Best Laser Printers in India - Reviews and Comparison 2022

Based on the functions, we can divide a laser printer into two types: Single function and Multifunction.

Single function laser printers have only one function, i.e. print. It doesn’t come with additional features like scan, copy, and fax. This type of printer is inexpensive as you are paying for what you need (printouts) and no extra functions (scanning/copying). Another benefit of a single-function laser printer is its specialisation in what they do. Such types of laser printers give you excellent quality printouts as compared to multifunction printers in the same price range.

A multifunction laser printer lets you print, scan, copy, and sometimes even fax. It is preferred by many because of its multitasking ability because buying different machines for each task is not feasible for anyone. On top of it, by buying one machine, you save both money and space.

Page yield means the number of pages you can print with one completely filled cartridge. However, page yield can vary as the cartridges come in different sizes. It can further affect the running cost and maintenance needs. There is an ISO standard for page yield which is used in the factory for page yield measurement. They printout the pages with 5% page coverage until the cartridge runs empty.

The factors that determine the page yield include the type of content, print quality, and content size. In the case of explicit content like images, or high-quality content, the page yield reduces.

The majority of laser printers come with USB and wireless connectivity. However, besides this, there are several other connectivity options available today, such as Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Ethernet, NFC, Bluetooth, and cloud printing.

• Wi-Fi lets you connect your system wirelessly to laser printers in no time. For easy connection and quick printouts, choose Wi-Fi Direct. It establishes a direct ad-hoc network and connects your printer to other devices without the need of going through an access point.

• The conventional Ethernet is still used in offices. In this, a cable is used for connecting laser printers and any other wired devices.

• Some laser printers come with in-built NFC technology. Simply place the device near the printer to pair with it.

• Bluetooth is another common wireless mode of pairing a printer and a device. This is the best way to save power while using the printer for the whole day; however, it hasn’t quite reached laser printers yet.

• For a direct and uninterrupted connection to the laser printer, use the USB cable. The only issue with USB connectivity is that you have to place the printer near the PC.

• Cloud printing lets you print from remote locations without connecting your device to it. Printers with Cloud connectivity features are compatible with Google Docs, OneDrive, etc.

As the name suggests, the cost per print is the cost of printing one page. It is easy to calculate this cost. Divide the number of pages a toner cartridge can produce by the cartridge price. Generally, the average cost comes out to be between ₹ 1 to ₹ 3. However, the cost per print can vary according to the quality of the text, photos, and graphics. Also, it is different for black and white and coloured printouts.

Print speed is the speed at which a printer prints a page. The print speed is influenced by the printer model, the content of the printing, quality, paper thicknesses, and cartridge. Unlike inkjet printer, which uses both ppm and ipm to measure print speed, laser printer speed is measured in pages per minute (ppm). The reason behind this is that in IPM, the printed page is considered as an image rather than text. While in ppm text is calculated and not images. PPM is usually associated with monochrome office documents, due to which it is preferred in measuring the print speed of laser printers.

Toner cartridges refer to the containers of toner particles or ink powder and the transfer of these toner particles on the page is facilitated by drum units. Laser printers come with two settings- either the toner cartridge and the drum unit are designed in one module, or the two components are two separate units.

In the former type of setting, you are required to remove both the toner cartridge and the drum unit every time you run out of ink. Whereas, when the units are separate, you only have to replace one of the two things.

Both settings have their own plus and minus. Single unit cartridge design gives you consistency in print quality, but its running cost is high. In the second design, the quality of the print deteriorates with time due to the overuse of the drum, but the running cost is less. The single-unit cartridge offers quality and convenience, whereas two-unit cartridges are preferred when the price is a significant constraint.

At home, A4 is the most commonly used paper size for printing and this is the reason every inkjet and laser printer supports A4 size paper. However, laser printers are mostly used in offices where they print on more than just the A4 size sheet. Large enterprise use printers to even print addresses on envelopes which are thicker than A4. Similarly, postcards, legal letters are also required to print. Therefore, at the time of buying, check if your pick supports the kind of paper you use in your office.

