Laser printers are no longer an extravagance for only large-sized enterprises. They’re now used by every size of business across every conceivable industry. Not only are there many cost-effective models, but they are also offered in compact sizes with wireless capabilities.

Compact wireless laser printers fit virtually any space and budget and are especially compatible for home and home office use. They’re ideal for those who need to print a lot, and these days, that includes most of us.

We'll take a look at 5 of the best compact WiFi laser printers from HP® available for you to buy right now. But first, let's consider what a wireless printer is and what you should keep in mind as you shop for one.

What is a wireless printer?

A wireless printer can communicate via standards-based technologies like Bluetooth or Wi-Fi radio transmissions. Wi-Fi, which uses radio waves to transmit information at 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies, allows you to print documents remotely.

How do wireless printers differ from network printers?

Network printers require direct connections to your computer via wire or cable interfaces. Wireless printers, on the other hand, connect using wireless technologies rather than cables. So wireless printers free you to print from virtually anywhere.

What is a compact printer?

A compact printer is one with a small, light footprint that takes up less space than larger and heavier models. They fit more easily into home offices and cubicles as well as smaller offices. Inkjet printers typically rule this category, although there are indeed compact laser printers that match the size and other benefits of inkjets.

How do laser printers differ from inkjet printers?

Inkjet and laser printers differ in several ways. Laser printers often print much faster with more precise lines than inkjet printers, and they’re outfitted with high-capacity paper trays.

While they’re usually larger than inkjet printers, these printers do come in compact sizes. The most important difference is probably the printing medium itself. Inkjet printers use ink, while laser printers use toner powder.

Features to consider

When choosing the best compact laser printer, there are a few features to consider.

Colour vs monochrome

Laser printers used to be black and white only; monochrome. Now you can find great wireless colour laser printers as well. While monochrome laser printers only use one toner cartridge, colour laser printers need four of them; black, cyan (blue), magenta, and yellow, which will increase your initial toner costs.

Keep in mind the types of documents that you regularly print when making your choice between colour and black and white. If most of your prints are long text documents or diagrams with precise black lines, then you may not need colour for your office printer.

Multifunction (MFP)

As the name suggests, a multifunction printer (MFP) doesn’t just print, but also performs one or more other tasks, including copying, scanning, and even faxing. MFPs are also known as All-in-One (AiO) printers. How you plan to use your laser printer will help determine which of these functions you require.

Pages per minute and print speed

Printer output varies widely across printers and depends on some factors including ink vs toner, and colour vs black only. Pages per minute (ppm) can average as much as 50 ppm or as few as 15 ppm. Laser printers are engineered to print faster, thus with higher ppm, than inkjet printers.

Maximum monthly duty cycle

Duty cycle refers to the maximum number of pages per month of imaged output that a printer can handle without negatively impacting the health of the printer and the quality of the prints. Laser printers with their toner cartridges can print thousands of pages each month. Many also have high-capacity paper trays to print more pages without user input.

Automated duplex (two-sided) printing

Some laser printers offer automated, or automatic, duplex printing, which doesn’t require you to have to manually feed the paperback into the printer. Duplex (or two-sided) printing helps reduce paper waste and, as a result, overall printing costs.

Capacity

A printer’s capacity is how many sheets of paper its trays (both input and output) can hold. This range anywhere from 50 to 250 sheets.

Best compact WiFI laser printers

1. HP LaserJet Pro M15w printer

One of the best HP small laser printers for home, the HP LaserJet Pro M15w is small enough to fit almost anywhere. It weighs only 8.4 lbs, which compares to many inkjet models, and measures 13.6-inches wide by 7.5-inches deep by 6.3-inches high.

Fast, easy printing

The smart and elegantly designed printer speeds through print jobs with print speeds of up to 19 ppm with the first page out in 8.1 seconds. This monochrome printer uses efficient, cost-effective, and pre-installed Original HP Toner cartridges, and prints up to approximately 1,000 pages with the replacement toner cartridge.

