What’s the Best Laser Printer For Home and Small Business Use?

Print more pages and and get better reliability with one of these top-rated laser printers.

No two laser printers are the same. It’s a known fact that some are more powerful than others while some are built to handle smaller volumes. Not to mention the obvious question of, should you get a monochrome or color laser printer? So how do you choose the right one for your printing needs?

Quick Answers

For home use: A color laser printer is recommended for home users who print materials for school and for the times you’ll need to print something in color. Though color laser printers cost more upfront, they are much more economical than inkjet printers in the long run. We explain why later on in this article. If you’re a home user and you’re very sure you won’t be printing at all in color, then go for an affordable Brother monochrome laser printer like the Brother HL-L2300D printer. For a good color laser  printer at home, check out the HP M255dw Color LaserJet printer.

For small business use: Choosing the right laser printer for your home office or for a small business would depend on your daily volume and what you need to print. There are some businesses that need only black and white printing while there are some that need to print graphs and colored reports. It’s recommended that small-business printer users get a color laser printer for the times you’ll need to print something in color. A good model to look at is the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M479fdn printer. Though color laser printers cost more upfront, they are much more economical than inkjet printers in the long run. We explain why later on in this article.  Use your needs as your guide when deciding whether to get a monochrome or color laser printer. However, if you’re small business requires printing out high quality colored imagery or photos, you’ll need a professional photo inkjet printer for superior results (Laser printers can print photos too but we don’t recommend using them if you want professional results.  Check out some of our favorite inkjet printers.)

Here is our recommended list of laser printers for home and small business use. We break the list down further based on usage and budget; from affordable laser printer models you can use for low-volume home printing, small office laser printers, and heavy-duty laser printers appropriate for medium sized businesses. We’ve also made updates to the list based on customer feedback and to include newer laser printer models.

Budget Laser Printers

• Brother® HL-L2300D Laser Printer
• HP LaserJet Pro M15w Laser Printer
• Canon imageClass LBP6030w Laser Printer
• HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw Wireless Printer

Small Business Laser Printers

• HP® LaserJet® Pro M404dn Printer
• Canon imageClass MF236n All-in-One Laser AirPrint Printer
• HP Color LaserJet Pro Multifunction M479fdw

Heavy-Duty Networked Laser Printers

• HP LaserJet Enterprise M553n Laser Printer
• Xerox® Phaser® 6510 Laser Printer

How did we come up with this list? There were many factors considered when we pulled this list together. If you want to know how to shop for the best printer instead of simply going off of printers from a list (which is smarter–IMHO), we strongly suggest you first familiarize yourself with the most common laser printer features and terminology. Knowing what these terms mean will help you understand the capabilities, strengths and weakness of each printer unit and how each one is different. When you’re more familiar with the terms, we’ll jump right into some recommendations based off of common printing habits, so you can start making your own decisions on which machine is best for your home or business. Let’s begin!

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The Most Basic Laser Printer Features To Consider Are:

Monthly duty cycle

Printers are designed to carry a particular workload. When you match your expected print volume with a printer’s monthly capacity, you reduce the chances of unexpected breakdowns and repairs. Going beyond the technical expectations of a printer on a regular basis can lead to frequent breakdowns and a shorter lifespan for your unit. So before you decide on anything else, you need to determine how much you print on a monthly basis.

To help consumers choose the right model, manufacturers will include the monthly duty cycle as part of their technical specifications. This easy-to-use metric allows you to pair up your needs directly with a unit that is designed to handle your workload, and helps you avoid buying more printer power than you realistically need.

Speed (PPM)

Print speed, also known as PPM or pages per minute, can widely vary between different laser printer models. Most budget friendly models will print at speeds between 25 and 50 pages per minute, which is more than adequate for most business purposes. High-end models can produce 100 pages per minute or more. The Brother® HL-S7000DN prints that fast, for example, which totals up to around 500 words per second. That means being able to produce the entire Bible, old and new testaments, in about 20 minutes according to Tech Radar®. Not everyone needs that level of output though, and that type of speed might get expensive. Taking a good hard look at your print habits will help you assess how fast you need to print, as well as how much you need to spend to get that speed.