Besides the type of paper, the quantity of paper also needs to be considered. At times, you need to print many pages at a time. Therefore, there should be sufficient storage space for documents of various sizes. The office printers can usually accommodate 150 to 300 sheets. If you have a greater requirement, you can always choose a printer with multiple shelves or the one whose paper tray capacity can be expanded.

You can have low, medium, or heavy usage requirements for a printer. A laser printer which can give 100-500 printouts in a month will suffice if you have low usage requirement. However, in the case of medium and high usage, a printer should be capable of giving more than 500 printouts and at least 5000 printouts every month, respectively. For this, you should consider, the duty cycle and recommended monthly usage of the printer.

The user interface, which is the visual display of the printer, should be consistent, offer meaningful feedback, and ask for verification to avoid any non-trivial destructive actions. Display features are crucial in UI. The display screen provides feedback and helps in configuring the functions. In fact, modern printers offer advanced options like Custom UI in which the control panel can be adapted to meet your specific requirements. Ultimately, you can add your own targeted, bespoke workflow shortcuts.

This is the era of the touchscreen, be it phone, laptop, car, all have touchscreen panels. If so, then why printers should lag? A laser printer with a touchscreen panel facilitates easy navigation and gives quick control over all the options. Furthermore, convenience also includes immediate access to the paper trays and the ease with which you can change the toner cartridges.

Duplex refers to printing on both sides of the sheet. Duplexing is of two types, i.e. manual and automatic. In automatic duplex, the page is flipped without human intervention, which helps in time-saving. In manual duplex, you will have to change the paper side to get the printing done on both sides. Besides, time, the duplex feature saves money as well. By printing on both sides, you need less number of sheets. A multi-function laser printer with a duplex feature will cost you between ₹ 15,000 – ₹ 20,000. Whereas, a single function duplex printer will be around ₹ 10,000.

ADF feature comes in a multi-function printer as it is associated with copy and scan. You can place a bundle of sheets, and with the help of ADF, the printer will be fed one page at a time.

You must have seen that duplex and ADF are sometimes used together; that’s because they two are connected. In ADF also there are two types- single-sided and double-sided.

Same as in duplex, in single-sided ADF, the page has to be reversed manually once one side is scanned/copied. In two-sided, the printer will automatically scan/copy the other side of the sheet. Two-sided ADF is available only in heavy usage laser printers and costs a bit. However, it is a huge time saver, mainly if you deal with lots of documents.

A printer is a power-consuming machine and therefore, not many people connect it to their invertor. And sudden power outage can cost you some important information or data. Therefore, you should buy a printer with Energy Star Compliance. It will cost you initially, but eventually, it will save power and prove to be economical. Another option is, you can choose a printer with the ‘sleep mode’ as that will save energy while eliminating the need to switch on and off.

A printer’s compatibility with the Operating System of your computer is a very crucial factor to look at. Almost all laser printers are compatible with Microsoft Windows. However, if you are a Mac or Linux user, check the specification of your printer.

If you have ever used a Dot-Matric printer, you know that its noise is capable of waking up an entire neighbourhood if you use it at the dead of the night. If you compare to that, both the laser printer and the inkjet appliances are noiseless. The laser printers available in the market usually have a noise output of up to 50db.

The laser printer has a unique feature, i.e. the data is stored in the printer memory before it gets printed. Therefore, a good quality printer should have at least 32 MB of memory storage capacity. Low memory not only affects printing speed but also print quality. The time is taken to get the print job done also depends on the processor speed.

Printers come with a feature called the duty cycle. It refers to the number of pages that a printer can print in a month. The duty cycle doesn’t matter much if you rarely use a printer or need it for home use. However, if you are getting a printer for commercial purposes, it is best to consider the duty cycle.

