Google just announced the third generation of Wear OS-powered devices since its return to the smartwatch domain. We say devices because this time around, there are two variants — a standard 41mm model and a larger 45mm version.
Apart from the additional bigger size option, the Pixel Watch 3 looks nearly identical to last year’s Pixel Watch 2. So, if you bought the latter in 2023, does upgrading make sense? Or, if you’ve been eyeing the Pixel Watch, you could get a discounted price on the previous generation, so should you buy the Pixel Watch 2 instead?
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These are two very important questions. Let us answer them for you in the comparison below.
The Google Pixel Watch 3 comes in a circular outer body without many visible changes from last year’s model. The addition of a bigger 45mm is perhaps the biggest change in hardware we see this year. Despite the wider landscape, the 45mm is as thick as the smaller 41mm variant, which remains largely unchanged from last year. We found that the underside of the Pixel Watch 3 does pick up a lot of scratches very easily, so it’s worth keeping this in mind.
The watch has a rotating crown/button combo placed almost flush with the body, which is made of 100% recycled aluminum, and comes in clear silver, champagne gold, or matte black finishes paired to the same band colors last year — except for a new “Rose Quartz” that is limited to the smaller 41mm variant. The Bay Blue band option will no longer be an option in the default set but you can purchase other blue bands — besides chains, metal links, fabrics, and a whole range of options — separately.
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While the design lacks any radical changes over the previous generation, the display gets a major upgrade. Both the 41mm and the 45mm models get a newer variant of Google’s “Actua” displays with a peak brightness of 2,000 nits. That’s twice as bright as the 1,000-nit display on the Pixel Watch 2. In addition to getting brighter, the display can also get as low as 1 nit on the always-on display (AOD), so it doesn’t scorch your eyes in the dark.
Joe Maring / Digital Trends
The new display also gets variable refresh rate that reaches as low as 1Hz when needed. The primary objective here is to reduce battery consumption, especially with an AOD.
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In addition, the displays feature slimmer bezels. Google says the 41mm’s display is now 10% bigger than last year despite any changes to the overall dimensions. Irrespective of their sizes, both displays get the same level of sharpness at 320 ppi (pixels per inch), so you shouldn’t have any trouble reading text, though interacting with the watch, and especially typing on a full-sized keyboard, is likely to be better on the 45mm variant. The bigger variant’s screen is 40% larger than that of the previous models, and this makes for a much better viewing experience, including seeing more information in notifications.
Other than the display, there aren’t any noticeable changes to the hardware on the Pixel Watch 3. Google doesn’t explicitly list any upgrades to the set of sensors on the Pixel Watch 3 over the last generation, and we can take this silence as a sign of no reasonable upgrades.
That said, the Pixel Watch 2 already had a versatile set of sensors. In addition to the standard heart rate and blood-oxygen monitor sensors, the Pixel Watch 2 — and now the Watch 3 — features sensors to monitor skin temperature and ECG. Meanwhile, another dedicated sensor to measure electrical conductance in the skin can detect changes in mood and alert you in moments of stress. Though being reminded of your worries may not be useful for everyone, it may be helpful for people who suffer physiological conditions with stress as a sign of worsening symptoms.
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Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Inside, the Pixel Watch 3 still uses a Snapdragon Wear 5100 chip with an M33 co-processor for low-level tasks such as AOD. The two-chip configuration helps limit the load on the main chip, thereby reducing the battery consumption. It’s backed up by a 2GB RAM and 32GB of storage, the same as the previous generation.
Although the Pixel Watch 3 lacks any notable changes to sensors for fitness tracking, Google advertises a wide range of improvements using AI. Google claims the improved training algorithms, part of the Fitbit Premium experience, now offer more precise recommendations and insight so you can adjust the intensity of your training. The Pixel Watch 3 will also give you a rundown of your condition at the start of the day with Fitbit’s Morning Brief functionality. This includes insights about your sleep quality, any overnight changes to your vitals, and the weather.
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Additionally, you will now be able to create routines with the Pixel Watch 3, including a sequence of difference workouts and buffers in between for rest or cooldown. You can also desired targets for distance, heart rate, and similar metrics, and the Pixel Watch 3 ensures you keep up or slow down accordingly by using audio-based and haptic reminders. For running-related activities, the Pixel Watch 3 is gaining additional metrics such as vertical oscillation and duration of contact with the ground.
Furthermore, the Pixel Watch 3 now shows a Readiness score with an improved AI while Cardio Load tells you the ideal amount of activity you should pursue on any specific day based on various metrics, including recovery from sleep and similar workouts in the past.
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There are also new running recommendations powered by AI that use your Readiness Score, Target Load and running preference to provide a daily recommended run plan. As we found in our Pixel Watch 3 review, having your watch tell you precisely the kind of run to undertake is incredibly helpful in improving the variety of your running, making warm-ups more consistent, and ensuring you can enjoy running more. Like detailed sleep tracking, mindfulness sessions, guided workouts and recipes, this feature is locked behind Fitbit Premium — which costs $10 per month or $80 per year — although you will get six months for free when you buy the Pixel Watch 3.
Google Pixel Watch 2Joe Maring / Digital Trends
The Pixel Watch 3 runs the newest version of Wear OS 5, although you may not notice many visual differences from the older Wear OS 4. In addition to the already existing Google Home controls on the Pixel Watch 2, the Watch 3 also gain controls to your TVs and dongles running Google TV, which presumably also includes the new Streamer box Google announced last week. In addition, you can also view and control your Nest cameras, including being able to talk to people through a Nest doorbell.
