12 Best Laser Printers Reviews and Buying Guide

Why Do You Need a Laser Printer?

A laser printer is one kind of the different kinds of printers available in the market these days. As against using ink, laser printers use toner for replicating the object. Then, they transfer the object to the paper. These printers are widely used by businesses these days. The reason is that it has the reputation of producing reliable and the best quality printing. These printers are widely used in the printing of brochures, company fliers, labels, and stationery for printing companies.

When you intend to buy the best laser printer, you will come across many types of this printer. One of the types is the monochrome laser printer. This type can print only black text. Businesses use this printer for printing letters, spreadsheets, and other documents. When it comes to color printers, they add colors to the prints using toners. The common colors of toners available are yellow, cyan, red, and black. When adding the logo to the letterhead or when making a slick brochure, color printers are used widely. Another common type you will come across is large format printers. They help with printing larger prints of more than 8 by 11 size. So, this type is widely used for making billboards and highway signs.

Quick Summary

Now, as you intend to shortlist the best laser printer, you should be looking for a short list of the best options available in the market. Understanding your requirement, here is a list of the top 12 options available in the market. Even, you can get to know what makes these top printers the best:

1. The Best Printer for Your Growing Business: M404n Monochrome LaserJet Pro Printer from HP.
2. The Best Laser Printer for Affordable Printing: MFP 1202w Wireless Neverstop Laser Printer from HP
3. The Best Printer for Home-Officer Setup: imageCLASS LBP6230dw Duplex Laser Printer from Canon
4. The best Printer For Convenient Usage: HLL2395DW Monochrome Laser Printer from Brother Store
5. Printer for Smartphone-Like Experience: MF642Cdw imageCLASS Color All-in-One Wireless Printer from Canon
6. The Smallest Laser Printer: W2G51A LaserJet Pro M15w Printer from HP 
7. The Best Printer That Will Not Consume Much Energy: LBP113w 2207C004 imageCLASS Printer from Canon
8. The Printer that Combines A Toner and a Drum: D570 Monochrome Image CLASS Laser Printer, Copier and Scanner from Canon
9. Printer that delivers Class-leading printing speeds: HL-L2350DW Wireless Printer from Brother
10. The Printer that Permits Double-Sided Paper Printing: M203dw LaserJet Pro Wireless Monochrome Printer from HP
11. Printer that Brings Customized and Unique Experience to users: imageCLASS MF743Cdw All-in-One Duplex Laser Printer from Canon
12. Best Printer for families: 7955e Envy Inspire Wireless Color All-in-One Printer from HP

The Best Laser Printers – Detailed Reviews

Having the list of best options alone is not enough. You will be interested in getting into detailed laser printer reviews. So, we have posted the reviews for each printer here:

1. M404n Monochrome LaserJet Pro Printer from HP

This laser printer has been designed to keep your business growing. You can expect consistent high-quality document printing from this printer. Protection has been built into the operating system, firmware and hardware of this printer to make sure that your crucial business data will remain safe against cyberattacks.

With this printer, your employees can stay productive as it comes with a 250-sheet input tray. It assures fast first page out time and a printing speed of a maximum of 40 pages per minute. You can use this black and white printer for sharing resources on your business’s network. The reason is that it comes with built-in ethernet capabilities.

HP has designed this unit with the environment in mind. Yes, it saves up to 18% energy as compared to the prior products from this brand. Further, it uses technologies that aid in bringing down the waste of paper. You can make the most out of your office space as the printer has been designed compactly to fit into any shared workspace.

Pros:

• Designed for expanding business needs
• Compact size
• Improved energy efficiency
• Built-in ethernet capabilities
• 250-Sheet input tray

Cons:

• Does not come with an ethernet cable
• Replacement toners are expensive

2. MFP 1202w Wireless Neverstop Laser Printer from HP

This best laser printer holds the pride of assuring the lowest cost per page in its class of printers. It offers non-color printing at 21 pages per minute. This reloadable printer helps you copy and scan with its wireless capabilities. It comes with a paper tray with a capacity to hold 150 sheets and assures the best toner refill experience without any mess.

