Color Laser Printer Review

Laser printer or inkjet?

We split our coverage of laser printers into two reports. This report covers color laser printers; our other report covers monochrome laser printers, which don't print in color but cost less, are faster and usually have better text quality. If you want a laser printer that can also copy, fax and scan documents, see our report on multifunction printers.

Inkjets are better for printing photos

Reviewers unanimously agree that inkjet printers are much better at printing photos than laser printers. While a laser printer can print photos that are good enough for business use in newsletters or brochures, their strength lies in printing text and color graphics, and doing so at much faster speeds. In addition, laser printers are better for batch jobs and have much higher duty cycles than inkjet printers.

If you plan to use an inkjet for photos and don't really need color printing from a laser printer, consider a monochrome laser printer. They cost as little as $100, yet they offer much better text quality and speed, lower per-page costs and higher duty cycles than an inkjet printer.

Home users may be surprised by the large size of color laser printers. Although they are smaller than they used to be, most color laser printers use four toner cartridges and take up much more space than monochrome laser printers or inkjet printers. These bulky printers won't sit inconspicuously on the corner of a shelf. And many are heavy, so they'll be hard to move around as well.

PCMag.com has the best reviews of color laser printers meant for mainstream use. Reviews are balanced, comparative and thorough. Writer M. David Stone of PCMag.com reviews color laser printers with such regularity that he has the best frame of reference. PC World also has very useful coverage. Review copy lacks much comparison or evaluative explanation, but full objective and subjective test results are published. Its sister magazine PC Advisor has the best subcategory ratings, including one for build quality, a factor that's ignored in most other reviews of color laser printers. TopTenReviews.com follows a strict testing protocol and its review gives detailed evaluations about each laser printer as well as a comparison chart.

Other sites have comparable reviews of individual printer models, but they test color laser printers too infrequently. On the other hand, sites such as TrustedReviews.com, Macworld and IT Reviews have tested newer models, but their reviews are not always comprehensive enough.