Laser printer with scanner test 2023

Not so long ago, a high-performance scanner belonged in every well-equipped office - and the practical devices that enable the easy scanning of a wide variety of documents were also increasingly found in the home office. In the meantime, the trend towards scanners in the four walls at home has subsided somewhat. However, this has nothing to do with the fact that scanners are no longer popular - but rather that they are increasingly being replaced by a practical laser printer with an integrated scanner. Our following purchase advisor will tell you what advantages such a combination device offers its owner and what you should definitely pay attention to when buying a laser printer with scanner.

Top devices in the overview

Preview	Products
	HP Color Laser...	Special features: powerful and compact 3in1 color laser... Print speed: up to 18 ppm (black and white); up to 4ppm... Print quality: up to 600 x 600 dpi; Connections: Hi-Speed ​​USB 2.0,...	Buy now "
	HP Laser 137fnw...	Special features: all-in-one mono laser printer with fast printing and... Print speed: up to 20 p./min (black and white) Print quality: up to 1200 x 1200 dpi; Connections: Hi-Speed ​​USB 2.0,...	Buy now "
	HP Laser 135wg...	Standard output capacity: 100 sheets. WiFi Get the quality you need with this affordable printer. Just print it out	Buy now "
	HP Color Laser...	Special features: powerful and compact 4-in-1 color laser ... Print speed: up to 18 ppm (black and white); up to 4 ppm... Print quality: up to 600 x 600 dpi; Connections: Hi-Speed ​​USB 2.0,...	Buy now "
	HP LaserJet Pro...	Special features: powerful 4-in-1 black and white ... Print speed: up to 38 p./min (black and white) Print quality: up to 4800 x 600 dpi; Connections: Hi-Speed ​​USB 2.0,...	Buy now "
	HP Laser 135ag...	Special features: all-in-one mono laser printer with fast printing for... Print speed: up to 20 p./min (black and white) Print quality: up to 1200 x 1200 dpi; Connections: Hi-Speed ​​USB 2.0	Buy now "
	Epson Expression...	Elegant 3-in-1: Save money, time and space Mobile printing: freedom to print from almost anywhere * Color Printing: Save money by only replacing the color used	Buy now "
	HP Color LaserJet...	Special features: powerful 4-in-1 ... Print speed: up to 27 S./Min (in color and black and white) Print quality: up to 600 x 600 dpi; Connections: Hi-Speed ​​USB 2.0,...	Buy now "
	HP LaserJet Pro...	Special features: powerful 3-in-1 black and white ... Print speed: up to 38 p./min (black and white) Print quality: up to 4800 x 600 dpi; Connections: Hi-Speed ​​USB 2.0,...	Buy now "

Laser printer with integrated scan function - what is that anyway?

A laser printer with a scanner is a so-called multifunction printer. Here you buy a modern laser printer that can print out digital images and documents using laser technology.
An additional scanner is installed in this device, with which various documents can be scanned and digitized. In this way you can, for example, scan a page from a magazine and send it to other people as a digital image. You can also use the printer to print them out on a sheet of paper and duplicate them in this way. This is especially useful if you don't want to damage the magazine or book by cutting out a page.

Purchasing a laser printer with a built-in scanner can be worthwhile, especially in smaller and larger offices where employees regularly print and scan documents, since both functions of the multifunction device are often used anyway. However, private individuals who would like to scan documents and regularly print them (or other digital files) on paper are also well advised to use a laser printer. In contrast to a classic inkjet printer, a modern laser printer also has a number of advantages that we would like to go into in more detail in a moment.

The advantages of a laser printer over an inkjet printer

A classic inkjet printer is particularly popular with private individuals. It is extremely inexpensive and allows a wide variety of images and documents to be printed out quickly. A laser printer with a built-in scanner, on the other hand, is significantly more expensive to buy, which is why private users in particular are reluctant to buy it. However, if you plan to print and scan regularly, it can be worthwhile to buy an expensive laser printer instead of an inexpensive inkjet printer. We have compiled the individual advantages of such a device for you here.

Significantly faster print speed

If you choose a laser printer, you will benefit from a significantly faster printing speed compared to an inkjet printer. The reason for this is quite simple: the inkjet printer prints the image or document in individual lines, while the laser printer prints the entire page at once, which saves a lot of time. Especially in everyday office life, where many employees print regularly, a laser printer is therefore clearly the first choice.

Significantly lower printing costs

Admittedly, purchasing a laser printer with a scanner is much more expensive than an inkjet printer. In the long run, however, the buyer will notice that a laser printer is still an inexpensive alternative.
Because: Anyone who prints regularly will not get very far with an inkjet printer, since the ink cartridges required for printing are used up very quickly. The purchase of replacement cartridges can be very expensive with some manufacturers - so that the follow-up costs quickly destroy the joy of the inexpensive purchase of the printer.

In contrast to inkjet printers, laser printers work with special toner cartridges. These are filled with a special toner powder instead of ink. This has another plus point in terms of printing costs: if an inkjet printer is not used for printing for a long period of time, the ink in the cartridges dries up and becomes unusable. This cannot happen with toner powder, because it can neither dry out nor stick. Even if a laser printer is not used for months, you can start printing again immediately

Significantly higher print quality

We all know it: When you take a fresh printout out of an inkjet printer, it is still watery and can bleed if not handled properly. This is impossible with a laser printer, because even fresh printouts can be used immediately and are perfectly dried. This is made possible by the special printing process of the laser printer, in which the color to be distributed on the paper is actually burned into the paper using high temperatures. Conversely, this also means that the print quality does not fade even after a very long time. Even if a printout from a laser printer is exposed to a lot of sunlight or water splashes, you can rest assured that there will be no visible difference in print quality.