You will be surprised to know that you will be spending less than one cent per page with this printer. It comes with nearly 5000 pages of toner in a box and up to 7 x more pages as compared to traditional in-class laser printers. When you buy the toner reload kit from HP sold separately, you can get up to 2500 pages worth of original HP Toner. It means that you can get up to 2.5 x more pages as compared to class HP Toner cartridges.

Further, it comes with the best-in-class mobile print app. With this app, you can get the printer setup process simplified. It will also let you share with all your devices and can instantly copy, scan and print with whatever device you have.

Pros:

• The printer assures the lowest cost per page
• Costs less than one cent per page
• Comes with the best-in-class mobile app
• Eco-label certified
• Built-in wireless capability

Cons:

• Speed of printing is low at 21 ppm
• No wired network printing

3. imageCLASS LBP6230dw Duplex Laser Printer from Canon

This printer is part of our laser printer reviews of the best units because it offers different connectivity facilities. Yes, you can connect this printer to your PC, phone and other systems using USB, ethernet or through a WPS router. It best suits home office or personal atmospheres due to its compact space-saving design.

The utmost paper capacity of this unit is 250 sheets and it comes with an all-in-one single cartridge system that brings together drum and toner into a single unit. It means that it permits easy cartridge replacement.

The associated free Canon mobile printing app helps you easily print from your mobile device. It is compatible with almost all Windows PCs.

Pros:

• Best printer for home-office set up with its compact size
• Enables on-the-go printing with a mobile app
• Supports printing 8000 pages per month
• Comes with Canon Genuine Toner.

Cons:

• The setup is a bit complicated.

4. HLL2395DW Monochrome Laser Printer from Brother Store

This printer has been engineered for convenience. It is equipped conveniently with a flatbed scan glass for quick scanning and copying. It has been optimized compared to the previous models of printers from Brother Store. Due to this facility, it has been optimized, permitting you to print up to 36 pages per minute. It has been designed compatible with Cortado Workplace, Mopria, Brother iPrint and Scan, Google Cloud Print 2.0 and AirPrint applications.

It will be possible to achieve high-quality and faster prints with this unit. The reason is that this monochrome laser printer comes with a paper capacity of 250 sheets. It aids in improving efficiency to ensure lesser time spent on tray refilling. Apart from handling letter-sized papers, this unit can handle legal-sized papers as well.

It helps with effective cloud-based printing and scanning. You can print directly from OneNote, Evernote, Google Drive and Dropbox from the 2.7” color touchscreen part of this unit. It enables simple-to-connect wireless technology that permits you to submit print jobs from your tablets, desktops, smartphones and laptops. For added convenience, it offers a touch to connect printing with NFC.

Pros:

• Engineered for convenience
• Enables cloud-based printing and scanning
• Offers high-quality and faster prints
• It has been optimized for efficiency

Cons:

• The Wi-Fi connectivity is not dependable

5. MF642Cdw imageCLASS Color All-in-One Wireless Printer from Canon

If you are looking for a printer that can bring you a smartphone-like user experience, you can rely on this unit from Canon. For dependability, this unit comes with reliability and engine technologies from Canon. Further, this mobile-friendly unit supports mobile solutions for scanning and printing. It will be possible to bring down costs with the all-in-one high-capacity cartridge that this unit uses.

This best laser printer uses a combination of low-melting-point toner and fusing technologies for the best prints. It has been designed to suit the printing needs of small and medium-sized businesses. It comes with a document feeder that aids with scanning up to 28 images per minute in black and white. Otherwise, it will be possible to print 14 ipm when it comes to color printing. It will be possible to convert scanned files into multiple file formats that include searchable and hi-compression PDFs.

Pros:

• Smartphone like user experience
• Mobile-friendly device access
• Easy-to-use application library
• 5-inch color touchscreen
• Designed for small and medium-sized businesses

Cons:

• The default driver is for the printer only. A separate driver should be downloaded for the scanning function.

6. W2G51A LaserJet Pro M15w Printer from HP

This printer holds the pride of being the smallest LaserJet Pro printer from HP. It has been designed with a 35% smaller size as compared to its predecessor. Just because it is small, it does not compromise on quality. It continues to deliver the same professional-quality black and white prints that you expect. It can print 19 pages per minute. The first page will be out within just 8.1 seconds.

