9 Best Color Multifunction Laser Printer | No More Ink Panic

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The quiet speed demon that turns two-sided scanning into a one-touch miracle.

Brother’s other flagship runs almost as fast as the L8930CDW at 31 ppm, but its real a neat extra is single-pass duplex copying and scanning. That means the scanner reads both sides of a page in one pass, so a 20-page double-sided contract scans roughly twice as fast as machines that flip pages one at a time. Owners rave about the quick double-sided scanning and easy setup, calling it quiet, efficient, and jam-free in daily use.

Color quality earns a mixed verdict in the reviews—great for documents and charts, but a few owners find prints a touch dull for photos. That is the honest trade-off for a machine aimed at offices, not photo labs. Toner comes in TN229 standard, XL, and XXL yields, so you can pick the right capacity for your volume. The Refresh EZ Print Subscription Service can auto-ship replacements, so you never hit an empty cartridge mid-job, though the subscription itself drew a couple of sharp complaints about billing hassles.

Connectivity is a buffet: dual-band wireless (2.4GHz / 5GHz), Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi Direct, and USB 2.0 for a direct wired connection. The 853-owner crowd gives it a solid 4.0-star average, which is strong for a printer, and the most-praised quality is the build—over 220 owners single it out. Compared to the L8930CDW above, it trades a bit of speed and a smaller touchscreen for a lower entry price, making it the smarter buy for a home office that wants office-grade speed without the full business price tag.

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The 35 ppm fax machine that also keeps a whole office stocked with crisp pages.

This Canon is the fastest pure sprint in the lineup at 35 pages per minute in both black and color, plus it brings fax to the party — a full 4-in-1 that prints, scans, copies, and faxes. The 50-sheet document feeder handles a healthy stack, and one-pass two-sided scanning reads both sides in a single glide. Owners mention it can spit out a 26-page, double-sided document in about a minute, which is the kind of pace that keeps a busy team moving. The most-repeated praise is raw printer quality, with over 160 owners calling it out.

Paper handling is generous: a 250-sheet cassette, a 50-sheet multipurpose tray, and expandable capacity up to 850 sheets with the optional PF-K1 cassette. That makes it a genuine small-office hub rather than a desk ornament. The 601-owner average sits at 4.2 stars, and buyers describe sharp color and black output, easy setup, and quiet operation. One owner came from an HP that kept dropping off the network and found this Canon’s wireless connection stable for months.

The honest caveats: a few owners hit connectivity issues, and one flagged receiving a gray-market unit whose serial number could not be registered for the US warranty—a sourcing risk worth checking on arrival. The 069 toner family (standard and high capacity) keeps replacements straightforward, and the 3-year limited warranty adds genuine confidence. If fax matters and speed is non-negotiable, this is the best all-around package.

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A 35 ppm workhorse built for teams up to ten that also guards your data.

HP pitches this one squarely at small teams of up to ten people, and the specs back it up: 35 color pages per minute, automatic two-sided printing, an auto document feeder for fast scan and copy, and fax when you need it. The color depth runs deeper than most at 30 bits per pixel, which helps gradients and graphics look smoother. Owners call it easy to set up, fast, and crisp, with one noting their Mac recognized it instantly on the network.

Security is the differentiator here. HP Wolf Pro Security with customizable settings keeps your data locked down, which matters for offices handling sensitive documents. The starter cartridges ship with 1,200 black pages and 1,000 color pages, so you get real run time before the first replacement. When you do refill, the high-yield option stretches to 7,500 black pages and 5,500 color pages — the kind of yield that keeps per-page costs sensible.

The recurring negative is reliability: a painful minority report units that developed streaks, false paper-jam errors, or skipped pages after light use, and some owners found HP support slow. The 663-owner average sits at 3.6 stars, which is the lowest in this guide and reflects that vocal minority. If the chip-locked cartridges (this machine blocks non-HP toner) and the reliability reports give you pause, the Canon MF753Cdw above is the safer bet at the same speed. But if you run a team and want fast color plus built-in security, the 4301fdw is worth the gamble for the upside.

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The wireless HP that prints, scans, copies, and faxes with self-healing Wi-Fi.

This HP is the most popular machine in the guide by a wide margin — a crowd of over 800 owners has weighed in — and it earns a 3.7-star average. The headline feature is reliability on the network: dual-band Wi-Fi with self-reset that detects and fixes connection drops automatically, which addresses the #1 complaint in printer ownership. Owners describe crisp, vibrant color output that smudges never, quick speeds, and an easy path from box to first print. The TerraJet toner is designed to make colors more vivid than older HP lasers.