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Since all of these features are available through software, Google might roll them out to the Pixel Watch 2 or even the older first-gen Watch when they receive the Wear OS 5.0 update.
The smaller 41mm Pixel Watch 3 gets the same 309mAh battery as the older Pixel Watch 2, which can last over a day of usage with the AOD enabled. The larger 45mm variant comes with a bigger 420mAh battery adjusted for the higher power requirements of the larger display. For both of these sizes, Google claims a 24-hour battery life with an AOD and 36 hours with the battery saver.
In our testing, we’ve found that the Pixel Watch 3 regularly exceeds its stated claims, a surprise given this rarely happens. The Pixel Watch 3 lasts around a day and a half between charges with the always-on-display enabled, multiple tracked workouts, sleep tracking overnight, and notifications being delivered all day. This is a definite improvement over the Pixel Watch 2.
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Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
The Pixel Watch 3 comes the same magnetic puck with physical pogo pin connectors for charging. Without disclosing the exact charging speeds, Google says charging is 20% faster than last year. As per official claims, the 41mm variant charges 80% in 35 minutes (compared to 43 minutes earlier) while a full charge takes an hour. The larger variant will take slightly longer, owing to the larger battery. Google says the bigger Pixel Watch 3 can charge 80% in 50 minutes, while a full charge takes 80 minutes.
Once again, we will test these claims in real-life scenarios during our review.
All four colorways for the Google Pixel Watch 3 41mmGoogle
The Pixel Watch 3 is available now. The smaller 41mm Pixel Watch 3 is priced at $349 without cellular connectivity and $449 with it. The larger 45mm variant is available for $399 and $449 without and with LTE, respectively.
In comparison, the Pixel Watch 2 launched originally for $350 and $400 for Wi-Fi only and cellular variants. However, over the course of the months since its launch, the prices have dipped, and even reached as low as $270 for the sale events such as the recent Amazon Prime Day in July.
The Pixel Watch 3 barely picks up any new features over the Watch 2, apart from a variant with a larger display. That means if you already own a Pixel Watch 2, upgrading makes little sense.
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However, if you want to buy one and are deciding between the Pixel Watch 3 and the Watch 2, we recommend going for the former. In addition to a new version of Wear OS and improved health metrics and AI-based recommendations, the Pixel Watch 3 will also get an additional year of software support from Google. And if you haven’t bought the Pixel Watch previously due to its smaller size, the new 45mm variant solves that too. Other reasons to choose the Pixel Watch 3 over the Watch 2 include the slightly faster battery backup and the brighter screen.
As we covered in the review, Google has undeniably refined the experience with the Pixel Watch 3. It fixes a few lingering issues from the second-gen model while adding useful features. The result is one of the best smartwatches you can buy right now.
The best color laser printers are a great investment that can save you time and money compared to cartridge-based inkjet printers. Laser printers use toner, which lasts a long time, delivering a low cost per page for monochrome documents and incredibly fast color prints. The best color laser printers offer high-quality prints and reliability that help keep your home office or small business productive.
If you need to scan documents for record-keeping and photo capture or want the convenience of a color copier, an all-in-one color laser printer is an essential tool for your small business or personal use. For a small added cost, you get expanded capabilities. That’s why we include several all-in-one models from the best printer brands.
Digital Trends has been reviewing printers for 20 years and testing them to determine which ones offer the best quality and fastest speeds. We check the long-term value of each printer, so you’ll know in advance if a low-cost printer is truly affordable or if it has outrageous toner costs.
Printers are complex machines that require a good understanding of the technology to make a solid recommendation. Our hands-on reviews help you make informed decisions by highlighting compatibility concerns and how well advertised features actually work.
There are several key factors to consider when choosing a color laser printer. Purchase price matters, but long-term costs can add up quickly. Review the entire list to find the perfect printer.
Print quality and color fidelity
If you’re choosing color, you need more than a hard copy — you want your document to look great. You still need razor-sharp text, but it’s essential for colors to match what you see on-screen and in photos without banding or streaks.
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Speed and economy
A laser printer should be fast and efficient with low running costs. Otherwise, you should choose a more versatile and lower-cost inkjet printer.
Special features
All-in-one printers include scan, copy, and sometimes fax functions, filling multiple roles in your office. Many printers offer duplex printing (double-sided), an automatic document feeder (ADF), multiple paper trays, Wi-Fi connectivity, and walk-up printing. These details could be critically important when making a purchase decision.
Why you should buy this: It’s a modern, eco-friendly color laser printer with great speed and quality.
Who’s it for: Home offices and small businesses that need to print documents quickly.
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Why we picked the HP Color LaserJet Pro 4301fdw:
With blistering fast print and scan speeds, the HP Color LaserJet Pro 4301fdw makes short work of challenging jobs. It prints 35 pages per minute (ppm) for monochrome and color documents and scans with its ADF at 31 ppm.
Color documents look great and photos come out nice even on plain paper. A USB port allows walk-up printing via a thumb drive, making the LaserJet Pro 4301fdw an excellent all-in-one printer for home and office.
HP Color LaserJet Pro 4301fdw
Best all-in-one color laser printer
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Canon imageClass MF654cdw product shot on white background.
