An inkjet that sits unused for a month greets you with clogged nozzles and a dried cartridge. A laser printer does not care: toner is a powder, it never dries out, a single cartridge lasts a thousand pages or more, and the text comes out crisp at 30 pages a minute. For a household that prints forms, homework, shipping labels and the occasional contract, a monochrome laser is the cheapest printer to own over five years. We ranked the home-sized lasers in our printers catalog by print speed, automatic duplex, whether they scan and copy, paper capacity, connectivity, the cost of toner, and what thousands of owners report after a year or two of use.
We have not run a ream through each of these ourselves; the verdicts rest on the spec sheets and on the owner review history. Prices are not printed because they change daily; every button opens the live Amazon page. If you print photos or color homework often, our inkjet printers guide covers the other side of the aisle, and students on a budget should read our printers for students guide.
How we picked
- Monochrome only. Every pick is black-and-white because that is where laser wins on running cost; color lasers cost two to three times more and belong in an office.
- Home-sized. Every pick fits on a desk or shelf; enterprise floor units were excluded.
- Real speed and duplex. 19 to 36 pages a minute, with automatic two-sided printing on the mid-range picks.
- Known toner costs. Brother TN830 and standard HP and Canon cartridges with long-life yields; no subscription required to print.
- Owner ratings of 4.0 stars or better from at least 600 owners.
The picks
Brother HL-L2405W Wireless Compact Monochrome Laser Printer with Mobile Printing, Black & White Output
The HL-L2405W is the printer to buy when all you want is text on paper, reliably, without thinking about it. It prints up to 30 pages a minute from a 250-sheet tray, has a manual slot for envelopes, connects over dual-band Wi-Fi or USB, and takes Brother’s TN830 toner, with the XL version stretching the cost per page further. It does not print on both sides automatically and it does not scan, which is why the DCP-L2640DW exists one rank down. What it does, it does cheaply and quietly, and 2,400 owners rate it 4.1 stars with the usual Brother praise: it works after sitting idle for weeks, which no inkjet at this price can claim. For a bedroom office or a family that prints school forms, this is the one.
- 2,400 owners at 4.1 stars
- 30 pages a minute with a 250-sheet tray
- Dual-band Wi-Fi, rare at this price
- Toner never dries out between uses
- No automatic duplex
- Print only: no scanner or copier
- Ships with a starter toner; budget for a TN830
Brother DCP-L2640DW Wireless Compact Monochrome Multi-Function Printer, Copy, Scan, Duplex, Mobile Printing
The DCP-L2640DW is the most-reviewed laser on this page, and it is the all-in-one most homes should buy: 36 pages a minute, automatic two-sided printing, a flatbed scanner and a 50-sheet automatic document feeder that scans or copies a stack of pages unattended. It uses the same TN830 toner as the HL-L2405W, connects over dual-band Wi-Fi, Ethernet or USB, and the Brother Mobile Connect app handles scanning to a phone. It skips fax and the color touchscreen of the MFC-L2820DW, which is fine for a home, and color scanning is slower than black at 7.9 images a minute. Owners rate it 4.1 stars from 3,900 reviews, and the common thread is that it simply keeps working through tax season, school years and a lot of return labels.
- 3,900 owners at 4.1 stars, the most-reviewed laser here
- 36 pages a minute and automatic duplex
- 50-sheet document feeder scans a stack of pages
- Ethernet as well as dual-band Wi-Fi
- No fax and no touchscreen (see the MFC-L2820DW)
- Scanning in color is slower at 7.9 ipm
- Larger than the print-only Brothers
Brother HL-L2460DW Wireless Compact Monochrome Laser Printer with Duplex, Mobile Printing, Black & White Output
The HL-L2460DW is the HL-L2405W with the two things it lacks: automatic duplex printing and a faster 36 pages a minute engine, plus an Ethernet port. If you print long documents, drafts or anything where two-sided saves paper and filing space, the step up pays for itself quickly, and it still uses the same inexpensive TN830 toner. It remains print-only, so pair it with a phone scanning app or look at the DCP-L2640DW if you need a flatbed. Its 4.0-star average from 2,600 owners is a touch lower than its siblings, with Wi-Fi setup the main gripe in the reviews; once connected, owners describe the usual Brother reliability. For a home office that prints a few hundred pages a month, this is the sensible print-only choice.
