Best color laser printers in 2019

Why buy this: High capacity toner, extremely fast print speeds and a wide range of wireless connectivity options.

For whom: High-volume offices or those who need fast, colorful printing

Why we chose HL-L8360CDW brothers:

At 17.4 x 19.1 x 12.3 inches (width, depth, height) and weighing more than 48 pounds, the Brother HL-L8360CDW is not lightweight. But with a print speed of up to 33 pages per minute (ppm) and a high-capacity toner cartridge that can print 4,500 times, you can easily do bulk printing. The maximum monthly duty cycle is 60,000 pages and the recommended amount is 4,000. The main tray can hold up to 250 sheets of letter or legal-sized paper, and the 50-sheet secondary tray can be used for alternative paper types such as letterhead. If you need more paper capacity, you can add up to 1,300 pages by adding additional paper trays. To keep the paper as long as possible, two-sided printing is also supported, thanks to the automatic two-sided printing feature.

For large companies with security concerns, the HL-L8360CDW has a built-in NFC card reader that allows them to scan employee badges and grant them access. The printer is controlled by a 2.7 inch touch screen and can be connected to your company's Dropbox, Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive account. Print wirelessly easily from home or small offices with Apple AirPrint and Google Cloud Print 2.0. Additional wireless standards include Wi-Fi Direct, Cortado Workspace, Mopria, and Brother's own iPrint & Scan app.

When purchased from Amazon, the HL-L8360CDW comes with a Dash Replenishment and can be set to automatically reorder toner when the toner runs out.

Why buy this: Cheap full color laser printing.

For whom: Home and small office customers whose printing requirements are usually.

Reason for choosing HL-L3210CW brothers:

You can call your brother HL-L8360CDW (except punch), but the HL-L3210CW brother is not an idiot. Full-color laser printers under $ 200 are already felt at a discounted price, and the product is excellent in performance and steals. The print speed is up to 19 ppm, and the tray can hold 250 letter or legal-sized paper, and the manual feed slot allows you to use different paper sizes and paper types, such as envelopes. The maximum monthly duty cycle designed for small offices is up to 30,000 pages compared to the HL-L8360CDW, with a recommended recommendation of 1,500.

For wireless printing, Apple AirPrint and Google Cloud Print support are standard, just like Brother iPrint & Scan and Wi-Fi Direct. Unlike the more powerful L8360CDW, the L3210CW does not provide two-sided printing and uses a low-volume 1,400-print toner cartridge. But there are advantages in size and weight. The L3210CW weighs 10.3 pounds less than the L8360CW at 37.8 pounds and is nearly 4 inches shorter at 16.1 x 18.1 x 9.9 inches.

Why buy this: Print, copy, scan and fax your documents quickly.

For whom: Busy entrepreneurs who need a competent all-in-one printing and scanning solution.

Why we HP Color LaserJet Pro M281fdw:

In addition to printing at up to 22 ppm, this color laser MFP can also copy and scan documents in full color at the same speed (black and white documents can scan faster at 26 ppm). The main tray holds up to 250 sheets of paper that support a variety of paper sizes, from 3 x 5 inches to 8.5 x 14 inches legal size, and the 50-page automatic document feeder provides long copy or scan jobs. With a recommended monthly duty cycle of 150-2,500 pages, the HP Color LaserJet Pro M281fdw is ideal for busy headquarters printing needs. It's found online for less than $ 400 and won't harm your bank.

Despite all these features and versatility, the M281fdw maintains the average size and weight of advanced color laser printers. Weighing 16.5 × 16.6 × 13.2 inches and weighing 41 pounds, it's slightly heavier than the Brother HL-L3210CW above and doesn't have all the multi-function features. It includes a 2.7-inch color touch screen for menu system navigation and also has a dedicated USB port for printing directly from a USB device. Wireless printing is possible from mobile devices using Apple AirPrint, HP ePrint, Mopria, or Wi-Fi direct. However, Google Cloud Print is not supported.

Why buy this: Excellent color print quality on multifunction printers.

Who is it for: Anyone who needs to quickly print or copy photos and graphics.

Why we Canon color imageClass MF634Cdw:

Laser printers are not photo printers in themselves, but models like "Canon Color imageClass MF634Cdw" go a long way in blurring the lines between cameras, which come from companies like Canon that are famous for their cameras. Not recommended for offices that need to create or play documents containing photographers, graphics, and photos, but the MF634Cdw can't win, especially when it's available for about $ 300.

The 19 ppm print speed does not match the HP M281fdw, but provides automatic two-sided printing, copying, and scanning in the 50-sheet document feeder. Black-and-white scans are as fast as 28 ppm and color scans drop to 14 ppm. The maximum monthly duty cycle is 30,000 times and the recommended cycle is 200-2,500, which can meet the standard printing needs of small and medium-sized offices.

In addition to USB, you can send print jobs wirelessly through Apple AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, Mopria, Wi-Fi direct, and Canon's Print Business app.

