Brother HL-L2350DW mono laser printer
Buy now £129, Currys.co.uk
- Printer type: Laser
- Printing speed: 30 pages/min monochrome
- Input/output capacity: 250/100
- Dimensions: 438mm x 283mm x 519mm
- Connectivity: WiFi, AirPrint, Cortado Cloud Print, Google Cloud Print 2.0, iPrint&Scan, Brother print service plugin, Mopria
- Rating: 9/10
The HL-L2350DW is a throwback printer, an update on something you’d find under a chunky desktop computer made of thick glass and off-cream plastic. Simply upholstered in grey and black, the contemporary printer with Nineties vibes looks smart and would fit anywhere, especially due to its compact frame. It represents a classic Brother design approach. We’re big fans.
Its single-line screen and buttons are functional, if a little fiddly and time consuming. But, you don’t really need to use them after the initial setup, thanks to Brother’s app making a wireless connection easy and much more preferable to hooking your laptop up via USB.
The wireless connection is consistent, and the printer enjoys fantastic compatibility with a host of sources, including Apple AirPrint. It’s also “works with chromebook” certified, which you’d expect anyway, but it’s nice to have an official badge slapped on for it.
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Despite the large 250-sheet paper input, it’s a handy size for most tables, or to put under your desk. The automatic tray fits a range of page sizes, up to legal (just above A4), and another manual tray can also fit even smaller paper sizes, such as envelopes, one sheet at a time. Plus, the output tray fits 100 pages, which is handy for such a quick-printing machine. There’s an impressive amount of versatility here for a printer at this price and on-the-surface specs.
PerformanceYou guessed it, the mono in the printer’s name refers to the fact that it’s a one-stop monochrome shop. If you need a printer that can rapidly whack out page after page of important black and white documents or your latest coming-of-age novel without breaking a sweat, this effort from Brother is one of the best out there.
There’s no option to copy or scan, which is a shame, but the HL-L2350DW’s focus is entirely on printing speed and clarity, and it achieves an impressive quality level in both respects. It’s also surprisingly quiet: Brother says that all the models within the HL range print at less than 50dB. We tested it late at night and felt more than comfortable doing so.
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Impressively, it can print up to 30 pages a minute, or 15 double-sided, which is an extremely quick production that is usually to be expected from a Brother product. The printer comes with a toner that can produce 700 pages, and replacements come in at around 2.13p (£63.90, Cartridgepeople.com).
Though it might not have the efficiency of an eco-focussed inkjet printer, such as the Epson ecotank ET-2710 (£162.90, Cartridgepeople.com), its running costs are obviously cheaper than most full colour printers, and toners provide a great price per page.
Cheap costs don’t mean that you get anything less than great clarity in the print though. In fact, the HL-L2350DW manages prints as clear as you’d expect from much bigger office printers, with sharp contrast on words and no smudging. It’s impressive laser printing.
The verdict: Brother HL-L2350DW mono laser printerBrother’s HL-L2350DW is as good as you can get for simple home office printing. It’s small, not too heavy, has solid paper capacity, produces rapid-fire documents, and has the option of double sided printing. It’s efficient and reliable: a proper workhorse that can handle large yields and big projects with consistent performance.
There’s no real downside here. It does exactly what you’d expect from a monochrome printer, for good value and with a minimum of fuss. It would be great for a home office, but would also perform well for multiple users in a small business or as a family printer. It’s a basic, solid, dependable laser printer. Who needs colour, really?