both individuals and families wanting to update an aging photo collection will get good service from this handy scanner.
PROS
- Small, light, and portable
- Good scan quality and software bundle
- Rechargeable, replaceable battery
- Scans to SD memory cards
- Supports Wi-Fi
CONS
- No ADF
- Limited page sizes
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Flatbed | |
| Maximum Optical Resolution | 14 megapixels |
| Mechanical Resolution | 14 megapixels |
| Automatic Document Feeder | |
| Ethernet Interface | |
| Maximum Scan Area | 4″ x 6″ |
| Film Scanning |
Learn More
Canon imageFormula R10
Best USB-Powered Business Card/ID Scanner
Why We Picked It
If you don’t need wireless, network, or mobile device support, Canon’s imageFormula R10 is an inexpensive and efficient solution. In addition to the ability to digitize business and ID cards, its 20-sheet ADF lets you scan multipage one-and two-sided documents. Canon’s CaptureOnTouch software provides a strong scanner interface as well as document management plus business-card and financial-data archiving. The R10 isn’t fancy, but it’s a first-class scanner for basic needs.
Who It’s For
Don’t care about scanning with your smartphone and don’t mind connecting a scanner to your laptop via a USB cable instead of Wi-Fi? The Canon R10 is ideal for travelers or home-based office users who need to digitize a variety of data.
PROS
- Excellent CaptureOnTouch app
- Accurate OCR
- Relatively low purchase price
- Light and compact
CONS
- A little sluggish
- Lacks mobile device support
- Lacks wireless connectivity
- No battery
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Flatbed | |
| Maximum Optical Resolution | 600 ppi |
| Mechanical Resolution | 600 ppi |
| Automatic Document Feeder | |
| Ethernet Interface | |
| Maximum Scan Area | Legal |
| Film Scanning |
Learn More
Buying Guide: The Best Portable Scanners for 2024
Most portable scanners don’t need to be plugged into an electrical outlet to function. A few have batteries, and others get their juice via a USB tether to your laptop or desktop PC. Truly wireless scanners transmit data to your PC, phone, or tablet over Wi-Fi, and some support memory cards that let you scan without a computing device on hand.
Many factors come into play when choosing a portable scanner. Frequent business travelers must balance their desire for the smallest and lightest scanner with the need for particular features such as two-sided (duplex) scanning, high resolution, and fast scanning speed. If you’re digitizing documents, you’ll need good optical character recognition (OCR) to turn printed pages into editable text; if you scan at high volume, you’ll want to consider the scanner’s duty cycle, which is the recommended number of pages it can scan per day, week, or month. If you mostly scan invoices, sales receipts, applications, and other short documents, a fancier device with a 20-page automatic document feeder (ADF) may be overkill.
Let’s take a closer look at what features make different portable scanners best suited for different tasks.
Manual-Feed vs. Sheetfed Portable Scanners
Portable scanners come in two basic types: manual-feed and sheetfed. The former accepts only one sheet at a time, though many can scan both sides of a page at once. Sheet-fed scanners come with ADFs for handling multi-page documents.
Portable scanners come in two basic flavors: manual-feed models (left) accept only one sheet at a time while sheetfeds (right) accept multipage jobs, usually up to 20 sheets. (Credit: Brother)
The majority of portable scanners are manual-feed or single-sheet machines. They cost less than their sheet-fed counterparts, sometimes much less. If you don’t need an automatic document feeder, there’s no reason to shell out for one. On the other hand, if you anticipate lots of scan jobs of more than two or three pages, you probably want a sheet-fed model. Most come with ADFs that hold up to 20 pages.
Simplex vs. Duplex vs. Wand Scanning: What’s the Difference?
Nearly as important as whether a portable scanner accepts one or multiple pages is whether it has two sensors (one for each side of a page). Dual sensors allow duplex scanning, capturing both sides in one pass as opposed to scanning one side, flipping the page over, and feeding it back into the scanner (simplex or manual duplex). Most sheet-fed mobile scanners are duplex, though some lower-end portables scan only one side at a time.
When scanning one- or two-page documents with a manual-feed scanner, capturing one side at a time isn’t so bad, but the more double-sided pages you scan, the more time-consuming and tedious simplex scanning becomes. An ADF will save you a bit of trouble for longer two-sided documents.
With a wand scanner, you move the device over the source document, instead of the machine pulling the source over its sensors. (Credit: IRIScan)
If you want to scan a page from a book or something else that can’t be fed into a conventional scanner, you need a wand scanner such as the IRIScan Book 5, which you hold in one hand and pass over the object you’re scanning.
Portable Connectivity and Compatibility
Portable scanners transfer data to computers, phones, and tablets by either USB or Wi-Fi. Of the two, USB is much more restrictive. It works only with a Windows PC or Mac (in some cases only Windows) and won’t play well with your tablet or smartphone. Wi-Fi scanners may add the option to communicate wirelessly with Android and iOS apps as well as laptops and desktops.
A few portable scanners support autonomous scanning via SD flash cards or USB thumb drives. While you’re on the road, your scans are saved to the memory device, and you can transfer them to your PC (or a network drive or cloud service) when you return to your office or home. This is ideal for situations where you have limited desk space or luggage room for both your scanner and your computer.
