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Top 3 Best Brother Color Laser Printers To Buy In 2023 Review

Although the development of laser printers was completed in 1971, it wasn’t until 1976 that they appeared commercially. That was the IBM 3800. It was designed to work in Data centers and could print over 250 pages per minute. A Xerox equivalent came a year later.

The 70s and 80s were, of course, a time when IBM thought they ruled the world. Those of us that were in the industry agreed with them in terms of IT. A series of Laser Printers followed, but just as in everything else they touched, eventually, they lost their way. They found out that big isn’t always beautiful, but small is.

However, the 3800 and those that followed were black and white printers. It took HP to bring out the first color laser printer in 1994, the LaserJet. Once a novelty and a sign of business wealth is now standard fare, while the laser printer is still prominent and used at home or in business.

But is it the best way of printing?

Top 3 Best Brother Color Laser Printers To Buy In 2023 Review

What is the Best – Laser or Inkjet?

They are different animals really and designed for different purposes. It is therefore difficult to say which is best.

The Process

The principle of the Laser printer is that it uses static electricity with toner to place text or images on a page. The Inkjet works differently and sprays minuscule droplets of ink onto the paper.

The Operational Difference

The Laser printer is better for quick high-volume print jobs. Just churning out the work at a good speed. They are designed with one goal in mind. Reduce print time and therefore costs.

On the other hand, the Inkjet can produce high-quality, detailed graphics. It will therefore work better for things like photos or plans. They both have their place and essentially do different things, even though they can both do the other’s job more than adequately.

We are going to take a look at some Laser printers from Brother. But, perhaps we should spend a minute refreshing our memory about who they are.

Brother Industries

Best Brother Color Laser Printers Choice

The surprising thing about Brother is that they have been around a lot longer than you might think. Longer than many of their better-known competitors. Founded in Japan in 1908, they have grown into a multinational electronic equipment business that has a worldwide presence.

Printers are only one segment of their business. They diversified many years ago and even manufacture sewing machines. But in many ways, printers are what they are most known for. Certainly, the quality of their machines, when related to the price, is excellent.

So, let’s take a look at three of the Best Brother Color Laser Printers…

Top 3 Best Brother Color Laser Printers Reviews

  1. Brother HL-L3210CW Compact Digital Color Printer – Best Wireless Brother Laser Printer
  2. Brother HL-2270DW Compact Laser Printer – Best Budget Brother Laser Printer
  3. Brother MFC-L8900CDW Business Color Laser All-in-One Printer – Best Value for the Money Brother Laser Printer

1 Brother HL-L3210CW Compact Digital Color Printer – Best Wireless Brother Laser Printer

This is one of the most popular Brother printers. It is designed for use either at home or in a small office. A big plus point for this printer in either situation is that it has a relatively small footprint. At 18.1 by 16.1 by 9.9 inches, it isn’t going to take up too much space.

However, like most printers, you might need some help lifting it. Weighing 37.8 pounds, it might not be the heaviest, but it will need a secure place to be located. That said, it is one of the best compact Brother printers available.

The Print Speed…

The HL-L3210CW has a decent print speed of approximately 19 pages per minute in both color and black and white. It has an automatic duplex printing feature. This allows printing on both sides without you having to turn the paper over.

Versatile handling…

This is a printer that will give you a variety of options for what you print on. It will handle all the main paper sizes but also you can work with photo paper, envelopes, and card stock. This printer has a recommended workload of up to 1500 pages per month. The print tray will hold up to 250 sheets. It can be adjusted to fit legal-sized paper. Or there is a slot for manual feeding.

The Connections…

The HL-L3230CDW offers wireless printing from your devices. Therefore, you can print directly from your smartphone and tablet, alternatively from your desktop or laptop. It has built-in wireless interfaces and WiFi Direct. This printer will operate with both Windows and Mac computers. You can download the Brother app and get access to the Brother Cloud services.

The Build…

It has a sturdy build with the complete print tray, paper tray, and toner access located at the front. On the left side of the top panel, there is a small control unit. This features a small one-line LCD. This is backlit. This printer has been designed to give you affordable color printing. Giving you a high level of quality at a very cost-effective price.


Brother HL-L3210CW Compact Digital Color Printer

Our rating:4.4 out of 5 stars (4.4 / 5)

Pros

  • Good quality build with plenty of paper-handling features.
  • Reasonable print speed.
  • Good connections enable you to print from various devices.
  • Automatic Duplex feature built-in.

Cons

  • Some may just need a faster print speed.

2 Brother HL-2270DW Compact Laser Printer – Best Budget Brother Laser Printer

If you are looking for one of the most affordable monochrome brother printers with good performance levels, this is going to be of interest. It is a follow-up to one of Brother’s most popular printers, the HL-2170W. That printer was well-liked because of its print quality coupled with being great value. This printer, the HL-2270DW, is the same.

