The best laser printer may cost a little more than an inkjet, and not be that great at printing photos. But when it comes to printing and copying documents, you tend to get much better quality, with lower running costs at volume.
If you print large numbers of documents regularly, then, a laser printer is the one to go for. While they tend to be more expensive, the lower per-print cost of toner ink compared with inkjet cartridges will save you cash over the longer term. Not to mention the time you'll save from faster printing.
Below you'll find the best laser printers available today, and give you all the information you need to choose between them. But which one should you go for? Well, that depends on what precisely you need from a laser printer.
Do you need to print in color, or just black and white? Do you want scanning, copying and faxing too? Do you wish to connect wirelessly, via an Ethernet cable, or by USB? If you're doing a large amount of printing, you'll need to know how many sheets you can load up at one time. And finally, if quality is important, you'll need to check the resolution it can print at, which is measured in dpi (dots per inch).
Best laser printers in 2022
The Lexmark MB3442adw offers everything you could want from a mono laser printer. That includes two-sided printing, copying, faxing and automatic two-sided scanning, via a very nice 7.2cm colour touchscreen.
It's fastest on our list, too, offering print speeds of up to 40 pages per minute. You can print via Ethernet, USB 2.0 or Wi-Fi. Its paper capacity of 550 sheets should be enough for most needs, plus there's the option to add an extra tray to bump that up to 900. Plus it's relatively compact and lightweight, making it easy to move around your home office. For all these reasons, this is our pick as the best mono laser printer overall.
Need to print in color? Then we recommend the Kyocera Ecosys P5026cdw. It does a great job of accurately printing your files, time after time, at a high resolution of 1,200dpi. It offers very respectable speeds of up to 26 pages per minute, and duplex printing comes as standard. You can print via Wi-Fi or by inserting a USB stick (opens in new tab).
Note that this is a one-use printer: there's no scanning, copying or faxing. And while there is a touchscreen display, it's pretty small and basic. But that helps keeps the cost down, and so as long as none of these are deal-breakers, this is an excellent value buy.
Need a laser printer but watching the pennies? Then we'd suggest the HP LaserJet Pro M15w. It's very cheap, but surprisingly capable.
This lightweight mono printer offers printing over Wi-Fi via the HP app, or AirPrint if you have an iPad or iPhone. Alternatively, you can hook it up to your computer via USB. While its print speed (18 pages per minute) and paper capacity (150 sheets), aren't as high as some of the laser printers on our list, they should be enough for most people's needs. And so overall, this represents exceptional value for money.
Need a laser printer for a small office that offers color and mono printing, along with scanning, copying and fax? The Xerox WorkCentre 6515dni provides all this, plus the ability to connect to up to seven people.
The 6516dni provides a printing resolution of 1,200 x 2,400dpi image quality and copy resolution up to 600 x 600dpi. You can print wirelessly from your laptop, tablet or smartphone via Apple AirPrint or Google Cloud Print. Alternatively, you can print via your computer via Ethernet Cable or high-speed USB 3.0.
With a capacity of 250 sheets, you won't have to change the paper too often. Duplex printing and booklet printing are both included. Print speeds are impressive at 28 pages per minute. And you can email your scanned documents too, which is a potentially handy feature when you're out of the office.
If you only need black and white printing for your home office, then take a look at the HP LaserJet Pro MFP M227fdw. This laser printer offers excellent quality mono prints, at 1,200dpi resolution, sharp text, bold blacks and crisp graphics. You also get scanning, copying and faxing.
Duplex printing is included, and print speeds go up to 28 pages per minute. You can print via WiFi via the HP app or AirPrint if you have an iPhone or iPad. Alternatively, you can print via Ethernet or USB, and you can print via email when you're out of the office. The touchscreen display works nice and smoothly, and while this isn't the cheapest on our list, it's a reliable and professional choice for any home setup.
If you have a medium-sized, busy office and need a printer that's going to be in use throughout the day, then the Xerox VersaLink B600dn is our top pick. Yes, it's expensive, but in return for your initial outlay, you get very fast printing speeds, a large paper capacity, and low running costs overall.
The top speed for A4 is 55 pages per minute, by far the fastest on our list. with a first-page-out time of 7.1 seconds. With a 550-sheet main tray paper capacity, you can do a lot of printing without having to reload.
There are lots of cool features too, including automatic duplex printing, scaling, booklet printing, and Secure Print, which holds your document or image in the printer’s memory and waits for you to type your PIN before it releases it.
Overall, then, if you have a team of 10 to 20 people needing to print regularly, you won't go far wrong. Do note, though, that this prints in black and white only, and isn't multifunctional, in that it doesn't include a scanner or copier.
Xerox is known for high quality and performance, but its printers are generally pretty expensive. Here's a notable exception. The Xerox B215 offers mono printing, via Ethernet, Wi-Fi or USB, as well as scanning, faxing and copying, at an affordable price. And it's a very decent performer too.
You get higher than average print speeds of up to 30 pages per minute, and high resolution reproduction at 1,200dpi. Not to mention a generous capacity of 251 sheets plus a tilting, 3.5 inch color touchscreen, which makes this laser printer easy and convenient to use. On the downside, it takes a little time to warm up, but on the whole this is quite the bargain.
This laser printer from HP has the name 'Neverstop' because it uses a refillable toner tank instead of disposable cartridges. This isn't just good for the environment, it also saves you money: up to 60 per cent on toner each time you reload. Not to mention that you're already getting 5,000 pages of toner right out of the box.
Besides that, this is a very capable multifunctional printer, offering mono printing, scanning and copying (although not faxing). You can print via Ethernet, USB or Wi-Fi. On the negative side, there's no duplex printing, the paper capacity is limited to 150 sheets, and the small LCD display isn't the best. But overall, this is a good, solid performer that delivers quality results, time after time.
This color laser printer is one the expensive side, but you do get good value for money. The Brother MFC-L3770CDW allows you to print, copy, scan and fax, via Wi-Fi or USB. It has a lovely 9.3cm color touchscreen, that makes it easy to access the printer's wide range of document handling functions.
Duplex printing and scanning is included, as is in-built toner sufficient to print 1,000 pages. Print quality is high, at resolutions of up to 1,200 x 2,400dpi, and there's a generous paper capacity of 250 sheets. In short, this is great choice for either a home office or small business.
Here's another great-value laser printer for small studio, or busy home office. Capable of printing at up to 28ppm, the supplied cartridges should last for around 2,400 mono pages and 1,200 color pages.
With has a 50-sheet auto document feeder and auto duplex for copying, scanning and fax, you can do a lot of printing without holdups. For high-volume jobs, an optional 550-sheet supplemental paper input tray is available, taking the overall capacity up to 850 sheets. There's a nice 4.3-inch color touchscreen, with customisable shortcuts, and you can scan direct to email and PDF.
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