Alan Truly / Digital Trends
Canon imageClass MF654Cdw
Best budget color laser printer
Pros
Bargain price
Great print quality
Fast performance
Good photo quality
Media tray for easy envelope printing
Cons
No duplex scanning
High color toner cost
Why you should buy this: It’s the best budget-friendly option for home offices.
Who it’s for: Home offices that want an affordable and dependable color laser printer.
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Why we picked the Canon imageClass MF654Cdw
If all you need is a printer that’s fast, reliable, and has great quality at an affordable price, Canon’s imageClass MF654Cdw offers great value. On sale, it can be found as low as $300, a great bargain for a color laser printer with great color graphics quality. With a slight tweak to settings, you can set photos to print at 1200 dots-per-inch, resulting in good plain paper pictures.
At 22 pages-per-minute, it’s not the fastest color laser printer, but it works well for standard-size documents. The 5-inch color touchscreen and USB-A port on the front makes walk-up printing simple.
Canon imageClass MF654Cdw
Best budget color laser printer
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Alan Truly / Digital Trends
HP Color LaserJet Pro 4201dw
Best deal on a color laser printer
Pros
Lightning-fast print speeds
Good print quality
Two paper trays
Easy setup and use
Reliable operation
Cons
Fixed-angle, monochrome display
Color cost per page is just OK
Why you should buy this: It’s a great bargain on an excellent HP color laser printer.
Who it’s for: Anyone upgrading to a faster color laser printer.
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Why we picked the HP Color LaserJet Pro 4201dw:
A top-of-the-line HP color laser printer usually costs a lot more than this. The list price is $570 but HP has an introductory sale that prices the Color LaserJet Pro 4201dw like a budget model.
The HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 4201dw outputs the first page in a speedy nine seconds and has sustained print speeds of up to 35 ppm. That matches the pace of our top pick and triples the color document speed of most inkjet printers. Yet, photo quality is great for a laser printer.
A clever dial makes controlling the Color LaserJet Pro 4201dw easy. It also features a USB-A port on the top so you can plug in a thumb drive for easy walk-up printing.
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Automatic two-sided printing saves paper on long documents and high-yield toner cartridges cut the cost per page to 2 cents for black and 12 cents for color prints. Setup is quick and easy with the HP Smart mobile app, or you can connect the LaserJet Pro MFP 4201dw directly to a Windows PC or Mac.
HP Color LaserJet Pro 4201dw
Best deal on a color laser printer
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Alan Truly / Digital Trends
Brother HL-L3295CDW
Best color laser printer for low-cost toner
Pros
Excellent color document print quality
Fast prints on long documents
Low toner cost with super high-yield cartridges
Includes over 1,000 pages worth of toner
Walk-up USB port for quick printing
Low noise
Cons
Screen is hard to see when seated
Touchscreen use is awkward
Paper curls
Why you should buy this: It’s a color laser printer that supports XXL toner cartridges.
Who it’s for: Offices that print in color frequently and need to minimize the cost per page.
Why we picked the Brother HL-L3295CDW:
The Brother HL-L3295CDW is a great choice for high-volume printing. It’s an affordable color laser printer with surprisingly low-cost toner. One of its standout features is the affordable XXL toner cartridges. Cost per page is as low as 2 cents for monochrome and 10 cents per page for color documents.
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In terms of performance, the printer delivers crisp, high-quality prints at a speed of 31 pages per minute. It also features wireless connectivity, allowing for convenient printing from mobile devices and computers. This flexibility makes it perfect for small offices or home workspaces where multiple users need to print documents.
This isn’t the best choice for printing photos, but charts and color documents look great. The Brother HL-L3295CDW also boasts a compact design, automatic two-sided printing, and a 250-sheet paper capacity. Overall, the Brother HL-L3295CDW is an excellent choice for those seeking a reliable, affordable color laser printer with low-cost toner.
Brother HL-L3295CDW
Best color laser printer for low-cost toner
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Canon
Canon imageClass MF753cdw
Best laser printer for photos
Pros
Superfast print and scan speeds
Good print quality
Two paper trays
Easy setup and use
Reliable operation
Cons
Color cost per page is just OK
No borderless printing
Why you should buy this: Great color print quality in a multifunctional printer.
Who it’s for: Photographers and small businesses who needs to print or copy color documents and photos quickly.
Why we picked the Canon imageClass MF753Cdw:
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Laser printers are known to be fast and rugged, and the Canon imageClass MF753Cdw fits this description well. This printer is built for speed and durability, blasting through big jobs at up to 35 pages-per-minute. Picture quality is surprisingly nice for a laser printer, with accurate colors and minimal grain. The imageClass MF753Cdw is hard to beat for an office that needs to make or reproduce color documents that feature graphics and photos.
Canon’s imageClass MF753Cdw matches the fastest color lasers and offers full-duplex printing, copying, and one-pass duplex scanning from its 50-sheet document feeder. If your business outgrows the 250-sheet paper tray, you can add a 550-sheet cassette to expand capacity.
The only downside to the imageClass MF753Cdw is the somewhat high cost of color toner, a common issue with color laser printers.
Canon imageClass MF753cdw
Best laser printer for photos
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Brother MFC‐L8905CDW appears on a white background.
