Brother HL-2035

The HL-2035 is a budget laser. Its price is that of an entry-level inkjet, but it can print 1,000 pages straight away. That is 1,000 pages on the starter toner, instead of the 1,500 on a regular toner cartridge. This of course makes it tricky to compare it with the other models. The Epson 6200L is shipped with a 3,000 cartridge. In order to be able to compare their prices, you have to see how much the HL-2035 would cost were it supplied with a higher capacity cartridge. Once you’ve done the maths, it is clear that the Brother is less impressive in terms of costs.

Speed and Quality

The quoted print speed by Brother is 18 ppm. The HL-2035 is actually even faster than that:18,3 ppm according to our tests, be it in draft mode or standard. Text prints well. You can even use the draft mode on an everyday basis, the black ink prints deeply and the letters are sharp. This brings the cost per page down as you save on toner. Graphics and pictures however come out slightly fuzzy.


Cost per page

Although a HL-2035 toner cartridge normally prints 1,500 pages, the ‘starter’ cartridge supplied here is only good for 1,000. This little trick, again common to most manufacturers, means you start paying for consumable earlier.