Inkjet printers don’t make sense for a busy home office. You can save time and money when you switch to a laser printer.
With many of us now working from home, a printer is one home office essential that’s hard to live without. If you want to print faster and save more money in the long run, a laser printer is the way to go. In this guide we’ll review our top laser printer picks for your home office and help you save even more with some great compatible toner cartridges too.
Why are laser printers better for your home office than inkjet printers?
Laser printers are faster, offering blazing print speeds that save home offices a ton time if you are printing multiple pages.
Laser printers can print thousands of pages at an extremely low cost per page, which means you’ll replace your cartridges less often and save money too. Alternatively, most inkjet printers just print for a few hundred pages before running out of ink.
Laser printers don’t dry out and are always ready to print, even if you go weeks in between print jobs. Inkjets on the other hand are notorious for clogging if they aren’t used regularly, which can be annoying and costly.
Laser printers are in it for the long haul. Don’t be swayed by the cheap sticker price of a home inkjet printer. We know they are tempting! There are a lot of inexpensive inkjet printers out there and although their prices are nice, one set of cartridge replacements often costs more than the price of the printer. Laser printers are more expensive upfront but are a better overall value. With a laser printer, you won’t have to deal with the frequent clogs or replacements that can come with a cheap inkjet printer, so you can keep your printer longer and continue saving.
There are a ton of great affordable laser printers available that will fit in perfectly with your home office. Here are a few of our favorites…
- Best Black & White Laser Printer
- Best Compact Laser Printer
- Best Multi-function Laser Printer
- Best Color Laser Printer
Best Black & White Laser Printer
Brother® HL-L2350DW Monochrome Laser Printer
If you need professional prints but don’t want to spend a lot on toner, this monochrome laser printer by Brother is a capable and affordable choice for your home office. With a large 250-sheet capacity paper tray and an automatic duplexer that instantly prints on both sides of the page, the HL-L2350DW keeps your workday productive. Printing from your laptop or smartphone is a breeze with the printer’s built-in Wi-Fi and you can print from any room in the house using Brother’s printer app. Brother offers toner in two sizes, the TN-730 standard yield (which prints 1,200s page) and the TN-760-high yield (which prints 3,600 pages). If you print frequently, you’ll get more long term value with the high yield cartridge and you won’t have to replace it as often either. You can save even more money printing with an affordable compatible version of the TN-760 cartridge from LD Products, available for just $34.99.
It’s worth mentioning that this printer uses a separate DR-730 drum unit along with the toner cartridge to create a print. The drum is a separate consumable but it typically only needs to be replaced after the use of 3-4 toner cartridges, so keep this in mind when calculating your operating costs. A separate drum unit is common with all Brother laser printers, including the HL-L3290CDW we mention below. The other two printers in this article use toner cartridges that have a built-in drum, which makes them a bit more expensive, but on the plus side, you never have to worry about buying a drum because you are replacing it every time you buy a new cartridge.
Best Compact Laser Printer
HP® Laserjet Pro M15w Laser Printer
If you have a compact workspace and basic printing needs, the HP Laserjet Pro M15w should be a perfect fit for your home office. Dubbed by HP as “the world’s smallest laser printer”, this machine may be tiny but it’s efficient. Great for users that print occasionally, you get reliable black and white prints when you need them, without paying for the extra multifunction features that come with bulkier laser printers. The HP 48A cartridge prints up to 1,000 pages and you can even keep an eye on your toner levels with HP’s smart app. The app lets you scan and print documents directly from your phone too. Heavy duty printer users will likely want a printer with a little more power but if you only print a few times a week, the M15w is a solid choice. LD Products offers a low cost compatible HP 48A for $23.99, offering the same print quality as HP for a fraction of the price.
Best Multi-function Laser Printer
Canon imageCLASS MF236n
If you need a home printer that can keep up with the big office printer back at work, Canon’s imageCLASS MF236n has you covered. Featuring print, scan, copy and fax options, this multifunction machine packs the power of a higher end laser printer without the high price tag. A 250-sheet paper tray handles a half ream of paper and print speeds of up to 24 ppm keeps your home office moving, delivering crisp, sharp text on every page. A handy 35-sheet automatic document feeder is also included, letting you easily copy, scan and fax stacks of pages without manually switching out each page. The Canon 137 cartridge prints approximately 2,400 pages and with the toner and drum combined into one unit, replacement is easy and affordable. LD Products offers an low cost alternative of the 137 cartridge, available for just $21.99.
Best Color Laser Printer
Brother® HL-L3290CDW Color Laser Printer
If you need to add some color to your home office documents (or your kid’s school assignments), the Brother HL-L3290CDW Color Laser printer is a great buy. Capable of producing rich text, quality graphics and brilliant images, you get quick print speeds of up to 25ppm in black and color for a low price. The printer’s four color toner cartridges can be replaced as needed and a convenient toner save mode keeps your cartridge lasting longer. We recommend buying the high yield cartridges to lower your operating costs even further – the TN-227 black cartridge prints up to 3,000 pages and each color prints up to 2,300 pages. LD Products has an affordable bundle pack of all four toners for $115.96. You can also find a great deal on the DR-223C drum units too.
Many customers ask us…can a color laser printer print photos? The answer is yes, but the quality is not going to be as good compared to an inkjet printer. If you print a photo with a color laser printer, the colors will look duller and more muted than if you were to print the same photo with an inkjet printer. Since you are printing with toner instead of ink, you won’t get same depth of color as you would with an ink cartridge so some of the finer details in your photo may be lost.
Now that you know all about our favorite laser printers, make a list of your common home office printing needs to find the right fit for you. Don’t forget to include the cost of replacement cartridges into your printing costs – cartridge price and respective page yield can vary greatly from printer to printer!
*Savings based on price comparison between remanufactured/compatible cartridge prices on www.LDProducts.com and OEM cartridge and printer prices from Staples® and Amazon®. 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 June 6, 2023. OEM names are registered trademarks of their respective owners and are not affiliated with, and do not endorse LD Products.
I want a Laser print that is monochrome and is high yield toner with a 250 page capacity minimum. The toner must yield a minimum of 3,000 pps
Hi Gloria, the Brother HL-L2350DW we mention here is a monochrome printer with a 250-sheet page capacity and it uses the TN-760 high yield toner cartridge, which prints 3,000 pages. This should be a good fit for your needs!
what printer either Laser or ink jet would be the most reliable for printing on card stock or photo paper
An inkjet printer is better for printing on card stock and photo paper!