Save energy and reduce environmental impact

This HP LaserJet Pro printer is equipped with HP Auto-On/Auto-Off technology. This feature turns the printer on directly after it receives a new task, and turns it off after finishing it, helping to reduce energy waste during idle times. And to reduce environmental impact, it is also ENERGY STAR® approved with an EPEAT® Silver rating.

Print from anywhere

This small wireless laser printer lets you print easily from a variety of devices. Connect your smartphone or tablet directly to your printer and print without accessing a network. Wireless networking lets you seamlessly share resources as well. And with the HP Smart App, you can print from the cloud, scan from your smartphone, and easily order toner.

• Colour: No
• Multifunction: Print only
• Pages per minute: Up to 19 ppm
• Maximum monthly duty cycle: Up to 8,000 pages per month
• Automated duplex printing: No
• Capacity: 150 sheets input, 100 sheets output
• Printing apps supported: Apple AirPrint, Google Cloud Print 2.0, HP Smart App

2. HP LaserJet Pro MFP M29w printer

The HP LaserJet Pro MFP M29w is one of the best small WiFI laser printers, as well as the world's smallest laser in its class compared to the dimensions of a majority of worldwide personal monochrome laser MFPs. At just under 12 lbs, and at 14.2-inches wide by 10.4-inches deep and 7.8-inches high, it’s the perfect fit for virtually any space and budget.

An all-in-one to print from anywhere

This space-saving all-in-one printer is designed to fit your life and space, allowing you to print from any spot; table, shelf, counter, or desk. It’s perfect for individuals or small work teams looking for reliable, affordable performance in a compact and easy-to-use desktop device. Wireless networking lets you easily print from the cloud as well as from virtually any device.

Multifunction performance

Handle multiple tasks easily; print, scan, copy, and produce professional-quality documents from one device. Enjoy print speeds of up to 19 ppm with your first page out in 7.9 seconds. This printer makes it easy to copy both sides of identification cards onto one side of a document. And you can scan your files directly to PDF and email with preloaded business apps.

• Colour: No
• Multifunction: Yes; print, copy, and scan
• Pages per minute: Up to 19 ppm
• Maximum monthly duty cycle: Up to 8,000 pages per month
• Automated duplex printing: No
• Capacity: 150 sheets input, 100 sheets output
• Printing apps supported: Apple AirPrint, Google Cloud Print 2.0, HP Smart App

3. HP Colour LaserJet Pro MFP M283fdw printer

One of the best HP LaserJet printers available, as well as one of the best small laser printers for home use, the HP Colour LaserJet Pro MFP M283fdw is an efficient, wireless, and colour MFP that provides the high-quality colour. Save time with Smart Tasks in HP Smart App, and print and scan from your phone. This dynamic security-enabled printer offers faster, reliable connections with built-in dual-band Wi-Fi and strong security designed to help detect and stop attacks.

Enhance productivity with HP Smart App

This HP Colour LaserJet Pro MFP uses HP Smart App, the best-in-class mobile print app, to let you:

• Easily print and scan from your mobile device
• Get notifications when printing, scanning, or copying from your mobile device
• Scan to the cloud, email, and more in just a tap
• Organize documents approximately 50% faster with Smart Tasks, the first mobile print app that automates scanning tasks
• Eliminate the steps involved in repetitive tasks with customizable shortcuts within Smart Tasks

Quickly and easily print, scan, copy, and fax

The 50-page automatic document feeder helps you quickly and easily complete tasks, and automatic two-sided printing lets you speed through multipage documents. Print on virtually any kind of paper with this printer including plain, coloured, preprinted, recycled, rough, glossy, bond, brochure, heavy, letterhead, light, and photo. In addition, you can print to transparencies, labels, envelopes, and cardstock.

Easily manage print, scan, copy, and fax documents at the device with an intuitive 2.7-inch colour graphic touch screen.

Protect your data

This printer uses Original HP Toner cartridges with JetIntelligence, a technology that enables professional-quality pages, peak printing performance, and protection against counterfeits with innovative anti-fraud technology.

