TOP 10 Best Laser Printers 2025

Buying Guide

The first decision that most people have to make when buying a printer is to choose between a laser or an inkjet one. There is no simple answer, as each of these devices has its own pros and cons. To understand them and select the most appropriate, it is important to know some basics about their functionality.

The principle behind an inkjet printer is relatively easy to understand. It has a printhead with hundreds of tiny guns that fire dots of ink at the paper. If you use a colour printer, then dots of different inks are placed next to or on top of each other to create nuanced, varied tones and shades. The ink droplets are tiny; thus, our eyes cannot distinguish them, and we see characters, lines and images instead.

On the contrary, a laser printer uses static electricity. The laser is used to “draw” your printing content onto a positively charged photoreceptor drum – this is achieved by discharging certain areas on it. Instead of ink, laser printers use a fine powder called toner. When given a positive charge, the tiny toner particles stick to the previously discharged areas of the drum, recreating what you wanted to print. Next, a negatively charged sheet of paper is passed along the drum and the toner particles get attracted to it instead. Finally, the paper is passed through a pair of heated rollers, called a fuser. The high temperature melts the toner particles, permanently embedding them among the paper fibres. And, voilà, here comes your print!

Inkjet vs Laser: Pros and Cons

As you can see, laser technology is more complicated than inkjet printing; therefore, it is not surprising that laser printers tend to be more expensive. However, the printing process becomes quicker, and the output is more precise. Yet, each of these technologies has its strengths and limitations.

Speed

We already hinted that laser printer is the choice if your priority is to get large amounts of printed material as quickly as possible. The several stages of laser printing typically occur almost simultaneously, allowing your machine to pump out more pages per minute. Additionally, laser printers don’t use liquid ink. Thus, you don’t need to wait for sheets to dry, as it happens with ink prints, especially, images and charts.

Image quality

This characteristic is a tricky one, and the results will depend on what type of task is handled. Laser printers deliver much sharper and precise details when it comes to small letters or fine lines. Inkjets, especially cheaper models, struggle here since the small ink droplets always slightly bleed when put onto paper – this can result in smudging. However, bleeding has advantages when it comes to printing pictures, as the ink droplets mix, creating rich, beautiful tones – while laser printed images tend to look a bit flat.

Another aspect that should be taken into account is the durability of the print. Toner particles are basically made of plastic. Once melted onto paper, they don’t smear or wash away even if the sheets get wet. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about ink. The toner also does not seep through to the other side of the page – which can happen with ink prints when thinner paper is used. If you are printing important documents that need to be stored or archived, laser certainly is your best option.

Cost

Upon first glance, everything seems simple – inkjets are cheaper than lasers, and the same stands true when you compare ink tanks with toner cartridges. However, a toner can last for a year or few before needing a replacement while ink cartridges tend to run out every few months. Furthermore, laser printers don’t waste much toner upon cleaning. Inkjets pull some ink from the cartridges every time a cleaning is run – this is needed to get rid of air bubbles or clogging, but that’s small comfort. Even more, if you use the printer only occasionally, the cartridges can dry out or clog. Such an issue doesn’t exist with a laser printer since the toner is already dry to begin with. A laser can happily snooze on your shelf for a few months and jump immediately on a print job when you finally need it.

When it comes to the long run, lasers typically turn out less expensive, especially upon large printing volumes. However, taking into account a higher upfront cost, it might be some time before the savings can be appreciated, in particular, if you don’t print much. When the toner needs to be changed, the price can be steep (even steeper if you have a colour printer). Thus, some people prefer to buy cheaper ink cartridges more often instead of suffering a painfully expensive toner investment once in a while.

It is possible to cut recurring costs by looking into third-party toner/cartridge alternatives. Overall, these tend to function better for laser printers and can be more problematic for inkjets. If you want to experiment, do some thorough research beforehand – there is always a risk that a third-party consumable might not work correctly.

Versatility

An inkjet can happily spurt ink onto pretty much everything – different types and sizes of paper, CDs, metal and so on. A laser printer is way more conservative, many models won’t like even photo paper. If you need a versatile machine, an inkjet will be a better option – just check what types of printing it supports.

Noise

For some people, this aspect might not be essential; however, static electricity does not make a sound. Thus, lasers tend to be more discrete when compared to inkjets. Sure, there are some rotating and moving parts involved, and no printer is inaudible. Still, if you are not fond of printer blabber, a laser will please you more. Some printers even feature a quiet mode that allows minimising noise levels even further, but it typically affects the printing speed too.

The Verdict

To sum it up, we believe that a laser printer is optimal for offices, where a higher amount of documents are printed. A laser will deliver pages faster, manage crispier details, make less noise and save money over time. If higher upfront costs are not an issue, laser printers are excellent for an occasional user too – since there is no need to worry about clogged cartridges.

However, if you want to reproduce high-quality photography or print on a variety of materials, look for an inkjet model. And if your budget is limited, there will be more options among inkjets as well. Just remember that their maintenance costs are likely to eventually catch up and even surpass those of a laser printer.