Brother
Brother MFC‐L8905CDW
Best all-in-one scalable laser printer for offices
Pros
Fast print speeds
Duplexing supported
Economical operating costs
Cons
Large size takes up space
Why you should buy this: It delivers fast printing speeds and long-lasting supplies at affordable operating costs.
Who it’s for: Small and medium-sized businesses.
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Why we picked the Brother MFC‐L8905CDW :
The Brother MFC‐L8905CDW features ultra-high yield toner cartridges that supply up to 9,000 monochrome pages and 8,000 color pages, so you rarely need to interrupt a busy workday. An optional 500 sheet paper tray expands the onboard capacity of 250 sheets in the main tray and 50 sheets in the multi-purpose tray.
Print speeds of up to 33 ppm make short work of long documents and extra copies. This sturdy business printer offers duplex for fax, scan, copy, and print functions and can connect to any device with Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or USB. A USB port allows walk-up operation with a thumb drive, while an NFC reader limits access to authorized personnel.
The Brother MFC‐L8905CDW has a recommended duty cycle of 4,000 pages per month but it can handle printing up to 60,000 pages in a month. For such a rugged printer, Brother didn’t skimp on convenience features. The seven-inch color touchscreen can be customized with up to 64 shortcuts to speed up frequent operations.
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Brother MFC‐L8905CDW
Best all-in-one scalable laser printer for offices
HP
HP Color LaserJet Enterprise MFP M480f
Best color laser printer for medium-sized businesses
Pros
Compact size with loaded features
Solid security features
Smartphone app support
Cons
Higher than average cost-per-page print costs
Why you should buy this: It’s a speedy all-in-one printer that’s designed for printing and digital document archiving with intuitive support for cloud storage.
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Who it’s for: Small businesses that need a speedy color laser printer.
Why we picked the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M480f:
Workgroups and businesses that don’t have much office space to spare to house a large printer will appreciate HP’s Color LaserJet Pro MFP M480f. The MFP M480f adds multifunctional features that will help with your office’s document needs, including a built-in flatbed scanner, automatic document feeder, and duplexing capabilities. The M480f is a well-rounded multifunction printer that can still output up to 29 ppm in black and white or color.
This speedy but compact number has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low-Energy, and mobile printing is supported across a number of devices and platforms. The big limiting factor on this printer is its small 250-sheet paper input tray, though larger offices with bigger print jobs can upgrade to the optional 550-sheet tray. Duplexing is supported to help save paper and the environment. A front-facing USB port makes it easy to print from a storage drive. The printer can print from or scan to a variety of cloud providers, making it easy for digital document archiving. Businesses on a limited print budget can invest in high-yield toner cartridges for a lower per-page print cost.
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HP Color LaserJet Enterprise MFP M480f
Best color laser printer for medium-sized businesses
Photo by Tracey Truly / Digital Trends
Brother MFC-L3780 CDW
Best color laser printer for shared offices
Pros
Fast, reliable printing at 31 ppm
Quick, high-resolution scanner
Duplex printing and scanning
Includes over 1,000 pages in toner
Easy setup
Cons
iPhone and iPad app is surprisingly slow
Photo-quality isn’t great
It’s a heavy printer that requires lots of space
Why you should buy this: It’s a sturdy all-in-one with guest access and security features.
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Who it’s for: Small businesses that need easy access without losing control.
Why we picked the Brother MFC-L3780 CDW:
The Brother MFC-L3780CDW is a reliable multifunction color laser printer that’s ideal for small businesses in shared spaces. Walk-up printing is simple with the USB thumb drive port, and an NFC card reader controls access to the printer to ensure confidentiality and manage printing costs.
It offers fast print speeds reaching 31 pages per minute on long documents. High-volume isn’t a problem thanks to it’s sturdy design. Its 250-sheet main tray can be expanded to 500 sheets with an optional accessory tray.
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The 3.5-inch color touchscreen makes it user-friendly and setup is quick via the mobile app. Overall, the Brother MFC-L3780CDW combines reliability, multifunctionality, and security, making it a great choice for any small business or home office.
Color laser printers versus inkjet printers: what’s best?
Laser printers are better for text documents, as they produce crisp text even at small font sizes. Over time, they are also cheaper to run than cartridge-based inkjets. However, laser printers require a larger initial investment. If you don’t print very often, a cheap inkjet printer could make more sense and it may take a long time before its higher operational costs catch up to the higher initial cost of a laser printer. For smaller print jobs, the faster pages-per-minute rate of a laser printer also won’t be much of an advantage.
If you’re looking to save money in the long term and need to print pictures, check out inkjet solutions that rely on tanks for ink rather than cartridges. Since the tanks are refillable with bottled ink, tank printers cost much less than color toner for laser printers. Not only will tanks be better for the environment through less waste, but they will save you money for larger print jobs. That’s why tank printers rank highly on our list of the best inkjet printers.
Laser printers are still more durable, reducing maintenance costs if you print at high volume. Lasers generally offer faster printing speeds, saving time on large print jobs. That’s why businesses often choose laser printers. Some inkjet printers, like the Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 are nearly as fast as lasers.
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Beyond print quality, inkjet photo printers can also handle a wider variety of paper types and sizes compared to laser printers. Some very large inkjets are available that can print posters and banners. A color laser printer will handle inline photos and graphics in documents just fine. Most modern color laser printers, especially those made for small offices, will be able to handle standard sizes and types of print jobs, from standard documents to labels and card stock.
