Alan Really / Digital Traits
The perfect shade laser printers are a fantastic funding that may prevent money and time in comparison with cartridge-based inkjet printers. Laser printers use toner, which lasts a very long time, delivering a low price per web page for monochrome paperwork and extremely quick shade prints. The perfect shade laser printers supply high-quality prints and reliability that assist hold your own home workplace or small enterprise productive.
If that you must scan paperwork for record-keeping and photograph seize or need the comfort of a shade copier, an all-in-one shade laser printer is a necessary instrument to your small enterprise or private use. For a small added price, you get expanded capabilities. That is why we embody a number of all-in-one fashions from the most effective printer manufacturers.
Fast Overview
HP Shade LaserJet Professional 4301fdw: Finest all-in-one shade laser printer
HP Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw: Finest deal on shade laser printer
Canon imageClass MF753Cdw: Finest shade laser printer for small enterprise
Brother MFC-L3720CDW: Finest Brother laser printer for photographs
Canon imageClass MF654Cdw: Finest price range shade laser printer
Brother MFC‐L8905CDW: Finest all-in-one scalable laser printer for places of work
HP Shade LaserJet Enterprise MFP M480f: Finest shade laser printer for medium-sized companies
Why you need to belief us
Digital Traits has been reviewing printers for 20 years and testing them to find out which of them supply the very best quality and quickest speeds. We verify the long-term worth of every printer, so you will know upfront if a low-cost printer is actually reasonably priced or if it has outrageous toner prices.
Printers are advanced machines that require a very good understanding of the know-how to make a stable advice. Our hands-on critiques make it easier to make knowledgeable choices by highlighting compatibility considerations and the way effectively marketed options truly work.
Key issues whereas choosing the right shade laser printer for you
There are a number of key components to think about when selecting a shade laser printer. Buy value issues, however long-term prices can add up shortly. Evaluation the whole record to search out the right printer.
Print high quality and shade constancy
In case you’re selecting shade, you want greater than a tough copy — you need your doc to look nice. You continue to want razor-sharp textual content, but it surely’s important for colours to match what you see on-screen and in photographs with out banding or streaks.
Pace and financial system
A laser printer ought to be quick and environment friendly with low operating prices. In any other case, you need to select a extra versatile and lower-cost inkjet printer.
Particular options
All-in-one printers embody scan, copy, and typically fax features, filling a number of roles in your workplace. Many printers supply duplex printing (double-sided), an computerized doc feeder (ADF), a number of paper trays, Wi-Fi connectivity, and walk-up printing. These particulars may very well be critically necessary when making a purchase order determination.
HP Shade LaserJet Professional 4301fdw
Finest all-in-one shade laser printer
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HP Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw
Finest deal on a shade laser printer
Bounce to particulars
Canon imageClass MF753cdw
Finest shade laser printer for small enterprise
Bounce to particulars
Brother MFC‐L8905CDW
Finest all-in-one scalable laser printer for places of work
Bounce to particulars
HP Shade LaserJet Enterprise MFP M480f
Finest shade laser printer for medium-sized companies
Bounce to particulars
Brother HL-L3295CDW
Finest shade laser printer for low-cost toner
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Present 5 extra gadgets
Alan Really / Digital Traits
HP Shade LaserJet Professional 4301fdw
Finest all-in-one shade laser printer
Professionals
Lightning quick print and scan speeds
Good print high quality
Two paper trays
Simple setup and use
Dependable operation
Cons
Shade price per web page is simply OK
No borderless printing
Why you can purchase this: It is a trendy, eco-friendly shade laser printer with nice velocity and high quality.
Who’s it for: Dwelling places of work and small companies that want paperwork printed shortly.
Why we picked the HP Shade LaserJet Professional 4301fdw:
With blistering quick print and scan speeds, the HP Shade LaserJet Professional 4301fdw makes quick work of difficult jobs. It prints 35 pages per minute (ppm) for monochrome and shade paperwork and scans with its ADF at 31 ppm.
Shade paperwork look nice and photographs come out good even on plain paper. A USB port permits walk-up printing by way of a thumb drive, making the LaserJet Professional 4301fdw a wonderful all-in-one printer for house and workplace.
HP Shade LaserJet Professional 4301fdw
Finest all-in-one shade laser printer
Alan Really / Digital Traits
HP Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw
Finest deal on a shade laser printer
Professionals
Lightning-fast print speeds
Good print high quality
Two paper trays
Simple setup and use
Dependable operation
Cons
Mounted-angle, monochrome show
Shade price per web page is simply OK
Why you can purchase this: It is a fantastic discount on a wonderful HP shade laser printer.
