The price of any device depends on its features, whether you want to spend $300 or more. However, I examined and tested multiple lean prices and high-price printers and found different results. If you want the best printer under $300, you will have to compromise some features. Like lack of auto-duplexer and low input yield. But there are some advantages as well. These lean-price printers have low maintenance and ink cost.
For example, purchasing a high-priced inkjet printer for a small workgroup user is useless. You will not use this printer frequently; its nozzle will dry out and cost more than a lot in maintenance, whether the laser or inkjet of the lean cost will take minimum space in your room. While high priced with the same technology, printers ask for a separate room for placing them, and therefore, most consumers of small offices and students avoid purchasing them.
For this confusion about which one is best, I have discussed the below and the multiple brands of around $300 cost printers. Brother is one of them, and I use it in my office.
Our Top List of Multifunctional Laser Printers under 300 Dollars
- HP LaserJet MFP M234dw Monochrome All-in-One Printer
- HP Envy Inspire 7955e Color All-in-One Printer
- Brother HL-L3210CW Color Laser Printer
- Canon SELPHY CP1300 Photo Printer
- Brother HL-L2350DW Monochrome Laser Printer
- Brother MFC-J1010DW Color Inkjet Printer
HP LaserJet MFP M234dw Monochrome All-in-One Printer
If you want to purchase a monochrome high-resolution laser printer for under 300, consider looking at HP LaserKet MFP M234dw. Moreover, its running cost is also meager with its six months of the instant ink subscription program. It’s a single featured printer without a scanner and copier.
HP is a heavier printer weighing 25.7 pounds, while its competitor HP MFP 1202w is a few inches smaller and lighter. You will have to compromise over its automatic document feeder for the lean price. That’s the reason behind its one-side scanning at a single pass. On the other hand, the imageClass MF269dw contains a 50 sheet of ADF.
As for paper handling, HP can only handle 150 papers in its input tray with a monthly duty cycle of 20000 pages, but the suggested monthly duty is only 2000 prints, which is enough for a small office.
HP Envy Inspire 7955e Color All-in-One Printer
You will see HP as the best photo printer with its low running but only with its instant ink subscription. However. The printing output is outclassing. There are multiple connectivity options available with this device so you can print with it from your mobile. This all-in-one-color laser printer is an ideal piece for small office use.
The HP Envy 7955e color printer is a newer model of HP Photo, and Envy is 17 pounds and is similar in weight to its predecessor. HP Envy lacks automatic duplexing, so 35 sheets of manual duplexer are present. On the other hand, you will find Canon TR8620 with 20 pages of the auto-duplexing feature. HP’s 2.7 inches touch-screen is countable as you can use it for walk-up tasks like printing, scanning, and copying.
HP Inspire 7955e’s paper handling capacity is meager, and you can place only 125 sheets at a time. Moreover, the monthly printing yield is 1000 pages, while the suggested yield is only 400 sheets.
Brother HL-L3210CW Color Laser Printer
HL-L3210CW is a little bit old model of Brother, but it has a churning printing and text output. Most consumers use it as a home office printer for under 300 dollars. Whether the price is meager, Brother’s input capacity is respectable, which I will discuss soon. It’s not an actual laser printer. Instead, it uses LED light for printing output. However, from the consumer’s perspective, it’s a laser printer.
The input capacity of Brother is tremendous, and you will find 30000 pages in this meager initial cost. But the brand recommends using only 1500 pages monthly. As many of its line members lack auto-duplexing, Brother also does not entertain you with this feature. If we talk about its printing speed, you will achieve 19 pages printing output which is slow for laser and laser-class AIO devices.
The printer’s connectivity options are moderate, including Wifi and USB (for PC), but lack Ethernet connectivity while most of its line AIO printers have this facility.
