HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 4301fdw vs Color LaserJet Pro MFP 3301fdw

Mar 18, 2025 01:16 PM By  Thomas Szwedska

Hi @erikblaser, Thank you for your comment and for bringing this to our attention. You are right that the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 4301fdw/4301fdn has superior color accuracy than the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 3301fdw. The main difference in the Photo usage scoring between these two printers is our Photo Printing Sizes test results, where the MFP 3301fdw scores a 9.5 while the MFP 4301fdw scores a 0. However, this difference reflects an inconsistency in testing on our part. While the 4301 is technically compatible with glossy paper, when we reviewed the 4301, we couldn’t find compatible paper. As a result, we decided that the high cost and limited availability of specialized glossy paper for laser printers posed a barrier for users to print photos on photo paper and scored it accordingly. Despite this also being the case for the 3301, we instead used the manufacturer’s specifications as our data point for that review and scored it much more favorably. Thanks to your comment, we will be updating our review of the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 3301fdw shortly to make it consistent with our review of the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 4301fdw/4301fdn and ensure we are consistent in our approach moving forward. As a final bit of guidance, we don’t recommend laser printers for photo printing, regardless of their paper compatibility, due to the high cost, limited availability of specialized paper, and generally inferior photo print quality. That said, if you also need to print photos on your color laser printer, then between the 3301 and 4301, the 4301 does produce better results. Thanks again and hope this helps to explain! If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Appreciate your transparency and responsiveness! Thank you!

Mar 17, 2025 09:42 AM By erikblaser

2

I’m not sure if I’m confused or there’s an error but in the photo comparison of HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 4301fdw/4301fdn vs HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 3301fdw, the 3301 has the higher score, but the individual results for the 4301fdw are numerically (and visually) much better. Anyone have some insight here? Thanks in advance! https://www.rtings.com/printer/tools/compare/hp-color-laserjet-pro-mfp-3301fdw-vs-hp-color-laserjet-pro-mfp-4301fdw-4301fdn/65498/39863

Hi @erikblaser,

Thank you for your comment and for bringing this to our attention. You are right that the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 4301fdw/4301fdn has superior color accuracy than the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 3301fdw. The main difference in the Photo usage scoring between these two printers is our Photo Printing Sizes test results, where the MFP 3301fdw scores a 9.5 while the MFP 4301fdw scores a 0. However, this difference reflects an inconsistency in testing on our part.

While the 4301 is technically compatible with glossy paper, when we reviewed the 4301, we couldn’t find compatible paper. As a result, we decided that the high cost and limited availability of specialized glossy paper for laser printers posed a barrier for users to print photos on photo paper and scored it accordingly. Despite this also being the case for the 3301, we instead used the manufacturer’s specifications as our data point for that review and scored it much more favorably. Thanks to your comment, we will be updating our review of the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 3301fdw shortly to make it consistent with our review of the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 4301fdw/4301fdn and ensure we are consistent in our approach moving forward.

As a final bit of guidance, we don’t recommend laser printers for photo printing, regardless of their paper compatibility, due to the high cost, limited availability of specialized paper, and generally inferior photo print quality. That said, if you also need to print photos on your color laser printer, then between the 3301 and 4301, the 4301 does produce better results.

Thanks again and hope this helps to explain! If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to reach out.

I’m not sure if I’m confused or there’s an error but in the photo comparison of HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 4301fdw/4301fdn vs HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 3301fdw, the 3301 has the higher score, but the individual results for the 4301fdw are numerically (and visually) much better. Anyone have some insight here? Thanks in advance! https://www.rtings.com/printer/tools/compare/hp-color-laserjet-pro-mfp-3301fdw-vs-hp-color-laserjet-pro-mfp-4301fdw-4301fdn/65498/39863