HP LASERJET PRO MFP M125NW - PRINT SPEEDS

HP rates the LaserJet Pro MFP M125nw at 20ppm and we saw something close to that on our 20-page test, which returned 16.7ppm, though the 5-page document only gave 11.5ppm. This is a little odd, as the start-up time for print is particularly short, with most jobs starting in under 10s.

Draft mode, called Economode print, is very little quicker than normal print and a 5-page text and graphics print took 25s, giving 12ppm. Overall, print times are pretty good for a laser MFP in this class.

A single page copy took 15 seconds and a 15 x 10cm photo from a PC took just two seconds longer. An A4 photo printed from a Samsung Galaxy SIII smartphone took 52s. These speeds too are better than average for a sub-£150 multi-function.

One surprising result from out tests was how quiet this machine is. We measure noise levels at 0.5m, since that’s the kind of distance away you’ll be sitting with a printer on your desk. This machine measured 59dBA, which is the first time we’ve seen a sub-60dBA level in a long time. Subjectively, you’re not going to be disturbed by this printer.

HP LASERJET PRO MFP M125NW - PRINT QUALITY AND COSTS

Black text print is smooth and dense, which is what you want, and the printer’s native 600dpi resolution is enough to avoid any jagged edges. Greyscale graphics are smooth and there are enough shades to reproduce colours effectively. Photo reproduction is also good and we were impressed by the detail in a landscape image, printed at A4.

Economode print, which saves consumables, produces slightly odd, obviously spotty printouts which, while still being very readable, are not as good as from the draft modes of some other HP printers, including inkjets.

There’s one capacity of drum and toner cartridge for this machine, which is rated at 1,500 pages. At the best price we could find, this gives a page cost of 3.7p. This is high compared with similarly priced inkjet all-in-ones, but compares well with other laser-based printers in the same price bracket.