Your Portable Scanner’s Power Source
As mentioned, most modern portable scanners can get their power over a USB connection. Those that have internal batteries (or can be upgraded to use them) will generally be able to charge from a laptop’s USB port, but many scan and charge more quickly when using AC power. If you’re primarily using the scanner away from wall outlets, make sure it supports USB 3.0, which will transmit data more quickly as well.
Some portable scanners have built-in batteries, and many others can run on batteries that are purchased separately. If you plan on using a battery-powered scanner, check its estimated runtime or scan rating. Some are good for only about 100 scans per charge; others can handle up to 1,000.
How Quickly Should Your Portable Scanner Scan?
Some of today’s portable models are just as quick as some larger desktop document scanners, but scan times vary widely. A portable scanner’s speed is heavily dependent on what you’re scanning, how it’s fed through the machine, and what kind of output you want. If the scanner is manual-feed or manual-duplex, you need to insert each page; a scanner with an ADF will take care of that for you and speed up the job. Post-scanning processing, such as converting an image of a document to editable and searchable text, will take more time than storing a quick, unprocessed image such as a scan of a business card.
(Credit: Epson)
Low-resolution scanning is relatively fast, but higher speed usually means lower quality. Typically, 300 dots per inch (dpi) is adequate for most text pages; anything lower can cause OCR accuracy to degrade. Most portable scanners support resolutions of at least 300dpi and some are capable of much higher.
Bundled Software and OCR Accuracy
Without software, a portable scanner is just a fancy doorstop. The software does the heavy lifting: accepting the raw image data from the scanner, recognizing and deciphering text and converting it, paginating the blocks of now-editable text, and saving documents to a format compatible with their intended application.
Financial data, for instance, might go to Excel or an accounting program such as QuickBooks. Text saved as searchable PDFs or documents may be edited in Microsoft Word, sent via email, saved to a cloud site, or printed. Contact information gleaned from business cards might be turned into leads in IRIS’s Cardiris or Presto BizCard. Whatever you’re scanning, you need to make sure your scanner comes with software that knows what to do with it. For the most part, the top scanner makers’ products come with apps that address most applications. But this is one area where you should be as sure as you can be before pulling the trigger.
(Credit: Epson)
Each manufacturer includes its own bundle of scanner drivers, interface apps, and other productivity and convenience software, such as OCR, document management, and data archiving programs. Most scanners support ISIS and/or TWAIN drivers that let you scan directly into applications such as Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft PowerPoint.
Nowadays, most scanning and OCR apps are well-developed and mature, combining popular features with highly accurate text recognition and conversion. OCR accuracy is important for saving time—if fixing OCR errors takes longer than keying in or retyping a document, why bother with a scanner?—and most recent scanners, portable or otherwise, have no difficulty producing error-free reads of text sizes down to 6 points or so. That’s plenty small enough for most business applications. As long as you’re scanning clean pages without stains, tears, wrinkles, or smudges—or business cards without fancy decorative fonts—any modern scanner should convert them without a hitch.
Credit Card, ID Card, and Business Card Scanning and Archiving
If you’ve ever tried scanning 2-by-3-inch cards, you know it can be hard to get small cards or thick laminated ones to pass through a scanner without skewing or getting stuck. Many makers of portable scanners have addressed this by adding a dedicated slot designed to move cards through the paper path.
This Brother ADS-1250W comes ready to accommodate business cards and other small documents. (Credit: Brother)
If you plan to scan small or thick cards, save yourself some hassle and make sure you get a scanner that’s ready to handle them.
What Do Scanner Volume Limits and Ratings Mean?
A scanner’s daily duty cycle is the manufacturer’s recommended limit or the number of scans you can do each day without causing undue wear and tear on the machine. This is usually a relatively large number. For a scanner with a 1,000-page daily duty cycle, you’d need to load its 20-page ADF more than 50 times in a day to exceed the volume limit. Even so, in most cases, you won’t void a scanner’s warranty by exceeding its duty cycle, so if you occasionally go above and beyond, don’t be too concerned.
How Important Is a Portable Scanner’s Size and Weight?
If you’re throwing your portable scanner into a carry-on bag or backpack, you’ll want to pay attention to its size and girth. Once you’ve packed a laptop, its AC adapter, and any other gear you need to take with you such as a portable printer, adding a four-pound scanner can seriously weigh you down. To save your back, look for the lightest and smallest model with your feature requirements.
(Credit: Epson)
The average cord-powered, manual-feed portable scanner weighs about a pound and measures around 2 inches square by 10 to 12 inches long. The features that add the most heft and volume are batteries and automatic document feeders, so if you don’t need those, spare yourself the effort of hauling them around.
If you really do need both a printer and a scanner on the road, the least burdensome option might be something like the HP OfficeJet 250 Mobile All-in-One, which measures 3.6 by 15 by 7.8 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.5 pounds. If you’re setting up a full-featured office in your car or hotel room, an AIO unit will save you from juggling separate devices with a higher combined weight and footprint.
So, Which Portable Scanner Should I Buy?
Today’s range of portable scanners is really impressive, and the selections we’ve gathered here—including several that have earned our Editors’ Choice designation—should include something for anyone who needs to scan on the go. Take time to weigh the factors that matter most to you, and you’ll find a portable scanner that hits the sweet spot. Need a bigger scanner that will live permanently in your office? Check out our recommendations for the best scanners overall.
