1. Best overall
2. Best small business
3. Best heavy-duty
4. Best touchscreen
5. Best auto-duplex
6. Best security
7. Best fast-print
8. Best office
9. Best sustainable
10. Best mono
11. FAQs
12. How we test
Looking for the best laser printers? Our team of reviewers tested out top models from Xerox, Brother, Lexmark, and more to find out which are worth taking up office space.
If you print a lot of documents, laser printers are an excellent choice, with crisp, clear detailing on fonts. For monochrome printing, they're better than even the best inkjet printers. They're fast, too, making them a popular choice for busy offices. For high-volume print jobs, some laser printer toners are capable of printing thousands of documents before replacement, making running costs cheaper than the best ink tank printers. However, the very best laser printers demand a significant initial outlay, with printing costs recouped overtime. And in our experience, they're generally not great at printing pictures and images.
Our review team have tested the best printers and best small business printers to find out which laser models come out top. During our review process, we compared print quality and resolutions, timed print speeds, and measured performance and extras like scanning, copying, and security features.
The best laser printer of 2024 in full:
Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
Below you'll find full write-ups for each of the best laser printers in our list. We've tested each one extensively, so you can be sure that our recommendations can be trusted.
The Best laser printer overall
With a print speed of 55 pages per minute and room for a whole ream of paper, the Xerox VersaLink B600DN can keep a large workgroup printing continuously - more than justifying its place among the best laser printers around. It has a duplex print speed of 55ppm, a paper capacity of 700 sheets, and supports high-capacity toner cartridges.
The initial cost for a monochrome print-only device might seem high. Still, this premium machine is very economical to run, and its consistent print quality justifies the price tag. The intuitive five-inch touchscreen interface will further cut down your operating time.
But the printer is large, weighs 22.3kg, and is fairly noisy, so it's better suited for busy small and mid-sized businesses than a home office. The printer has security features too. Secure Print holds your documents in the printer’s memory and releases it only when you input the correct PIN.
Read our full Xerox VersaLink B600DN review.
The best laser printer for small business
This little grey box can churn out the pages, and despite the size, it will hold a lot of paper too. This makes the Brother HL-L5100DN ideal for small offices with a high demand for black-and-white documents. The quality is consistent, and the per-page print cost is attractive. It’s light on features with no Wi-Fi or a front USB port, but what it does, it does very well.
The printer has a print speed of 40ppm and a duplex print speed of 10ppm. The HL-L5100DN can hold 300 sheets of A4 paper in its two in-trays and 150 sheets in the out tray. There is an Ethernet port, so you can connect with the office router through an Ethernet cable (not included). Thanks to the Brother iPrint&Scan app, you can connect to the printer using your smartphone.
Read our full review Brother HL-L5100DN review.
The Best laser printer for heavy workloads
Kyocera’s hefty print-only device feels well-built and has enough capacity for 500 sheets of paper and large toner cartridges, making it suitable for a big workgroup or a busy home office. The Kyocera Ecosys P6230cdn prints quickly in duplex mode and runs quietly too.
The display and buttons are rather small, but it is well-armed with security features to prevent private documents from going astray.
The printer's main input tray can hold 500 sheets of A4 paper, while the multipurpose tray can carry 100 A4 sheets. The toner cartridges with the printer can deliver up to 6000 pages, which is quite suitable for a small or mid-sized business. The Ecosys P6230cdn can print mono and color pages at a rate of 30 ppm.
Read our full Kyocera Ecosys P6230cdn review.
The best laser printer touchscreen
By Xerox’s standards, this compact four-in-one laser printer is a modest affair, offering print, scan, copy and fax functions in a small and relatively affordable package. Despite the low price, however, the Xerox B215 still comes with a large tilting touchscreen for easy operation and a none-too-shabby print speed of 30ppm.
You can fit 250 sheets of paper in the main paper tray and it comes with enough toner for 1500 monochrome pages and has a fairly low per page print cost of around 2.2 pence per page.
The B215 is the brand’s smallest multifunction device, and it's light enough to lift easily onto a desk. Although the B215 has a seemingly small footprint, it's not quite the case. To fit A4 sheets inside, you'll have to extend the paper tray out the back by a few inches, and this takes up more space on your desk than you might expect.
Read our full Xerox B215 review.