- Automatic duplex and 36 pages a minute
- Ethernet port for a wired home network
- 2,600 owners at 4.0 stars
- Same cheap TN830 toner as the other Brothers
- Print only
- 4.0 stars: some owners report Wi-Fi setup friction
- Costs more than the HL-L2405W for the duplex and speed
Canon imageCLASS MF3010 VP - Wired Monochrome Multifunction Laser Printer with Scanner, Copier, USB Cable Included, Up To 2,300 Page Toner Yield in Box, 19 PPM, Black
The Canon MF3010 VP is the pick for someone who will plug the printer into one computer and leave it there, and it rewards that simplicity with a full 2,300-page toner cartridge in the box rather than the half-filled starter most printers ship with. It prints at 19 pages a minute, copies, scans in color at up to 600 dpi and has a handy ID card copy mode that puts both sides of a card on one sheet. There is no Wi-Fi at all, no duplex and no document feeder, and the 150-sheet tray is smaller than the Brothers. Owners rate it 4.2 stars from 1,100 reviews and the value story is the whole appeal: the toner alone covers a couple of years of light home use. If you need wireless printing from phones, buy a Brother instead.
- Full-yield 2,300-page toner in the box, not a starter
- 4.2 stars from 1,100 owners
- Flatbed scanner and ID card copy
- Energy saver mode at about 1.2 watts
- USB only: no Wi-Fi or Ethernet
- Slower at 19 pages a minute
- 150-sheet tray; no duplex or document feeder
HP Laserjet MFP M140w Wireless Black & White Printer, Print, scan, Copy, Fast speeds, Easy Setup, Mobile Printing, Best-for-Small Teams
The HP LaserJet MFP M140w is for the apartment or small desk where a Brother all-in-one simply will not fit: HP calls it the smallest laser multifunction in its class, and it still prints at 21 pages a minute, scans and copies, and copies both sides of an ID card onto one page. Wi-Fi includes a self-reset feature that reconnects after router hiccups, and it prints from phones, Chromebooks and Macs. The compromises are no duplex, no document feeder and HP toner that costs more per page than Brother’s, and reviews mention friction with the HP Smart app and account during setup. It earns 4.0 stars from 1,800 owners. Choose it for the size; choose the DCP-L2640DW if you have the shelf space.
- Smallest footprint of any all-in-one here
- Wi-Fi that reconnects itself after drops
- Scanner and copier in a shelf-sized box
- 1,800 owners at 4.0 stars
- No duplex and no document feeder
- HP toner costs more per page than Brother TN830
- HP app and account setup annoys some owners
Brother MFC-L2820DW Wireless Compact Monochrome All-in-One Laser Printer with Copy, Scan and Fax, Duplex, Black & White
The MFC-L2820DW is the Brother for a real home office: everything the DCP-L2640DW does, plus fax, a 2.7-inch color touchscreen and the ability to scan directly to Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote or OneNote without touching a computer. It prints at up to 36 pages a minute with automatic duplex, feeds 50 pages through its document scanner and connects over dual-band Wi-Fi, Ethernet or USB. Toner is the same TN830 that keeps running costs low across the Brother range. It is the best-rated Brother on this page at 4.3 stars, though from a smaller group of 990 owners. If you will never send a fax or scan to the cloud, the DCP-L2640DW does the printing part identically for less; if you run a small business from a spare room, this is the one.
- 4.3 stars from 990 owners, the best-rated Brother here
- Fax, duplex, document feeder and touchscreen
- Scans straight to cloud services
- Same cheap TN830 toner
- Fax is useless for many homes and you pay for it
- Fewer reviews than the DCP-L2640DW
- Largest of the Brother picks
HP LaserJet Pro MFP 3101sdw Wireless Black and White All-in-One Laser Printer, Office Printer, Duplex, Best-for-Small Teams (9D2X4F)
The HP LaserJet Pro MFP 3101sdw is the best-rated printer here at 4.5 stars, albeit from 610 owners, and it is built for a busier home office than the rest of the page: 35 pages a minute, automatic duplex, a 250-sheet tray and a 50-sheet document feeder in a housing designed for small teams. Wi-Fi hunts for the strongest connection, and HP’s dashboard manages several printers from one screen if you grow into that. The catch is toner policy: the listing states that the printer works only with cartridges carrying HP chips and that firmware updates maintain that block, so cheap third-party toner is off the table. If you are fine buying HP toner, it is a fast, well-reviewed machine; if running cost is the priority, the Brother MFC-L2820DW does the same job on cheaper toner.