Why buy this: Printer as easy to install as your Mac.

Who is it for: Who needs a ridiculous basic color laser printer.

Why we HP Color LaserJet Pro M254dw:

All the printers on this list work on a Mac, but the HP Color Laserjet Pro M254dw is probably the most Mac-like in your environment. After complimenting the customer's ease of use, it can be taken out immediately and printed and printed in a few minutes. With built-in Apple AirPrint support, you can print wirelessly from your Mac, iPhone, or iPad without installing drivers. This printer also supports HP ePrint, Mopria, and Wi-Fi direct, but like the HP M281fdw, it does not support Google Cloud Print.

The M281fdw can be an easy-to-use, yet major selling point, but it doesn't disappoint in performance with print speeds of up to 22 ppm for monochrome printing. The monthly maximum duty cycle recommended by the printer (2,500 prints) is suitable for medium to high volume environments and the first print time of 10.2 seconds (11.8 seconds for black and white) is effective even at low volume settings. You need to print once at a time, no need to wait for the printer to warm up.

With a slim (for class) profile and just 32 pounds in weight, this color laser printer also fits well with the background, making it perfect for home offices or places with customers.

Research and Buying Tips

Laser printers produce sharp lines even at very small font sizes, making them ideal for text documents. Over time, you can get more prints per dollar per toner than you can with inkjet inks, so the running costs are lower. Laser printers also offer fast print speeds and can save you a lot of time in bulk print jobs.

However, laser printers and toners are expensive upfront. If you don't print often, you can buy an inexpensive inkjet printer (some printers are around $ 30). High operating costs can take a long time before the laser printer costs more. For small print jobs, the laser printer's fast page speeds per minute are not a big advantage.

Color laser printers may be slightly slower than the same black and white version due to the way the color toner process works. To produce color, most color laser printers use a combination of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Only pass once for each toner color (the method may vary here, but many rollers are used multiple times).

Color laser printers are much better at processing photos, but if you want to print detailed and accurate color photos for wall hangings, display in galleries or for sale to your customers, there is an advanced inkjet photo printer. It's still a way to go (or simply outsource your work to a photo lab). In addition to print quality, inkjet photo printers can handle a variety of paper types and sizes compared to laser printers. Color laser printers handle inline photos and graphics in documents well.

Yes. Like inkjet printers, wireless connections have become very common in color laser printers. However, not all models support all brands of wireless printing technology. For example, the HL-3170CDW brothers above support both Apple AirPrint and Google Cloud Print, but the Dell C1760NW offers mobile printing through its own app, but still not.

It depends on your printer's wireless capabilities. Many printers today support Apple AirPrint, making it easy to print from your iPad or iPhone to printers on a Wi-Fi network. Not all applications support AirPrint, but many are supported, including non-Apple applications.

With Google Cloud Print on Android, you can print any document stored in Google Drive or print directly from Google apps like Docs and Sheets. Like AirPrint, you need a printer that supports Cloud Print.

If your printer doesn't support Cloud Print or AirPrint, but it does support Wi-Fi, printer manufacturers can provide their own iOS and Android apps for printing from mobile devices.

It depends on the print volume. The toner cartridge yields more than 2,000 pages (see the printer specifications for model-specific yields). Light home, many people can easily go more than a year without changing toner. In the office, the replacement interval will be shorter, but the toner may last for several months.

The first step is to print efficiently. In other words, check your page layout settings again and make sure everything is correct before pressing the Print button.

When it's time to reorder, you can save money by purchasing a third-party toner cartridge. A single genuine toner cartridge for the Brother HL-L8360CDW costs about $ 78, while E-Z Ink's full black-and-white toner (four cartridges in total) is about $ 66. Printer manufacturers are advised not to purchase third party toner, but it will work if you verify that it is compatible with your printer. However, some printers, such as the HP models above, look for toner that uses a special chip that is identified as the original equipment. HP warns that other cartridges may work now, but may not.

Yes. Many all-in-one laser printers, such as the HP LaserJet Pro M281fdw above, can scan, copy, and fax documents. Not all multifunction devices (also known as multifunction printers) come with a fax modem, so check the specifications before you buy.

Test method

To find the best color laser printer, we consider criteria such as speed, price, maintenance costs and unique features that can give you a competitive advantage.

Our choice is based on long term and short term tests. Previous model experience; Knowledge of the company's technology; Consultation with industry experts, fellow reporters, and users; Online forums; Laboratory results; Other third party reviews. We do an overall survey to find consensus on what we think is the best printer to buy, not what you can experience at the moment. We also look at the list price to see if the product price is worth it. If the functionality is still at its highest level, we recommend a non-new printer.

The printer market continues to evolve with manufacturers introducing better models with new features or through basic upgrades. So you can also change our choices. But do not worry. The models shown here will be together for a while, and I will explain in advance to help you decide whether you should buy now or wait if you expect a better model to be released.

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