HP is one of the best printer brands on the market, so you already know that the Color LaserJet Pro 3201dw offers good build quality and customer support, but we test each new model to assess its print performance, color accuracy, ease of use, and long-term value.

I put the Color LaserJet Pro 3201dw through its paces to identify any problematic details and find out if it deserves a place on our list of the best color laser printers.

design

HP’s Color LaserJet Pro 3201dw is a compact printer, measuring 15.4 x 16.5 inches and 10 inches tall, meaning it fits into a small workspace better than many color laser printers. Weighing just over 30 pounds, it’s also lighter than most.

The minimalist design with a white casing and dark gray accents fits in with any decor. The two-inch monochrome display is mounted at a fixed 30-degree angle at the top right. This makes it comfortable to use while standing or sitting. Instead of a touchscreen, HP has equipped the Color LaserJet Pro 3201dw with navigation at the touch of a button.

The lower paper tray holds 250 sheets and has clearly labeled guides. A single-sheet media tray provides easy access to labels and envelopes. It’s not as convenient as a tray that fits a stack of labels at once.

Simpler designs are common in low-cost printers. Performance, quality and consumable costs are more important when you are looking for a budget solution.

Printing performance

The HP Color LaserJet Pro 3201dw is fast, printing up to 26 pages per minute when printing long documents or multiple copies. For single pages, I was able to get my print out in 11 seconds. That’s faster than the first page out time (FPO) of many more expensive color laser printers.

Color documents look great, with no banding in charts or color blocks. Text is legible even in small print, and monochrome is crisp and dark. Images are good, but not as nice as the photo quality I enjoyed when testing the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 4301dw. This is a more expensive printer, so better performance is to be expected.

The Color LaserJet Pro 3201dw is not a photo printer and shadows are not detailed, but for a laser printer it does the job well. Inkjet printing is still better than laser printing if you want to print photo-quality images.

Software and compatibility

Setting up the Color LaserJet Pro 3201dw was straightforward but slow. HP’s button navigation and menu layout are surprisingly awkward. For example, the arrow keys don’t flip when setting the date and time.

To reach 55 minutes past the hour, I went from clicking up to pressing down repeatedly. Also, to scroll, I have to press down repeatedly. A feature to press and hold or turn the page when moving in the opposite direction should have been implemented. Entering the WiFi password is time consuming, so use the WPS button option if your router supports it.

After setup was complete, I printed a photo and noticed an alignment issue. The magenta toner was too low on the page relative to cyan, yellow, and black, causing a double exposure effect. I checked the menu to see if there was a calibration or alignment option to fix the problem. Calibration didn’t help, and the print quality troubleshooting page only helps with banding.

Ultimately, I had to replace the magenta toner cartridge to solve the problem. Luckily, I had a compatible HP 218A cartridge on hand. After the replacement, the color alignment was perfect. I looked at online seller reviews and found that this is not a common problem. However, it did highlight the Color LaserJet Pro 3201dw’s limited menu options and navigation difficulties.

In everyday use, the HP Color LaserJet Pro 3201dw is fast and reliable when printing from my Windows PC and MacBook. The HP Smart mobile app supports iOS and Android, but I found that advanced options open in a browser that requires entering a PIN code on the front of the printer.

Price

The HP Color LaserJet Pro 3201dw costs $339. I’ve also seen it for $259, which is an even more attractive deal. These are reasonable upfront prices for a fast, generally reliable color laser printer. The bigger concern might be the long-term cost of toner.

The starter cartridges included with the Color LaserJet Pro 3201dw are a bit light and contain enough toner for about 600 pages in black and white and 500 pages in color. For comparison, Brother’s $300 HL-L3280CDW contains much more toner, enough for 1,000 pages in black and white and 1,000 pages in color.

When it’s time to refill toner for your Color LaserJet Pro 3201dw, high-capacity cartridges offer significant long-term cost savings.

A standard black ink cartridge typically lasts for 1,300 pages and costs about 5 cents per page. If your budget allows, the extra cost of a high-capacity cartridge is worth it, as it can print up to 3,200 pages and the cost per page drops to 3 cents.

The savings are even greater for color documents. A standard color cartridge can print 1,200 pages at a cost of 20 cents per page, while a high-yield toner cartridge can print up to 2,500 pages at a cost of 14 cents per page.

Is this the right printer for you?

The HP Color LaserJet Pro 3201dw is a fast color laser printer with good quality for a cheap home office printer, but there are better options. HP’s fantastic Color LaserJet Pro 4201dw is available for as little as $399, just $60 more than the retail price of the Color LaserJet Pro 3201dw.

Canon’s imageClass MF654cdw has an automatic document feeder so you can scan, copy and print – and it costs less. Brother’s 31 ppm HL-L3295CDW comes with enough toner for 2,300 black and white and 1,200 color pages and costs $370, just $30 more than the Color LaserJet Pro 3201dw.

It’s not that HP’s Color LaserJet Pro 3201dw is a bad printer, but its awkward user interface and fairly high price for a budget printer make it something I can recommend.

We’ve put together a guide to the best cheap printers that might help you find what you’re looking for. Also, check out our list of best printer deals to save even more on a great printer.