What Is a Laser Printer?

A laser printer is a type of printer that uses a laser and toner to render text and images on paper instead of ink. These printers are generally fast, produce crisp text, and have low maintenance costs.

Here's a guide to how laser printers work, the best uses, and pros and cons over other options.

How Do Laser Printers Work?

Laser printers use a process called electrostatic printing that’s similar to the technology that powers photocopiers. This process uses a combination of laser light, differing electrical charges, and heat to fuse powdered toner to paper.

The key components involved in this process include:

• A laser
• A cylindrical drum
• Powdered toner
• Heated rollers

The cylindrical drum and the toner powder both have a negative electrical charge.

The process works because when you send a print job to the printer, it draws the text or images on the cylindrical drum with the laser. That removes the negative electrical charge from the areas the laser strikes, allowing the drum to pick up toner only in those areas.

When printer paper is rolled against the drum, the toner powder transfers to the paper. Finally, the paper passes through the heated rollers. Heat and pressure from the rollers bond the toner to the paper, which is why freshly-printed sheets from a laser printer emerge warm to the touch.

What Are the Benefits of a Laser Printer?

Laser printers are faster, more accurate, and more capable of handling large print volumes than inkjet printers. There are edge cases where high-end inkjets outperform lower-end laser printers, however.

While there are speedy inkjets, laser printers are typically faster. This is especially apparent in lower-end printers, where laser printers print about twice as fast as similarly-priced inkjet units. Monochrome laser printers are especially fast, and they produce exceptionally crisp text.

Laser printers are good for high-volume applications not only because of speed but also due to the relatively larger page yield for toner cartridges compared to ink cartridges.

While toner cartridges are pricey, that’s offset by the fact that they can often print ten times as many pages as an ink cartridge.

Do Laser Printers Have Any Drawbacks?

The main drawbacks of laser printers are related to price. Laser printers tend to be more expensive than similarly equipped inkjet printers.

While the per-page cost of printing is usually lower with laser printers, toner cartridges can be quite expensive to replace compared to ink cartridges.

Toner cartridges are more economical than inkjet cartridges because they provide higher page yields and don’t need to be replaced as often, but replacing one typically represents a significant expense.

The other area where laser printers fail to excel is photo printing. Color laser printers can print photos, illustrations, charts, and other full-color images, but inkjets typically do better.

While photo printing quality varies from one model to another, high-end inkjets can print more vivid images with high levels of detail and a wide color gamut.

Important Laser Printer Features

Laser printers are available in several configurations, including everything from single-function monochrome printers to color all-in-one units that can scan and copy in addition to printing.

Here are some features to look out for:

• Connectivity: If you only print from one computer, look for a laser printer capable of connecting via USB. Otherwise, a printer with a LAN port or Wi-Fi connectivity is best. Network connectivity lets you print from any computer on your network, often from your phone.
• Paper handling: Consider the types of documents you’ll need to print, and look for a laser printer that can handle the necessary document sizes.
• Automatic duplexing: Look for this feature if you need to be able to print on both sides of the paper. Some all-in-ones also provide auto-duplexing for scans, a must-have if you scan many documents.
• Speed: Laser printers are fast. In fact, even slow laser printers still manage to churn out pages faster than even speedy inkjet printers. Some laser printers print 50 pages per minute or more.

Are Laser Printers Good For Home Use?

Laser printers are good for home use. These printers are fast and great at printing monochrome documents, so they do well in homes and offices requiring high-volume printing.

They’re also great in very low-volume households because the toner can’t dry out during long periods of disuse. If you print a lot of color documents, especially photos, then an inkjet will usually make a better choice for a home or home office printer.