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Finding a working electric typewriter in 2024 is like spotting a payphone that still takes coins — they are out there, but most listings are refurbished units that might or might not power on. You want that crisp clack of keys and clean print for forms, labels, or writing without screen glare. But you do not want to gamble on a machine stuffed with broken correction tape or a twisted ribbon. This guide compares the few remaining new-old-stock models and the most reliable renewed options, so you know which one will actually type when it arrives.
I’m Mohammad Maruf — the founder and writer behind Gardening Beyond. This guide is built by comparing the manufacturers’ published specifications and the patterns across verified customer reviews, so you get each pick’s real strengths and trade-offs instead of marketing spin.
if you need to fill out multi-part forms, address envelopes, or just write without a screen, these are the best electric typewriter options that balance print quality, correction features, and reliability.
Our Picks at a Glance
How To Choose The Best Electric Typewriter
Electric typewriters today fall into two camps: new-old-stock portable models with electronic correction, and refurbished office-grade machines with heavy-duty daisy wheels. Your choice depends on whether you prioritize print darkness, correction ease, or sheer durability. Here are the three specs that separate a pleasure to type on from a frustrating desk ornament.
Print Mechanism and Pitch Selection
The print mechanism — almost always a daisy wheel (a rotating plastic wheel with raised letter spokes that strike the ribbon) — determines font clarity and darkness. Pitch, measured in characters per inch (CPI), controls how many letters fit across the page. The standard options are 10 CPI (bigger type, good for drafts), 12 CPI (typical for letters), and 15 CPI (smaller, for fitting more text). If you are filling forms with narrow fields, at least 12 and 15 pitch options give you the flexibility you need.
Correction Memory Length
Correction memory stores the last few characters — or the last line — so the typewriter can lift the error off the page and let you type the correct letter in its place. A short lift-off memory of 65 characters means you can fix roughly one long word or a few short ones without reaching for white-out. A one-line memory automatically backs up an entire line, which is far less frustrating for fast typing. If you make typos often, prioritize a machine with at least one-line correction memory.
Carriage Width and Physical Footprint
Carriage width determines the maximum paper size you can feed. A 13-inch carriage fits legal-size paper and envelopes horizontally. The physical footprint matters more than you expect — these machines weigh between 10 and 13 pounds and take up significant desk space. A unit that is 21 inches wide demands a dedicated corner; a more compact 16-inch model slides onto a shelf between uses. Measure your workspace before you pick.
Quick Comparison
| Model | Best For | Print Speed | Carriage Width | Weight | Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nakajima WPT-150 Bundle★ Best Overall | Getting a spare ribbon and print wheel upfront | 12 CPS | 13 inches | 12.97 lb | Amazon |
| Nakajima WPT-150 Electronic TypewriterAlso Great | Overall reliability and correction features | 12 CPS | 13 inches | 12 lb | Amazon |
| Royal Scriptor II | Advanced formatting and layout control | 12 CPS | — | 11.3 lb | Amazon |
| Brother GX-6750 (Renewed) | 3-part office forms | — | — | 10.4 lb | Amazon |
| Smith Corona (Renewed) | Complete accessory kit in the box | — | — | 12.4 lb | Amazon |
| Brother SX-4000 (Renewed) | Correcting errors before they hit paper | — | — | — | Amazon |
In‑Depth Reviews
1. Nakajima WPT 150 Portable Electronic Typewriter Bundle, Incl (2 Items)
Our pick — over 4★ from 90+ verified ratings; the strongest balance of quality and price.
The same capable WPT-150 engine with a spare ribbon and print wheel bundled in the box.
This is essentially the same Nakajima WPT-150 from the top pick, but sold as a kit that includes the Nakajima NAKXC001 correctable film ribbon alongside the typewriter itself. The ribbon is a 1-shot correctable film type — it lifts errors off the page cleanly — so when your first spool runs out, you have a backup ready. The bundle also ships with the Prestige Pica 10 printwheel, a 100-character daisy wheel that gives crisp, classic typewriter font at 10 characters per inch (CPI). If you plan to type letters rather than forms, the Prestige Pica saves you an extra purchase. The core specs are identical: 13-inch carriage, 9-inch print width, 12 character-per-second (CPS) speed, and three pitch selections (10, 12, 15 CPI).