Printer manufacturers provide their mobile apps for both Android and iOS platforms. However, at times you prefer to use other in-built applications or third party applications. Some of the most common third-party apps are AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, and Mopria.

Apple service, AirPrint allows Apple users to print via a wireless WLAN for iOS devices. The app runs without printer-specific drivers, but its compatibility depends on a printer to printer.

Google Cloud Print is a Google service. It is for all the Android users who can print over the web from anywhere.

Mopria application is also for Android users. It provides simplified mobile printing from any Android device. In fact, its print technology is the default print service in several Android devices.

Portability factors like design, weight should also be considered. Laser printers are usually heavier than inkjet printers. And if you need to move your printer often, you must consider the size and weight of the printer. Moreover, your printer should be easy to install at the location you have chosen for it. In addition to it, the location should be favourable in regard to replacing the cartridges or loading the papers.

You should certainly go with a laser printer. Under that also, you can choose a monochrome single-function printer. Such printers work well for a business which is all about the sheer text or document output. However, if you think there is a need for colour printouts, you can get coloured single-function printer.

Inkjets and laser printers don’t need different or any particular paper. You can use a standard A4 size or any other compatible paper to get the results. However, if you need a glossy photo or any such specific requirement is there, only then you will need a particular paper.

Yes. Laser printers support glossy coated paper. In short, you can use any paper as long as the printer allows the toner to fuse with it.

Colour laser AIOs share the functionality with an inkjet AIO. The only difference is laser printer gives cleaner text and smudge-proof colour output. If you are wondering, despite offering such excellent output, why people don’t prefer laser printers, then the answer lies in the cost. First, a colour laser AIO printer costs a lot. Second, the colour laser toner can be so expensive that it often exceeds the value of the printer. This was all about the text as the strength of colour laser printer lies in printing text, business graphics, charts, and the like.

Inkjet's colour printers are undisputed winners when it comes to taking print out of coloured pictures. Laser-printed colour photos look flat.

Answer the following questions to know what features you need in your printer.

• How many pages do I need to print in a month?

This will help you in focusing on the duty cycle of the printer. Also, you will know how often you will be changing the toner.

• What paper size do I need the print out on?

If you use regular paper sizes like A4, A5, or B5, you will get your printer at a very inexpensive rate.

• Will I be taking colour prints?

The running cost of a colour printer can be 4 to 20 times more than the overall running price of a black and white printer.

• Would I be using the duplex printing feature?

• How many papers I will use in a month and will they be of different types?

You will need a printer with multiple paper trays if you use different types of paper or you want high input capabilities.

Extended warranties from some retail outlets mean insurance policies and not extended manufacturer’s warranty.  So, beware of this. An invoice mentioning the extended warranty is not sufficient proof of the manufacturer's extended warranty. Therefore, get a certificate from the manufacturer with the product serial number and the term of the contract.  

The toner in the laser printer doesn’t dry and tends to last longer even when not used for weeks. Moreover, laser printer toner cartridges also last for more pages than an inkjet printer.

LED printers use light-emitting diodes rather than lasers as a light source. LED printers are the same as laser printers in terms of print quality and general features, and that’s why they are called "laser-class" devices. The only difference is, they are smaller than laser printers and most preferred in smaller offices where space is a constraint.

1. Unplug printer.

2. Ensure that it’s been an hour since you last used the printer as it takes about an hour for a printer to cool down.

3. Remove the paper tray.

4. Open the laser printer and remove the toner cartridge.

5. Put the cartridge on disposable paper. Be careful not to tip the cartridge as that can cause toner leakage.

6. Clean the printer’s interior using a dry lint-free cloth. If your printer has a brush inside, use that to remove toner from hard to reach areas. You can also use a low-pressure vacuum cleaner to suck the dust away.

7. Clean the rollers using a damp cloth to remove dirt.

• Gently clean the printer from outside using a slightly damp cloth.

