What’s the Difference Between Printer Toner and Printer Ink Cartridges?

Last Updated on August 14, 2023 by Christian Ralph

If you’re purchasing a printer, whether for the home or the office, one of the choices you’ll have to make is whether to go with laser or inkjet printing technology.

In the past, inkjet printers were almost exclusively used for home printing, with laser printers a more natural choice for the workplace. However, in the last few years, the size and price of laser printers has dropped significantly, opening up this option to both home and small business users.

Here, we look at the differences between printer toner and printer ink cartridges, and how they can influence your choice of printer.

Printer ink cartridges

Inkjet printers use cartridges of ink which is sprayed onto the paper through microscopic nozzles. The cartridges are cheap to buy, although for colour printers you will need to buy four of these: black, cyan, magenta and yellow. Colour printers with the four separate cartridges offer better value than those that take a black plus a tri colour cartridge, as you can replace a specific colour when it runs out rather than needing to replace the whole tri colour tank.

Each inkjet cartridge will print around 250 sheets with an average coverage of 5%, so costs start at around 3p a sheet but often cost much more than this depending on the brand.

Printer toner

Laser printers use toner cartridges that are filled with fine, dry powder which is transferred to the paper via a drum unit that has been electrostatically charged.

The pricing and yield of toner varies quite a bit. Coloured toner cartridges tend to be a little more expensive with a lower yield. For a coloured laser printer, you may need to purchase four sets of toner, and although these will produce a total of several thousand sheets, the upfront cost is quite expensive for a home user or small business. Of course, because printer toner lasts much longer, it means that you don’t have to change the cartridge so often.

Laser Printer Toner Cartridges generally provide page yields in the thousands, bring per page costs down with many models providing costs of around 1p per page.

Print quality

For printing regular black and white text with a standard font size of 12pt or more, toner and inkjet cartridges give similar results in terms of quality. However, for black and white text with small fonts or intricate details, lasers perform better.

When it comes to colour printing, the quality that a colour laser printer can produce is limited by its resolution which is typically in the 600 – 1200 dpi range. The colours produced by toner can be less vivid in comparison with inkjet cartridges, and laser printers can sometimes struggle with printing large areas of the same or gradually changing colour. Colour laser printers are therefore better suited to printing colour documents rather than photographs.

Inkjet printers will often have far more impressive capabilities, with even the cheapest models offering resolutions of 4800 dpi and up, and these tend to be a better choice for high quality colour printing such as photographs and art work.

Cost

There is still a little difference in price between inkjet and laser printers when it comes to initial acquisition. Inkjets start at around £64 excl. VAT, and laser printers start at around £49 excl. VAT.

However, acquisition and ink aren’t the only considerations when it comes to cost, so far as laser printers are concerned. Some laser printers also require the drum to be replaced periodically, for every 5,000 to 50,000 pages printed depending on the model. Some additionally require fuser units that prevent the molten toner from sticking to the printer’s rollers – since the oil is a consumable, it will need replacing from time to time.

That said, laser printers are hardworking and produce high-quality text at a rapid pace, making them an ideal solution for heavy users. And although toner cartridges are more expensive, they won’t dry out like inkjet cartridges can. Many laser printers are delivered with a full toner cartridge in the box, whereas inkjets often just come with a starter cartridge. Many laser models also include or are eligible to claim extended on-site warranties for peace of mind.

Modern LED laser printers, like these from OKI, have been built with fewer moving parts, making them more reliable and accurate than traditional print systems.

Take a look at our full range of ink cartridges and toner here