The data shows a polarized owner experience. Several buyers love the machine — one called it “so easy to use” and praised the correction ribbon. Another reported it arrived well-packed and looking great. On the other hand, a smaller number of reviews warn of reliability issues severe enough that the buyer refused shipment at the door because “Too many issues with this typewriter.” This is the same quality-control variability seen in the standalone WPT-150. The physical package is also the heaviest in the guide at 12.97 pounds, while the Brother GX-6750 weighs 10.4 pounds — which matters if you move the machine between desk and storage.
Kit advantage: having a spare ribbon and the Prestige Pica 10 wheel on day one simplifies the purchase. The lottery: buyer experiences are split between “love it” and “defective on arrival.” The bundle does not change the underlying unit’s quality control — inspect immediately and test every function during the return window.
Best for: someone set on the Nakajima WPT-150 who wants a spare ribbon and print wheel without placing a separate order. Play it safe: if reliability is your top concern, consider the standalone WPT-150 with the larger review pool — or the Brother GX-6750 for form work.
2. Nakajima WPT-150 Electronic Typewriter
The crowd-sourced gold standard for portable electronic typing with real correction memory.
This machine keeps showing up in customer summaries as the benchmark — buyers praise its easy setup and day-to-day typing. The 13-inch carriage gives you a 9-inch print width (the line of text it can actually type), so you can handle legal-size paper and wide envelopes without a struggle. It types at 12 characters per second (CPS — about as fast as a slow dot-matrix printer) in your choice of 10, 12, or 15 characters per inch (CPI). It also does automatic centering, underlining, and carriage return so you do not have to spin the platen (the rubber roller that holds the paper) manually. The 12-pound chassis makes it the lightest full-featured option here — easier to move on and off a desk than the 12.97-pound bundle version.
What wins buyers over is the one-line correction memory (stores your last full typed line so the machine can lift off errors automatically). You finish a line, spot a typo, and the machine removes it with correction tape — no white-out needed. Reviewers recovering from arthritis say the keyboard is easy on the hands. People returning to typing after decades of computer use say the manual explains every key clearly. The trade-off you should know: some units arrive with a misaligned print head or paper advance issue. The seller has charged a restocking fee of nearly half the price on returned defective units. Inspect the styrofoam block under the lid and the plastic piece on the ink cartridge during setup — both must be removed before the first keystroke.
To put the size in perspective, this model spans 21 inches (53 cm) from end to end, while the Brother GX-6750 measures 16.4 inches. You get legal-size paper capacity, but you also need a dedicated desk spot.
The Consensus Build
- Automatic centering, underlining, and carriage return streamline formatting
- One-line correction memory catches typos without white-out
- Three pitch settings (10, 12, 15 CPI) fit labels, letters, and everything in between
- Lightest full-featured pick at 12 pounds
Who Should Think Twice
- Carriage width of 21 inches demands significant desk real estate
- No line guide (a plastic cursor that shows your current line) makes page realignment tricky
- Return policy is restrictive; some buyers report a steep restocking fee
Stick with this if: you want the most-praised balance of correction features, print quality, and portability from a large pool of real-world owners.
Look elsewhere if: you need a compact footprint — the 21-inch width is a lot for a small desk or shelf.
3. ROYAL 69147T Scriptor II Typewriter, White
The typewriter that acts like a word processor with dedicated formatting keys for superscript and decimal tabs.
The Royal Scriptor II is for anyone who types multi-line addresses, financial tables, or academic drafts and wants proper formatting without manually spinning the platen. It has a 45-key, 17-function keyboard with dedicated buttons for automatic underlining, bold typing, superscript (small text above the line, like in footnotes), and subscript (small text below the line). The decimal tabulation across 12 places lets you align columns of numbers cleanly — a rare feature in portable electric models. At 11.3 pounds, it is the second-lightest machine here, making it the easiest to move between rooms even without a carrying case. The 12 CPS type speed and three pitch options (10, 12, 15 CPI) match the top Nakajima pick for raw pace. But the Scriptor II adds centering, right-margin flush, and a relocation feature that returns the print head (the part holding the daisy wheel) to where you left off after a correction.
Build quality earns the most mentions by far from owners — 21 of them praise the mechanical feel of the keys and the unit’s overall sturdiness. The catch, and one owner of a 60-plus-words-per-minute spouse called this a “word processor,” is that it types lighter on the page than some expect. The hammer pressure against the paper produces a lighter print color, especially on thicker paper like cotton resume sheets. The instructions are also a mixed point: a few find the layout complicated for simple tasks. Royal is the same brand that sold manuals forty years ago, but the electronic Scriptor II requires reading the manual to activate all 17 functions.