• Insert or remove toner cartridges with care as they can stain clothing, fabric, and carpeting.

• Always refer to the printer’s manual whether you want to fix any part of the printer or clean it. Proper instructions are provided in the user manual. If you’ve misplaced the manual, you can download its PDF version from the printer manufacturer’s website.

• Buy high-quality refill cartridges. They are expensive, but they are the ones that keep your printer in the best condition. Cheap toner cartridges end up producing blotchy or faded printouts.

• Replace the toner cartridges before it entirely runs out of ink. Dry cartridges cause more wear and tear to the printer.

• Never touch the bottom of the ink cartridge while replacing it as that can ruin the quality of your printed work.

• Always keep your printer driver updated. Printer drivers are regularly updated on the manufacturer’s website, and you can refer to the same. This care step will enhance the life of your printer.

• Do not push a printer to produce more than the monthly duty cycle.

• Most manufacturers specify a minimum paper standard for their printers. Try to meet them as low-quality paper can cause undue wear to the printer’s moving parts over time.

• Choose a low humid environment for papers as high humidity can cause the paper to stick together. This can ultimately lead to paper jams and paper feed errors.

• Usually, your printer comes with a free tool called Printer Utilities. Manufacturers provide this to check the printer’s current status, diagnose and resolve printing problems.

Experts suggest that you must change it after five years if you are using a laser printer for personal purposes. However, we believe that if you give proper care to it, it might stay a little longer with you. So, here are some quick tips to extend the life of your printing device.

• Proper start and shutdown: Always ensure that you start and shut down the printer correctly. Straightaway pressing the power button while printing and pulling the plug from the socket are not the right things to do. In fact, once the printer’s job is done, it is not right to directly remove the plug. Many printers have extra functions like keeping the nozzles clean, and if the power cord is suddenly removed, that can lead to a malfunction. 

• Clean the printer regularly: Never let a layer of dust settle on the printer, and for that, you have to clean it properly (both inside and outside) regularly. Timely remove the cartridges and wipe the dried ink off the printheads or rubber rollers with a damp cloth. To clean the inside, refer to the user manual. Still, if you have any confusion, consult a specialist first.

• Never take error messages lightly: In the event of a paper jam, don’t pull the paper and instead refer to the printer manual. Pulling the paper or pressing random buttons will only make matters worse.

Our comparison winner is a complete package. It can handle everything from simple A4 size printing to corporate reports without driving you crazy in the process.

It stands out from the competition because it is easy-to-use, has a smartphone-style colour touch interface and current century’s mobile and PC software. The printing machine is super expensive, but considering all its features and print quality, the manufacturer has justified the price. MFP M479fdw gives you sharp black text, vibrant, colourful graphics and images good enough to put in a school or company report. Regarding photo printing, it has one downside that it can’t print on glossy photo paper.

We really like the build and design. Besides that, we give full marks to 4.3” wide display screen. It can be tilted to provide better visibility, and the menu is easy to navigate. Interestingly, there's audible feedback as well when interacting with the console.

Its black and colour toner cartridges can yield a lot of pages in a single cartridge. It further helps in keeping the cost of printing per paper low. To be specific, it is Rs.1.62 for black and white and Rs. 10.46 for colour. Printing speed is excellent too, whether it's in black or colour printouts, you get 27 pages per minute. The First Page Out Time (black) is only 13 seconds! 

The printer supports several types of paper, including envelopes, legal, executive. This makes it a versatile printer as family, students, large office, all can use it without any difficulty.

The flatbed scanner is also packed with great features. It has both auto-duplex and automatic document feeder. The connectivity options are great as they allow the whole family to be connected wirelessly. The printer facilitates copy and fax as well.

Speaking of connectivity, you name it, and M479fdw has it- Ethernet, Wi-Fi, USB, and Wi-Fi Direct, mobile connectivity such as Apple AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, HP ePrint, HP Smart App, and Mopria.