Laser printer with scanner: These different models are commercially available

If you look around for a laser printer with an integrated scanner in specialist shops or on the Internet, you will quickly notice that there are different versions. Basically, it is not that difficult to find the right device for your personal requirements. Here is a small overview to help.

Black and white laser printer

A black and white laser printer is an excellent choice, especially in offices where numerous documents are primarily scanned and printed. Of course, you should first ask yourself whether you really don't want to print out pictures or documents in color in the meantime - because retrofitting would not be possible in such a case. However, if you are sure that you only want to print in black and white, you can easily use a black and white laser printer. This is not only cheaper to buy, but also works much faster when printing scanned documents - in addition, it is of course also much more economical with regard to the purchase of replacement toner.

Laser color printer with scanner

If not only black and white documents are to be scanned and printed, a laser color printer with scanner is the perfect choice. Such a device already demonstrates its advantages as soon as documents are at least partially in color - because these would of course be converted into corresponding shades of gray with a pure black-and-white printer. A laser color printer is particularly interesting if photos are to be scanned and printed out with it on a regular basis - which of course also makes it very interesting for private individuals.

But be careful: If you buy a color laser printer, you have to use a total of four toner cartridges in it. In addition to the classic black cartridge, the printer also needs the additional toner colors cyan (C), magenta (M) and yellow (Y) for colorful printouts. As a rule, the colors can be bought in a cheaper all-in-one set - but of course this involves higher expenses compared to the classic black cartridge.

Laser printer with scanner and copier

The third variant offered by specialist retailers in the field of laser printers is an extended multifunction device that can not only print and scan, but also copy. This function is particularly popular in large offices with several employees, since documents do not have to be scanned first, but can be copied directly in the desired number if desired. However, such laser printers are usually larger standing devices, which of course also require a certain amount of free space for use. In addition, they are more expensive to buy than classic devices and are therefore of little interest to private individuals.
However, if you run an office with several employees and you have a very high volume of copying, a multifunction printer with copying function proves to be a very good choice as it can save a lot of valuable time.

Laser printers: You should consider this when buying

If you already know exactly whether you want to buy a color laser printer or a black and white device, there are one or two additional criteria to consider when choosing the perfect printer. To help you find your dream model as quickly as possible, we have put together a small checklist for you here.

The scan and print resolution

In order for printers and scanners to do their job flawlessly, the required resolution of both components naturally plays an important role. The highest number is not always the best, as can be seen with the scanner in particular: If you don’t want to enlarge the scanned image when you print it out later, a value of 300 dpi is usually very good, but 500 is for additional processing up to 600 dpi recommended. "Impressive" values ​​above 600 dpi are actually not needed at all, as they usually even worsen the quality of the scan.

The resolution of the print is also given in dpi. Here, a higher value is actually decisive for whether the print turns out to be high-resolution in the end - especially when printing colored images. If you primarily want to make color prints, you will find laser printers with up to 9.600 × 600 dpi on the market for this task - but excellent print quality can often be achieved with lower values. If, on the other hand, you only want to print in black and white, the dpi value can be a bit lower: 1.200 x 1.200 dpi are completely sufficient here.

The printing speed

If you use your laser printer in the office and want to make as many printouts as possible within the shortest possible time, the printing speed of the device naturally also plays an important role. The individual devices often differ greatly from one another here: Even inexpensive models usually easily manage 20 pages per minute, but a value that breaks through the 30 mark per minute is significantly better. In addition, there are also various (often more expensive) models that can print more than 40 pages per minute. Differences in printing speed must of course also be taken into account for color and black-and-white printouts: the latter are usually possible in significantly larger quantities per minute.

The interfaces

Laser printers for the four walls at home are usually connected to the PC with a classic USB cable. In the office, however, it can prove advantageous if the existing printer also has a WLAN interface at the same time. This makes it possible to connect several devices to the printer at the same time after it has been fed into the existing network. From now on you can access the printer with all connected devices and also issue a print job from a distance. For example, if the printer is on the lower floor of the building, employees can route their print jobs to the printer provided they are dialed into the same network as the printer.

The paper tray

Especially with frequent print jobs, a look at the printer's paper tray is also worthwhile. If you do not want to be constantly busy filling the printer with new paper, the compartment should offer space for at least 250 sheets of paper - depending on the print volume, it can of course be more. In addition, if several documents are to be printed one after the other, a device with an automatic feeder is recommended.

The dimensions

Sounds logical, but is often forgotten when choosing a new laser printer: The dimensions of the device should of course be such that the device can be used in the office or on the Desk really has enough space. Multifunction printers in particular are sometimes quite bulky, so you should definitely check the respective dimensions beforehand.

Are laser printers dangerous?

Again and again the question arises as to whether laser printers (or even those without a scanner) are dangerous. In fact, hardly anyone knows that such devices emit a certain level of fine dust pollution. Although the amount of particles emitted is relatively small and not classified as harmful to health, caution should still be exercised. A laser printer should therefore be set up as far away as possible from the permanently used workplace - preferably in a place that can be ventilated regularly. Alternatively, you can look around directly for a device with an integrated fine dust filter or install such a device (e.g. in the form of an activated carbon filter) afterwards. Also pay attention to the attached environmental seals of approval such as the Blue Angel and the DGUV test mark.

And finally ...

A laser printer is an excellent choice if a large number of documents and images are to be printed and scanned regularly in the office or in the home office. Although such a device is often significantly more expensive to purchase than a comparatively cheap inkjet printer, the print results are excellent and the significantly longer service life of the required toner cartridges saves money in the long run in the follow-up costs.