Who it’s for: Anybody upgrading to a quicker shade laser printer.
Why we picked the HP Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw:
A top-of-the-line HP shade laser printer normally prices much more than this. The record value is $570 however HP has an introductory sale that costs the Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw like a price range mannequin.
The HP Shade LaserJet Professional MFP 4201dw outputs the primary web page in a speedy 9 seconds and has sustained print speeds of as much as 35 ppm. That matches the tempo of our prime decide and triples the colour doc velocity of most inkjet printers. But, photograph high quality is nice for a laser printer.
A intelligent dial makes controlling the Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw straightforward. It additionally contains a USB-A port on the highest so you possibly can plug in a thumb drive for straightforward walk-up printing.
Computerized two-sided printing saves paper on lengthy paperwork and high-yield toner cartridges minimize the fee per web page to 2 cents for black and 12 cents for shade prints. Setup is fast and simple with the HP Good cell app, or you possibly can join the LaserJet Professional MFP 4201dw on to a Home windows PC or Mac.
HP Shade LaserJet Professional 4201dw
Finest deal on a shade laser printer
Canon
Canon imageClass MF753cdw
Finest shade laser printer for small enterprise
Professionals
Superfast print and scan speeds
Good print high quality
Two paper trays
Simple setup and use
Dependable operation
Cons
Shade price per web page is simply OK
No borderless printing
Why you can purchase this: Nice shade print high quality in a multifunctional printer.
Who it’s for: Small companies who must print or copy paperwork and graphics shortly.
Why we picked the Canon imageClass MF753Cdw:
Laser printers are identified to be quick and rugged, and the Canon imageClass MF753Cdw matches this description effectively. This printer is constructed for velocity and sturdiness, blasting by large jobs at as much as 35 pages-per-minute. Image high quality is surprisingly good for a laser printer, with correct colours and minimal grain. The imageClass MF753Cdw is tough to beat for an workplace that should make or reproduce shade paperwork that characteristic graphics and photographs.
Canon’s imageClass MF753Cdw matches the quickest shade lasers and presents full-duplex printing, copying, and one-pass duplex scanning from its 50-sheet doc feeder. If your online business outgrows the 250-sheet paper tray, you possibly can add a 550-sheet cassette to increase capability.
The one draw back to the imageClass MF753Cdw is the considerably excessive price of shade toner, a standard difficulty with shade laser printers.
Canon imageClass MF753cdw
Finest shade laser printer for small enterprise
Brother
Brother MFC-L3720CDW
Finest Brother laser printer for photographs
Professionals
Stable print high quality for textual content and photographs
Cell and wi-fi printing assist
Nice alternative for house places of work
Cons
No auto-duplexing capabilities
Toner might be costly
Why you can purchase this: You may get full-color laser prints shortly at an reasonably priced value.
Who’s it for: Dwelling and small workplace prospects with reasonable print quantity wants.
Why we picked the Brother MFC-L3720CDW:
Shade laser printers aren’t low-cost. This reasonably priced Brother makes a fantastic addition to a house workplace or small enterprise. It has lots of the identical options as dearer fashions, like its 3.7-inch touchscreen for straightforward entry to features and a 250-sheet tray that allows you to print extra with out changing paper.
With a numeric pad for faxing, quick single-sided scanning, and fast copying, this printer is able to assist make your workday simpler. It is a big, heavy printer that is designed to final a very long time.
In case you just like the look of this printer, however want duplex scanning and copying, Brother’s MFC-L3780CDW presents super-fast single-pass scanning of a number of double-sided paperwork in its computerized doc feeder for about $100 extra.
Brother MFC-L3720CDW
Finest Brother laser printer for photographs
Brother MFC‐L8905CDW seems on a white background.
Brother
Brother MFC‐L8905CDW
Finest all-in-one scalable laser printer for places of work
Professionals
Quick print speeds
Duplexing supported
Economical working prices
Cons
Giant measurement takes up house
Why you can purchase this: Brother’s MFC‐L8905CDW delivers quick printing speeds and long-lasting provides at reasonably priced working prices.
Who it’s for: Small and medium-sized companies.
Why we picked the Brother MFC‐L8905CDW :
The Brother MFC‐L8905CDW options ultra-high yield toner cartridges that offer as much as 9,000 monochrome pages and eight,000 shade pages, so that you not often must interrupt a busy workday. An non-obligatory 500 sheet paper tray expands the onboard capability of 250 sheets in the primary tray and 50 sheets within the multi-purpose tray.