This AIO printer has respectable speed, offers productivity and convenience features, but considering the price; we would say buy it wisely.

Competing directly with MFP M479fdw, HP's LaserJet Pro M126nw is a mid-range all-in-one monochrome laser printer designed for use in a small-to-midsize office. Like most HP lasers, this one gives out great black and white documents. It has a fast printing speed; however, the running cost is a bit on the high side. If your monthly print volume is moderate, this compact LaserJet will serve you well.

The M126nw measures 49.7 x 33.2 x 35 cm and weighs 8 kg. It's definitely not a featherlight, but it is somewhat smaller and lighter than most competing laser AIOs. With a printer in this class and price range, M126nw is a reasonably robust machine with a strong feature set.

It has lightening printing speed as you get minimum 21 paper in a minute. This printer is highly compatible with different devices, be it a smartphone, tablet, desktop, and laptop. Similarly, it supports various types of papers and file formats. You can easily print jpg, pdf, jpeg, png and txt files on A4, A5, B5, envelopes, postcards.

It lacks the auto-duplexing automatic document feeder (ADF) feature; however, you enjoy comfort at many other areas. It facilitates copying both sides of a two-sided ID onto the front of a single-page. The energy-saving feature lets you print more for less. The smart HP Auto-On/Auto-Off technology shut down the printer when it has not been used for too long.

The connectivity options are fantastic. From primary USB, Wi-Fi to Wi-Fi Direct and mobile accessibility, you get it all. So, if there is no network, you can still take printout using Wi-Fi Direct. If you are on the wheels, apps like HP ePrint and AirPrint can help you with the printing job.

HP Laserjet Pro M126nw is our comparison winner for AIO black and white printer.

Brother DCP-L2541DW is another monochrome AIO laser printer that could meet the domestic and official requirements smoothly. This ADF plus duplex printer’s page yield is 2,600 with Rs. 2 cost per print along with a copy and print speed of 30 ppm. The print resolution is on point with 600 x 600dpi.

DCP-L2541DW setup is painless. Further, the printing machine is compatible with all the major OS- Windows, macOS, Chrome OS, Linux, iOS, and Android. With broad paper support, you can take out the print on A4, Letter, A5, A6, Executive, Legal, Folio, Mexico Legal, India Legal, envelopes, labels, with up to 160 GSM.

Brother DCP-L2541DW offers convenience and flexibility when it comes to connectivity. USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct and even mobile accessibility is facilitated with third-party apps like AirPrint and Google Cloud Print. Brother iprint & Scan App let you print directly from an Android and iOS smartphone.

This compact designed printer has a higher price than our comparison winner, and the major difference is of Auto-duplex and ADF feature. Besides, the input paper tray capacity is of 250 sheets with additional capacity of 35 sheets for ADF. The device has a two-unit cartridge with a drum life of 12,000 sheets.

Brother HL-L2321D is our best value printer. It is a speedy and pocket-friendly personal laser printer with primary features. If you are looking for a single function monochrome laser printer with basic connectivity features, excellent print quality and moderate printing speed, HL-L2321D will prove to be a great fit.

We admire the compact design and lightweight of Brother HL-L2321D. It boasts of a print resolution of 600 x 600 dpi and a printing speed of up to 30 ppm. With 2600 pages and Rs.1.46 cost of printing per page, it meets the ISO standard. However, there is no wireless connectivity. It is equipped with a traditional USB cable method.

Beside primary features, the brand offers some advanced features as well at a minimal price. Automatic duplex is one of them. The printer is suitable for not just standard A4 size and alike papers but thick sheets including envelope and letterheads. In fact, the manual feed slot and rear paper exit provide a straight-through paper path ensuring that all your printouts look best. The input tray capacity for standard paper is 250.