Cost Per Page

Cost per page is an important criteria to consider when shopping for an efficient laser printer as it defines how much you’re going to be spending on toner cartridges in the long run. What you want is a cost-efficient laser printer with a low cost per page. Toner cartridges come with different price tags and page yields. (Page yield is how many pages you can expect to print with one cartridge.) To determine a printer’s cost per page, you divide a printer’s page yield by the cost of the ink cartridge.

For example, the price of an original Canon® 137 black toner cartridge starts at $85.69* and its page yield is 2,400 pages. After some quick division, the cost is 3.5 cents per page. Calculating the cost per page for a color cartridge is slightly more complex. First, you’ll calculate the cost per page for each individual cartridge, using the same formula mentioned previously.  (Keep in mind, most cyan, magenta and yellow cartridges have the same page yield.) Then, add up the cost per page of all four cartridges (black, cyan, magenta and yellow).  We’ll look at HP 508X cartridges as an example.  The cost per page for the high yield black cartridge is 1.77 cents per page and each individual color cartridge is 3.23 cents per page.  If we add up all four toner cartridges we get 11.46, which would be our cost per page for color prints in this case.

Aftermarket Compatible Toner Cartridges
If you want to get serious about saving money on printing, you might want to try using compatible toner cartridge replacements. The main draw of compatible toner cartridges is an even lower cost per page. If you were to buy a compatible replacement for the Canon 137 toner from LD® at $19.99, your cost would only be .83 cents per page. Compared to an original Canon 137 toner with a CPP of 3.5 cents per page, that’s huge savings!

Accepted Media/Paper size

Laser printers are commonly purchased for office settings and most can handle legal-size paper. Some compact models may not, especially those designed for home-use, so be sure to research paper size specs before purchase if legal size printing is a must. If you print in sizes larger than legal, you may require a specialty printer to get the job done.

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Other Features

Automatic duplexed print

Print pros call the process by which printers arrange and produce double-sided prints duplex printing or “duplexing,” and it’s something you should keep in mind. Double-sided printing makes your documents look professional, and it helps save money on copier paper. Most top level laser printers worth their salt today automatically duplex your prints, just select the “print-on both sides” option in your print preferences and you’ll be good to go!

Paper handling

The wise folks at PC World® list paper handling as one of the most important qualities you should shop for when buying a laser printer.  Paper handling describes the smoothness, efficiency, and consistency with which your printer moves paper from the loading tray and delivers your final print. In other words, it describes the inner workings of the printer unit. Better paper handling means fewer paper jams and fewer repairs.

Monochrome or color

Traditionally, most laser printers only print in black and white. They’ve always been best for clean, crisp text, but the nature of their printing mechanism isn’t designed for photo-quality images. Nowadays, many models include single-pass color printing, which is perfect for adding color to graphs, tables, and other design elements. If you are creating a lot of presentations where color would pop, consider choosing a model that features color.

Wi-Fi

A wireless connection is an incredible boon for networking printers among multiple devices or employees. While a lot of newer laser printers feature built-in WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities, there are a number that still rely on a wired Ethernet or USB connections. The reason? Speed. WiFi is super versatile, allowing different devices to link up from anywhere, but it cuts into the speed at which your unit can print. For many offices, especially those where computers aren’t moving around, the printing speed is more important than versatility.

Printer size

If you’re working in a small office or buying a printer for your home or dorm, space matters. Always check the measurements listed by the manufacturer to get an idea of how big the unit really is.  Some laser printers are designed to be more compact than others, and recent printer innovations in technology have resulted in LED printers—designed to be even smaller than standard laser printers. Make note of the amount of room you have and ensure it matches up with manufacturer measurements before you make your purchase.

Photo quality

In the not-so-distant past, the differences between inkjet printers and laser printers made their roles straightforward. Inkjets were less expensive and vastly superior for producing images, ideal for home and creative uses, whereas laser printers printed fast and reliable text, a must for daily office use.   Nowadays, the gap between the two has largely been closed, especially when it comes to laser image quality. If you’re looking to high quality photos with your laser printer, there are several models that do a pretty decent job.

Other perks

Once you move beyond the most basic printer models, you start getting other additional features designed to make your life in the office easier. Some laser printers are available with built-in scanner copiers, perfect for small sized teams. Others feature faxing capabilities and convenient LED interfaces to help you manage your print queue. When looking at features, always step back and evaluate it’s necessity in the context of your printing needs.