While color laser printers have gotten much better at handling photographs, if you’re looking to make detailed, color-accurate photographic prints to hang on your wall, display in a gallery, or sell to customers, a high-end inkjet photo printers is still the way to go (or simply outsource the work to a photo lab).
Do color laser printers come with Wi-Fi or AirPrint support?
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Yes. As with inkjet printers, wireless connectivity has become standard on color laser printers. That means you can use Apple AirPrint for your iPhone and iPad with nearly any printer, and Android’s print service is equally adept at connecting. There are more details about mobile use below.
For scanning, maintenance, and other specific features, you will need to install the manufacturer’s mobile app from Apple’s App Store or Google Play. The mobile app will often provide more options for quality, input tray, and paper size and type.
How often will I have to buy toner?
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This depends on how much you print. Toner cartridges can often print more than a thousand pages before you need replacements. You can replace individual colors, so you won’t have to buy a full set of four each time. For light home use, you could easily go a year or more without replacing toner. For office use, the replacement interval will be shorter, but toner could still last a few months.
Some color laser printers accept high-capacity toner cartridges that last two to three times longer than standard cartridges. Check the specifications of your printer for exact details of the page yield.
How can I save money on toner?
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The first step is to print efficiently; that is, double-check your page layout settings and make sure everything is correct before you hit that print button. You can also save money by preventing wasted color toner by setting a black and white printer as the default.
When it is time to reorder, you can save money by buying third-party toner cartridges. However, buying third-party toner likely isn’t recommended by your printer’s manufacturer, but so long as you make sure it’s compatible with your printer, it should work just fine. However, some printers, like the HP model above, look for a toner that uses a special chip identifying it as original equipment. HP warns that while some other cartridges may work today, they may not in the future.
Can I buy a color laser printer with built-in fax?
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Yes. Many all-in-one laser printers can scan, copy, and fax documents. If you’re doing a lot of faxing, copying, or scanning, be sure to choose a printer with an automatic document feeder (ADF), and if you want to do double-sided scans and double-sided prints, a model that has a duplex ADF and duplex printing will be best. Double-sided prints can also help save money if cost is a concern. Note that not all all-in-ones — also called multifunction printers — have fax modems, so be sure to check the specs before you buy. If you need a multifunction printer, be sure to check out our best picks for all-in-one printers.
How do you test color printers?
To find the best color laser printers, we factor in criteria such as speed, price, maintenance costs, and any unique features that help them one-up the competition.
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Our selections are based on our long- and short-term testing; experience with earlier models; familiarity with the company’s technologies; consultation with industry experts, fellow journalists, and users; online forums; lab results; and other third-party reviews. We look across the board — not just at our own experiences — to find consensus on what we think are the best-performing printers you can currently buy. We also look at list pricing to determine if a product is worth the cost. We will even recommend printers that aren’t new, provided the features are still best-in-class.
The printer market evolves constantly, with manufacturers either introducing better models with new features or basic upgrades. So, you can expect our picks to change as well. But don’t worry — the models you see here will be with you for some time, and if we anticipate better models on the horizon, we will state that upfront to help you decide whether you should buy now or wait.
Which is the best color laser printer for home use?
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When searching for a color laser printer for home use, you probably don’t want a 100-pound beast meant to survive the rigors of a shared work environment.
A compact, budget-friendly color laser might be ideal. Printing photos is a common use for home printers and some models have acceptable quality even on plain paper.
Is a laser printer good for color?
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The first laser printers were monochrome, but the best printer brands make color laser printers so you have the option of creating a more eye-catching document.
However, some handle photos better than others. Typically, more expensive color laser printers include color correction software, alignment options, and image adjustment controls to optimize for better picture and graphics performance.
Laser printers will continue to be manufactured for the foreseeable future. However, there are some concerns about their environmental impact.
Epson, for example, is phasing out laser printers worldwide by 2026, citing the significant energy required to generate enough heat to fuse toner onto paper.
You can use paper labeled as compatible with laser printers, but color laser printers work well with multipurpose and even inexpensive recycled paper. Standard sizes and weights are fine and some laser printers can handle heavy card stock and unusual paper sizes. Check the manufacturer specifications if you need to print on paper that is thicker or larger than normal.
Since laser toner fuses to the paper, the only other restriction is that the paper can withstand high heat. That means inkjet paper might not be compatible with a laser printer. While most inkjet printers require expensive coated paper to get the best results, even a low-cost color laser can print nice color graphics and acceptable photos.
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Since color laser printers work with ordinary paper, that lowers the cost per page a bit. That said, you can find glossy paper for laser printers, but it’s not as common.
How can I prevent banding in color laser photo prints?
While inkjet printers can blend ink droplets for a wide range of colors, the waxy toner of a laser printer offers a limited palette of colors. The result is banding in regions of similar colors with subtle gradations.
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For example, photos with large swaths of blue sky are difficult for color laser printers. The easiest way to prevent banding is to select a different photo. However, that’s not always possible.
If your heart is set on a particular picture, there’s a way to reduce banding with a little photo editing. Load the image into a photo editor and apply a little noise with a filter or effect. It might take some trial and error, but it’s usually possible to reduce banding without making the picture too noisy.
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If you find our top picks aren’t the right fit for your specific needs, there are other color laser and other printer types that are worth checking out. If you’d like a top-rated printer that can match the quality of the best scanners, or you simply just need a more affordable model, be sure to take a look at some of the all-around best printers on the market.
