Pros & Cons
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- Wicked-fast printing.
- Good text quality.
- Low running cost.
- Wi-Fi, WiFi Direct, Ethernet, and USB connectivity.
- Good standard and optional paper capacity.
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- Slightly below-par graphics.
Brother HL-L5200DW Specs
| Color or Monochrome | Monochrome |
| Connection Type | Ethernet |
| Connection Type | USB |
| Connection Type | Wireless |
| Maximum Standard Paper Size | Legal |
| Monthly Duty Cycle (Maximum) | 50000 pages per month |
| Number of Ink Colors | 1 |
| Print Duplexing | |
| Rated Speed at Default Settings (Mono) | 42 ppm |
| Type | Printer Only |
As a monochrome laser printer for up to heavy-duty use in a small or micro office or a workgroup, the Brother HL-L5200DW ($229.99) packs a lot of goodness into its small frame. It is fast for its price and speed rating, prints excellent text, has a wide range of connection choices, provides good paper handling, and has a low cost of ownership. This combination of features and performance makes the HL-L5200DW ($169.99 at Amazon) a great value and an easy selection as Editors' Choice.
Design and Features
At 10 by 14.7 by 15.3 inches (HWD), and 23.5 pounds the matte-black HL-L5200DW is typical in size and weight for its breed. It should be easy enough for one person to move into place, and can fit on a desk in a pinch. A single-line LCD facilitates setup and maintenance.
Paper handling is one of the HL-L5200DW's strengths. An auto-duplexer, for printing on both sides of a sheet of paper, comes standard. Maximum monthly duty cycle is 50,000 pages, pegging it for up to heavy-duty use. Standard paper capacity is 300 sheets, between a 250-sheet main tray and a 50-sheet multipurpose feeder. Optional 250-sheet ($158.49 list) and 520-sheet ($184.49 list) trays are available, with a maximum paper capacity of 1,340 sheets with the addition of two 520-sheet trays. Its standard paper capacity matches that of the Editors' Choice Dell B2360dn ($150.00 at Amazon) , but with that model you can only add a single optional 550-sheet tray, for a maximum of 850 sheets. For a bit more money, the Brother HL-L6200DW ($199.99 at Amazon) offers greater paper capacity than the HL-L5200DW, 570 sheets standard, and you can add optional trays for a maximum of 1,610 sheets. For most micro and small offices, though, the HL-L5200's paper handling should be more than enough.
The HL-L5200DW connects to a PC via a USB cable, or to a local network via Ethernet or Wi-Fi. It can also connect via a direct peer-to-peer connection to a compatible device via WiFi Direct. It supports Google Cloud Print, and works with the Brother iPrint&Scan app as well as Cortado Workplace, and is both AirPrint- and Mopria-compliant to facilitate printing from iOS and Android devices. The inclusion of wireless connectivity is what distinguishes it from the Brother HL-L5100DN ($149.99 at Amazon) . The Dell B2360dn lacks Wi-Fi, but offers it as a $49 option.
Printing Speed
I timed the Brother HL-L5200DW on our business applications suite (using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing) at 15.3 pages per minute (ppm), a good speed especially considering its 42ppm speed rating. (While rated speeds are based on text-only printing, our test suite includes text pages, graphics pages, and pages with mixed content). The Editors' Choice Dell B2360dn, rated at 40ppm, also turned in a 15ppm speed, as did the the Brother HL-L5100DN, rated at 42 ppm. The HL-L5200DW was faster than the Brother HL-L6200DW, which tested at 12.7ppm despite its 48ppm rated speed.
Output Quality
Overall output quality for the Brother HL-L5200DW was slightly above average in our testing, with above-par text, slightly sub-par graphics, and average photos. Output quality for photos, and especially text, is better than with the Dell B2360dn. The HL-L5200DW's text should be fine for any business use except perhaps for ones requiring tiny fonts.
Graphics are good enough for any internal business use, although I'd take a close look at PowerPoint handouts before passing them out. The HL-L5200DN did well in rendering thin lines against a dark background, and less well in differentiating between similar shades. It also had problems in printing dark text against a darker background.
Photo quality proved average for a mono laser The HL-L5200DN should be fine for printing out images from Web pages or files. The photo output is of newspaper quality, a fitting analogy as the most obvious flaw I noticed was dithering in the form of fine dot patterns.
Running Costs
The HL-L5200DW offers the same low running cost, based on Brother's price and yield figures for toner and drum, of 1.8 cents per page, as both the Brother HL-L5100DN and HL-L6200DW. The Dell B2360dn's running cost is a tad higher at 2 cents per page, while the Canon imageClass LBP151dw's ($199.99 at Amazon) per-page costs are higher still, at 3.5 cents.
Conclusion
The Brother HL-L5200DW is a strong choice in a mono laser printer for up to heavy-duty printing in a small or micro office. Among its strengths are its blazing speed, its good output quality led by above-par text, good standard and excellent optional paper capacity, multiple wired and wireless connectivity choices, and a low running cost.
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