A dynamic security-enabled printer, the HP Colour LaserJet Pro MFP M283fdw helps protect your data with real-time threat detection and software validation. Detect, stop, and get notified about security breaches. It also has write-protected memory to help prevent malware intrusion.

• Colour: Yes
• Multifunction: Yes; print, copy, scan, and fax
• Pages per minute: Up to 22 ppm black or colour
• Maximum monthly duty cycle: Up to 40,000 pages per month
• Automated duplex printing: Yes
• Capacity: 250 sheets input, 100 sheets output
• Printing apps supported: HP ePrint, Apple AirPrint, Mobile Apps, HP Smart App

4. HP LaserJet Pro M118dw printer

The HP LaserJet Pro is a monochrome WiFi laser printer that is one of the best compact laser printers for home use. Weighing a transportable 15.2 lbs, it’s designed for individuals as well as micro-and small-sized business owners and home office users who are looking for high-productivity features at a reasonable price. Produce professional and consistent two-sided documents, and print easily from your mobile device.

Print professionally, precisely, and plentifully

Produce professional-quality pages in high performance with precise black Original HP Toner cartridges that print up to 1,000 pages with bold blacks, sharp text, and crisp graphics. That’s up to 40% more than comparable in-class products. Run this printer affordably, as well, thanks to the included HP Original LaserJet imaging drum, which lasts up to 23,000 pages.

Speedy, easy to use

Print rapidly with speeds of up to 30 ppm with the first pages ready as quickly as 6.6 seconds and multiple pages with automatic duplex printing. This printer also has a high-capacity 250-sheet main input tray, a 150-sheet output tray, and a 10-sheet priority tray. Enjoy voice-activated printing with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Microsoft Cortana.

• Multifunction: No
• Pages per minute: Up to 30 ppm
• Maximum monthly duty cycle: Up to 20,000 pages per month
• Automated duplex printing: Yes
• Capacity: 250 sheets input, 150 sheets output
• Printing apps supported: HP ePrint, HP Smart App, Apple AirPrint, Google Cloud Print

5. HP Colour LaserJet Pro MFP M182nw printer

Wireless printing is a breeze with the HP Colour LaserJet Pro MFP M182nw, which offers faster and more reliable connections with dual-band WiFi that’s compatible with operations at 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz frequencies. Your documents will print at speeds of up to 17 ppm, and the first page out in black will be ready in 11.6 seconds, while the first colour page completes in 13.5 seconds.

Multiple connectivity options

Easily print from virtually anywhere. It’s Mopria™ Certified and supports several printing apps, including HP Smart App, HP ePrint, Apple AirPrint, and Mobile Apps. In addition to its wireless capability, this printer offers standard connectivity options, with a high-speed USB 2.0 port, and a built-in Fast Ethernet 10/100 Base-TX network port.

Print, copy, and scan effortlessly

The HP Colour LaserJet Pro MFP M182nw is one of the best compact laser printers for home use. Effortlessly print, copy, and scan directly at the control panel. While this model is slightly heavier than the others on our list at 34.6 lbs, it takes up a relatively small footprint of 16.5-inches wide by 15-inches deep and 11.5-inches high.

This dynamic security-enabled printer uses Original HP Toner cartridges with anti-fraud JetIntelligence technology, so you can be assured that you’re enjoying the authentic cartridges that you paid for, along with the superior colour.

• Colour: Yes
• Multifunction: Yes, print, copy, and scan
• Pages per minute: Up to 17 ppm black and colour
• Maximum monthly duty cycle: Up to 30,000 pages per month
• Automated duplex printing: No/manual
• Capacity: 150 sheets input, 100 sheets output
• Printing apps supported: HP ePrint, Apple AirPrint, Mobile Apps, HP Smart App

A printer for everyone

Whether you’re looking for a monochrome (black ink only) printer, a colour printer, or an MFP (or AiO printer), you’re sure to find the model you need among the compact wireless laser printers outlined above. However, the HP LaserJet Pro MFP M29w stands out as the best all-around compact laser printer from HP®.