The Galaxy S24 FE is expected to be revealed in the near future, and a new leak has just detailed the price that consumers in the US will likely pay for the upcoming phone. This is not the first time that pricing details have surfaced about Samsung’s next Fan Edition device. Back on September 12, leaked information surfaced on what the Galaxy S24 FE would cost in Europe. In that report, it was noted that the 128GB model of the phone would have a starting cost of €749.
It was also mentioned that last year’s Galaxy S23 FE in the 128GB model had a cost of €699. This makes this year’s version of the Fan Edition phone about €50 more expensive. While that report did mention pricing details for the phone, nothing about the US price tag was given. However, it was possible to draw conclusions based on the exchange rate if you desired to do so.
But that’s no longer necessary because the US pricing for the phone has leaked, and it supports the earlier leak in that the price is going to be higher this year.
Leak says Samsung’s Galaxy S24 FE will have a $649 starting price in the US
According to the latest leak, US pricing for the Galaxy S24 FE will start at $649. This will be for the 128GB model. This is $50 more than the Galaxy S23 FE cost in the US last year. So it seems that the Europe pricing leak may have been correct. Additionally, the leak (which comes from Smartprix) says that the 256GB model will be $709. So consumers will have two choices here just like last year.
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While $50 doesn’t seem like a lot, it might be just enough to turn some consumers off. Pushing them instead to one of Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S devices. Especially if they’re able to get any of them during a sale. Samsung also increased the pricing of its Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 this year compared to the previous year’s models. So perhaps a price increase with the upcoming Fan Edition phone was to be expected.
Samsung may be launching the phone on September 26
The pricing hasn’t been confirmed but multiple leaks supporting these new prices would suggest they’re probably accurate. As for when the phone will launch, it seems that it may be this week. At least in some regions.
A leak from September 20 notes that Samsung indirectly mentioned the launch date for the Galaxy S24 FE in Vietnam, which is supposed to be September 26. This may also be the launch date for the phone globally, although it’s unclear right now if that will be the case.
The emotional 2011 indie game To the Moon will soon be playable on Xbox Series X/S and PS5. Developer Freebird Games and publisher Serenity Forge announced this week that ports for the consoles will arrive on October 8 for $10. At the same time, they released a new installment in the series — a short called Just a To the Moon Series Beach Episode that offers one of the series’ endings. It’s available now on .
To the Moon is a time travel adventure that follows two doctors who have developed a way to help dying patients fulfill their greatest dreams by taking them back in time within their minds. The patient at the heart of the story is an elderly man named Johnny, whose final wish is to go to the moon. The game, which originally launched for PC, has become beloved over the years and eventually and .
Freebird Games followed it up with another episode called Finding Paradise, which focuses on a different patient, and the time-travel murder mystery, Imposter Factory. There’s also a heartfelt short called A Bird Story. They’re all tear-jerkers. The developer has described the latest, Beach Episode, as “half of an ending” to the series.
Steven Johnson is a very meta author. He writes frequently about science and technology, and likes to immerse himself in the things he’s covering, even using them to change the way he writes books. A couple of years ago, a few months before ChatGPT launched and the AI boom took over the tech world, Johnson got a magazine assignment that sent him really, really deep down the AI rabbit hole. And he never came back up.
Now, in addition to writing books, Johnson is also working at Google. He’s part of the team building a product called NotebookLM — “Notebook,” as the team calls it. It’s a note-taking and research tool: you upload documents and import web links, and Notebook’s Gemini-powered AI helps you organize things, extract information, and understand a subject better. “They reached out,” Johnson says when I ask how he got involved with Google, “and said, ‘hey, you’ve been dreaming of this ideal software tool that helps you organize your thoughts and helps you write and helps you formulate connections and brainstorm. We think we can do it now.” Johnson signed up, and has been at Google since the summer of 2022.
The product itself first launched in 2023 as Project Tailwind, and has since been rebranded and expanded in big ways. Just last week, the team launched Audio Overviews, which generates a podcast — with two chatty hosts, plenty of back and forth, and a truly remarkable penchant for the phrases “deep dive” and “buckle up” — based on the information you provide. It’s fascinating, it’s complicated, and it’s getting better really fast.
On this episode of The Vergecast, Johnson joins to discuss his fascination with AI, his time at Google, and the present and future of NotebookLM. We talk about the complicated issues raised by a tool like this, and whether it’s okay to let an AI do your research and homework.
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We also talk about how to make sure a tool like NotebookLM is both accurate and easily fact-checked, why context windows are more important to the future of AI than most people realize, and how often AI podcast hosts should say “like” in conversation. And we talk about Johnson’s own process as a writer and creator, and how AI is changing the way he works.
If you want to know more on everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started:
Phishing attacks remain a significant threat to organizations across various industries, with threat actors disguising malicious emails as legitimate messages from trusted brands, in an attempt to deceive users into divulging sensitive information or installing malware.
A multi-year survey by Cofense has highlighted phishing campaigns that spoofed trusted brands across the top 10 industries they serve – with Microsoft coming out on top as the most impersonated brand.
Cofense found 92.87% of the phishing emails it analyzed targeted Microsoft users, followed by Adobe and Webmail, accounting for 3.53% and 1.62%, respectively.