This unit is part of our laser printer reviews because it lets you experience its power in your palm. This happens due to the associated HP Smart App. With this app, you can easily scan from your tablet or smartphone. Even, using this app, you can order toner and can print from DropBox, Google Drive or iCloud.

It assures wireless connectivity that you can rely on. The reason is that it comes with built-in wireless capabilities that let you access, share and print on a network. For those without a Wi-Fi connection, they can directly connect to the printer using Wi-Fi Direct.

Pros:

• The  smallest LaserJet Pro printer from HP
• Uncompromising quality
• Dependable Wireless Connectivity
• HP Smart App makes things easy
• Intuitive LED control panel

Cons:

• Using this printer is hard for larger jobs

7. LBP113w 2207C004 imageCLASS Printer from Canon

If you are looking for a printer that will not consume much energy, this unit from Canon can help. The reason is that it comes with an energy saver mode that uses about 4 watts of power in sleep mode. The paper capacity of this unit permits around 150 sheets of paper.

The Wi-Fi Direct connect feature of this unit lets you connect your mobile devices to the printer without the need for router installation. The printing speed assured by this printer is 23 pages per minute.

This laser printer supports Google Cloud Print, Morea Print Service, Canon Print Business and Apple AirPrint. It has been designed for personal and home office use. Even though it has a compact design, it continues to deliver speedy overall performance for accomplishing day-to-day tasks.

Pros:

• The printer does not consume much energy
• Energy-Saver mode
• Paper capacity of 150 sheets
• Does not need a router to print from mobile devices
• Prints 23 pages per minute

Cons:

• The LED panel is not backlit
• Does not come with a printed user manual.

8. D570 Monochrome Image CLASS Laser Printer, Copier and Scanner from Canon

When you choose this printer, you need not have to install a separate router in your home or office. The reason is that it supports Wi-Fi Direct Connection. It helps you connect the printer with your mobile devices. You need not have to get a router separately. It can print at a speed of 28 pages per minute.

With this printer, you can print on the go using the Canon Print Business, Google Cloud Print, Morea Print Service and Apple AirPrint. The paper capacity of this printer is 250 sheets in the standard cassette and a sheet in the multipurpose tray.

This best laser printer uses nearly 2 watts of energy alone when you print wirelessly. It even comes with an energy-saving mode to help you save on energy costs. It comes with a single cartridge system that brings together a toner and the drum into a single unit. In turn, the replacement of cartridges in this unit can be done with ease.

Pros:

• Combines a toner and a drum in a single unit
• Compact and efficient design
• Uses Genuine Canon Toner
• Ensures better image processing and precise character printing
• Ensures mobile device printing

Cons:

• The wireless network connection is not consistent

9. HL-L2350DW Wireless Printer from Brother

With this unit, you can expect to wait less and print more. Brother has engineered this printer for better efficiency. The reason is that it comes with class-leading print speeds of up to 32 pages per minute. The 250-sheet paper capacity aids in improving efficiency with reduced refilling needs. This printer has been designed to handle both legal and letter-sized papers.

The manual feed slot in this printer offers flexible paper handling for a wide range of sizes and papers like envelopes, card stock, etc. With unit will help you create documents that look professional. You can print from this unit wirelessly from your tablets, smartphones, laptops and desktops.

This unit is part of our laser printing reviews of the best units because it offers versatile connection options. You can connect the printer locally to a single system via its USB interface or with a built-in wireless connection.

Pros:

• Delivers class-leading print speeds of up to 32 ppm
• Flexible paper handling choices
• Accommodates up to 250-sheets
• Offers the facility to print from different sources
• For added convenience offers Wi-Fi printing from compatible devices

Cons:

• No ethernet plug

10. M203dw LaserJet Pro Wireless Monochrome Printer from HP

The main function of this laser printer is dependable monochrome printing. Further, it also offers wireless printing, double-sided printing, AirPrint along with LED control panels to name a few. This printer has been designed to bring 15% faster printing speeds as compared to its predecessor from HP. Further, it carries the advantage of HP JetAdvantage Security Manager.