The Performance…

This is a nicely compact monochrome laser printer. It measures 14.2 by 14.5 by 7.2 inches and weighs just 15.4 pounds. It, therefore, has a very small footprint. That makes it one of the best brother printers for home or small office.

It can print up to 27 pages per minute which is a decent speed for what is essentially very much a budget printer. It also has an automatic duplex facility that allows double-sided printing. The quality of the print is 2400 by 600 dots per inch resolution.

The Connections…

It has Wireless, Ethernet, and USB connections built-in and is compatible with Mac and Windows. However, we will be looking at a potential problem there soon.

Paper handling…

It has a maximum 250 sheet tray that is adjustable to take legal-sized paper as well as letter paper. If you need to print using paper that is thicker than the norm, there is a manual slot for direct feed. Besides the standard sizes of paper, it will also handle envelopes. Card stock is a bit of a problem, though. It will print, but the finished product can be rather hit or miss.

To help reduce toner costs, which are the big issue with laser printers, there is an option. You can get a 2,600-page toner cartridge when the time comes for a replacement. There is also a toner save option for printing business documents that are not so important.

A Potential Problem…

We mentioned earlier a potential problem when discussing computer connectivity. If you upgrade from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10, there could be a problem. Some of the features of the drivers and the software may no longer work.

However, there are no issues with Mac. Might be best to check that out to make sure it is compatible with your computer. Nevertheless, a good printer at a very cost-effective price.


Brother HL-2270DW Compact Laser Printer

Our rating:4.5 out of 5 stars (4.5 / 5)

Pros

  • Good print speed with quality reproduction.
  • Automatic Duplex feature.

Cons

  • A great monochrome option for those that need that, but not color.
  • Best to check the compatibility with your operating system.

3 Brother MFC-L8900CDW Business Color Laser All-in-One Printer – Best Value for the Money Brother Laser Printer

For our final look at Brother printers, we go to the excellent MFC-L8900CDW. This is an all-in-one printer that offers a full range of features. It could, of course, be used at home, but it is really designed for businesses who need a higher level of output. This must be considered as one of the Best Brother Color Laser Printers.

What does it offer?

For a start, there is a very good print speed for color and black and white of 33 ppm. It is also a copier and a scanner with scan speeds of 58 IPM for double-sided pages. You can scan to your personal devices using the iPrint and Scan facility from Brother or other software such as SharePoint.

Finally, it will fax documentation if you require that facility. Automatic Duplex Printing is available on all the featured operations.

An adjustable tray and print capacity…

There is a 250-page paper tray that is adjustable. Furthermore, if you are in a busy office, this can be expanded to 1300 pages. But this does entail adding more paper trays. It will print envelopes, card stock, and labels making it one of the best multifunction Brother printers on the market.

The Build…

It measures 19.5 by 20.7 by 21.6 inches high and weighs a hefty 63 pounds. There is a control panel located on the front edge with a five-inch color touchscreen. This makes it easy to navigate the menu and operating features. But it also allows you to set up 64 shortcuts depending on your most used actions.

It allows connections through WiFi, USB, NFC, and GB Ethernet. It has a recommended maximum print level of up to 4,000 pages.

Some Security Features…

An important addition to this machine is the built-in security features. This prevents unauthorized access to documents and the network. This keeps sensitive documents safe and only for certain eyes. There is also an NFC reader so that authentication can be made by a badge holder.

A very good machine with plenty of features but still affordable in price.


Brother MFC-L8900CDW Business Color Laser All-in-One Printer

Our rating:5 out of 5 stars (5 / 5)

Pros

  • Very fast.
  • Highly efficient.
  • Delivers high-Quality Prints.

Cons

  • The large size means that you will need some serious space to operate this.
  • Clunky Interface.

Looking for Something Else?

Find the right printer for you. Check out our in-depth Best Printers For Photos Review, our Best Printer For Mac Reviews, our Best Printers For Stickers Review, our Best Black-And-White Printers Review, and our Best Color Laser Printers Reviews for more superb printers you can buy in 2023.

Also, take a look at our comprehensive Best 3D Printers Under $500 Review, our Best Dual Tray Laser Printer Review, our Best Printers For Envelopes Review, our HP OfficeJet 5255 Printer Review, and our Best Portable Photo Printers Reviews for more high quality printers currently available.

What are the Best Brother Color Laser Printers?

What we have seen here is a small sample of machines from Brother. There are obviously many more we could have looked at. They all fill different niches in the market, and all perform well in their respective areas. But, the star of the show has to be the…

Brother MFC-L8900CDW Business Color Laser All-in-One Printer

Of course, it is also the most expensive as you might expect. But considering the features included, it is great value for money. However, the other two machines both are also good value for the level at which they operate. All of which shows that Brother can produce quality printers at a great price. And if you are looking to buy or replace a printer, they are always well worth considering.

So, until next time, keep working smarter and not just harder.

About Paul S. Brunet

Known as the "Tech Lover", Paul is an expert of current and trending technology. Here at TinyGrab, he makes "tech" easy to understand for the average person.

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