The best laser printer for auto-duplex printing
The Canon imageCLASS MF743Cdw (known as the i-SENSYS MF742Cdw in UK) comes with all of the key features such as auto duplex printing, a fifty-sheet ADF and a front USB port while offering a good enough print speed and print quality for any small to medium-sized business.
There’s plenty of room for paper and the ability to add further paper trays if required. It’s fairly economical to run, and that prominent touchscreen interface makes it particularly easy to use.
This printer's cheaper than the previous i-SENSYS model that it succeeds, and it ships with enough toner to print 2300 black and white pages, or 1200 in color. The MF743Cdw isn't super compact, and although you may not want to place it on your desk, it has a neat design.
Read our full Canon imageCLASS MF743Cdw review.
The best laser printer for security
This simple cube of a laser printer can churn out color or monochrome pages at a steady rate of 25 per minute and 13ppm in duplex mode. It’s simple to use too and easy to connect with, thanks to its inclusion of both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Direct.
There’s even an NFC chip built in for added wireless convenience. NFC allows you to pull down individual print jobs by tapping your NFC-enabled smartphone so that sensitive documents are never left lying on the printer.
The Ricoh P C301W’s high-yield toner cartridges also ensure a low running cost. It has a paper capacity of 750 sheets, and it recovers from sleep mode in under 10 seconds so that you can get to printing swiftly. The printer supports multiple connectivity options, including AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, and Mopria.
While we have not had a chance to complete a hands-on review of this printer, we think its feature set makes it worth your consideration. We’ll post a full review when we’re able to.
The best laser printer for speed
It might look a little top-heavy, but this all-in-one mono laser printer balances price and specifications. It can print, copy scan, and fax with the ability to both duplex scan and print. Plenty of room for paper inside, and high-capacity toner cartridges are available to keep you printing at volume. With a print speed of 42ppm, it’s one of the fastest available at this competitive price point.
Lexmark recommends a maximum monthly page volume of 8,000 prints, which will suit small to medium-sized businesses. The printer can hold 350 A4 sheets in the main tray and ships with enough black toner for 3000 pages. Since the tray projects out of the back of the unit by a few centimeters, its footprint takes up little desk space.
Read our full Lexmark MB3442adw review.
The best laser printer for business
This uncompromising laser printer will not disappoint you with hefty workloads and a professional finish. The latest TASKalfa device has a massive capacity for any paper size from A6 to SRA3. It prints and scans quickly and at high quality with 1200 dpi resolution and advanced color technology. It can even staple your perfect printed pages together for you.
The TASKalfa 4052ci has a paper capacity of 7,150 and is considerably heavy at 95kg. It has a print speed of 40ppm and a maximum duty cycle of 200,000 pages per month — perfect for a busy mid-sized business.
The printer supports connectivity options like high-speed USB and other mobile printing solutions, like Google Cloud Print, Apple AirPrint, and KYOCERA Mobile Print. It also has a customizable 9” color display with an intuitive home screen that makes it easy to input commands.
We’ve found this laser printer to be an intriguing option that will meet the needs of many businesses with high print capacity needs. Once we've put it through its proper paces, we'll add our hands-on review.
The best refillable laser printer
The HP Neverstop Laser MFP 1202nw is the first to employ a refillable toner tank instead of a disposable cartridge. It’s a win for both the environment and your print budget, which could cost as much as 60% less than regular toner cartridges.
This inexpensive all-in-one lacks an auto-duplex mode, but for basic monochrome printing and copying duties, this machine is hard to beat on the total cost of ownership. There’s enough black toner in the box for 5,000 pages, and refueling is as simple as injecting the toner from a syringe-type canister into the printer.
The Neverstop Laser MFP 1202nw is apt for home office users looking for economy and space-saving design. The printer takes up very little space on the desk and has room for 150 sheets of paper. It has an LCD display for basic information, but it's easier to use the companion app, HP Smart, to input commands through your smartphone or laptop.
Read our full HP Neverstop Laser MFP 1202nw review.
The best mono laser printer
The Kyocera ECOSYS P2040dw is a slick monochrome device that demonstrates the advantages of laser class printing by churning out crisp black-and-white pages of text with ruthless efficiency and at speeds inkjets can only dream of.