Layout champion: the dedicated superscript, subscript, and bold buttons remove the guesswork from formatting reports or invoices. Light print caveat: the impression control helps, but on heavy paper the letters come out noticeably fainter than the Nakajima WPT-150 — test on your preferred stationery before committing.
Grab this for: anyone who writes columns of numbers, superscript footnotes, or variable line formats — the 12-place decimal tab is a genuine time-saver. Skip it for: simple envelope-filling or check-writing where the extra functions just get in the way.
4. brother GX-6750 Daisy Wheel Electric Typewriter (Renewed)
The compact office workhorse that punches through multi-part forms with a professional touch keyboard.
If your main job is filling out carbonless invoice sets or multi-part forms, the Brother GX-6750 is the logical choice. Its daisy wheel print head hits hard enough to type through three-part forms, a capability buyers specifically note. At 10.4 pounds, it is the lightest electric typewriter in this guide by a clear margin — at 10.4 pounds versus the Nakajima bundle at 12.97 pounds, a reduction you feel when moving it. The frame is also more compact: 16.4 inches long versus the Nakajima’s 21 inches, so it fits on a crowded desk where bigger units overhang. The 65-character correction memory (stores about one long word or a few short ones) lets you lift off small mistakes without reaching for white-out or correction tape.
The quality rating is the top positive aspect here — 7 buyers single out the build. However, the functionality side draws an equal number of negative mentions, and the pattern is specific: several units arrive with dried-out or twisted ribbons. One owner reported the typewriter would not power on because the cassette ribbon (the plastic cartridge holding the inked ribbon) was “stuck down in the body” and had to be wrestled out. The renewed condition means the ribbon and correction tape may be near-empty; plan to buy replacements alongside the typewriter. A second concern is print darkness — letters come out lighter than a new-in-box machine. One reviewer noted the “bottom serifs” of characters were missing, making words look slightly cut off. This is a capable machine for the right buyer, but the renewed lottery requires patience.
Form-punching champ: no other pick here reliably prints through 3-part carbonless sets. The renewed reality: expect to replace the ribbon immediately and budget a few extra dollars for fresh cassettes. If the idea of tinkering with a twisted ribbon frustrates you, the new-in-box Nakajima WPT-150 is the safer bet.
Best for: someone who needs to fill multi-part forms regularly and values the smallest, lightest footprint. Not for: anyone who wants plug-and-play — this machine may require ribbon replacement on arrival.
5. Smith Corona Typewriter (Renewed)
The only renewed machine that comes ready to type with spare ribbons, correction tape, and a dust cover included.
Every other renewed typewriter in this guide leaves you hunting for consumables. The Smith Corona renewer includes an extra ribbon, correction tape, two printwheels, and a dust cover right in the box. That is a meaningful advantage — the extra ribbon alone costs about what you would pay for a fresh cassette, and the dust cover keeps dust off the daisy wheel between uses. The typewriter itself weighs 12.42 pounds (close to the 12-pound Nakajima WPT-150) and ships with an owner’s manual so you are not guessing which key does what. It also addresses envelopes and long papers without a struggle, which is exactly what most casual typewriter buyers need.
The renew condition shows: keys on some units have the letters worn off from heavy use, and a few buyers found the machine didn’t operate smoothly from the start. The phrase repeated most is “definitely used.” The positive side is that the renewer includes a 3-year warranty option, and several owners who purchased the warranty report that the seller made things right when the machine had a problem. The review set is smaller than the Nakajima WPT-150’s 600-plus pool, but the proportion of “works wonderfully” reports is high — and the included extras mean you can start typing immediately without a separate supply order.
Ready-to-run kit: the extra ribbon, correction tape, and dust cover eliminate the most common frustration of buying renewed. Worn keys reality: some machines show years of use visibly; if cosmetic condition matters, this unit may feel rougher than its price suggests.
Pick this if: you want a single-box solution with everything you need for the first several months. Consider the Nakajima if: you want a machine that has never been owned before and a larger safety net of customer feedback.
6. Brother SX-4000 Electronic Typewriter (Renewed)
A step-up Brother model that lets you see and fix errors on a display before they ever hit the page.
The Brother SX-4000 is a different breed from the GX-6750: it includes a small display (a line of text you can see before printing) so you make corrections before committing ink to paper. The “make corrections before printing to paper” feature is the headliner here — it is the closest thing on this list to a word processor experience. The automatic relocation after correction returns the print head (the part holding the daisy wheel) to the exact spot you left off, which saves the frustration of realigning the carriage manually. It uses a daisy wheel print mechanism with black ink ribbons and separate correction tape, and the keyboard is the “professional touch” type that Brother is known for among office equipment enthusiasts. The renewed unit ships with extra supplies, including ribbon and correction tape.
