Monochrome vs. Color Printers

The printing industry has evolved drastically in the past two decades. 

Back in time, you could only print your documents and photos in black and white. After the introduction of color printers, we got more options.

However, not everyone needs the functionalities that color printers offer. The good old monochrome printer still has a place in today’s market. Besides the price, mono printers have several advantages over color printers.

In this article, we’ll explore the differences between monochrome and color printers to help you decide which printer to get.

Monochrome vs. Color: Versatility

With a color printer, the possibilities are endless. You can virtually print anything you want, including photos, art prints, and advertisements. You can even get a dye-sublimation printer to print on tshirts, pillows, and mugs. Not to mention that you can easily print black-text documents just like you would with a monochrome printer.

Moreover, printing in color makes your prints look better. Imagine taking a flyer that promotes a certain product only to find out that it’s printed in black and white. So, if you want to grab people’s attention more effectively, go for a color printer.

On the other hand, monochrome printers are limited to printing black and white documents only. They’re also capable of producing different shades of gray. 

If there are illustrations within the documents that require the reader to be aware of every single color, a mono printer won’t be very effective with that. You can print photos and other graphical work, but they will all be in black and white. 

Monochrome vs. Color: Technology

Nowadays, you can easily get either mono a laser or inkjet printer. There are no restrictions as both technologies have both mono and color variants.

Mono laser printers are much faster than color laser printers. Not to mention that they have lower running costs.

However, mono inkjet printers can usually print at higher resolutions than mono laser printers, in addition to having a lower initial cost. So, keep that in mind before making a decision.

Monochrome vs. Color: Speed

Whether you get a laser or inkjet printer, printing will always be faster in mono. Some mono printers can reach print speeds that exceed 30 ppm. If you do the math, this means that you can print up to 1800 documents in just an hour, making mono laser printers the ideal choice for businesses.

To wrap it up, if you’re 100% sure that you don’t need to print your documents in color, go for a mono printer to get fast print speeds.

Monochrome vs. Color: Ink Costs

The cost per page of color documents is significantly higher than mono documents. Color printing uses several ink cartridges, while mono printing requires only one.

Color ink is more expensive than black ink, so if you want to save on ink costs in the long run, go for a monochrome printer.

You can always opt for remanufactured ink cartridges. These are recycled ink cartridges that are very similar to the real deal, minus the high prices. You can also get a refillable-tank printer like the Epson EcoTank 3750.

Monochrome vs. Color: Physical Differences

Color Printers are equipped with more components and cartridges than monochrome printers, which is why most of them are usually bigger and heavier than mono printers. Monochrome printers are much more compact and easier to move around than color printers, especially the laser ones.

Final Thoughts

The choice between monochrome and color printers ultimately depends on your needs.

As we’ve mentioned earlier, mono printers have the advantages of faster speeds, lower ink costs, and cheaper initial price. They’re ideal for students, teachers, businesses, and almost any person or organization that needs to print large amounts of black text documents. 

However, a mono printer would be useless for those who like to print photos and other colored graphics like advertisements and art. 

If you really need to print in color, then a color printer seems to be the logical choice. And remember, color printers can be used to produce monochromatic documents just like a mono printer would.