The Best Laser Printers, According To Rigorous Testing
If you need high-quality printing in a snap, a laser printer can produce clean, sharp prints in as little as a few seconds. But, after three weeks of testing each device, not all laser printers have the same print quality and reliability. My pick for the best laser printer overall, the Canon Color ImageClass MF656CDW, can output 21 pages per minute (ppm) in color or black and white, which can make short work of flyers, handouts or any other printing task. My budget monochrome printer pick, the Brother HL-L2460DW, can manage up to 40 ppm.
After rigorous testing, the best laser printers can sprint quickly and with clear text and images.
As the name suggests, the secret of laser printing is a laser that zaps a thin layer of toner onto the paper, which is then squished with a hot roller, bonding the toner to the paper. In color laser printers, four toner colors (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) print color by mixing tiny dots. This process means laser printers can print quickly and in large quantities, printing thousands of pages from a single toner cartridge.
Speaking of toner, a significant part of the cost of using these printers is the cost of replacement toner cartridges. I’ve used the price of the manufacturers’ own toner cartridges for consistency, but you can often save money with third-party cartridges. Some manufacturers claim that third-party toners could compromise print quality, but the manufacturer may deny a warranty claim if the third-party ink caused the problem.
Best for:
- Small or home offices that need a flexible device
- Low- or medium-volume color printing tasks
Skip if:
- You need only monochrome prints
- You need to print quickly
Most small or home offices need an all-in-one device that can do everything: print quickly from all devices and scan when needed to multiple devices. My pick for those who need all of these features is the Canon Color ImageClass MF656CDW, an excellent, reasonably priced all-in-one color laser printer that handles whatever you throw at it.
The MF656CDW is affordable to run. A black-and-white print using high-capacity toner costs about 3 cents per page, and color about 19 cents. That’s one of the lowest costs per print of all the devices I tested, but the toner cartridges are a significant investment. Canon’s 067H high-capacity toner cartridges will cost you almost $450 for a complete set of four—that’s more than the printer itself. You get a lot of prints for the money, based on my testing. The high-capacity black cartridge has a yield of about 3,130 pages, while the color ones will last for about 2,350. The toner cartridges included with the printer are smaller and will last for about 1,350 monochrome pages and 680 in color.
The Canon Color ImageClass MF656CDW can print in black and white and color.
Canon doesn’t offer a subscription service for its laser printers, but you can opt in to the automatic replenishment service, where the printer can automatically order new toner cartridges when required.
My only issue with the MF656CDW is the print speed. It’s a little slower to print, which might be a problem when you have large print jobs. Canon claims a speed of up to 22 ppm on both monochrome and color prints, which was borne out by my tests: I measured it at about 21 ppm. That’s a little slower than the other color laser printers, and a lot slower than the monochrome printers. Even the bargain-basement Brother HL-L2460DW was 64% faster.
Still, the speed is acceptable for general use, and the cost per page is pretty low, making it a great pick for those who need the flexibility of an all-in-one color device.
Best for:
- Its low print cost
- Getting an easy-to-use machine
- Having a no-frills toner that’s easy to refill
Skip if:
- You need huge print volumes
The highlight of the HP LaserJet Tank MFP 2604SDW is affordable printing: It costs less than a cent per monochrome page. This $200 printer comes pre-filled with enough toner for 5,000 pages, and a high-capacity toner refill costs just $29 on Amazon. While most laser toners come in a complex container that is difficult to recycle, the toner for the Tank comes in a juice-style pouch, which includes a return envelope to recycle when you are done. It’s easy to refill as long as you are careful. You shake the pouch, remove the cover, twist it into place on the refill port of the printer, then squeeze the pouch to refill. Some of the toner can leak out if you squeeze it too hard or don’t lock it into place, so some caution is required.
The HP LaserJet Tank MFP 2604SDW costs less than a cent per monochrome page.
The printer looks a bit like its namesake military vehicle—it’s designed for utility, not aesthetics. It has a simple boxy design with a small LCD display and controls on the top of the paper tray: no fancy color screens or readouts here. It’s all business, with a scanner on the top that includes a 40-sheet auto document feeder (ADF). There is no fax support, but it can work as a stand-alone copier when you put a document into the ADF or on the scanner bed and hit the copy button.
The quality of the prints was good: The black areas of my test prints were clean and deep black, with very few roller marks and sharp, clean edges. Photos didn’t look great, but they were comparable with other monochrome lasers and would be fine for handouts.
The controls on the printer feel very no-frills, but they’re functional and do the job well.
The LaserJet Tank MFP 2604SDW is reasonably fast, managing about 22 monochrome ppm compared to the brand’s 23 ppm claim. That’s still slower than most, though, meaning those needing to print lots and quickly may be better off spending more on a speedier (and more expensive to run) printer, like the Canon ImageClass MF455DW or the Brother MFC-L3780CDW, which can print over 30 ppm.
Best for:
- Quick, high-volume (with optional large paper tray) printing
- Fast monochrome copying and scanning
Skip if:
- You need to scan to the cloud
The Canon ImageClass MF455DW is fast–nearly twice the speed of the Canon ImageClass MF656CDW when printing monochrome pages. Canon claims it prints at up to 40 ppm, but I found it was a hair slower in my tests, at 38 ppm. That’s a small difference, but this printer is a speedy beast however you slice it.
The cost per page is a very reasonable 2 cents, with an impressive 10,000-page yield from the 057H high-capacity cartridge. That’s a bit more expensive than the HP Tank, but this printer is significantly faster. Canon does not have a toner subscription service, but the brand does offer an auto replenishment service, where the printer can order new toner cartridges directly.
The Canon ImageClass MF455DW is a very fast laser printer compared to the competition.
It’s no slouch as a copier and scanner either, though. I found it could scan and copy at about 30 ppm, so it will tear through making copies for the whole office. Scans can also be sent to a computer connected over Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet, to a USB drive or to any device running the Canon ScanGear software. According to my testing, it lacks support for uploading to the cloud. Canon’s website claims differently. I reached out to them for clarification, but have yet to hear back. As soon as the company responds, I’ll update my testing insight.
The standard paper tray holds up to 250 letter-sized sheets, but the optional $199 AH-1 paper cassette fits onto the bottom of the printer and adds space an extra 550 sheets of paper. An additional 100-sheet multipurpose tray can hold even more paper, envelopes or sheets of sticky labels.
Best fo