Print speeds of as much as 33 ppm make quick work of lengthy paperwork and additional copies. This sturdy enterprise printer presents duplex for fax, scan, copy, and print features and may hook up with any system with Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or USB. A USB port permits walk-up operation with a thumb drive, whereas an NFC reader limits entry to approved personnel.
The Brother MFC‐L8905CDW has a advisable obligation cycle of 4,000 pages monthly however it will probably deal with printing as much as 60,000 pages in a month. For such a rugged printer, Brother did not skimp on comfort options. The seven-inch shade touchscreen might be custom-made with as much as 64 shortcuts to hurry up frequent operations.
Brother MFC‐L8905CDW
Finest all-in-one scalable laser printer for places of work
Canon imageClass MF654cdw product shot on white background.
Alan Really / Digital Traits
Canon imageClass MF654Cdw
Finest price range shade laser printer
Professionals
Cut price value
Nice print high quality
Quick efficiency
Good photograph high quality
Media tray for straightforward envelope printing
Cons
No duplex scanning
Excessive shade toner price
Why you can purchase this: It is the most effective budget-friendly possibility for house places of work
Who it’s for: Dwelling places of work.
Why we picked the Canon imageClass MF654Cdw
If all you want is a printer that is quick, dependable, and has nice high quality at an reasonably priced value, Canon’s imageClass MF654Cdw presents nice worth. On sale, it may be discovered as little as $300, a fantastic discount for a shade laser printer with nice shade graphics high quality. With a slight tweak to settings, you possibly can set photographs to print at 1200 dots-per-inch, leading to good plain paper photos.
At 22 pages-per-minute, it is not the quickest shade laser printer, but it surely works effectively for standard-size paperwork. The 5-inch shade touchscreen and USB-A port on the entrance makes walk-up printing easy.
Canon imageClass MF654Cdw
Finest price range shade laser printer
HP
HP Shade LaserJet Enterprise MFP M480f
Finest shade laser printer for medium-sized companies
Professionals
Compact measurement with loaded options
Stable security measures
Smartphone app assist
Cons
Greater than common cost-per-page print prices
Why you can purchase this: HP’s Shade LaserJet Professional MFP M480f is a speedy all-in-one printer that is designed for printing and digital doc archiving with intuitive assist for cloud storage.
Who it’s for: Small companies that want a speedy shade laser printer.
Why we picked the HP Shade LaserJet Professional MFP M480f:
Workgroups and companies that do not have a lot workplace house to spare to accommodate a big printer will respect HP’s Shade LaserJet Professional MFP M480f. The MFP M480f provides multifunctional options that may assist together with your workplace’s doc wants, together with a built-in flatbed scanner, computerized doc feeder, and duplexing capabilities. The M480f is a well-rounded multifunction printer that may nonetheless output as much as 29 ppm in black and white or shade.
This speedy however compact quantity has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low-Power, and cell printing is supported throughout quite a lot of units and platforms. The large limiting issue on this printer is its small 250-sheet paper enter tray, although bigger places of work with larger print jobs can improve to the non-obligatory 550-sheet tray. Duplexing is supported to assist save paper and the atmosphere. A front-facing USB port makes it straightforward to print from a storage drive. The printer can print from or scan to quite a lot of cloud suppliers, making it straightforward for digital doc archiving. Companies on a restricted print price range can spend money on high-yield toner cartridges for a decrease per-page print price.
HP Shade LaserJet Enterprise MFP M480f
Finest shade laser printer for medium-sized companies
Alan Really / Digital Traits
Brother HL-L3295CDW
Finest shade laser printer for low-cost toner
Professionals
Glorious shade doc print high quality
Quick prints on lengthy paperwork
Low toner price with tremendous high-yield cartridges
Consists of over 1,000 pages value of toner
Stroll-up USB port for fast printing
Low noise
Cons
Display is tough to see when seated
Touchscreen use is awkward
Paper curls
Why you can purchase this: Brother HL-L3295CDW is a speedy all-in-one printer that is designed for printing and digital doc archiving with intuitive assist for cloud storage.
Who it’s for: Small companies that want a speedy shade laser printer.
Why we picked the Brother HL-L3295CDW:
The Brother HL-L3295CDW is a good alternative for high-volume printing. It is an reasonably priced shade laser printer with surprisingly low-cost toner. One among its standout options is the reasonably priced XXL toner cartridges. Price per web page is as little as 2 cents for monochrome and 10 cents per web page for shade paperwork.
When it comes to efficiency, the printer delivers crisp, high-quality prints at a velocity of 31 pages per minute. It additionally options wi-fi connectivity, permitting for handy printing from cell units and computer systems. This flexibility makes it excellent for small places of work or house workspaces the place a number of customers must print paperwork.
