Colour Laser Printers

A colour laser printer was once the dream machine for any home owner. Even a busy office would once have had to send off their colour prints to another part of the building or make do with an inkjet. These days, though, a colour laser is an affordable luxury, but just what can you get and are they any good? We take six models out for a spin and see what they’re like and how much they cost to run.

Editor Choice – HP Colour LaserJet Pro M252dw

Although it may not be the cheapest printer to run, we think the HP Colour LaserJet Pro M252dw is the most stable workgroup unit of the lot.

It’s reasonably quick, has a good quality output and is easily managed. Premium toner is a must, though, and could make this one the best colour lasers for SOHO users.

Highly Recommend – Brother HL-3170CDW

We quite liked the Brother HL-3170CDW. It’s reasonably cheap to run and maintain and not too expensive to buy either.

Print quality is good, and the fact that it’s an LED printer may well improve the running costs over time, as well as keeping up the overall print quality.

How We Tested

Each printer was tested with a selection of 20 full pages of text and 20 full-colour photos and blocks of colours. We used all connections where possible, as well as print from cloud and apps via phones and tablets, including PCs.