10 best LED printers

Review of the best according to the editorial board. On the selection criteria. This material is subjective and does not constitute advertising and does not serve as a purchase guide. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.

Every user understands the difference between an inkjet printer and a laser printer. But not everyone is aware that there is another printing technology – LED. It has a lot in common with laser, so it even comes to confusion when choosing a model to buy. But there are also important differences, mostly of a technological nature. The rating-review presented to your attention is devoted to just such devices, their features and nuances of work.

Which is better – LED or laser printer?

First, let's figure out what the principle of LED printing is and how it is better or worse than laser. Let's say right away that LED printers occupy a significant segment of the market, which means that they have a place for both office and home use.

So, the fundamental difference in the printing method between the two types of printing devices is that a laser printer uses a single laser diode, and an LED printer uses a whole line of microscopic light-emitting diodes (their number varies on average from 2.5 to 10 thousand, depending on from the printer's permission). We will not delve into the technical details of the principle of 'magnetization' by a beam of the surface and other components of the process, but will only describe what both technologies give in practice.

1. The first, most noticeable and probably the main advantage of LED printers is their compactness. Other things being equal, color laser and LED printers may differ significantly. In monochrome printers, the difference in size is not so dramatic, but still very noticeable. In the end, the facts speak for themselves – OKI's monochrome LED page printers are still the most compact in the world.
2. In terms of the speed of work, that is, printing, here already laser printers give LED a noticeable head start. So, on average, the speed of LED printing is tens of pages per minute, while many models of laser printers show a speed of one hundred or more copies per minute.
3. Regarding the quality of prints, at the 'household' level, both technologies show approximately the same results. But if suddenly the task is to get a print with a flawless 'grain' shape, only an LED printer can handle this. The fact is that in LED printers, each LED produces a light spot of the same shape. Whereas in laser, additional lenses are needed that correct the distortion of the geometry of the light spot at the edges of the drum.
4. LED printers have virtually no moving parts other than paper feed mechanics and paper mileage. The laser ones have built-in precision mirrors and a rotating multifaceted prism. Traditionally, it is believed that the less mechanics, the more durable the apparatus. Nominally, this is so, but in the context of the current market conditions with its annually updated assortment, both a laser printer and an LED printer are more likely to become obsolete and gather dust in the corner than to fail due to wear and tear.
5. Now a few words about the phenomenon that not everyone thinks about – environmental friendliness. And in this case, it is far from only and not so much about environmental protection, but about the safety of the printer for the health of the environment. In past generations of laser printers, there was a corona wire – a thin wire through which a high voltage current was passed. A side effect of the corona treatment was a rather strong ionization of the air. Let us remind you that in small amounts ozone is good for health, in large amounts it is actually a poison. In modern models, the corona wire is no longer there – it was abandoned, not least because of the safety for the health of the operator of copying equipment. But there is one more natural ionizer left – the laser beam itself, and nothing can be done about it. In LED printers, the problem of ozone formation is essentially absent, and this is important when it comes to intensive workload in an enclosed space.
6. And the last thing worth mentioning, although this problem can only concern a very small percentage of potential users. In laser printers, the diode emits electromagnetic radiation not only in the desired 'operating' range, but also affects the radio frequency range. Accordingly, with the help of a modern radio scanner, it is possible to intercept data and decrypt the printed image. There are thousands of diodes in LED printers, and they flash not sequentially, but simultaneously in the right places. Accordingly, the radio scanner will 'hear' only noise, which will be impossible to decipher.

We present all of the above in the form of a generalized table of the advantages and disadvantages of both technologies.

Characteristic	Laser	LED
Dimensions	–	+
Print speed	+	–
Quality	–	+
Wear	–	+
Ozone release	–	+
Information Security	–	+

– assessments are generalized, and in the context of certain tasks, they can change their meaning. The explanations are given above.

The conclusion can be drawn as follows. For domestic purposes or tasks of an ordinary office, both technologies remain approximately on par. A noticeable difference is only in the dimensions of the devices, and even then not always. The pros and cons of laser or LED printing technology are acquired only when there are super tasks with increased requirements.