Warranty

Nearly every printer today comes with a warranty, but not all warranties are created equal. Some warranties cover parts and replacement; others include professional on-site service. And, naturally, some warranties last longer than others. Look into the terms of your warranty before you make a big purchase, it will help prevent headaches down the road.

Based on all of these laser printer considerations, let’s jump into our top picks when it comes to the best laser printers.

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BEST BUDGET LASER PRINTERS

Brother® HL-L2300D Laser Printer– Buy on  Amazon

The Brother HL-L2300D is a no-nonsense monochrome laser printer which prints at 27 pages per minute and has a monthly duty cycle of 10,000 pages. This machine offers low operating costs for the home or office users that just need to print in black and like all the laser printers mentioned on this page, toner cartridges won’t dry out if the printer goes unused for a long time. Change the printer setting to Toner Save mode to use less toner on everyday documents.

You have two toner options with this machine, the Brother TN630 standard yield black toner cartridge and the TN660 high yield black toner cartridge.  If you print occasionally, you’ll be fine sticking with the standard yield unit, which offers a yield of 1,200 pages per cartridge.  For the frequent printer, we recommend the high yield cartridge, which offers more than double the yield at 2,600 pages.  Keep in mind the drum unit is sold separately from the cartridge and will typically require replacement after the use of three or four toners.  To keep your costs down, consider buying compatible replacements for the TN660 toner cartridge and DR630 drum units from LD, just $19.99 and $26.99 respectively!

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BEST HOME LASER PRINTERS

HP LaserJet Pro M15w Laser Printer – Buy on Amazon

With print speeds of up to 19 pages per minute, the HP LaserJet Pro M15w compact laser printer is one of the fastest printers in its class, making it an ideal choice for home or student use. Save time with a one-touch eco button that instantly prints on both sides of the page and skips blank pages. A compact paper tray holds up to 150 sheets of paper and easy wireless connectivity seamlessly prints from any smartphone or tablet. Download the HP Smart app to print and scan directly from your smartphone or print through your iPhone with Apple AirPrint.

Keep your smart shopper streak by using compatible replacements for the HP 48A toner from LD for only $32.99. A single cartridges prints up to 1,000 pages.

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Canon imageClass LBP6030w Laser Printer – Buy on Amazon

The Canon imageClass LBP6030w printer is a sleek and compact single function printer. If you are looking for a simple machine without a ton of features, this is a solid option. It’s one of the smallest printers in our roundup too, fitting in nicely with any home office. Set up is a breeze and print speeds of 19 ppm ensures your work gets done fast.

When the starter toner cartridge runs out, keep operating costs low by using compatible replacements to Canon 125 toner cartridges from LD–a $50 savings compared to the original Canon brand!  The drum unit is built into the toner cartridge, so you will only need to replace one consumable.

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HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw Wireless Printer – Buy on Amazon

The HP M255DW Color LaserJet is fast and affordable, making it a great option for the home office.  It’s compact, sleek design looks great on any workspace and a 2.7” inch color touch screen is easy to navigate even if you are a printer novice.  Print speeds of 22 ppm are decent for frequent use, and the printer supports a wide range of paper sizes, including letter, legal, executive and postcard size.  It does not come with scanning or copy features, but you can easily make high quality scans and copies with the HP Smart app on your smartphone.

Save time and money with four HP 206X high yield cartridges, available in black, cyan, magenta and yellow.  The black cartridge prints up to 3,150 pages and each color cartridge prints 2,450 pages.  Affordable LD-Brand compatible cartridges will be available for this printer soon!

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BEST SMALL BUSINESS LASER PRINTERS

HP® LaserJet® Pro M404dn Printer – Buy on Amazon

The HP LaserJet Pro M404dn printer series is a newer model HP – featuring reliable and fast printing performance, this machine touts a duty cycle of up to 80,000 pages a month, more than adequate output for a busy office. Download the HP smart app to print over wi-fi and keep track of essential printing stats like cartridge levels.

There are two cartridge options for this series, the standard HP 58A toner, which offers a yield 3,000 pages and the high yield 58X, offering a far better value with a yield of 10,000 pages.   Keep your office supplies expenses within budget by choosing compatible HP 58X toner cartridges, available soon on LDProducts.com.  Sign up to me notified when they become available here.