It is a true 4-in-1 with fax, and the 2-sided single-pass scanning means you can feed a double-sided stack and get both sides digitized in one pass. The 250-sheet input tray handles a decent daily load for a home office or small team. The HP Smart app ties phone printing, scanning, and monitoring together in one place, and owners call it convenient. Setup is where opinions split — most find it fast, but a few describe the wireless configuration as wonky with device connectivity bugs.

The serious caveats: some customers note the printer failing or stopping after about a year of use, and others flag that starter toner drains fast — one owner saw it drop to 20% after roughly 50 pages. The machine also locks out non-HP cartridges, so you are committed to HP toner, which runs on the expensive side. If you want a well-known brand with strong wireless behavior and can stomach the toner cost, this is a proven crowd pick.

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The compact office machine aimed at finance and legal pros who print up to 1,500 pages a month.

Xerox targets this one at finance, legal, and administrative professionals, and the pitch makes sense: high-yield toner options to cut ongoing costs, dual-band Wi-Fi with Apple AirPrint and Mopria, and a full 4-in-1 that adds fax to print, scan, and copy. The 26 ppm speed is mid-pack, but the build is sturdy and surprisingly compact at 15.7″D x 16.2″W x 13.6″H. Owners praise sharp black text with deep blacks, intuitive touchscreen controls, and flawless wireless behavior—one calls it the best printer they have ever owned.

The gut check comes on two fronts. First, there is no automatic document feeder, so scanning a large stack is a slow one-page-at-a-time chore. Second, photos come out with muted colors and a flat look; this is a document machine, not a photo printer. At 43 pounds, this is a low-maintenance machine for a dedicated desk, not a portable unit.

Toner costs are the other honest knock. Owners note the ink is pricey, though it lasts longer, and the inbox starter toner is thin — roughly 1,000 black pages and 500 color. The most-complete model in its family, the C255a is a strong value for document-heavy professionals who do not need photo quality or an ADF. If you scan multi-page packets regularly, the Brother MFC-L8930CDW at the top handles that far better.

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The no-fuss Canon that prints labels all day and keeps smiling.

The MF652Cw is a wireless 3-in-1 (print, scan, copy) built for a modest home office, and it nails the basics with a 4.3-star average across 264 owners — the highest satisfaction in the budget tier. It prints up to 22 ppm in both color and black, with a first page in about 10.3 seconds, and uses Canon Genuine Toner 067 with a high-capacity option. One owner prints product labels constantly and reports no paper jams, easy wireless, and great quality after regular use — a real endurance test passed.

The design keeps things simple: a 250-sheet cassette plus a 1-sheet multipurpose tray for odd jobs like envelopes or cardstock. Chromebook compatibility is built in, and the Canon PRINT app plus Poster Artist Online cover mobile and creative printing. Owners call the print quality sharp and vibrant, describe the wireless setup as easy, and note the toner lasts impressively long — over 4,000 pages per cartridge for some. The “So far I love this printer” sentiment from the review pages sums up the general mood.

The trade-offs are real but minor. There is no automatic duplex, so two-sided printing means flipping pages yourself, and there is no document feeder, so multi-page scanning is manual. A few owners found the Wi-Fi setup instructions confusing, and one notes it runs a bit noisy. Compared to the Xerox C235dni below, this Canon trades a touch of speed for notably higher owner satisfaction and easier setup. If your volume is moderate and you value simplicity, this is the safe, budget-friendly pick.

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The budget-friendly Xerox that delivers 24 ppm color and auto-duplex on a shoestring.

For the leanest budgets, the C235dni packs surprising office features into the cheapest box in the lineup: 24 ppm printing in both color and black, an all-in-one print/scan/copy setup, automatic duplex for two-sided pages, and a color touchscreen. It is designed for small offices printing up to 1,500 pages per month, and the starter toner (500-page yield) plus support for high-yield cartridges keep ongoing costs manageable. Xerox’s brand reputation adds genuine reliability confidence at this budget price.

Wireless and mobile printing come standard with built-in Wi-Fi, Apple AirPrint, and Mopria, so you can print and scan from a phone or tablet without a laptop in the loop. The Xerox Easy Assist App offers a guided setup that gets most owners printing in minutes. Owners who got it working praise it as one of the better printers they have owned, with one noting it survives power outages and keeps working — a nice resilience point. “Works great” is the standing verdict from those who navigated setup successfully.

The honest reality: the 276-owner average sits at 3.8 stars, and the reviews split into two camps. The happy camp found setup smooth and printing flawless. The frustrated camp hit the exact opposite — driver install failures, an app-based setup that failed, and faded prints on generic paper (fixed by using premium paper and disabling Eco mode). A couple of unlucky buyers also received used or refurbished units. If you are comfortable troubleshooting and want the lowest entry price for a color laser MFP with auto-duplex, this is a reasonable gamble. The Canon MF652Cw above costs a little more but offers far smoother sailing.