Rating of the best LED printers

Nomination	a place	Name of product	price
Best LED printers for home and small offices	1	Brother HL-3170CDW	RUB 19 490
	2	OKI C542dn	RUB 30 492
	3	Xerox Phaser 6020	RUB 13,100
Best LED Printers for Medium Offices	1	Xerox Phaser 6510DN	RUB 22,990
	2	OKI C823n	RUB 57,960
	3	Ricoh SP 400DN	RUB 11,294
	4	Ricoh SP C352DN	RUB 31,522
Best LED printers for the large office	1	Xerox Phaser 7800DN	RUB 245,000
	2	OKI C843dn	RUB 89 720
	3	Xerox VersaLink C7000DN	RUB 77,190

Best LED printers for home and small offices

So, let's go directly to the rating, and start with the top three models that can serve as home assistants or perform the tasks of a small office. Our experts have identified three models of different brands from a wide market offer – Japanese Brother and OKI, and American Xerox. All three trademarks are well known and do not need special descriptions.

The models described below have the following general characteristics:

1. placement type – desktop;
2. format limitation – A4;
3. the ability to print in full color;
4. built-in AirPrint function;
5. 4 cartridges for each base color;
6. optional ability to print on different media (envelopes, films, stickers, etc.) – to be checked at the point of sale.

Brother HL-3170CDW

Rating: 4.9

To begin with, consider an LED printer manufactured by the Japanese corporation Brother Industries, which has proven itself very well among private users and as part of equipment for small offices.

The dimensions of the unit are 410 × 240 × 465mm, weight – 21.5 kg. During printing, the printer consumes 380 W of electricity. In standby mode – about 60 watts.

Image detail for full color images – 2400 × 600dpi (maximum), for monochrome images – 600 × 600dpi. The resource of any color cartridge in terms of toner volume is about 1.4 thousand copies, black – 2.5 thousand copies. Productive capabilities – about 30 thousand prints for 30 days.

The LED printer prints in color and b / w with an intensity of 22 copies / min. 2-sided mode is automatically activated. The tray capacity parameters are as follows: automatic feed – 251 sheets, output – 100 sheets, manual feed – 1 sheet. Suitable grammage of paper is 60-163 gsm. m.

The electronic communication part of the printer has the following parameters. Integrated RAM memory for 128 MB. You can connect to the device using a wired method – via a local network or via USB 2.0; or wirelessly via Wi-Fi. Supports PostScript.

Advantages

• a combination of cost, performance and quality;
• acceptable print quality, taking into account the cost;
• Wi-Fi connection;
• ease of installation and operation;

disadvantages

• hesitantly picks up paper from the bypass.

OKI C542dn

Rating: 4.8

Further ranking from follows a very remarkable and bright model produced by OKI, which in 1987 launched the world's first LED printer on the market.

The LED printer is slightly larger than the above model, but only slightly – 427x279x571 mm. Weighs 24 kg. Power consumption for printing – up to 1.25 kW, standby – up to 90 W. Print noise is rated at 54 dB, while idle noise is 37 dB. The control panel is equipped with a large 7-inch color LCD display.

Detailing of the resulting image – up to 1200x1200dpi for any color. The nominal resource of any of the cartridges is 1500 copies. The declared average productivity is twice that of the above-described Brother model – 60 copies for 30 days. Suitable paper weight is 64-220 gsm. m.

The print speed of this model is one third faster than the above described Brother – 30 ppm in both modes. 2-sided printing is enabled automatically. The printer takes 35 seconds to fully warm up. The first print is issued after 7.50 s in both modes.

The parameters of the capacity of the trays are as follows: automatic feeding – 1410 sheets, delivery – 250 sheets, manual – 100 sheets.

The features of the electronic software part are as follows. RAM-memory is installed at once the maximum possible volume for this model – 1 GB. You can connect only by wire – via USB 2.0 or a local network. Supports PostScript.

Advantages

• large display;
• web interface;
• performance;
• print quality;

disadvantages

• no wireless connection.

Xerox Phaser 6020

Rating: 4.7

And the final position in the ranking of 'small-size' LED printers is a model of the trade mark, which in the CIS countries has become a household name – Xerox. Despite the reputation of the brand, the cost of the printer is the most affordable in the group.

