The test candidates in the overview
Picture gallery
Should our photo above convey the impression, with color laser printers can now also print against the adequate opinion photos, deceives this not quite. Fine print resolutions, toner particles with a glowing effect, and special photo papers for laser printers make it quite possible.
Initial Setup / Installation
However, marginal printing is not yet possible and one has to consider which paper thicknesses and paper weights the laser printer is capable of processing. Some models, such as the C310dn from OKI with its quality setting "photo" or the "high-gloss" option of the Samsung CLP-620ND, are designed to be able to print photos with a laser printer.
Print speed
These prints placed behind glass and viewed with a little distance only distinguishes the expert from an ink photo. In our test, however, we only strip this photo quality. Our main focus is still on the functionality of these devices, as they should play their full strength.
Print quality
Our test equipment costs between 307 and 387 euros. The page throughput per minute pendulates between 20 and 24 pages in copy and design mode. All printers have a duplex unit for automatic double-sided printing on board. The test field is network-capable (LAN) or can be controlled as workstation printer via USB 2.0
Although the printers with a weight of 21 to 27 kg can be unpacked by a strong person alone, but the manufacturers are recommended by an unpacking and transport duo. Printers and printer parts are protected with a variety of plastic, foil or paper transport security.
Stickers, handouts or flyers describe their elimination including the first use of toner cartridges. For all printers these descriptions are well understood and richly illustrated. If you have filled the paper cassette (compatible with all test devices in the printer housing, well-protected) with compatible printing paper, connect the printer to the wall outlet and turn it on for the first time.
Via certain menu items, a control page can also be printed without a PC. Here you can check, if everything has been installed correctly and all transport safety devices are removed. If this is not the case, there is usually an error message on the display or, as in the case of the Canon LBP7200Cdn, a blinking of the LED control lights in the printer control panel
Now a disadvantage, which all printers can claim - there is no manual available, in which can be quickly a failure report to look up. You have to rely on a manual, which is usually only included on the installation CD / DVD. It does not mean losing your patience and clicking through it.
Test: The best color laser printers
The driver installation is usually self-explanatory and quickly done. Depending on the model, you will be prompted during the installation to select the desired port (LAN or USB). You then connect the appropriate cable (LAN patch cable or USB cable not with the test devices) and follow the other installation instructions of the manufacturer.
All printers fulfilled the manufacturer's indicated side-throughput per minute. However, it should be noted that this information refers to the multiple print (copy mode) of the same test page. We use the fastest possible mode that the user can select in the printer driver. This is often associated with a loss of quality.
The lowest print resolution is achieved with minimum toner application, practically a design print is output for internal handouts or layout controls. The Brother HL-4150CDN and the magicolor 3730DN from Konica Minolta reached the best values for normal printing in color or even for text documents in black and white.
What else strikes you
Here, the i-Sensys LBP7200Cdn from Canon about the look, because its basic equipment is designed to only 20 pages per minute instead of the 24 pages of the mentioned devices. The OKI C310dn comes close to the best, the Samsung CLP-620ND tends rather to the somewhat slower times of the Canon printer.
Test: WLAN multifunction devices
Conclusion on the comparison test
For small workgroups or the office of a self-employed, these small differences, although verifiable, are sure to be a problem. Especially in this work environment, documents are usually on the agenda from one to five.
Color laser printers are usually created if you want to present your company or its products in an interesting way, to create layouts (landscape design) or to print graphic works. Therefore, a color laser printer from full-surface printing to the finest line should perform its print jobs in very good quality.
Very well we have here the results of the test winner from Brother and the laser printer from the house Samsung pleased. In addition to a clean full-surface print, fine lines are also drawn without interruption, and the color transitions can only be read as small jagged dot lines under the microscope.
Test winner: Brother HL-4150CDN
Expert opinion
The C310dn of OKI could score with the text print. The rich text blackening and also the clean edge sharpness of the characters (scarcely strayed satellite dots from the toner) of the Brother and OKI could be reached only approximately from the competition. Where OKI was still able to score on the text, he did not make a good figure when printing photo files.
Guide: To print from a network
Here the prints were too dark, you have to rotate in the printer driver at the brightness setting to correct this basic setting in favor of the picture quality. For photoprint, the manufacturer of the Samsung printer has a good mix of brightness, contrast and color accuracy. This is the reason why there was the highest rating for Samsung in this quality criterion.
For all printers, the exchange of toner cartridges and the addition of print media do not require any special prior knowledge. In some cases, labels are attached to the appropriate places in the printer, which describe the change of consumable materials with a brief wording and richly illustrated pictures.
An additional USB port is located on the front of the Brother chassis. Here you can insert a USB stick and, while bypassing a PC, print content directly from the stick. This direct print supports documents such as PDF, JPEG or TIFF. Documents from Microsoft Office Word (DOC-, DOCX-Format) must be converted to PDF-format.
All test models, except for the model magicolor 3730DN from Konica Minolta, can be optionally equipped with an additional paper cassette. As a result, the paper stock is more than doubled on some machines. The standard for all printers is a paper tray for up to 250 sheets of plain paper with a paper weight of 80 g / m ?.
The control panel on the Canon LBP7200Cdn is designed with a few LCD lamps for status display and a cancel button quite sparse. All other printers offer a monochrome LCD display for menu navigation, status display and device setting directly on the printer.
All printers spread a technical smell after the initial setup and the first pressure tests, but this gradually evaporates. For the Konica Minolta, you have to make sure that the printer is ejected as well as the template for special media across the front of the printer
The point distance from the current test winner (Brother - 90 points) to the 5th place of the comparison test (Canon - 74 points) results from the balance of the test winner in all test criteria. There was no total failure in the test field. All printers perform the tasks reliably and quickly with the differences in print speed and print quality as described in the article.
All test models need approximately the same footprint and are almost identical in the question of the equipment equipment. Only the Canon model falls out of the frame with the somewhat old-fashioned control panel at the printer.
We liked it very much that the pressure break button on all devices the pressure is immediately interrupted and thus no superfluous toner migrates into the paper basket. If you turn off the printer at the power switch, it will not consume any power.
All the devices in the test are well suited for use in small offices or self-employed, best, of course, this time the test winner of Brother.
In a tasteful case, Brother has placed a color laser printer, who is at the forefront of this price league with regard to equipment, print quality and printing speed. From our other test equipment, the machine was able to make a significant difference due to its ever-close or near-top test results.
Whether it's text, graphics, images or presentations, the Brother delivers everything reliably, quickly and in very good quality. And that is exactly what you expect in the office of a printer.
Color laser printers are good for everyone and everything is good. The prices for the very well-equipped entry-level middle class are so favorable that the question should hardly ever arise: "Ink or color laser printer?"
The color quality is good to very good, the toner keeps itself broken for years and photos are printed anyway at the market discounter or leave them from an online service. "Twelve Points" for the color laser!
Download: Data and measured values at a glance
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