Canon SELPHY CP1300 Photo Printer
CP1300 is called a SELPHY printer as it can print wallet-size excellent photos and is portable to fit in your pocket. Don’t worry about its weight as it is lightweight and available at a reasonable initial cost with rich features. Not only upfront cost but its running price is also lean that any student can easily have it on their table. Most advantageously, consumers prefer using it for its easy SD card printing.
As for technology, it uses Zero Ink (ZINK) which makes the photo output fast and outclass. HP Sprocket Photo printer also uses this latest photo printing technology. For printing with the device, you need to arrange a smartphone and work on its app that edits your 4 x 6 inches photos.
Canon CP1200 is the predecessor of Canon CP1300. Both are almost similar. But CP1200’s newer version has 3.2 inches of LCD screen for display, but CP1200 has only 2.7 inches of LDC. You need to purchase a USB-type-B wire regardless of the attractive connectivity options but for printing.
Brother HL-L2350DW Monochrome Laser Printer
Brother is an entry-level printer with its fast printing out at this price, and print quality is also decent, which you would like to purchase for your mini office desk. Moreover, the lean initial cost will also entertain you with its low printing cost.
Additionally, Brother HL-L2350DW’s weight is also meager, which is only 15.9 pounds. For its initial price printer has fewer features; therefore, some features are absent that I will discuss soon. For example, its input can hold only 250 sheets in one tray. In contrast, the HP MFP M234dw holds only 150 sheets in its tray. The monthly printing cycle is meager, only 15000 pages. At the same time, the suggested output is 2000 pages.
On the other hand, Brother 7955e’s monthly duty cycle is 10000 only. The connectivity options of Brother HL-L2350DW are robust, including Wifi, USB, and Wifi Direct but lack Ethernet connectivity options.
Brother MFC-J1010DW Color Inkjet Printer
Brother MFC-J1010DW is a color laser printer with inkjet printing technology. It also provides you with wireless or mobile connectivity options. For its lean price and features, Brother is the choice of many students and small workgroups.
The printer’s looks are tremendous, and there is a small 1.7 inches display with a bulk of buttons to handle the entire printing commands. On the other hand, Canon SELPHY CP1300 has 3.2 inches of LCD. Whether the Brother MFC-J1010DW contains a 20 sheets automatic document feeder for printing but lacks auto-duplexing like its upline members of this price. Like MFP M234dw, Brother can hold only 150 sheets in its input paper tray.
The printing speed of Brother is 14.3 pages per minute, while the HL-L3210CW’s printing speed is 19 pages per minute. Moreover, both are lean.
How Long Does a Cheap Printer Last?
Suppose your budget is less, and you can compromise over some features like auto-duplexing (printing two sides after a single pass) single input tray with an insufficient capacity of holding paper, and sometimes heavyweight at this price. In that case, you can purchase these printers for small group users’ small daily yield printing tasks.
The budget of any printer depends on its model, usage, and technology you are purchasing. If we talk about the monochrome laser printer for under $300, it will almost last for 5 to six years. Likewise, all the printers of this lean price will last around this average period. If you are the only user, it may last longer.
Is it ok to buy a Printer that is under $300?
There are multiple features of $300 printers. I will describe what features they lack and what are present. Let’s get started it!
| Features of $300 printers | Features of $500 and $600 printers |
| Manual Duplexer: It only allows one side of scanning at a single pass. On another side, you need to flip the paper. | Automatic Duplexer: Its auto-duplexer has the power of printing two side scanning at a single pass. |
| Input Trays: It’s a prominent feature, and most printers of $300 have a lean paper holding capacity of a maximum of 250 sheets at a time. | Dual Input Tray: This paper tray has ample space for printing and can hold multiple sizes and types of papers, making the printing fast. |
| Monthly Printing Yield: The yield tells how many papers a printer can print after one-time filling. So the printers for under $300 have a maximum yield of 20000 pages. | High Printing Yield: If you are an office runner or big workgroup, consider buying this $ 500 or $ 600 printer. They last for almost 80000 monthly printing yields. |