Be wary of emails from Microsoft
Microsoft spoofing is highly versatile, Cofense warned, with emails mimicking everything from Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) requests to shared document alerts. The familiarity of Microsoft-related emails makes it easy for attackers to design convincing phishing attempts.
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In finance and insurance, where there is a strong reliance on document sharing for signatures, Adobe is the second most targeted brand in this sector behind Microsoft. DHL and Meta are also common targets.
The manufacturing and mining sectors have Microsoft, Adobe, and Webmail topping the list. However, it is interesting to note that China Union Pay, a payment service in China, and South African Post Office ranks among the top five spoofed brands in this sector.
In the retail sector, Microsoft and Adobe continue to dominate, however, due to the logistical nature of the retail industry, DHL ranks third. Canada Post, a key logistics provider, also makes the list, emphasizing the focus on supply chain and delivery-related phishing campaigns.
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Even in niche sectors like real estate, utilities, and transportation, Microsoft and Adobe are frequently impersonated. Instagram is also subject to impersonation, with attackers often attempting to hijack high-following social media accounts to spread scams and malware.
Microsoft and Adobe again top the list in the healthcare sector, but as this industry requires frequent use of file sharing, Dropbox and Docusign are often impersonated to trick healthcare workers into providing access to sensitive patient data.
Phishing emails often mimic legitimate messages from well-known companies, making it easier for attackers to deceive users into clicking on malicious links or providing sensitive information. It’s crucial to verify the authenticity of any unexpected emails from such brands and be on the lookout for signs of phishing, such as suspicious links, unfamiliar senders, or requests for personal information.
Many AI-generated images look realistic until you take a closer look
MidJourney
Did you notice that the image above was created by artificial intelligence? It can be difficult to spot AI-generated images, video, audio and text at a time when technological advances are making them increasingly indistinguishable from much human-created content, leaving us open to manipulation by disinformation. But by knowing the current state of the AI technologies used to create misinformation, and the range of telltale signs that what you are looking at might be fake, you can help protect yourself from being taken in.
World leaders are concerned. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, misinformation and disinformation may “radically disrupt electoral processes in several economies over the next two years”, while easier access to AI tools “have already enabled an explosion in falsified information and so-called ‘synthetic’ content, from sophisticated voice cloning to counterfeit websites”.
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The terms misinformation and disinformation both refer to false or inaccurate information, but disinformation is that which is deliberately intended to deceive or mislead.
“The issue with AI-powered disinformation is the scale, speed and ease with which campaigns can be launched,” says Hany Farid at the University of California, Berkeley. “These attacks will no longer take state-sponsored actors or well-financed organisations – a single individual with access to some modest computing power can create massive amounts of fake content.”
He says that generative AI (see glossary, below) is “polluting the entire information ecosystem, casting everything we read, see and hear into doubt”. He says his research suggests that, in many cases, AI-generated images and audio are “nearly indistinguishable from reality”.
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However, research by Farid and others reveals that there are strategies you can follow to reduce your risk of falling for social media misinformation or disinformation created by AI.
How to spot fake AI images
Remember seeing a photo of Pope Francis wearing a puffer jacket? Such fake AI images have become more common as new tools based on diffusion models (see glossary, below) have allowed anyone to start churning out images from simple text prompts. One study by Nicholas Dufour at Google and his colleagues found a rapid increase in the proportion of AI-generated images in fact-checked misinformation claims from early 2023 onwards.
“Nowadays, media literacy requires AI literacy,” says Negar Kamali at Northwestern University in Illinois. In a 2024 study, she and her colleagues identified five different categories of errors in AI-generated images (outlined below) and provided guidance on how people can spot these for themselves. The good news is that their research suggests people are currently about 70 per cent accurate at detecting fake AI images of people. You can use their online image test to assess your own sleuthing skills.
5 common types of errors in AI-generated images:
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Sociocultural implausibilities: Is the scene depicting rare, unusual or surprising behaviour for certain cultures or historical figures?
Anatomical implausibilities: Take a close look: are body parts like hands unusually shaped or sized? Do the eyes or mouths look strange? Have any body parts merged?
Stylistic artefacts: Does the image look unnatural, almost too perfect or stylistic? Does the background look odd or like it is missing something? Is the lighting strange or variable?
Functional implausibilities: Do any objects look bizarre or like they might not be real or work? For example, are buttons or belt buckles in weird places?
Violations of physics: Are shadows pointing in different directions? Are mirror reflections consistent with the world depicted within the image?
Strange objects and behaviour can be clues that an image was created by AI
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How to identify video deepfakes
AI technology known as generative adversarial networks (see glossary, below) has allowed tech-savvy individuals to create video deepfakes since 2014 – digitally manipulating existing videos of people to swap in different faces, create new facial expressions and insert new spoken audio aligned with matching lip-syncing. This has enabled a growing array of scammers, state-backed hackers and internet users to produce video deepfakes where celebrities such as Taylor Swift and ordinary people alike may find themselves unwillingly featured in non-consensual deepfake pornography, scams and political misinformation or disinformation.
The techniques for spotting AI fake images (see above) can be applied to suspect videos too. Additionally, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Northwestern University in Illinois have compiled some tips for how to spot such deepfakes, but they have acknowledged that there is no fool-proof method that always works.
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6 tips for spotting AI-generated video:
Mouth and lip movements: Are there moments when the video and audio aren’t completely synced?