It has the ability to print up to 30 pages per minute. The input tray paper capacity of this unit is up to 260 sheets and it assures a duty cycle of up to 2000 pages per month. You can experience the power of this printer in your hand with the associated HP Smart App. This app will help you set up the printer with ease as well. You can do more with this app. You can scan from your smartphone, print from the cloud and even can order a toner using this app.

The unique feature of this printer is that it lets you print two-sided documents right away. In turn, you can ensure the utmost efficiency for your business printing needs.

Pros:

• Offers two-sided printing
• Suits home use and small to medium-sized business use.
• LED Control Panel
• Energy-Star Certified
• Encompasses the best printer management features

Cons:

• Not good at connectivity

11. imageCLASS MF743Cdw All-in-One Duplex Laser Printer from Canon

This best laser printer has been designed to bring users a customized and unique device experience with its application library. It has been designed to bring users an experience similar to using a smartphone. For this purpose, this printer comes with a 5-inch intuitive color touchscreen. You can form a Wi-Fi straight hotspot from this unit for establishing a straight connection to your mobile devices. Most importantly, it does not need a router externally.

It assures the signature dependability of Canon with its engine technologies. With its engine technologies, it aids in keeping productivity high and reduces the effect of support resources. To make this printer user-friendly, Canon offers intuitive maintenance videos for some common tasks like the replacement of consumables.

To improve workplace efficiency, the printer underwrites mobile solutions not only for printing but also for scanning. You can scan and can convert documents to searchable digital files via a one-pass scan/duplex feeder. It has been designed for small print jobs with first-time prints taking just 10.3 seconds.

Pros:

• Brings customized and unique device experience to users
• 5” intuitive color touchscreen
• Assures Canon quality and dependability
• Supports mobile solutions for scanning and printing
• Reduces overall supply cost with an all-in-one and high-efficiency cartridge.
• Print speed of 28 pages per minute.

Cons:

• Weighs heavy
• Expensive toner

12. 7955e Envy Inspire Wireless Color All-in-One Printer from HP

This printer is part of our laser printer reviews of the best units because it offers 6 free months of instant ink with HP+. With this facility, you can print up to 700 pages a month and ink will ship to you automatically. In turn, HP ensures that you do not run out of ink. After 6 months, you will have to bear monthly charges and even, in this case, you can save 50% on ink.

Further, HP+ also improves the smartness of the printer with its advanced features. You can print from any device or app using this printer. All you need is an HP account and an internet connection. HP suggests using only original HP ink for the long life of the printer.

It has been designed to be suitable for active families. Apart from documents, you can print high-quality borderless photos in multiple sizes with this unit.

Pros:

• Printer suitable for families
• Prints documents and also vibrant photos
• HP Smart App helps print, scan and copy from your phone wherever you are.
• Offers 6 months of instant ink with HP+.

Cons:

• Touchscreen does not have cohesive options

What Is a Laser Printer?

A laser printer is one of the popular types of printers that are connected to personal computers. The good thing about this printer is that it uses non-impact photocopier technology. It means that the keys do not strike the paper. It uses a dry powder type of ink. Most laser printers in the market print only in monochrome. As compared to a color laser printer, a monochrome laser printer will cost you lesser.

IBM holds the pride of being the first company to introduce a laser printer into the market. It happened in 1975 when the company introduced the printer for use with its mainframe computers. In 1984, a revolution was made by Hewlett-Packard in this technology. The company launched its LaserJet printer as the most reliable, fast and compact printer to use with personal computers that too at an affordable cost. From there on, there was a considerable decrease in the price of printers that uses laser printing technology.  HP continues to be a leader with many competitors including Xerox, Okidata, and Lexmark to name a few. Understanding how this printer works will help you know whether it is easy to use.

How Does Laser Printer Work?