This model is more compact than the previous two – 394x234x304 mm and weighs 10.9 kg. Electricity consumption for printing is 220 W, in stand-by – 45 W.

Image detail for any color is 1200×2400 dpi. The nominal volume of toner in the black cartridge is designed for 2 thousand copies, in color – 1 thousand copies.

In terms of print speed, this model is noticeably inferior to the previous ones: in b / w speed – 12 ppm, in color – 10 pages. The first print comes out in 19 seconds. Nominal productivity – 30 thousand copies in 30 days. The grammage of the paper is from 60 to 220 g / sq. meter. The recommended loading of the automatic paper feeder is 150 sheets. The output tray holds 100 sheets.

The printer electronics are controlled by a 525 MHz processor. RAM memory – 128 MB. Connection is via wire via USB or 'over the air' via Wi-Fi. PostScript support is not available on this model.

Advantages

• print quality;
• the most affordable price in the group;
• design;

disadvantages

• no PostScript support.

Best LED Printers for Medium Offices

Now let's look at a group of models with enough performance and resource to meet the working needs of a mid-sized office. Our experts placed four noteworthy models in the rating – two from the Japanese company Ricoh Company Ltd, one from the manufacturer of the world's first LED printer OKI and one from the American corporation Xerox.

The size limit is A4, excluding OKI C823n, where the size limit is A3. Also, all LED printers in the group, except OKI, automatically switch to duplex mode when the corresponding command from the PC is issued.

Xerox Phaser 6510DN

Rating: 4.9

Let's start with a rather flamboyant 'American' – the Xerox Phaser 6510DN. The LED printer is designed for A4 format with a maximum image size of 216 × 356 mm. The dimensions of the unit itself are 420x347x483 mm, weight – 23.8 kg. Electricity consumption for printing – up to 350 W, while waiting – 44 W. The average noise level during printing is 51.9 dB, while waiting – 24.9 dB.

The maximum image detail is 1200x2400dpi for any color. In terms of print speed, the printer is good enough for LED technology: 28 pages per minute for any color. The first print is issued after 12 seconds in any color. Estimated throughput of 50,000 prints in 30 days.

The characteristics of the trays: automatic feed – 850 sheets (optimal – 300), delivery – 150, manual feed – 50. The range of suitable grammage of paper – 60-220 g / sq. meter. The nominal toner load of the color cartridge corresponds to the conditional 1000 pages, black – 2500 pages.

The center of electronics is a processor operating at a frequency of 733 MHz. RAM-memory of the maximum possible volume for this model is 1 GB. The connection is made via USB or 'twisted pair'. The firmware includes PostScript support. Has its own web interface.

Advantages

• image detail;
• fast and smooth transition to standby mode and back;
• reliability and durability;
• color rendering;

disadvantages

• no wireless connection.

OKI C823n

Rating: 4.8

Further on in the current selection of ratings, we will look at the extended format LED printer from OKI, the company that once launched the world's first LED printer on the market. This is the most expensive model in this group, but considering the print format, the price looks reasonable enough.

The model is designed for printing on A3 media, and this is its main advantage. In the case of a laser printer, the same would determine the impressive dimensions. In this case, thanks to the LED technology, the dimensions of the device are only slightly larger than the above-described A4 model – 449x360x552 mm. Weight – on the contrary, significantly more – 37 kg. Electricity consumption for printing – 1.4 kW, pending – 100 W. Nominal print noise is up to 52 dB, while standby noise is up to 32 dB.

Image detail – up to 600x1200dpi for any color. Another notable point is the impressive cartridge yield in terms of toner volume – equivalent to an equivalent of 7,000 pages for all four cartridges. The recommended paper weight is 64-256 g / sq. meter.

The print speed parameters are as follows: for A4 of any color – 23 ppm, for A3 of any color – 13 ppm. It takes 25 seconds to warm up. The first copy is served 14 seconds later in any color. Estimated productivity – up to 75 thousand copies in 30 days.

Tray specifications are as follows: auto feed – 935 sheets maximum (400 recommended), output – 350 sheets, manual feed – 100 sheets.

The upper limit of the RAM-memory resource is 768 MB, 256 MB is placed as standard. Connection via USB or twisted pair. Printing is carried out both directly and through the printer's own web interface. The firmware does not contain PostScript support.

