Brother HL-L2340DW Printer Review

When it comes to office equipment, nothing is quite as useful as a printer. Whether it’s printing out a memo or drafting a project, the printer is something of a lynchpin to the success of an office. Think about it this way, whenever the printer goes down, how does that affect productivity?
Brother is one of the best in the business when it comes to printer brands. The company makes a lot of high-quality products and office materials, and when talking about black and white printers, none is quite as incredible as the Brother HL-L2340DW. If you want a top of the line printer in your home or small office, this is the one for you.

Design and Build Quality
Brother HL-L2340DW is a relatively small sized compact printer. It measures 14.2 inches wide, 14 inches deep and 7.2 inches high. It will easily fit on your desk without taking up much room. The build quality is quite good for a printer in this price range and is made of solid plastic all around. There are few buttons on the top for navigation/menu selection and the printer also has a one-line LCD display to easily view/configure network and other settings. To some users the one-line LCD display without backlight may be very limiting as far as readability is concerned. However, we think it is a nice feature to have for easier menu navigation. Also, because the LCD and menu buttons are located on the top, the printer can't be installed where it will be hard to access like under a desk or in a cabinet. The printer setup is quite easy and can be connected to a computer either through a USB cable or wirelessly to a network. Be aware that a USB cable is not included, but it is also not required if you setup the printer wirelessly. The printer comes with a starter toner (Brother Printer TN630 Standard Yield Toner) which doesn't seem to dry out.

Fast Operation
In our fast paced modern world, users don’t want to spend precious time waiting for a printer to spit out their documents. Thankfully, this model is relatively fast when compared to other similar printers, with an advertised rate of up to 27 pages per minute. At this rate, it would take less than ten minutes to print out every piece of paper in the cartridge. In PCMag's performance test (see below), the printer was able to print at 8.9 pages per minute which is a very respectable speed albeit slightly lower than the Samsung M2835DW. For this reason, the HL-L2340DW is an excellent printer for offices or homes that need to print large documents such as research papers, pamphlets or manuscripts quickly and efficiently.

Wireless/Cloud Printing
Back in the old days, to print out a document you had to be connected to a printer physically via a USB cable. These days, you can print from anywhere including your mobile phone. With the Brother HL-L2340DW, you can print documents from almost any device. It is compatible with the IEEE 802.11 b/g/n wireless network and supports mobile/cloud printing by way of Apple AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, Google Chrome Print and an array of other platforms including Mac and Linux. The wireless setup is not necessarily difficult, if you know what you're doing. As long as you have your network name (SSID) and password on hand, you should be able to connect your printer to the network without wires. Another way of connecting wirelessly is through WPS (Wi-Fi Protected) setup if your router is compatible. You just need to push the ‘WPS’ button on your router and then the 'WIFI' button on the printer, and it should get connected pretty quickly.

High-Capacity
Because this printer operates at such high speeds, you need a large paper tray to ensure that you aren’t refilling it every few minutes. Thankfully, this printer has an adjustable, 250-sheet capacity paper tray that handles letter or legal size paper. In addition, there is a manual feed slot (1 sheet) for printing an assortment of different paper including envelopes and letterhead, which should be more than enough to last days, possibly weeks. For comparison, a ream of paper usually holds 600 sheets. The manual feed slot and rear paper exit also provide a straight-through paper path for printing envelopes, thicker media and custom sized paper.

Versatile Operation
Brother HL-L2340DW has an automatic duplex action, which means that you can print double-sided pages without having to load them in upside down. The machine will print on both sides simultaneously, saving you time and headaches. Additionally, you can print 2 times more and help lower operating cost with a high-yield replacement toner cartridge (Brother Printer TN660 High Yield Toner). If you're printing less critical documents, then you can use Toner Save Mode to save further. Also, if you have activated the Amazon Dash Replenishment Service (DRS) you will never run out of toner again as it will measure the toner level and automatically order a replacement toner from Amazon when it’s running low.

High-Definition
Finally, what makes this printer so amazing is that it prints quality. Since it is a monochrome printer, it prints black and white with good quality texts and images with a resolution of 2400x600 dpi. This printer is great for users where text clarity is important. The individual letters are free from any line breaks and fuzzy edges. However, images may not turn out to be as great as text. The images can appear a bit fuzzy on the edges but this is to be expected for a laser printer, as these generally can't be compared to the graphics output of an inkjet printhead. Overall, we think the print quality is good enough for small office/home use where graphics quality is not that important.

Pros
● Easy to use
● Good print quality (text)
● Lightweight design and durable construction
● Can print up to 250 pages without refill
● Relatively fast operation
● Can print on both sides at same time
● Toner doesn't dry out
● Lower costs
● More eco-friendly
● Prints at high-resolution (2400x600 dpi max)
● Wireless/Cloud printing
● Print from any computer or mobile device
● Works on Mac, Windows and Linux
Cons
● Lacks multi-function capability
● Black and white printing only
● Lacks Ethernet networking
● In rare cases, it may have trouble connecting to your device
● Cannot store that many printed pages before they start to cascade off
● Sub-par graphics print quality
● In some cases, the printer may take time to come out of sleep mode
● One-line LCD display

Click here for a closer look and buyer reviews.

Even though this printer is incredible, it does have one glaring piece missing: color printing. For that reason, it may not be an ideal product in your office. If you do need something that can create color pages, then we suggest these alternatives.

Brother HL-L5200DW Business Laser Printer
This is another winner by Brother. It is a bit larger and bulkier than the HL-L2340DW model, but it can process much more paper and print in vivid colors. Here are some highlights.
● Color printing
● Wireless and Ethernet networking
● Automatic duplex printing
● Up to 42 ppm
● 300-sheet paper capacity

Canon Office and Business MX922 All One Inkjet Printer
If size is an issue for your office or home, then we suggest this model from Canon. It’s a little smaller than the HL-L2340DW printer, but it has comparable specs and can print in vibrant colors. Features for this printer include:
● All-in-one operation (Printer, Scanner, Copier and Fax)
● Color printing
● Wireless netwoking
● Duplex printing
● Up to 15 ppm
● Smaller and more compact

ReviewsBucket's Verdict:
In summary, if you need a black and white printer for your small business or home office, the Brother HL-L2340DW printer is an amazing machine. It has a lot going for it with its fast operation, great text clarity, mobile printing support, ample paper handling features, versatile printing options and a somewhat low price. It is mostly suited for budget conscious users who care more about cost and will be mostly printing text.
Users looking for a multi-function monochrome laser printer should refer to our review of Brother DCPL2540DW. It has similar functionality to Brother HL-L2340DW but can however copy and scan as well.

[azcss]