REASONS TO BUY
Compact design
Good printing speed and text quality
REASONS TO AVOID
Very limited connectivity (no WiFi or Ethernet and doesn't come with a USB cable)
This model is discontinued as of 2024.
Brother HL-L2300D Review
This printer does a stellar job at high-speed monochrome document printing, but lacks connectivity options, making it less versatile and convenient
Credit: Brother
RELATED: Best Home Printers of 2024
Our Verdict
The Brother HL-L2300D is a good buy for a home office that needs a small and affordable printer that spits out monochrome text documents at a high rate and has low long term operating costs, but the buck stops there. While we found its overall text quality to be quite good relative to its competitors in our best printer review, it has a few less than desirable drawbacks. Unfortunately, the graphics and photo printing capabilities are lackluster. It also requires a USB in its initial setup and lacks a display screen.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Brother HL-L2300D is a great printer for those that need something small, affordable, and super fast but don't care about WiFi or Ethernet connectivity. While not very good at printing photos or graphics, the HL-L2300D is not a bad option if you need something that quickly churns out lots of text documents and doesn't cost much to maintain.
Performance Comparison
A fast model, but lacks balance across all the factors that make up a good home printer.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Text Quality
The Brother HL-L2300D performed well here, earning a solid score in the text quality metric for its primarily clear and sharp text. We did see an occasional blemish, although it was not a consistent issue. On the other hand, we did observe a slight jaggedness at the edges of text that intensified with smaller font sizes, which was a more consistent issue than the occasional blemish.
Graphics and Photos
Unfortunately, in this metric, you get what you pay for with the Brother HL-L2300D. This unit had limited graphic or photo printing capabilities in our testing.
This model is simply not up to the task when it comes to representing color prints with a grayscale.
Credit: Lesley Robinson
We measured the Brother HL-L2300D's ability to use the grayscale to represent colors in images and photos. Discounting its inability to print color, it could not produce accurate photo prints in black and white. Prints appeared pixelated, and there was a noticeable lack of details, especially regarding text in business graphics. The grayscale that represents color gradients also seemed to be pretty far off and was lighter and not very representative of the original color intensity in general. Ultimately, you shouldn't buy this printer for its photo and graphics capabilities.
This black and white print is a far cry from the color original.
Credit: Lesley Robinson
Operating Cost
The Brother HL-L2300D is a very affordable monochrome laser printer to operate. Its initial purchase price is low, and its lifetime operating cost is considerably low.
The replacement cost for black ink is $40, which lasts for 1200 pages, so the average ream cost, or cost for 500 sheets of black and white prints, is $16.66. This translates to 3 cents per page, which is significantly cheaper than the average printing cost we captured from the entire test group of nearly 8 cents per page. As a monochromatic printer, we obviously can not compare color printing costs. If you need color prints, the economics here are a moot point, and you'll have to look elsewhere for color printing.
Large toner cartridges will keep the brother running for a long time at an economical rate.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Ease of Use
Some of the hiccups we experienced here hurt the Brother HL-L2300D's overall score. The initial setup involved physically connecting the printer to a USB port, as it does not support wireless connectivity.
A USB connection is an antiquated way of connecting a printer these days.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
A lack of wireless connectivity or a display takes away from the usability of this printer. While there are two buttons, “power” and “go” they leave a lot to be desired, and all printing is handled via a physical connection. The onboard controls weren't terrible, and both the drum and paper tray are very accessible, but ease of use stops there.
The lack of a display makes the interface less appealing and intuitive.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Printing Speed
This printer is one of the faster models that we tested, as the Brother HL-L2300D can push out full-page, albeit low quality, photos in just 5 seconds and 10 duplex and 10 page simplex documents at an impressive 13 pages and 25 pages per minute.
The Brother has automatic duplex printing at impressive speeds.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
This is where this printer shines: speed and affordability. If you can live without some other significant features that are generally desirable in a printer, and you want an inexpensive, fast printer, the Brother HL-L2300D is a solid option. We see this printer performing well in an environment like a dorm room or a home office that needs something fast, small, and simple that can be set on the same desk as the computer that it's plugged into. There are only a couple of other top ranked printers in our lineup that were faster than the HL-L2300D and are nearly five times the initial purchase price.
Should You Buy the Brother HL-L2300D?
Despite its flaws, the Brother HL-L2300D does fill a niche in the market: it's small, very affordable, and super quick. We think students and home offices who don't mind plugging in when they need to print and whose priority is speed and price might find the HL-L2300D a worthwhile investment, but the modern marketplace generally demands a more modern device, and we feel there are better options that fit a wider range of needs.
What Other Printers Should You Consider?
The Brother HL-L2300D is a solid buy for those in need of a fast, affordable, monochrome printer, but it does have some serious drawbacks. The specific downfalls of connectivity and lack of color capability are handled by similarly economical options like the Brother MFC-J4335DW. However, for all-around performance that fits every need quite well, we recommend looking at a more capable printer that offers a better balance of features and performance all around, like the HP OfficeJet 8015e Wireless Color.
—
Lesley Robinson and Benjamin Hickok
You Might Also Like