It will not be an overstatement to say that the printing process followed by a laser printer is intricate. Here is how you get your documents printed with this printer:

This printer works with the help of a heated wire for positively charging a drum. Then, it is passed over by a laser that turns the charge into the parts that it meets. Now, the negatively charged parts of the drum show the text or image that should be printed. A toner-roller passes over the drum and the particles of the toner attach to the negatively charged areas. Then, the paper is fed below the drum that has been coated with the toner. Then, the toner passes onto the surface of the paper, thereby creating a printer copy of an image or a digital document.

As a laser printer uses laser beam technology, it is able to achieve high precision output. This technology makes this printer, the ideal choice for busy workplaces and offices. The printing process followed by a laser printer is basically different from the process followed by an inkjet printer. Here is the step-by-step process followed by a laser printer for printing any document:

1. The data required to be printed is transferred from the PC to the laser printer as the first step. This happens via an ethernet cable. Otherwise, it happens wirelessly if the printer comes with wireless capabilities.
2. Then, the printer will have to reach the necessary temperature by heating the corona wire. Once heated, this wire passes an electric static charge to the drum unit.
3. Now, the drum unit is positively charged. As it is charged, it is ready to get the laser beam and start the process of data transfer straight onto the drum.
4. Once the laser is activated, the beam showcases a moving mirror unit that guides the beam straight onto the drum unit.
5. In places, where the beam meets the drum, the charge changes from negative to positive. The parts with a negative charge are now the place, where the particles of the toner will meet the drum. In turn, the content gets transferred to the paper straightaway.
6. Now, the ink roller starts to coat the drum with toner. This toner will have microscopic ink particles with a positive charge. They work with the negatively charged areas of the drum unit.
7. The paper that is positively charged now is passed close to the drum, thereby attracting the negatively charged particles of toner onto the page.
8. The paper that now encompasses the inked content passes into the fuser unit. Here, the rollers fuse the toner particles into the paper.
9. The page is then passed to the other side of the copier.
10. At this stage, you have the print successfully in your hand.

What Are the Benefits of a Laser Printer?

If you are wondering whether or not to invest in a laser printer, understanding its benefits will help you make an informed decision about its shopping:

1. Performance

A laser printer would have been designed to print large volumes of paper. It can print multiple pages without any form of jam or other issues. The technology continues to improve and the price continues to reduce, thereby making it the best option both for home and business printing needs.

2. Speedy Printing

For printing, a laser printer will use a beam. You know how fast a beam of light can pass. This is why laser printers have an impressive printing speed as compared to inkjet and dot matrix printers. If you will be printing a whole lot of documents on any given day, you will find this printer very helpful.

3. Affordability

Yes, what you have read is right. You might argue that a laser printer costs more initially as compared to an inkjet printer. Yes, you are right. But, when judging the overall cost of a printer, it is important to consider the running cost. When it comes to running costs, laser printers win the race by providing the opportunity to spend lesser on running. In most instances, the cost of printers is given on a per-page basis for reflecting the replacement costs related to ink. Here, the cost per page of any laser printer is lower compared to inkjet units. Of course, inkjet printers are affordable out of the box. Nevertheless, to make up for that the ink will be more expensive.

4. Best Quality Text

Your official documents should look professional. You can achieve this professionalism in printing with the best laser printer. No other type of printer including an inkjet printer can produce crisp prints. With this printer, you need not have to work about smudges in printing.

5. Lesser Maintenance Needs

When you take the case of an inkjet printer, it needs a new cartridge then and there. Also, you will have to align the heads then and there to make sure that the unit continues to print accurately. All through the life of the printer, you will have to align and clean the print heads to achieve the best quality prints. But, you are relieved of these jobs in a laser printer.

How to Choose a Laser Printer?

When you intend to shop for the best laser printer, you will have to consider different factors. Here are a few of them:

1. Color or Monochrome Printer

To determine the type of laser printer you need, you should ask yourself about the type of documents you will be printing frequently. If you need the ability to print things like invoices and other monochrome documents, a monochrome laser printer will do the job for you. But, if you will be printing color documents regularly, you should opt for a color printer. The choice depends on your needs.