Types of Laser Printers

If a laser seems to fit your needs better, the next step is to choose whether you want a monochrome or a colour printer. Monochrome or black and white laser printers are cheaper to purchase and maintain. Colour output means that several different toners are involved; thus, the initial cost and the maintenance expenses will increase substantially. That said, colour lasers perform beautifully when it comes to graphics, charts, tables and similar documents. Therefore, their costs can be well justified in a busy office. The laser-printed photos look less impressive. Although high-end models perform decently, overall, an inkjet will represent the deep, varied colours of photography better. Alternatively, you can just use a dedicated service and pass the challenges of photo printing to professionals.

Both monochrome and colour lasers can be further divided into print-only and all-in-one devices that can also scan, copy and, sometimes, even fax. While the former do not need much additional explaining, the latter are more complex creatures – both monochrome and colour all-in-ones can actually scan colour images. In contrast, only the latter will be able to copy and print them in colour too. Nowadays, most inkjets tend to be of the all-in-one type, but there are quite a few print-only lasers to choose from. There is a good reason for that – if you don’t need to copy or scan your documents, such machines are more affordable while still delivering high quality, sharp prints.

Understanding the Specs

With printer typology sorted, let’s look into the most crucial features. If you have tried to go through the never-ending product specifications and got a headache, we can completely relate. Thus, we selected and explained the ones that truly matter. Armed with this knowledge, you will easily spot a printing superstar.

Speed

This quality might seem simple; however, nothing is when it comes to printing. When comparing products, you will notice different figures describing how fast the particular laser printer is. The first page out time is the period that lasts from the moment when you hit the print button to the first printed sheet. For lasers, this typically is around 8 to 25 seconds during which the printer is processing the information you sent and figuring out how to get it on-page.

Then, there is the printing speed, which is measured in pages per minute (ppm). This figure can vary a lot even on the same model, depending on whether printing is in colour or black and white, single-sided or duplex, text or pictures and so on. To ensure uniformity, the printer manufacturers have to test their models according to ISO standards. Still, it is useful to check real-world tests and user reviews to get a better idea of how swiftly your favourite model operates.

Paper Handling

First, you should check what sizes of paper are accepted – most personal printers will support formats up to A4, they will also print on envelopes and labels. Next comes the paper weight – this figure is measured in grams per square meter (gsm), and a standard printing paper is ~80 gsm. For flyers and brochures, ~150 gsm paper will be optimal, and for visit cards, you might go up as high as 400 gsm – not all printers will be happy with that. Many people think that gsm describes the thickness of paper; however, this is not always the case – the paper density should be taken into account too. And here we come to the next specification – the supported media types. Most modern lasers will print not only on standard but also on glossy, heavy, brochure, recycled and other common types of paper. Some will not be ok with photo. As mentioned before, inkjets tend to be more welcoming to different kinds of paper and other media. However, the output quality can change a lot, since, on some surfaces, the ink will bleed more and might result in smudging. No matter what type of printer you choose, more extras will cost accordingly, so evaluate carefully how often you need out-of-the-ordinary prints.

Supporting a wide array of media is small comfort if the printer has problems with tray capacity. We believe that the input tray should hold at least 250 pages – for home and micro offices this amount will last without making refills too regular and annoying. If you put more pages than the maximum capacity, a printer can refuse to print or, even worse – jam. Models with additional trays are also more convenient. Many feature a bypass tray that allows feeding in envelopes or another odd-size media without emptying the main tray. Some printers feature several input trays or have an option to add them – such models are fit for small to medium offices. The output tray capacity matters too; however, most home models hold 100+ pages easily and rarely have issues.

If you want to purchase an all-in-one, an auto-document feeder is a convenient feature – it will allow scanning and copying of multi-page documents without your assistance. Furthermore, check the auto-duplexing feature. While, nowadays, it is common for printing, some cheaper all-in-ones might not support it for copying, scanning and fax.

Connectivity

USB connectivity is the standard and featured by pretty much every model. This ensures fast and reliable printing; however, the downside is that the printer must be located quite close to the computer, and it cannot be connected to several devices simultaneously. Therefore, most printers will support Ethernet or Wi-Fi as well. Ethernet allows connecting several computers in a local area network (often abbreviated as LAN), ensuring fast connection. However, LAN is typically used in office environments. If you prefer printing from several devices at home, look for a printer that supports Wi-Fi.

Even more convenient feature is Wi-Fi Direct, which allows matching the printer to another device without connecting to a network first. Basically, Wi-Fi Direct functions like Bluetooth, just way faster. Another nice extra is Near-Field Communication (or NFC) – it allows connecting a tablet or smartphone by simply touching the device to a specified area on your printer. Additionally, many printers nowadays support printing directly from a memory card or USB flash drive as well as printing from a cloud.