It uses LED technology, which relies on fewer moving parts than conventional laser printers, Kyocera’s ECOSYS products are invariably well-built using components designed to last, so they should demand less maintenance than your average inkjet printer.
There will undoubtedly be no stopping from cleaning inkjet nozzles or swapping out spent inkjet cartridges. There’s room for 250 sheets of A4 paper in its main tray and enough toner included to print 3,600 pages. There’s no touchscreen interface, but in all other respects, this simple laser printer punches well above its weight and would suit any busy SMB (small and medium-sized business).
Read our full Kyocera ECOSYS P2040dw review.
Best laser printers: FAQs
What kind of laser printer should you buy - print-only or all-in-one?
Choosing a print-only or all-in-one printer comes down to a few key elements - namely, your overall cost to purchase and operate, the frequency you’ll use the feature(s), and how accessible you need features to be (eg. do you need it every week, or can you pay a print company to do a small batch of printing at a fraction of the cost of buying a printer with the feature you need only a few times per year). For example, if you only make copies of single pages, you might only need a model with a flatbed scanner and not a multi-document feeder. Thankfully, you have a wide selection of printer options to purchase a model with only what you need and not any extra features that will drive the purchase price up.
Does a laser printer cost more than an inkjet printer?
While laser printers have a higher upfront cost for the printer and toner cartridge replacements than an inkjet printer and ink cartridge refills, they are often more economical in the long run based on the volume of pages they are able to print. Per-page costs are significantly cheaper for laser printers (50% or more), especially when printing in black and white. Toner also has a longer shelf life than ink so you don’t need to worry about needing to replace dried-out ink cartridges or dealing with clogged jets.
How to choose the best laser printer for you
When selecting the best laser printer for yourself, you'll want to start by considering whether you'll use the machine at home or the office and how much printing you could do monthly.
Then, you'll want to evaluate whether you'll be doing text-heavy printing or more of image and graphic-oriented printing. If your printing requirements go into several hundreds or thousands of pages a month, you'll want a heavy-duty machine that can keep up with the large output and whose ink prices aren't steep. It'll especially help if the printer comes with toner and ink.
You’ll also want to ensure you’ve selected a printer that meets all your multi-function needs. Do you need double-sided printing, black and white or will you need to print color documents? Do you need to make copies? Depending on the type of documents you’re copying, you want a flatbed or multi-page feed scanner.
What kind of connectivity do you need? There are many options to choose from that best suit your specific needs – including the best wireless printers, which are WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC enabled, Others let you connect via USB flash drives, or even a hardwired connection via LAN or USB cables.
You’ll also want to consider the printer’s speed and other features, such as the control panel, companion app, and price, among other things. The best all-in-one printers are ideal for when you need your device to do everything.
Have a preferred brand? We’ve tested, reviewed, and rated the best HP printers, the best Epson printers, and the best Brother printers.
How we test the best laser printers
We've gone hands-on with a whole range of print devices, including the best photo printers, the best A3 printers, and the best printers for Mac,
Of course, there is quite a range of laser printers now available for consumers. Compiling this review meant we had to narrow down the devices by taking into account speed, longevity, print quality - and cost. Another important consideration was what the printer might eventually be used for.
Will the printer be used at home or based in the office? Will it primarily be used to print the odd document or image for your child’s schoolwork, or will it have to manage a more intensive workload? We considered these critical factors in a review covering the spectrum of printers and use cases.
Each laser printer we source for testing is measured on our test bench, and the results are critically compared with every other model we have reviewed. Rather than relying on the manufacturer’s quoted figures, we time the first page out and print speeds in single sheet and duplex mode using a standard ten-page document and a stopwatch app.
To compare print quality, we print out the same set of test documents on every machine. These twelve test pages include text of varying font sizes and colors, mixed image and text pages, a collection of photos, and a series of test patterns designed to assess sharpness, color fidelity, contrast, and grey scale.
We also calculate running costs, compare functionality and consider each product’s versatility, design, and build quality. The overall score reflects all of these parameters and overall value for money.
Get in touch
- Want to find out about commercial or marketing opportunities? Click here
- Out of date info, errors, complaints or broken links? Give us a nudge
- Got a suggestion for a product or service provider? Message us directly
- You've reached the end of the page. Jump back up to the top ^
