Kyocera Ecosys P5026cdw review

A laser printer with some distinct strengths

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We liked

This dedicated laser printer feels well-built with a deep 250-sheet paper tray and large toner cartridge capacity that will keep your business printing without too many refills.

It’s also expandable to handle up to 550 sheets of A4 if you choose to add a paper tray, and the P5026cdw is well suited to joining a larger workgroup of printers in case your business expands and the paperwork increases. 

This Kyocera offering is fast and reliable, printing fairly quietly, and if you choose the high-yield cartridges, it is economical to run too. It performed very well in our tests, producing consistently neat and colourful documents without incident.

We disliked

Given that there’s no fax or scanning facility on offer, this is a rather large printer that takes up significant desk space, and though it looks big enough to handle A3 paper, it’s limited to A4. 

There’s no NFC or SD card connectivity and functionality is further limited by this printer’s refusal to handle glossy or photo paper. In fact, photo printing is slow and unrewarding at best. 

The device often takes a long time (29 seconds) to wake from sleep mode and day-to-day use is hampered by the primitive user interface and tiny LCD window.

Final verdict

If you’re looking for a reliable workhorse to churn out high-quality A4 documents in mono and colour, then this robust laser printer could be just the ticket. It doesn’t print photos well, though, and it’s not an MFP – there’s no scanner or fax – so it’s unlikely to fulfil all of your office needs.

The basic user interface could potentially waste time if you have to change the settings regularly, and it’s also quite expensive in terms of the initial cost. But for high volume professional looking prints, the Kyocera P5026cdw can be considered quite cost-effective as you shouldn’t be replacing the high-yield toner cartridges very often.

Jim Hill

Jim is a seasoned expert when it comes to testing tech. From playing a prototype PlayStation One to meeting a man called Steve about a new kind of phone in 2007, he’s always hunting the next big thing at the bleeding edge of the electronics industry. After editing the tech section of Wired UK magazine, he is currently specialising in IT and voyaging in his VW camper van.