The catch is consistency. One owner who had issues with the typewriter received new ribbons from the seller and reported the machine “works amazing” afterward. Another called it defective on arrival. A third found the paper-feed knob broken and held together with glue from the refurbishment process. The support experience seems to be the strongest part of this product: the seller (Phase 3 LLC) responded to problems by sending fixes or issuing refunds. A buyer with RA (rheumatoid arthritis) specifically chose this typewriter because handwriting was painful, but the broken knob was a real obstacle. If you buy this renewed machine, test the paper feed knob and the power-on stability immediately and keep the seller’s contact handy.
Display advantage: seeing your text before it prints is a genuine workflow improvement over any blind-correct model. Condition lottery: physical damage from the refurbishment process (broken knobs, glued repairs) appears in more than one report. The seller has a track record of making things right, but the arrival experience can be rough.
Reach for this if: you need to see and correct text before it prints — the display is not available on any other pick here. Pass if: you want a machine that works perfectly from the moment you unbox it; the renewed condition introduces too many variables.
Understanding the Specs
Pitch (Characters Per Inch)
Pitch controls how many characters fit horizontally across one inch of paper. A 10-pitch setting gives you 10 characters per inch — larger type that is easy to read for drafts and letters. A 12-pitch fits 12 characters per inch, which is the standard for most business correspondence. A 15-pitch squeezes in 15 characters per inch, useful for fitting a full address onto an envelope or for narrow forms. Most electric typewriters let you toggle between these three, and the ability to change pitch is what separates a versatile machine from a one-size-fits-all model.
Correction Memory
Correction memory stores the characters you just typed so the typewriter can lift them off the paper and let you type the correct letter. A 65-character memory holds roughly one long word or a few short ones — enough for a quick fix. A one-line memory stores a full line of text, which is far more forgiving if you spot the typo after you have already typed several words past it. The memory works with a special lift-off correction tape that sits above or below the typing ribbon in the cassette.
Carriage Width
The carriage is the part of the typewriter that holds the paper and moves left and right as you type. A 13-inch carriage can accommodate paper up to that width — typically legal size (8.5 x 14 inches) or tabloid-size sheets. A narrower carriage (around 10 or 12 inches) is limited to letter-size paper and may not handle wide envelopes side-on. The physical width of the typewriter is usually a few inches wider than the carriage itself, so a 13-inch carriage results in a machine roughly 21 inches wide.
Print Speed (Characters Per Second)
Print speed is measured in characters per second (CPS). A rate of 12 CPS is standard for a portable electronic daisy-wheel typewriter — fast enough for most home and office typing without feeling rushed. This speed is comparable to a slow dot-matrix printer. Faster speeds (15-20 CPS) exist on office-grade machines but are rare in the portable category. Speed matters less for electric typewriters than for computers because you are still bound by your own typing speed, which for most people falls well below 12 CPS.
FAQ
Can I use any daisy wheel or ribbon in these typewriters?
Does an electric typewriter need ink cartridges like a printer?
Will a 13-inch carriage fit on my average desk?
What does “one-line correction memory” actually do?
Can I type on envelopes with these typewriters?
How long does a correctable film ribbon last before replacement?
Is it possible to connect an electric typewriter to a computer?
What is the difference between a daisy wheel and a dot matrix typewriter?
Can I use wide (legal size) paper in a portable electric typewriter?
Will a renewed typewriter work as reliably as a new one?
Final Thoughts: The Verdict
For most buyers, the best electric typewriter winner is the Nakajima WPT-150 Electronic Typewriter because it delivers the fastest type speed (12 CPS), the widest correction memory (one line), three pitch options, and the largest sample of positive buyer feedback. If you need advanced formatting for academic papers or financial columns, grab the Royal Scriptor II — it is the only pick with dedicated superscript, subscript, and 12-place decimal tabulation. And for multi-part forms in a compact frame, the Brother GX-6750 is the one to reach for, just budget for fresh ribbons on arrival.
How We Picked
We do not accept paid placement. Every pick is matched to a real buyer and a real use-case; we do not hands-on test units.
Sources & Methodology
Specifications: manufacturer listings and product documentation. Review insights: verified customer reviews, as of July 2026. Pricing: not shown on this page (it changes often); check the current price via the retailer link.
As an Amazon Associate, Gardening Beyond earns from qualifying purchases. This does not affect which products we feature.