HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 3301sdw Review

My reliable and fully functional HP OffieJet 8600 All-in-One printer finally died after over 10 years of service. I could have taken it to a service center, but that would have likely cost almost as much as buying a new printer. Given that it was old, noisy, and even had some security issues due to a lack of updates, I got a new printer. And I went with an upgrade! Enter the HP Color LaserJet Pro Multi-Function Printer 3301sdw.

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Background: What I was looking for in a printer

I was happy with my HP OfficeJet 8600. It had an automatic document feeder that made copies and scanning documents easy. The color prints were pretty good. It also had the ability to scan documents to a network folder. Importantly, it could also print duplex. The all-in-one printer could send and receive faxes, but I never used those features. It worked well with my Linux and Chromebook computers. And, it had a fully functional web interface.

Now the downsides. It wasn’t the fastest printer, but I rarely needed it to be fast. It also wasn’t the quietest printer. In fact, it was quite noisy when starting up or printing. It seemed to drink ink and that ink is expensive! From a security perspective, a few years ago I had to downgrade the version of SMB my network file shares were running because the printer wasn’t compatible and was no longer receiving firmware updates. Similarly, my web browsers refused to open the HTTPS portions of the web interface because the version of TLS they used was so old.

So, even if it hadn’t stopped working, it was probably time to replace the printer anyway.

Replacement criteria

I want all the features my old printer had — duplex printing, scanning, automatic document feeder, color printing — except for faxing. Not a feature I need. I also need the printer the be able to print in color and be about the same size or smaller as I want the printer to fit in the same spot as my recently deceased OfficeJet.

Of course, I want it to be a network printer. I prefer a wired connection for anything that isn’t mobile, and it should be able to send scans to network folders. I also would like it to print faster and quieter.

One thing that occurred to me is that decades ago I had an HP LaserJet 5P. I used to work at Hewlett-Packard, in the business printer division. Our location closed down and they allowed me to take the LaserJet 5P I had at my desk home. It didn’t print in color. It didn’t print fast by today’s standards. And it didn’t do duplex. But it printed in high quality and I had it for years and never once had to change the toner cartridge.

Laser printers use toner cartridges instead of ink. Unlike ink, toner cartridges can sit unused for long periods. Laser printers are generally faster and print sharper text than inkjets. Inkjets generally print color and images better, but today’s laser printers do a great job of printing color.

So, if I can get a laser printer with all the features I want for just a little more than an inkjet I’d jump at the chance. That leads me to the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 3301sdw (man, that is a mouthful).

HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 3301sdw specs

Functions:	Print, copy, scan
Print speed:	26 ppm
Resolution:	600 x 600 dpi (black and color)
Display:	4.3″ Backlit TFT (480 x 272)
Dimensions (W x D x H):	16.46 x 16.5 x 13.44 in (17.91 in with tray open)
Weight:	37.7 lb
Power:	416 watts (printing), 7.6 watts (ready), 0.95 watts (sleep), 0.05 watts (auto-off), 0.05 watts (manual-off)
Paper Trays:	2
Paper Tray Size:	250 sheets Main Input Tray, 1 sheet Priority Feed Tray
Mobile Printing Capability:	HP Smart App; Apple AirPrint™; Mobile Apps; Mopria™ Certified; Wi-Fi® Direct Printing
Connectivity:	802.11ac, Gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0
OS Compatibility:	Windows 11; Windows 10; Android; iOS; macOS 12 Monterey; macOS 13 Ventura; MacOS v14 Sonoma; Linux
Duplex Printing:	Automatic
Paper Sizes:	Letter; Legal; Executive; Oficio 8.5 x 13; 4 x 6 in; 5 x 8 in; Envelope #10; Envelope Monarch, A4; A5; A6; B5 (JIS); B6 (JIS); 10 x 15 cm; Oficio 216 x 340 mm; 16K 195 x 270 mm; 16K 184 x 260 mm; 16K 197 x 273 mm; Postcard (JIS); Envelope B5; Envelope C5; Envelope DL; A5-R
Media Types:	Paper (bond, brochure, colored, glossy, heavy, letterhead, light, plain, preprinted, prepunched, recycled, rough), transparencies, labels, envelopes, cardstock

This printer is fast. It prints an initial page in about 10 seconds! It comes with enough toner to print a couple hundred pages, but then you’ll need to buy more toner. The official HP toner is expensive but has ridiculous capacity (~1500 pages). You can buy non-HP toner, but you’ll need to remove the chip from the official HP toner and affix it to the aftermarket toner. Most aftermarket toner comes with tools to make this process simple.

It’s important to note the printer has scan-to-network and scan-to-email features, which I’ll discuss in more detail later.

