The 5 Best Black And White Printers - Spring 2023 Reviews

The best black and white printer we've tested is the Brother MFC-L2750DW, a feature-rich all-in-one laser printer. It produces incredibly sharp documents, doesn't take long to warm, and prints quickly at 36 pages per minute. The toner cartridge yields around 2000 prints, so you won't need to replace it often unless you print a lot, and you can increase the yield further with an XL cartridge. Its connectivity options include USB, Wi-Fi, and Ethernet, and there's also NFC support, so you can connect by tapping your NFC-enabled device against the printer. Its ADF-equipped scanner isn't particularly fast, but it's still more convenient than scanning each page manually, and it can even scan double-sided sheets in a single pass.

If you don't need all the features and would rather save some money, know that this printer has many variants with slightly different features and performance. You can get a model like the Brother MFC-L2710DW, which lacks duplex scanning and prints a little slower at 32 pages per minute. The print quality remains the same, so you'll still get sharp-looking documents. You can also get bundles with longer-lasting XL toner cartridges, like the Brother MFC-L2750DW XL, which might be cheaper than buying the cartridges separately. You can see more details about the variants in the full review.

If you have simpler needs, you can save some money with the Brother HL-L2390DW. It's also an all-in-one monochrome model, but unlike our top pick, it lacks an automatic feeder and Ethernet connectivity. It produces sharp-looking documents, prints quickly at 32 pages per minute, and supports automatic duplex printing. The toner cartridge is good for about 1400 prints and is fairly cheap, so you don't need to worry about high maintenance costs. The lack of an automatic feeder is probably the most significant compromise with this printer, so you need to make sure you won't need to scan lots of long, multi-page documents. This model has a variant, the Brother HL-L2395DW. It's essentially the same printer but with Ethernet connectivity, a larger touch-sensitive display, and a slightly faster printing speed.

For our budget pick, we have yet another Brother laser printer (Brother makes really good laser monochrome printers), the Brother HL-L2350DW. This print-only unit is a variant of the Brother HL-L2325DW we tested. We chose this model because the HL-L2325DW is hard to find, so this is the best option. It feels sturdily built, produces outstanding quality documents, and prints up to 32 pages per minute. It doesn't cost much to maintain as the toner cartridge yields a large number of prints and is fairly cheap. Of course, if you have a very tight budget and don't mind shopping around, the HL-L2325DW is cheaper and performs almost identically. There's the Brother HL-L2370DW variant, which has Ethernet connectivity and prints slightly faster, although it's more expensive.

If you want a cheap printer that can get the job done, get the Pantum P2502W. Like the Brother HL-L2350DW above, this is also a print-only unit, so there isn't a scanner. It produces nice, sharp documents and doesn't cost much to maintain because the toner cartridge lasts a long time. It takes a little longer than most laser printers to warm up, but it's very fast once it starts printing, pushing up to 23 pages per minute. You just have to flip the pages manually when printing double-sided because it doesn't support automatic duplex printing.

Unfortunately, there's an issue with this printer. It tends to push printed sheets off the output tray, which can be inconvenient during large print jobs, as you'll have to rearrange the prints into the right order. This issue also causes misaligned prints. While this doesn't happen all the time, it's still an inconvenience, as you might end up wasting a lot of time, paper, and toner. Again, this model can get the job done; just know that you might run into some problems occasionally.

If you regularly print in bulk and only care about a high page yield, we recommend the Epson WorkForce ST-M1000. It's a standalone model with not two but three black ink bottles, so you'll be good for over 10,000 prints. The biggest advantage of this model over the others is its much cheaper ink cost, which helps keep its cost-per-print exceptionally low. It prints up to 18 pages per minute and only takes a few seconds to warm up. Unlike laser printers, you won't have to worry about replacing the drum unit; however, this model's inkjet technology means you need to print frequently, as letting the printer go unused for too long will clog up the printheads.