Output Quality

One of the most important questions regarding any printer is how well it can perform. Our recommendation is to be honest with yourself – what prints you need most? Some printers will perform better when it comes to texts, some will excel at producing bright and detailed graphics, and some at handling photos. It makes sense to look for a printer that can manage decently all the things listed above; however, a truly universal soldier that superbly prints everything will be tricky to find and the price will match its status.

Checking out tests and reviews can help a lot to decide, as the quality of the print is hard to measure in numbers. If documents are your priority, look for a device that produces legible and fully formed letters at small sizes and solid, evenly-filled characters at large ones. In general, the majority of lasers manages texts well, while inkjet-printed pages can sometimes suffer from fuzzy edges, bleeding, or slightly offset letters.

Graphics should be crisp with dense and evenly shaded colours while gradients should be smooth without colour banding – horizontal stripes across the page. The photos make an especially tricky task for many printers – cheaper models often struggle to render more delicate details, especially in shadow and highlight areas. If you want a colour printer, accurate representation matters too – some printers tend to noticeably oversaturate images while others spit out palish ones. Nowadays, the best lasers can produce quite decent photos, but an inkjet still would be the first choice for photography prints.

Resolution

Resolution is an often-cited printer specification, even if it is not a crucial factor of performance. Resolution is measured in dots per inch (dpi) that the printer can manage. Modern models will start at 600×600 dpi, which means that a printer is capable of putting 600 dots per inch horizontally and 600 dots vertically. This resolution will be absolutely sufficient for texts and can produce decent photos too. Sure, 1200×1200 dpi may pay off in some more detailed printing tasks, above that you probably won’t notice much difference. Other factors, such as the quality of the paper you use can play a bigger role than a few more minuscule dots.

Cost

Grabbing a cheap laser printer might sound like a good idea. However, companies often lure customers with incredibly friendly-priced devices, only to generate stable income afterwards from costly ink or toner cartridges. For high printing volume, it makes sense to look for a more expensive printer, as these typically have adequately priced consumables. While the gap is closing rapidly, laser printers still need replacement less often and tend to be more economical than inkjets. Look for models that integrate the toner and drum in one unit to avoid extra hassle of replacing these consumables separately. Typically, larger capacity toner cartridges bring the price per page down – if you can afford a higher upfront cost, that’s the way to refill your printer.
Third-party consumables are another way to cut expenses – at least if they work. Lately, many brands have been trying hard to weed out generic cartridges from their machines. With some inkjets, an unfortunately selected third-party cartridge can even damage the printer itself.
Finally, don’t underestimate the savings of an energy-efficient machine. A printer might not be the hungriest electric device out there; however, we only chose models that are certified by EnergyStar and/or EPEAT – in the long run, they will be more friendly for your wallet and environment.

Durability

Some printers are made to handle considerably higher volume than others. To help users find the model for their needs, two different figures are typically provided. The first one is the monthly duty cycle. This is the absolute number of pages that can be printed per month without jams or other errors and is based on the results of stress testing. You don’t want to reach the maximum printing volume every single month, as it could wear down the machine early. A more useful figure is the recommended monthly volume. This number suggests how many pages per month you should print to ensure optimum performance, taking into account the maintenance intervals and supply costs, the robustness of engine and other qualities. Exceeding this number now and then should be fine; however, we advise choosing a model with a figure high enough to cover your typical printing volume.

Ease of Use

Printers tend to be problematic devices in general. Long and exhausting setup, problems with pairing devices, regular jamming and difficult troubleshooting are only a few of typical user complaints. That’s why we summed up hundreds of reviews and expert tests before finalising our recommendations. However, the ease of setup can depend a lot on the computer and the configuration of the Wi-Fi network – that’s why some users will complete it faster than others even with the same model.

When it comes to adjusting the settings and troubleshooting, a large, informative touch screen display certainly helps a lot. Many printers, especially the cheaper models, still have 1- or 2-line liquid crystal displays that provide limited information and can be tiresome to use. Finally, check if your model comes with a USB cable – even if you mainly plan to print wireless, for some models a cable might be needed to connect to the Wi-Fi for the first time, and USB printing is handy if the network unexpectedly goes down.

Size

While it might sound like a no-brainer, before you buy a printer, think where it will be placed. The sizes of models vary a lot with the most compact laser printers fitting neatly on a bookshelf and the largest occupying a whole corner all by themselves. Several aspects, such as the tray capacity, range of functions and design will affect the total dimensions and the weight. Furthermore, colour lasers tend to be bigger than monochromes, due to the several toners they use. If space is an issue, we recommend getting a black and white print-only device.

Conclusion

Having a good printer at hand undeniably can save time and hassle in our professional and private lives. Still, laser printers, especially the all-in-ones, are among the most sophisticated electric devices on the market. We researched and compared more than 60 currently available models to recommend only those that combined fast and reliable performance with easy setup, as well as provided adequate quality and features to their costs. We also tried to explain what truly matters in a good printer and what is non-essential so that you would be safe from misleading marketing claims. Whether you are looking for a trustworthy budget home printer, a powerful multifunction office machine or anything in between, you should find your perfect laser among these top models.