2. Ease of Installation

Of course, printers these days are easy to install as compared to what it was a few years ago. But, before you shortlist a laser printer, it is better to check whether it assures installation easiness. If technical assistance is required for installation, you should check whether you can get technical support quickly,

3. Memory and Processor

Indeed, it is not easy to compare processors used by laser printers. However, when you see the quoted speed in megahertz in a printer, you can get a good idea of the power of the printer. You can understand its ability to process jobs with its inbuilt functions.

In case, you plan to buy a laser printer for printing from design and graphics applications, you should consider the memory capacity of the printer. Even, if you feel that the memory is limited, the printer should provide the option to upgrade the memory. When you use PostScript or PCL languages, the printer should have space for storing the print information when it is being converted.

4. Duty Cycle

The duty cycle is nothing but the number of prints that a laser printer is rated to be able to print every month. If you will be printing a large volume of documents every month, you should look at this information before you shortlist a printer. This rating can be anywhere between 1000 to even tens of thousand papers. So, you can shortlist based on the duty cycle you expect from the printer.

5. Kinds of Functions

In case, you look for a laser printer that will perform a wide range of tasks, you should check whether a printer can do this for you if you wish to shortlist a particular unit. In case, you wish to send and receive faxes and make copies along with printing documents, you should check whether a printer can do these things for you. The other types of functions you can expect from a printer include printing from USB sticks, scanning to USB Sticks and networking. Even, you can check whether a printer can print documents from cloud-based apps.

6. Power Consumption

The more power a laser printer consumes, the more will be your utility bills. So, it is better to check whether a printer assures power-saving capabilities before you shortlist. For instance, a printer with a deep sleep mode can help. When not in use, it will go to sleep and so power consumption will be lesser. You can go for a printer with an energy-star rating for better energy-saving functionality.

7. Paper Handling Capability

Commonly, printers will be in a position to handle paper up to A4 Size. So, if you wish to print A3-sized paper, you should check for this capability before you shortlist a printer. In case, a printer comes with a multi-purpose tray, it can handle other types of papers like heavier papers and envelopes. In case, you will be using the printer for printing a lot of envelopes, it is better to check the number of envelopes it can handle at a time.

In case, you need a printer for your busy office, it is better to ensure that the printer has enough paper at all times. For instance, most office printers come with a tray that can handle 250 sheets of paper. Even, you can go for a printer that you can expand via a second or third tray to meet your growing printing needs.

When talking about the paper handling capacity of a printer, you can look for other features like the ability to print on two sides of the page automatically. This will happen if the printer comes with an associated duplex unit. It is better to look for the ability to copy or scan multi-page documents. This is possible if the printer comes with an automatic document feeder.

8. Noise Emissions

Unless you see the printer in action at a retailer showroom, it will be hard to judge the noise emissions of a printer.  Also, you can judge the noise only when it functions on a low-noise floor. When you go for a small printer, there will not be any issues. Nevertheless, you should be particular about knowing the noise levels when you go for a bigger printer. Some manufacturers specify the noise level of the printer in decibels on the specification page. So, look for this information if you are particular about noise levels.

9. Connectivity

When talking about the connectivity in a laser printer, USB is the standard connectivity offered by most printers. But, for use in the office environment, it would be good to look for a printer with Ethernet connectivity.  With this feature, you can easily connect the printer to your network router and share it with your employees’ PC so that they can easily print right by sitting at their system. Instead, if you want to set up the printer on a wireless network, you can look for wireless connectivity in a printer. The specification for this connectivity would be around 802.11n in general. In case, you plan to print straight from your mobile phone, you can look for Wi-Fi Direct connectivity and the ability to print via an app.

Laser Printer – Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Now, which is the most suitable laser printer for you will be your question. After evaluating your needs among these top 12 printers, you can choose the best laser printer. For instance, you can choose one of the following printers based on your needs:

• The best printer for families: 7955e Envy Inspire Wireless Color All-in-One Printer from HP
• Best Printer for Affordable Printing: MFP 1202w Wireless Neverstop Laser Printer from HP
• Printer for users with space constraints: W2G51A LaserJet Pro M15w Printer from HP.

Josephine

I've been writing product analysis report for 5 years. I'm also a food and home product reviewer, frequently at the same time.