The best laser printer in 2023

An artist prints her work using one of the best laser printers
(Image credit: George Milton via Pexels)

The best laser printer is an absolute must if you regularly need to print out lots of documents at high speed. Laser printers are fast and they're the perfect choice for crisp monochrome prints, with none of the subtle banding you sometimes get when printing black and white on an inkjet printer; they're also a lot quieter than inkjets (although they do tend to take up a bit more space).

While many creatives will be better off with an inkjet for colour work, for crisp, clear letters and invoices, the best laser printers are near-impossible to beat. They're also cheaper to run than inkjets, using high-yield toner cartridges rather than small and expensive ink cartridges, and unlike inkjets they're low-maintenance and you don't need to worry about print nozzles getting clogged if you haven't used them for a while. You can leave your laser printer untouched for months on end and it'll still be good to go as soon as you switch it back on.

Laser printers used to be the more expensive option, but nowadays you should be able to find the best laser printer for you at a very affordable price. To save you a lot of searching, we've already picked out the best options for assorted use cases and at a range of price points below with direct links to the best offers. Read on to find the best laser printer for your needs. If you're not decided on a laser printer or you need  a machine for more specific uses, you should also take a look at our guides to the best printer for photos, the best art printers – or the best home printers for more general options.

The best laser printers available now

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Product shot of Brother MFC-L2750DW laser printerCB

(Image credit: Brother)

01. Brother MFC-L2750DW

The best laser printer overall

Specifications

Category: Multifunction mono laser printer
Max print speed: 34ppm
Weight: 12kg
Paper capacity: 300 sheets

Reasons to buy

+
Good speed
+
Respectable resolution
+
Duplex printing

It's not unreasonable to declare that Brother is a solid and dependable name if you're looking for the best laser printer. If scan its product range and pick something close to your preferred price point, you're likely to be perfectly happy with it. All in all though, the Brother MFC-L2750DW comes out on top as the best laser printer.

There's plenty to like about it; it's a multifunction laser printer that'll scan, copy and even fax as well as printing, and it'll pump out mono A4 prints at an impressive 34 pages per minute, at up to 2400 x 600 dpi. And it has all the connectivity you need; either plug it in via USB or LAN, or print wirelessly, from your computer or from other devices via AirPrint or Google Cloud Print.

Product shot of Xerox B215 laser printerCB

(Image credit: Xerox)

02. Xerox B215

A close runner-up as the best laser printer overall

Specifications

Category: Multifunction mono laser printer
Max print speed: 30ppm
Weight: 11.5kg
Paper capacity: 250 sheets

Reasons to buy

+
Handy touchscreen
+
Pretty speedy
+
Good connectivity

Reasons to avoid

-
Not the best resolution

Running a close second to the Brother comes another venerable name in printing technology, Xerox. Functionally the Xerox B215 comes pretty close to the laser printer above, with a decent print speed plus multifunction capabilities giving you scanning, copying and faxing, and its built-in touchscreen makes things just that little bit easier.

You can print via USB, LAN or a wireless connection, and it also supports mobile printing via the likes of AirPrint and Mopria. One useful extra should prove helpful when you run low on toner: it also support Amazon Dash replenishment, so getting replacement toner can be done at the touch of a button.

Product shot of Xerox VersaLink B600DN laser printerCB endorsed

(Image credit: Xerox)
The best high-end laser printer

Specifications

Category: Mono laser printer
Max print speed: 58ppm
Weight: 22.3kg
Paper capacity: 700 sheets

Reasons to buy

+
Lightning speed
+
Holds plenty of paper

Reasons to avoid

-
No Wi-Fi
-
A pricier option

If you're after a more serious laser printer, there's another Xerox that should fit the bill. The Xerox VersaLink B600DN is a heavyweight monster that can take a whole load of paper on board and spit it out again at lightning speed. It's all about the printing; no scanning here, and another thing it lacks is wireless printing. This is a machine you'll have to plug into your local network.

It's a bit much for a small studio, but if you have between 10 and 20 people needing to print things simultaneously, this Xerox will quickly come into its own. With a print resolution of 1200 x 1200 dpi it's not quite the best visually, but it's perfect for documents.