This is not the only option for printing photographs, however charts and shade paperwork look nice. The Brother HL-L3295CDW additionally boasts a compact design, computerized two-sided printing, and a 250-sheet paper capability. Total, the Brother HL-L3295CDW is a wonderful alternative for these in search of a dependable, reasonably priced shade laser printer with low-cost toner.
Brother HL-L3295CDW
Finest shade laser printer for low-cost toner
Continuously Requested Questions
Shade laser printers versus inkjet printers: what’s finest?
Laser printers are higher for textual content paperwork, as they produce crisp textual content even at small font sizes. Over time, they’re additionally cheaper to run than cartridge-based inkjets. Nevertheless, laser printers require a bigger preliminary funding. In case you don’t print fairly often, an affordable inkjet printer may make extra sense and it could take a very long time earlier than its increased operational prices catch as much as the upper preliminary price of a laser printer. For smaller print jobs, the quicker pages-per-minute price of a laser printer additionally gained’t be a lot of a bonus.
In case you’re wanting to economize in the long run and must print photos, try inkjet options that depend on tanks for ink quite than cartridges. For the reason that tanks are refillable with bottled ink, tank printers price a lot lower than shade toner for laser printers. Not solely will tanks be higher for the atmosphere by much less waste, however they may prevent cash for bigger print jobs. That is why tank printers rank extremely on our record of the most effective inkjet printers.
Laser printers are nonetheless extra sturdy, decreasing upkeep prices in the event you print at excessive quantity. Lasers usually supply quicker printing speeds, saving time on giant print jobs. That is why companies usually select laser printers. Some inkjet printers, just like the Epson EcoTank Professional ET-5850 are practically as quick as lasers.
Past print high quality, inkjet photograph printers may deal with a greater variety of paper sorts and sizes in comparison with laser printers. Some very giant inkjets can be found that may print posters and banners. A shade laser printer will deal with inline photographs and graphics in paperwork simply tremendous. Most trendy shade laser printers, particularly these made for small places of work, will have the ability to deal with customary sizes and forms of print jobs, from customary paperwork to labels and card inventory.
Whereas shade laser printers have gotten a lot better at dealing with pictures, in the event you’re seeking to make detailed, color-accurate photographic prints to hold in your wall, show in a gallery, or promote to prospects, a high-end inkjet photograph printers continues to be the best way to go (or just outsource the work to a photograph lab).
Do shade laser printers include Wi-Fi or AirPrint assist?
Sure. As with inkjet printers, wi-fi connectivity has change into customary on shade laser printers. Meaning you need to use Apple AirPrint to your iPhone and iPad with practically any printer, and Android’s print service is equally adept at connecting. There are extra particulars about cell use under.
You too can use Wi-Fi to print and scan with Home windows and macOS. Nevertheless, in the event you use a Linux pc or need to print from a Chromebook, verify the producer’s web page to verify the printer is appropriate together with your system.
How can I print from my iPad, iPhone, or Android system?
Shade laser printers assist Apple AirPrint, making it straightforward to print from an iPad or iPhone to a printer in your Wi-Fi community. Android telephones and tablets may hook up with Wi-Fi printers shortly and simply.
For scanning, upkeep, and different particular options, you have to to put in the producer’s cell app from Apple’s App Retailer or Google Play. The cell app will usually present extra choices for high quality, enter tray, and paper measurement and sort.
How usually will I’ve to purchase toner?
This is dependent upon how a lot you print. Toner cartridges can usually print greater than a thousand pages earlier than you want replacements. You’ll be able to substitute particular person colours, so you will not have to purchase a full set of 4 every time. For gentle house use, you can simply go a 12 months or extra with out changing toner. For workplace use, the alternative interval might be shorter, however toner may nonetheless final a number of months.
Some shade laser printers settle for high-capacity toner cartridges that final two to a few occasions longer than customary cartridges. Test the specs of your printer for actual particulars of the web page yield.
How can I get monetary savings on toner?
Step one is to print effectively; that’s, double-check your web page structure settings and ensure every part is right earlier than you hit that print button. You too can get monetary savings by stopping wasted shade toner by setting a black and white printer because the default.
When it’s time to reorder, it can save you cash by shopping for third-party toner cartridges. Nevertheless, shopping for third-party toner probably isn’t advisable by your printer’s producer, however as long as you be certain that it’s appropriate together with your printer, it ought to work simply tremendous. Nevertheless, some printers, just like the HP mannequin above, search for a toner that makes use of a particular chip figuring out it as unique tools. HP warns that whereas another cartridges may match in the present day, they could not sooner or later.