Advantages

• A3 format;
• resource of cartridges by toner volume;
• ease of use;
• design;
• Memory;

disadvantages

• PostScript is not supported;
• no wireless connection.

Ricoh SP 400DN

Rating: 4.7

Now, as part of the rating, consider a printer that is fundamentally different from all of the above. The difference is that it is designed only for black and white printing. Of course, we do not consider this circumstance as a disadvantage, but only as a feature, especially since the cost of this model is quite honest. In a significant proportion of cases, the possibility of color printing for office needs is simply redundant, and it is pointless to overpay for it.

Printer dimensions – 370x306x268 mm, weight – 14.5 kg. The electricity consumption level for printing is 990 W, while pending, the consumption is almost zero – 1 W. Designed for a peak load of 50,000 copies in 30 days. Format – A4.

The image detail limit for this model is 1200x1200dpi. Print speed – 30 ppm. Warm-up time – 19 seconds. The first print comes out after 6.5 seconds. Duplex mode is activated on the fly. The recommended paper weight is 52-162 g / sq. meter. The toner capacity of a full-fledged cartridge corresponds to the conditional 2.5 thousand pages. The capacity of the trays is as follows: auto feed – maximum 850 sheets, recommended – up to 350 sheets; issue – 125 sheets.

The electronics of the printer are controlled by a powerful enough ARM Cortex A8 processor operating at a frequency of 500 MHz. The factory volume of installed RAM is 256 MB, which corresponds to the maximum possible for this modification. Connection only wired – USB or 'twisted pair'. The firmware includes PostScript support.

The manufacturer's warranty period for this model is 12 months.

Advantages

• powerful electronics;
• the most affordable price in the group;
• design;
• takes paper and other media out of the trays very accurately;
• reliability;

disadvantages

• no principal disadvantages have been identified.

Ricoh SP C352DN

Rating: 4.7

And the final model in this rating group is another LED printer of the Ricoh trademark, this time in full color. The model clearly stands out against the background of all the previous ones – in terms of electronics power, performance and cartridge resource, this printer leaves far behind any other of the above.

The dimensions of the printer are 400x387x515 mm, weight – 33 kg. The level of electricity consumption for printing is 1.2 kW, while waiting – up to 40.2 W. The control panel is equipped with a fairly large 4.3-inch LCD display. The peak load in 30 days is estimated at 75 thousand copies. Format – A4.

Image detail for this model is up to 1200×1200 dpi for any color. The printer prints at 30 ppm in any mode. Warm-up time – 18 seconds, the first print is issued after 6 seconds in b / w and after 7.8 seconds in color. Duplex mode is activated on the fly.

The parameters of the capacity of the trays are as follows: automatic feeding – up to 2100 sheets, recommended – up to 600; delivery – up to 200 sheets; manual feed – up to 100 sheets. The recommended grammage of paper is 56-220 g / sq. meter.

As mentioned above, this model has one of the striking advantages – capacious cartridges. Namely, the volume of toner in color cartridges corresponds to the conditional 9 thousand prints, in black – 10 thousand.

Powerful electronics are the second major advantage of the model. It has a high-performance processor running at 1.46 GHz and a whopping 2 GB of RAM (upper limit). The connection is via USB or via a local wired network. Embedded PostScript is optional and should be inquired at the point of sale for availability.

The manufacturer's warranty period for this model is 3 years.

Advantages

• record performance;
• the most powerful electronics in the group;
• design;
• large liquid crystal color display;
• Highest cartridge capacity in the collection

disadvantages

• no wireless connection.

Best LED printers for the large office

And the final selection of devices in the ranking of the best LED printers according to the version – these are high-performance machines that can cope with the working needs of a large office. Our experts included in the review two interesting models from Xerox and one from OKI.

All three models print in full color, are designed for A3 format, have automatic duplex mode, “understand” PostScript, and are equipped with a web interface. The connection for all monitored machines is exclusively wired – via USB or 'twisted pair'.

Xerox Phaser 7800DN

Rating: 4.9

Let's start with the most noticeable model in the group, which gives a serious head start to the other two with its performance. At the same time, this is the most expensive model, the cost of which seems unjustified to many users.

