Monochrome laser printer Brother HL-L2375DW: it does the job

Presentation

The Brother HL-L2375DW is a laser printer which is content with black and white and which does not have a scanner. A limit which we can partially overcome by copying a document with the camera of his smartphone, for example. Sold at the recommended price of 179 €, it is a natural competitor to the HP LaserJet Pro M203dw, whose characteristics are almost similar.

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Ergonomics

This HL-L2375DW is a very basic printer. Black block measuring 35.6 x 36 x 18.3 cm for 7.2 kg, it saves many tricks. Its control panel is a reflection of this simplistic approach, which is satisfied with a single line LCD display (16 characters) capable of discouraging those who would like to navigate its menus. It is completed by a few rubber buttons, one of which - the one assigned to Wi-Fi - diffuses a small light symbol of activity. It could not be more summary, like everything else (paper tray, receptacle, etc.).

Nevertheless, we must recognize a certain efficiency in this minimalist approach, especially since it is easy to keep an eye on essential information from the printer via the printer drivers or the Brother application. Good points of this model include the presence of an Ethernet port to get rid of Wi-Fi while still sharing the printer on a local network. According to our rating criteria, it is this connection that allows the HL-L2375DW to earn its third star in ergonomics.

We also appreciate being offered easier access to the paper drive mechanisms to respond to paper jams, as well as the integration of a paper tray with a substantial capacity of 250 sheets (80 g / m²). It's a shame, however, that Brother did not include a small transparent window that would have allowed them to always have an eye on the quantity of leaves remaining without having to open the drawer.

Wi-Fi Direct is supported, which allows printing from a mobile terminal without necessarily having the two devices connected to the same local network, while all the main printing services and protocols from the cloud are managed (AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, Cortado, Mopria , etc.).

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Consumption

In deep sleep, the mode in which it enters fairly quickly, the Brother HL-L2375DW consumes only 0.3 watts. Our wattmeter gets carried away however when printing a document of several pages (480 watts and 630 watts in peak). We know that this is an inherent defect in laser technology, but it should be noted that this consumption is of course temporary, only noted when the printer is used.

This printer is also noisy in use. Positioned at 1 meter, in a room isolated from noise disturbances, our sound level meter records a value of 63 dB in full print. Needless to say, at home as in a small open space, the HL-L2375DW will be heard during printing.

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Cost per page

The Brother HL-L2375DW comes with standard TN-2410 toner with a capacity of 1,200 pages. The most economical consumable to use, however, is the TN-2420 toner, which has a capacity of 3,000 prints. Based on the latter, we calculate a cost price per page of 2.7 euro cents (€ 0.027). It is therefore one of the laser printers that can be described as economical over time. On this point, it does very slightly better than the HP LaserJet Pro M203dw whose page costs 2.9 euro cents.

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Office

Office printing is another area in which this Brother HL-L2375DW is doing better than its competitor at HP. First, it prints faster by reaching a rate of 35.3 pages per minute (ppm) according to our laboratory tests, compared to 28.6 ppm for the HP LaserJet Pro M203dw. It also turns out to be fast on both sides, a mode in which it delivers 13.6 ppm. For comparison, it's almost the print speed of the entry-level Brother HL-1212W on the front.

As for the print quality, it is impeccable - without the slightest surprise. The rendering of the texts is precise and all the elements remain perfectly legible, even if they come from polychrome documents loaded with graphics and other colored areas.

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Conclusion

Cheaper and more recommendable than an HP LaserJet Pro M203dw, this Brother HL-L2375DW has it all. It abandons the advanced functions to focus on the essentials: it prints quickly, well, and at very low cost.

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