Also, there are at least two other models of the HP 3301 Laser Printer. In addition to the 3301sdw, there is the 3301fdw and the 3301cdw. I’ll cover the differences in these models in the alternative section of this article.

Set up and use

The 3301sdw’s initial setup was as simple as plugging in the ethernet and power cords, turning it on, and selecting the language and country. At that point, I could already add the printer to my computers. My Ubuntu (Linux) desktop and Chromebook automatically discovered the printer, so it was just point and click.

Scan-to-network-folder

Next, I set up the scan-to-network-folder capability. This allows me to scan a document directly to my Network Attached Storage (NAS). This will work with any file share you set up on your computer.

The YouTube video below walks through how to do this in detail.

Note the use of “Quick Sets” in this video. I used the Quick Sets to set up two different scanning locations. I like that you can set up in advance the format you want the scan in (PDF, JPEG, TIFF), how you want the scan named, and other features.

When you want to use the Quick Sets, you just press the one you want it will be scanned to your desired location.

Scan-to-email

Last, I set up the scan-to-email feature. To do this you need to have access to an SMTP server. If you have a Gmail account (here are Gmail SMTP settings) or some other email provider, chances are they have an SMTP server you can configure. I should note that the setup for these features can be done via the HP Smart app or the Embedded Web Server (EWS). If you run Windows, you may also be able to use the Scan to Email Wizard scan-to-email. I went with the EWS.

To access the EWS, you’ll need to know the printer’s IP address (which you can get from your router or the printer’s TFT control panel) and you’ll initially need the default PIN to log in as administrator. You can get the PIN from a label on the inside of the printer where you install the toner cartridges. After you initially log in you can create your own password.

The steps for doing this are straightforward. I can’t explain the steps better than this YouTube video from HP:

I set up my SMTP server and was able to enter email addresses directly on the panel. As noted in the video above you can also set up an address book so users can select email addresses instead of typing them in on the panel. But even better — you can set up quick actions just like you saw in the video for the scan-to-network-folder.

I set up Quick Actions to send the scan to my email, and to my wife’s email. You just have to press the right button.

Adding the 3301sdw to Home Assistant

Home Assistant, being the best home automation hub that it is, detected this printer when I put it on the network. You can add it to Home Assistant and use and track the ink levels.

Using the 3301sdw

The printer prints fast, with high-quality prints. I was a little concerned the color prints wouldn’t be as good as my outgoing inkjet printer, but I was wrong. They are much better, and I don’t think I’ll miss the inkjet prints of the HP 8600 at all. I guess I should have expected that a model more than 10 years newer would be better no matter what.

I like the fact that it doesn’t need extra space for printed pages. My old printer had a tray that stuck out and often was bumped into. This printer places finished prints conveniently underneath the scanning bed, and it doesn’t stick out at all and yet can still hold 100 pages.

After a little bit of setup, scanning to email and network folders is easy and reliable. And, it is easy to customize the features in the future if I want to.

Alternatives to the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 3301sdw

There is also an HP 3301fdw and an HP 3301cdw. First off, those two printers are the same, they are just sold at different locations. The FDW is sold directly from HP and on places like Amazon. The CDW is sold at big box stores like Costco.

So what are the differences between those models and the SDW I purchased? The 3301sdw does not do faxing and although it prints in duplex it does not automatically copy in duplex from the automatic document feeder, although you can scan two sides on their own and have them printed in duplex. The 3301fdw and 3301cdw have both of these features.

The other big difference? The price. The 3301fdw/cdw is usually $100 to $200 more than the 3301sdw. I stuck with the 3301sdw because it was already at the upper end of what I wanted to pay for a printer, and I don’t think I’ll do much duplex copying, and when I do, I can handle doing it manually.

Brother also makes an excellent laser printer that is out of my budget, but you might want the consider it. The Brother MFC-L3780CDW is a little larger than the other printer on this list, but it is also more capable. It has 2 large paper trays that can store different types of paper. It prints even faster than the HP laser printers I considered at 30 ppm. Additionally, it has a higher duty cycle which means it is rated to print more often and still last.

If you’d prefer an inkjet printer and want a similar set of features for less consider the HP Inkjet 9125e. This was the printer I almost bought before I decided I wanted a Laser printer. As a bonus, its ADF does automated duplex copying. You could also look at the Brother MFJ-J4335 which is even less expensive and also has a similar feature set.

Below are the alternative printers I discussed.

Final thoughts

I love the features of this printer. It is a snap to set up, it is lightning fast, and it produces great prints. It’s also easy to use and I can easily recommend the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 3301sdw.