“Brother's HL-L3280CDW is a fast, low-cost color laser printer with inexpensive toner, but after a deep dive into costs, we recommend another Brother printer that has better value.”
- Excellent color document print quality
- Fast prints on long documents
- Low toner cost with super high-yield cartridges
- Low noise
- Screen is hard to see when seated
- Touchscreen use is awkward
- Paper curls
Brother’s HL-L3280CDW is a low-cost color laser printer that tries to find the right balance between price and performance. As Brother is one of the best printer brands, I knew the HL-L3280CDW would be reliable and work with all my devices.
Still, I needed to research how durable and economical the Brother HL-L3280CDW is and test its speed and quality to find out if it’s the best color laser printer for you. There’s a lot to like about it, but I’ve found that there’s a similar Brother printer that is a better overall value that most people should buy instead.
Design
Brother’s HL-L3280CDW is quite small for a color laser printer, taking up 15.7 by 15.7 inches on my printer stand with a height of 10.8 inches. It looks nice and is a manageable 33.9 pounds.
The 2.7-inch color touchscreen works well, but appears a little dim unless I’m standing directly in front of the printer. It’s placed at a fixed angle that’s 20 degrees from horizontal, so you’ll want to stand to use it.
The main paper tray holds 250 sheets of paper and there’s a convenient media tray that can accept a single sheet or envelope so you don’t have to remove your bulk paper from the main tray.
The power cord connects to the right rear of the HL-L3280CDW. Ethernet and USB cable connections are on the left rear. I use Wi-Fi since my printer stand is in a different room than my computer.
Printing performance
The HL-L3280CDW is fast for an inexpensive printer, rolling out monochrome and color documents at up to 27 pages per minute (ppm). The first page completes in about 14 seconds when the printer is warmed up. If you need more speed and can afford a much more expensive printer, HP’s Color LaserJet Pro MFP 4301dw prints the first page in just 9 seconds and has a sustained speed of 35 ppm.
Since it’s a duplex printer, you can save paper by printing on both sides of a sheet, cutting usage in half. That’s important for multiple copies of long documents.
For double-sided printing, paper is pulled back into the machine, reducing the speed to 10 ppm for duplex. There are a few printers that can print on both sides at once, but single-pass duplex printers are rare.
Photo quality is acceptable, but can’t compete with that of more expensive, high-performance color laser printers like the Canon imageClass MF753cdw. Like most color laser printers, there’s no borderless option, so pictures print with about a quarter-inch margin, but it handles color documents well.
The media tray works reliably for envelopes and labels, but only accepts one sheet at a time.
Software and compatibility
Brother ships the HL-L3280CDW with the toner cartridges inside the printer, but they must be removed to uncap the ends and replaced before use. That only takes a moment.
Connecting Wi-Fi was easy with the Brother Mobile Connect app and the HL-L3280CDW’s dual band Wi-Fi. I could have used the touchscreen to select Wi-Fi and enter my network password without a phone. It’s just easier with an iPhone or Android phone.
My Windows PC and Mac identified the printer and connected quickly. Brother makes drivers for Linux computers also.
Everything worked as expected from my computers, and I only had one issue with the mobile app. Printing envelopes continues to be a problem for many printers and the HL-L3280CDW cut off the return address.
Price
At $300, the Brother HL-L3280CDW will catch your eye. It’s fast and reliable and can handle a monthly duty cycle of up to 40,000 pages. Brother recommends printing an average of 3,000 pages, though. That means the HL-L3280CDW is tough enough for business use.
When it comes to toner cost, Brother’s 3200-series offers super high-yield cartridges that last longer and make color documents more affordable. If your budget is tight, check out our guide to the best inexpensive printers for more options.
Color documents can average 10 cents per page, which is quite low for a color laser printer. Black toner is always inexpensive, but drops to just 2 cents per page with Brother’s largest cartridges. The super high-yield cartridges also last a long time, providing up to 4,500 black pages and 3,000 color pages.
Standard-yield cartridges average 5 cents per monochrome page and 18 cents for color. Brother also sells midsize toner cartridges if you don’t want to invest in the more expensive extra-high-capacity cartridges.
The HL-L3280CDW comes with starter cartridges that Brother says will print about 1,000 black pages and 1,000 color pages. While that will last a while, it’s less than you get with standard-capacity cartridges.
Is this the printer for you?
Brother’s HL-L3280CDW is a durable, low-cost color laser printer. At about $300, it’s a good price for a quick color document printer. That said, you’ll get better long-term value from Brother’s HL-L3295CDW. It costs about $70 more, but it’s faster, has extra features, and comes with an additional $75 worth of toner in the included cartridges.
For most people, I’d recommend the HL-L3295CDW over the HL-L3280CDW. However, if you’re planning on using Brother’s Refresh EZ Print toner subscription, the Brother HL-L3280CDW matches many of the features of the more expensive model with a lower upfront cost.
If neither Brother color laser printer meets your requirements, check out our guide to the best color laser printers, where you’re sure to find a closer match.
