It stands out from the competition with an easy-to-use, smartphone-style touch interface and 21st-century mobile and PC software that makes daily use far less frustrating than on other printers we’ve tried. In our tests, it produced sharp black text, vibrant full-color graphics, and even photos good enough for a school report. It’s fast, topping out at around 17 pages per minute, and it can print on envelopes, labels, and other odd-size media thanks to a handy bypass slot. If you have up to five users printing less than 2,000 pages a month, consider our home or small office monochrome printers. These small black and white printers delivery top quality output along with Brother reliability, with a compact footprint. The 250-sheet paper capacity helps improve efficiency with less refills and the manual feed slot offers professional prints on a variety of papers and sizes, such as card stock, envelopes, etc.
It also has just 25 percent as much onboard memory and runs a little slower. The Canon imageCLASS MF113w is limited by its flatbed scanner; we prefer models with automatic document feeders. The affordable HP LaserJet Pro M118dw can print really fast and has positive owner reviews. Unfortunately, its cost per page is relatively high, and we saw multiple reports of iffy graphics and photo quality.
(It sounds absurd, but such hacks have happened.) It also allows for PIN-encrypted print jobs, so you can make sure no one else is intercepting your documents. Role-based access control for multiuser environments allows you to choose who can access which printer features. If your work involves sensitive material, these are legitimately helpful additions—and features you can’t get from other manufacturers. Laser toner cartridges don’t have to be replaced as often as ink tanks, and they won’t clog—as inkjet print heads sometimes do—if you go weeks or months between print jobs. The MFC-J4335DW prints, scans, copies, functions as a stand-alone fax machine, and allows faxing from the computer using the Brother Fax application or a driver that allows faxing from almost any Windows program. Paper handling for printing is suitable for most small offices, home offices and personal use.
Both of these estimates assume you’re using the extra-large 206X replacement toner cartridges; if you use the smaller 206A replacement cartridges, replenishing costs less up front, but you pay more per page. HP’s toner cartridges feature an integrated drum, so you don’t have to worry about buying a new one after a couple of years.2 And the M255dw defaults to duplex printing, which will save you on paper costs, as well. We also tested the flatbed scan quality of each multifunction printer using a glossy test photo printed on our inkjet all-in-one pick, the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015. We scanned at all available resolutions and looked for notable qualitative differences in each machine’s output, in everything from sharpness to color rendition to contrast.
Many laser printers employ PIN- and password-protected printing to keep sensitive and confidential data safe and secure. Laser printers use non-liquid-based toner instead of the ink tanks used by inkjet printers. As a result, laser printers have faster brother monochrome laser printer print speeds, print sharper text, and prints don’t smear when wet. Laser printers cost more to refill than inkjets, though, and can’t print on glossy paper. The HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw is fast, powerful, flexible, and refreshingly easy to use.
If youdon’tneed them, you can often find an identical or similar model for less from the same manufacturer, minus only the PCL or PostScript support. “Duty cycle” is a specification for the monthly page count a printer is rated for. Some printers don’t offer one, which is not an issue if you don’t print much. If you print enough to wonder if you might overtax the printer, however, don’t buy one that doesn’t offer the spec. Almost any printer will include a USB Type-B connector for a direct wired connection to a single PC. And even if that’s the only connector, Windows will let you share the printer on a network.
Tax forms and other documents with tiny fonts were perfectly readable, and larger headers came out with crisp edges and dark centers. All in all, this printer should be more than adequate for printing text-heavy documents. Test graphics and photos, on the other hand, were merely mediocre at default settings, as some light banding was visible in solid-color areas, and epson workforce graphics appeared a little grainy. The output is good enough for personal use or internal business documents, and you can improve it with adjustments to toner density and resolution settings if you need to hand out documents to clients. This Brother multifunction printer has a 250-sheet capacity, duplex printing and a 50-sheet ADF and is currently on sale for $100.
We reached out to Brother for comment, but the company wasn’t able to provide any explanation for the print-quality discrepancy. In general, we recommend that you avoid the app and print through your operating system’s native print dialog, which works just great. The 250-page main paper tray is larger than many in its class, so you’ll have to fill it less often. A dedicated bypass slot for odd-size media means you also won’t have to take your regular paper out if you want to print on envelopes, labels, or card stock. The slot is motorized, so when you slide an envelope or label sheet into the slot, rollers grab it and suck it into the guts of the printer, where it sits until you send a print job.
The L2350DW reliably maintained a connection throughout testing—even several rooms away and a floor below our router. You can operate this printer over USB if you prefer, but in that case you have to supply your own cable. If you want an Ethernet port for wired Internet, you can upgrade to the otherwise nearly identical HL-L2370DW. A basic inkjet can cost as little as $40, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a laser at that price. This gives the MFC-805DW a slim appearance that lacks the elegance of a large color touchscreen, although the physical buttons are probably more reliable than the virtual buttons on many touchscreens.
Automatic duplex (2-sided) printing helps save on paper costs and toner save mode helps save on toner costs. We update these picks often, but also check out ourprinter category pagefor the very latest reviews we’ve posted, including many models that didn’t make the cut here but are also worth considering. And for more printer buying advice and reviews, check outour top printer picks overall, thebest inkjet printers, and our picks for best all-in-one printers.