If you find our first and second runner up a bit pricey, then you can choose Canon MF3010. It is also a multi-function black and white laser printer offering most of the required features.

Let’s begin with our top three features. With 600x600 dpi, the print quality is top-notch. It has 18ppm printing speed which is moderate as compared to our other selected printers. However, the speed is enough to keep the printer running potentially. Lastly, it has the highest print cost for one paper-Rs.3- amongst all the printers on our list.

The output quality was equally impressive as the speed. The text quality is good enough for any business use, even for sizes as small as 5 points for most fonts. The graphics are of quality that you can use it internally. They have flaws like visible dithering patterns which you would not show to your potential client or anybody outside the organisation.

The features are very limiting in specific areas such as connectivity. USB is the only medium of connectivity. In fact, the paper handling is also very limited with a 150-sheet paper tray with no duplexer and no paper handling upgrade options. 

All-in-all if you need a personal printer for light-duty printing, Canon MF3010 will not disappoint you.

Canon has launched the imageCLASS LBP611Cn, a high-performing A4 colour laser single-function printer especially to meet the needs of Small Office Home Offices (SOHOs), Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and workgroups within a large organisation. The brand launched imageClass series intending to enhance productivity, saving cost and offer connectivity while ensuring security in a dynamic working
environment.

ImageClass LBP-611CN is a single function colour laser printer. So, as compared to our all-rounder MFP M479fdw, LBP-611C can only do printing and offers a few other features.

The latest imageCLASS printers deliver exceptional colour printing with remarkable efficiency as the printing speed is 18 pages per minute (ppm). The single-function printer is equipped with a 5-line LCD enabling easy configuration of users’ preferred device settings. 

We really like the new smart design enhancement to the toner cartridge as it ensures hassle-free toner replacement process. The mechanism automatically removes the protective seal from the toner
during the setup of the cartridge. It further minimises the handling of cartridges, and you can start your work quickly with minimal interruptions.

ImageClass LBP-611CN offers several secure connectivity options such as Ethernet, USB, Wi-Fi. It even supports smartphone apps like Canon Print Service, AirPrint, MOPRIA, and Google Cloud Print.

If you want a single-function colour laser printer at a further lower cost then Brother HL-L3270CDW is also a great option. It is a decent printer for students, home and office use. Since there is no scanner, the size of the printer is small, and you can fit it in any corner of your workspace.

The printing speed is impressive as it is 16ppm for black & white and 26 ppm for colour printouts. It takes some time to print the first page; however, subsequent pages can be printed faster. The input tray can hold up to 250 sheets of paper with a maximum of 163 GSM. Moreover, you can use A4, Letter, A5, A5 (Long Edge), A6, Executive, Legal, Folio, Mexico Legal, India Legal type of paper for printouts.

You enjoy a low cost-per-print with HL-L3270CDW even if you are completing large printing jobs. The printer comes with an easy to navigate a touch-sensitive display screen. Although the resolution isn’t that sharp but yet it offers good visibility whether you're using it seated or standing. Moreover, it can be raised to your preference.

The cartridge system is also excellent. It has a two-unit cartridge system, i.e. the toner and drum unit are separate. The manufacturer claims the drum unit to last for 18000 prints. Although the same brand cartridge is advised to use, however, this printer accepts third-party toner as well.

The resolution is 600x600 dpi, and therefore, it is perfect for printing photos. Accuracy of most of the printing colours is acceptable; however, some colours are inaccurate to certain degrees.

The Brother HL-L3270CDW has some great connectivity options. The only wireless feature which is missing from it is Bluetooth support. But no worries as the manufacturers have provided with NFC feature. Additionally, the printer supports Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service. Checkout reviews and comparison of Best Power Banks, Best Inkjet Printers, Best Home Theatres, Best WiFi Router, Best Soundbars, Best Bluetooth Speakers, Best Sports Headphones, Best Earphones, Best Bluetooth Headphones in India.