Can I purchase a shade laser printer with built-in fax?
Sure. Many all-in-one laser printers can scan, copy, and fax paperwork. In case you’re doing loads of faxing, copying, or scanning, be sure you select a printer with an computerized doc feeder (ADF), and if you wish to do double-sided scans and double-sided prints, a mannequin that has a duplex ADF and duplex printing might be finest. Double-sided prints may assist get monetary savings if price is a priority. Word that not all all-in-ones — additionally known as multifunction printers — have fax modems, so be sure you verify the specs before you purchase. In case you want a multifunction printer, be sure you try our greatest picks for all-in-one printers.
How do you check shade printers?
To seek out the most effective shade laser printers, we think about standards reminiscent of velocity, value, upkeep prices, and any distinctive options that assist them one-up the competitors.
Our choices are primarily based on our long- and short-term testing; expertise with earlier fashions; familiarity with the corporate’s applied sciences; session with trade specialists, fellow journalists, and customers; on-line boards; lab outcomes; and different third-party critiques. We glance throughout the board — not simply at our personal experiences — to search out consensus on what we predict are the best-performing printers you possibly can at the moment purchase. We additionally take a look at record pricing to find out if a product is value the fee. We are going to even suggest printers that aren’t new, supplied the options are nonetheless best-in-class.
The printer market evolves always, with producers both introducing higher fashions with new options or primary upgrades. So, you possibly can count on our picks to vary as effectively. However don’t fear — the fashions you see right here might be with you for a while, and if we anticipate higher fashions on the horizon, we are going to state that upfront that can assist you resolve whether or not you can purchase now or wait.
Which is the most effective shade laser printer for house use?
When looking for a shade laser printer for house use, you in all probability do not desire a 100-pound beast meant to outlive the trials of a shared work atmosphere.
A compact, budget-friendly shade laser is likely to be superb. Printing photographs is a standard use for house printers and a few fashions have acceptable high quality even on plain paper.
Is a laser printer good for shade?
The primary laser printers have been monochrome, however most producers supply a number of shade laser printers that present nice high quality for shade paperwork.
Nevertheless, some deal with photographs higher than others. For photographic-quality shade photos, it is onerous to beat an inkjet printer that is optimized for photographs.
Are laser printers being phased out?
Laser printers will proceed to be manufactured for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, there are some considerations about their environmental affect.
Epson, for instance, is phasing out laser printers worldwide by 2026, citing the numerous power required to generate sufficient warmth to fuse toner onto paper.
In the meantime, HP has discovered methods to make laser printers extra eco-friendly by altering toner formulations and enhancing effectivity.
What sort of paper can shade laser printers use?
You need to use paper labeled as appropriate with laser printers, however shade laser printers work effectively with multipurpose and even cheap recycled paper. Normal sizes and weights are tremendous and a few laser printers can deal with heavy card inventory and weird paper sizes. Test the producer specs if that you must print on paper that’s thicker or bigger than regular.
Since laser toner fuses to the paper, the one different restriction is that the paper can face up to excessive warmth. Meaning inkjet paper may not be appropriate with a laser printer. Whereas most inkjet printers require costly coated paper to get the most effective outcomes, even a low-cost shade laser can print good shade graphics and acceptable photographs.
Since shade laser printers work with odd paper, that lowers the fee per web page a bit. That mentioned, yow will discover shiny paper for laser printers, but it surely’s not as widespread.
How can I forestall banding in shade laser photograph prints?
Whereas inkjet printers can mix ink droplets for a variety of colours, the waxy toner of a laser printer presents a restricted palette of colours. The result’s banding in areas of comparable colours with refined gradations.
For instance, photographs with giant swaths of blue sky are troublesome for shade laser printers. The simplest approach to forestall banding is to pick a distinct photograph. Nevertheless, that is not at all times potential.
In case your coronary heart is about on a specific image, there is a approach to scale back banding with just a little photograph modifying. Load the picture into a photograph editor and apply just a little noise with a filter or impact. It would take some trial and error, but it surely’s normally potential to cut back banding with out making the image too noisy.
In case you discover our prime picks aren’t the suitable match to your particular wants, there are different shade laser and different printer sorts which can be value testing. If you would like a top-rated printer that may match the standard of the most effective scanners, otherwise you merely simply want a extra reasonably priced mannequin, make sure to check out a few of the all-around finest printers available on the market.
In case you’re searching for extra financial savings, try our guides to the most effective low-cost printer offers and finest laser printer offers out there now.