Product shot of Canon imageCLASS MF743Cdw laser printer

(Image credit: Canon)

04. Canon imageCLASS MF743Cdw

The best laser printer for colour

Specifications

Category: Multifunction colour laser printer
Max print speed: 27ppm
Weight: 26.7kg
Paper capacity: 300 sheets

Reasons to buy

+
Useful touchscreen
+
Good colour prints

Reasons to avoid

-
Not especially fast
-
No duplex scanning

Tempted by a colour laser printer? If you're of a mind to find the best laser printer for printing out artwork, we'd suggest Canon's imageCLASS MF743Cdw, but we'd also counsel caution. Laser printers are brilliant for sharp monochrome printouts, but for quality reproduction of your work we'd suggest taking a look at the best art printers instead. 

That said, this Canon (known as the  i-SENSYS MF742Cdw in UK) gives good results thanks to its separate cyan, magenta and yellow toner cartridges, and while it's not especially fast (particularly in colour), it has some useful extras such as a scanner and a handy touchscreen.

Product shot of HP Neverstop 1001nw laser printer

(Image credit: HP)

05. HP Neverstop 1001nw

The best laser printer for home use

Specifications

Category: Mono laser printer
Max print speed: 20ppm
Weight: 8.8kg
Paper capacity: 250 sheets

Reasons to buy

+
Cheap to run
+
Doesn't require toner cartridges
+
Lots of toner included

Reasons to avoid

-
Prints fairly slowly

For the best laser printer that'll fit in well at home, we'd recommend the HP Neverstop 1001nw. It's not going to win any awards for speed or print resolution (600 x 600 dpi will look fine but nothing special), but it's compact, lightweight and wireless, so you can set it up on a shelf and forget about it until you need it (you can also connect via USB or LAN If you prefer).

If you're not printing high volumes you may never get round to refilling the toner; it comes with enough for 5,000 pages, and when it does run out you won't have to pay extra for cartridges because this one has a toner tank that you can simply fill up, which HP says can save you up to 60% on toner.

Product shot of Brother HL-L5100DN laser printer

(Image credit: Brother)

06. Brother HL-L5100DN

The best cheap laser printer

Specifications

Category: Mono laser printer
Max print speed: 40ppm
Weight: 10.7kg
Paper capacity: 300 sheets

Reasons to buy

+
Compact and light
+
Great price
+
Impressive speed

Reasons to avoid

-
No Wi-Fi

We've already mentioned that Brother's a thoroughly dependable brand if you're after the best laser printer at any price, so it shouldn't be any surprise that it produces the most reliable cheap option. The compact HL-L5100DN gives you surprisingly good performance for not much money at all, with print speeds up to 40 pages per minute and a resolution of 1,200 x 1,200 DPI.

It's a little basic-looking with no Wi-Fi option (although if it's plugged into a wireless network it'll still handle the likes of of AirPrint and Mopria) and a tiny single-line LCD display, but it delivers where it counts, and it even comes with enough toner to print 2,000 pages.

Product shot of Lexmark MB3442adw laser printer

(Image credit: Lexmark)

07. Lexmark MB3442adw

The best laser printer that scans, copies and faxes

Specifications

Category: Multifunction mono laser printer
Max print speed: 42ppm
Weight: 13kg
Paper capacity: 350 sheets

Reasons to buy

+
Prints fast
+
Really versatile
+
Duplex scanning and printing

Reasons to avoid

-
Looks a bit strange

For the best laser printer with all-in-one functionality, you'll have a hard time finding a better option than the Lexmark MB3442adw. Not only does it print, copy, scan and fax as well as providing duplex scanning and printing, it's also pleasingly fast. Not as fast as the Xerox VersaLink further up the page, but it'll still chuck out pages at a fair old lick.

It's a slightly weird-looking machine, but if you can live its top-heavy design you'll also get plenty of paper capacity (with the option to add an additional 900-sheet paper tray for bigger print runs), a colour touchscreen with cloud connectivity and the ability to retrieve and print files from services such as DropBox and Google Drive.

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Jim McCauley

Jim McCauley is a writer, performer and cat-wrangler who started writing professionally way back in 1995 on PC Format magazine, and has been covering technology-related subjects ever since, whether it's hardware, software or videogames. A chance call in 2005 led to Jim taking charge of Computer Arts' website and developing an interest in the world of graphic design, and eventually led to a move over to the freshly-launched Creative Bloq in 2012. Jim now works as a freelance writer for sites including Creative Bloq, T3 and PetsRadar, specialising in design, technology, wellness and cats, while doing the occasional pantomime and street performance in Bath and designing posters for a local drama group on the side.