Anatomical glitches: Does the face or body look weird or move unnaturally?
Face: Look for inconsistencies in face smoothness or wrinkles around the forehead and cheeks, along with facial moles.
Lighting: Is the lighting inconsistent? Do shadows behave as you would expect? Pay particular attention to a person’s eyes, eyebrows and glasses.
Hair: Does facial hair look weird or move in strange ways?
Blinking: Too much or too little blinking could be a sign of a deepfake.
A newer category of video deepfakes is based on diffusion models (see glossary, below) – the same AI technology behind many image generators – that can create completely AI-generated video clips based on text prompts. Companies are already testing and releasing commercial versions of AI video generators that could make it easy for anyone to do this without needing special technical knowledge. So far, the resulting videos tend to feature distorted faces or bizarre body movements.
“These AI-generated videos are probably easier for people to detect than images, because there is a lot of movement and there is a lot more opportunity for AI-generated artefacts and impossibilities,” says Kamali.
How to identify AI bots
Social media accounts controlled by computer bots have become common on many social media and messaging platforms. A growing number of these bots have also been taking advantage of generative AI technologies such as large language models (see glossary, below) since 2022. These make it both easy and cheap to churn out AI-written content through thousands of bots that is grammatically correct and convincingly customised to different situations.
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It has become much easier “to customise these large language models for specific audiences with specific messages”, says Paul Brenner at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
Brenner and his colleagues have found in their research that volunteers could only distinguish AI-powered bots from humans about 42 per cent of the time – despite the participants being told they were potentially interacting with bots. You can test your own bot detection skills here.
Some strategies can help identify less sophisticated AI bots, says Brenner.
5 ways to determine whether a social media account is an AI bot:
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Emojis and hashtags: Excessive use of these can be a sign.
Uncommon phrasing, word choices or analogies: Unusual wording could indicate an AI bot.
Repetition and structure: Bots may use repeated wording that follows similar or rigid forms and they may overuse certain slang terms.
Ask questions: These can reveal a bot’s lack of knowledge about a topic – particularly when it comes to local places and situations.
Assume the worst: If a social media account isn’t a personal contact and their identity hasn’t been clearly validated or verified, it could well be an AI bot.
How to detect audio cloning and speech deepfakes
Voice cloning (see glossary, below) AI tools have made it easy to generate new spoken audio that can mimic practically anyone. This has led to the rise of audio deepfake scams that clone the voices of family members, company executives and political leaders such as US President Joe Biden. These can be much more difficult to identify compared with AI-generated videos or images.
“Voice cloning is particularly challenging to distinguish between real and fake because there aren’t visual components to support our brains in making that decision,” says Rachel Tobac, co-founder of SocialProof Security, a white-hat hacking organisation.
Detecting such AI audio deepfakes can be especially tricky when they are used in video and phone calls. But there are some common-sense steps you can follow to distinguish authentic humans from AI-generated voices.
4 steps for recognising if audio has been cloned or faked using AI:
Public figures: If the audio clip is of an elected official or celebrity, check if what they are saying is consistent with what has already been publicly reported or shared about their views and behaviour.
Look for inconsistencies: Compare the audio clip with previously authenticated video or audio clips that feature the same person’s voice. Are there any inconsistencies in the sound of their voice or their speech mannerisms?
Awkward silences: If you are listening to a phone call or voicemail and the speaker is taking unusually long pauses while speaking, they may be using AI-powered voice cloning technology.
Weird and wordy: Any robotic speech patterns or an unusually verbose manner of speaking could indicate that someone is using a combination of voice cloning to mimic a person’s voice and a large language model to generate the exact wording.
Public figures such as Narendra Modi behaving out of character can be an AI giveaway
@the_indian_deepfaker
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The technology will only get better
As it stands, there are no consistent rules that can always distinguish AI-generated content from authentic human content. AI models capable of generating text, images, video and audio will almost certainly continue to improve and they can often quickly produce authentic-seeming content without any obvious artefacts or mistakes. “Be politely paranoid and realise that AI has been manipulating and fabricating pictures, videos and audio fast – we’re talking completed in 30 seconds or less,” says Tobac. “This makes it easy for malicious individuals who are looking to trick folks to turn around AI-generated disinformation quickly, hitting social media within minutes of breaking news.”
While it is important to hone your eye for AI-generated false information and learn to ask more questions of what you read, see and hear, ultimately this won’t be enough to stop harm and the responsibility to detect fakes can’t fall fully on individuals. Farid is among researchers who say that government regulators must hold to account the largest tech companies – along with start-ups backed by prominent Silicon Valley investors – that have developed many of the tools that are flooding the internet with fake AI-generated content. “Technology is not neutral,” says Farid. “This line that the technology sector has sold us that somehow they don’t have to absorb liability where every other industry does, I simply reject it.”
Diffusion models: AI models that learn by first adding random noise to data – such as blurring an image – and then reversing the process to recover the original data.
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Generative adversarial networks: A machine learning method based on two neural networks that compete by modifying original data and then try to predict whether the generated data is authentic or real.
Generative AI: A broad class of AI models that can produce text, images, audio and video after being trained on similar forms of such content.
Large language models: A subset of generative AI models that can produce different forms of written content in response to text prompts and sometimes translate between various languages.
Voice cloning: The method of using AI models to create a digital copy of a person’s voice and then potentially generating new speech samples in that voice.
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