When planning the purchase of this printer, you should take into account its physical parameters in advance, so that later there will be no installation problems. So, its dimensions are 699x578x641 mm, weight – 81 kg. Initially, the model is designed for floor placement. Electricity consumption for printing is 760 W, while standby – 56 W. The printing noise does not exceed 52 dB. The control panel has a 4.3-inch color LCD display. Estimated productivity – 225 thousand copies in 30 days.

The maximum image detail for this model is up to 1200x2400dpi for any color. Color cartridges contain toner equivalent to the equivalent of 6 thousand copies. Four times more resource for the black cartridge – 24,000 conventional pages. Suitable grammage of paper is 75-350 gsm. meter.

The performance characteristics are as follows: 45 A4 pages of any color per minute, 22 pages of any A3 color per minute. Warm-up time – 61 sec. The first print comes out after 9 seconds at any color.

Tray parameters: automatic feed – up to 3140 sheets, up to 620 is recommended; delivery – up to 500 sheets; manual feed – up to 100 sheets.

The electronics and hardware of this LED printer also commands respect. 1.33 GHz central processor, 2 GB RAM (maximum allowed), 160 GB hard drive.

Advantages

• outstanding performance;
• powerful electronics;
• exceptional toner cartridge capacity;

disadvantages

• inexplicably high price.

OKI C843dn

Rating: 4.8

The second position in the group of high-performance LED printers is the high-performance desktop printer from OKI. Despite all the distinct advantages of the previous model, this solution in a number of parameters turns out to be at least not worse, and in some places even better.

Dimensions of the device are 449x360x552 mm, weight – 40 kg. Adapted for desktop installation. The level of electricity consumption for printing is 1.4 kW, while waiting – up to 100 W. Noise during printing – no more than 52 dB, while waiting – 32 dB. Estimated peak performance – up to 75k copies in 30 days.

Extreme image detail – up to 1200x1200dpi at any color. The toner capacity of any cartridge corresponds to the conditional 10 thousand copies. The recommended paper weight is 64-256 g / sq. meter.

Speed ​​parameters: 35 A4 copies per minute in any color and 20 A3 copies of any color per minute. It takes 25 seconds to warm up. The first copy in any color comes out after 9.5 seconds.

Tray parameters: automatic feed – up to 2005 sheets, optimally – up to 400; delivery – up to 350 sheets; manual feed – up to 100 sheets.

Factory equipped with RAM-memory – 512MB, permissible upgrade – up to 768MB.

Advantages

• ease of use;
• capacity of cartridges;
• design;
• combination of cost and performance;
• reliability and durability;

disadvantages

• no distinct disadvantages were noted.

Xerox VersaLink C7000DN

Rating: 4.8

And the final item in our rating is another LED printer manufactured by Xerox Corporation (USA). Our experts put this solution in the rating, not least because of the useful additional functions that all the above models without exception are deprived of.

Printer dimensions – 590x637x671 mm, weight – 54.3 kg. Adapted for desktop placement. The control panel is equipped with a 5-inch color LCD display. Estimated productivity – up to 153 thousand copies in 30 days.

The limit of image detail for any color is 1200x2400dpi. The capacity of color cartridges corresponds to the conditional 3.3 thousand copies, black – 5.3 thousand copies. Suitable paper weight is 60-256 gsm. meter.

The speed parameters are as follows: 35 A4 copies per minute for any color and 19 A3 copies for any color. The first print is issued after 5.10 seconds in b / w and 7.60 seconds in color.

Tray capacity characteristics: automatic feeding – up to 2180 sheets, optimally – up to 620 sheets; delivery – up to 500 sheets; manual feed – up to 100 sheets.

All functionality is controlled by a processor operating at a frequency of 1 GHz. Factory equipped with 2 GB RAM.

A remarkable feature of this model, which clearly distinguishes it from the background of others, is the presence of a built-in booklet maker.

Advantages

• large display;
• booklet maker;
• print speed;
• overall performance;
• powerful processor;
• voluminous RAM;

disadvantages

• not marked.

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Attention! This rating is subjective and does not constitute an advertisement and does not serve as a purchase guide. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.