- 4.5 stars, the highest rating on this page
- 35 pages a minute, duplex and a 50-sheet feeder
- Sturdy build aimed at small teams
- Scanning and copying are quick
- Only 610 reviews
- HP firmware blocks non-HP toner chips
- Costs more than the equivalent Brother
Compare the picks
| Product | Functions | Speed | Duplex | Connectivity | Owner rating | Our score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brother HL-L2405WBrother | 30 ppm | No | Dual-band Wi-Fi, USB | 4.1 (2,400+) | 8.2 | See price | |
| Brother DCP-L2640DWBrother | Print, copy, scan, 50-sheet ADF | 36 ppm | Yes | Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB | 4.1 (3,900+) | 8.2 | See price |
| Brother HL-L2460DWBrother | 36 ppm | Yes | Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB | 4.0 (2,600+) | 8.0 | See price | |
| Canon MF3010 VPCanon | Print, copy, scan | 19 ppm | No | USB only | 4.2 (1,100+) | 8.4 | See price |
| HP MFP M140wHP | Print, copy, scan | 21 ppm | No | Wi-Fi, USB | 4.0 (1,800+) | 8.0 | See price |
| Brother MFC-L2820DWBrother | Print, copy, scan, fax, ADF | 36 ppm | Yes | Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB | 4.3 (990+) | 8.6 | See price |
| HP MFP 3101sdwHP | Print, copy, scan, ADF | 35 ppm | Yes | Wi-Fi, USB | 4.5 (610+) | 9.0 | See price |
Laser or inkjet at home?
A laser printer costs more up front than a basic inkjet and every pick here prints only in black, but it wins on everything that matters for documents: text is sharper, pages come out faster, the toner never dries out when the printer sits idle, and a cartridge lasts one to three thousand pages. An inkjet is the right tool for photos and color school projects, and an ink-tank inkjet can match laser running costs. If you print mostly forms, letters, labels and homework, buy a laser; if you print pictures, read our inkjet guide instead.
Print-only or all-in-one?
The print-only Brothers (HL-L2405W, HL-L2460DW) are smaller and cheaper, and a phone scanning app handles the occasional document. The all-in-ones add a flatbed and, on the DCP-L2640DW, MFC-L2820DW and HP 3101sdw, a 50-sheet document feeder that scans or copies a stack unattended, which is what makes tax paperwork bearable. Fax, found only on the MFC-L2820DW, matters to a shrinking number of homes; a touchscreen with cloud scanning is the more useful reason to pay for that model.
Toner and running costs
All four Brothers share the TN830 cartridge and its XL twin, which keeps cost per page low and makes it easy to stock a spare. Canon ships the MF3010 VP with a full 2,300-page cartridge, unusual at the price. The HPs use their own cartridges, and the 3101sdw will not accept non-HP chips, so factor in genuine toner. None of these printers need a subscription to print; Brother’s Refresh and HP’s plans are optional. Buy the XL toner when the starter runs out, and expect a monochrome laser to cost a few cents a page over its life.
Is a laser printer worth it for occasional home printing?
Yes, and especially for occasional use. Toner is a dry powder that does not clog or dry out, so a laser that sits unused for a month prints perfectly on the first page, where an inkjet may need cleaning cycles that waste ink.
Which pick is the cheapest to run?
The four Brothers share the TN830 and TN830XL toner, which gives a low cost per page and an easy spare to keep. The Canon MF3010 VP includes a full 2,300-page cartridge in the box, which covers years of light use.
Do I need duplex printing?
For long documents, drafts and anything you file, automatic two-sided printing halves the paper and the shelf space. The DCP-L2640DW, HL-L2460DW, MFC-L2820DW and HP 3101sdw have it; the HL-L2405W, Canon MF3010 VP and HP M140w do not.
Can I print from my phone?
Every pick except the USB-only Canon MF3010 VP prints over Wi-Fi from iPhone and Android through the Brother Mobile Connect or HP Smart apps and AirPrint. The Canon must be connected to a computer.
Can I use cheaper third-party toner?
Brother printers accept compatible TN830 cartridges, though Brother recommends genuine toner. The HP LaserJet Pro 3101sdw states that it blocks cartridges without HP chips and that firmware updates maintain that, so plan on HP toner for it.
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