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Canon imageClass MF236n All-in-One Laser AirPrint Printer – Buy on Amazon

The Canon imageClass MF236n All-in-One Laser AirPrint Printer is an efficient all-in-one machine that delivers monochrome prints with speed and precision.  Print, scan and copy features come standard and mobile printing is a cinch with Canon’s mobile printing app. Supports a 250-sheet paper tray and a 35-sheet automatic document feeder that lets you copy, scan and fax stacks of pages without manually switching out each page. This printer uses the Canon 137 toner cartridge which will run you $84.00 for an original Canon cartridge. Toner replacements don’t have to be a pain in your budget if you choose compatible Canon 137 toner cartridges, priced at just $19.99.

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HP Color LaserJet Pro Multifunction M479fdw – Buy on Amazon

Offices with high color print volumes and multi-function features like copying, scanning and faxing will love the HP Color LaserJet M479W.  With print speeds of up to 28 pages per minute and a 50-sheet auto document feeder, all your everyday printing tasks are taken care of quickly and efficiently.  A recommend monthly print volume of 750 to 4,000 pages makes this a good fit for small workgroups needing a shared printer.  In addition to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, print jobs can also be directed through a handy high-speed USB 2.0 port, perfect for printing on the go!

The printer uses four color cartridges, available in a standard or high yield size.  The  HP 414X high yield is the best value, with the black printing up to 7,500 pages and color cartridges printing up to 6,000 pages.

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HEAVY-DUTY/NETWORKED LASER PRINTERS

HP LaserJet Enterprise M553n Laser Printer – Buy on Amazon

The HP LaserJet Enterprise M553n printer was was created for big business output, producing high quality color images ideal for pro-grade marketing and business materials. Dependable and built to last, this will be your go-to office printer for a very long time. Ideal for up to 15 users.

The LaserJet Enterprise M553n uses four individual color toner cartridges: black, cyan, magenta and yellow.  These cartridges are offered in a standard and high yield capacity, but you are probably better off choosing high yield cartridges considering that they offer almost double the page yield. An original HP 508X goes for $232.89 at Staples and each color goes for $321.89 a piece.  If you go with LD brand compatible replacement cartridges, the savings are tough to beat.  We offer a compatible replacement for the HP 508X black toner from LD for $84.99 and the individual color cartridges for $84.99, that’s a big discount!

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Xerox Phaser 6510 Laser Printer – Buy on Amazon

The Xerox Phaser 6510 color laser printer is a reliable high volume workhorse that offers brilliant colors for a good overall value. Featuring print speeds of up to 40 ppm, you’ll get quality color prints in seconds, perfect for handling the printing needs of your busy networked staff.

Compatible LD brand Xerox Phaser toner cartridges are an affordable alternative to the higher priced Xerox brand.  Cartridges are available in black, cyan, magenta and yellow, with the black cartridge priced at $15.99 and color cartridges priced at $21.99 each.

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Doing your research before shopping always pays off no matter what item you buy. Though there are obviously several considerations when shopping for the right laser printer, it gets easier the more you learn about it. The more you know about what laser printer capabilities you really need, the more likely it is that you’ll purchase the printer best suited for your needs. Also remember, since running cost is a deal-breaker for a lot of shoppers, not all laser printers are economical; some may prove to be more so than others so pay extra attention to the toner cartridges used by each model as well. We suggest making a list of your business needs before entering the store, that way you can really shop for exactly what you need.  Most printers have basic specifications listed on the side of the box, but you can always find a more detailed list of specs on the manufacturer’s website!

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Read Next:

• • Inkjet vs Laser: Which Printer Should You Get?
  • What’s the Best Printer for Home and Home Office Use?
  • Best Ink Tank Printers of 2023
  • Best Color Laser Printers for the Home and Office
  • Best Cheap Printers with Affordable Printer Cartridges

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^{*Savings based on price comparison between remanufactured/compatible cartridge prices on www.LDProducts.com and OEM cartridge and printer prices from the listed retailers: Amazon, Staples, Office Depot, Brother, Canon, HP, Samsung and Xerox. All products are reviewed independently. As an Amazon associate, LD Products earns from qualifying purchases through links on this page. All prices effective as of July 19, 2023.  OEM names are registered trademarks of their respective owners and are not affiliated with, and do not endorse LD Products.}