Best color laser printers under $400 for home office

Top pick: Brother HL-L3290CDW. For a home office, the Brother is the safest bet: it prints, copies and scans in color, handles legal-size paper, and does automatic two-sided printing so you're not flipping sheets by hand. Brother's toner is also among the cheapest per page in this class, which matters more than the sticker over a few years.

Who the others suit:

• Xerox C320 — fastest of the bunch and the best-rated; pick it if speed and a big paper tray matter more than scanning.
• HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fnw — a full multifunction with a document feeder and fax; good if you scan stacks of paperwork.
• Canon imageCLASS LBP646Cdw — a simple, compact single-function printer with duplex and wireless; fine if you only print.
• Xerox C230 — the budget route for light color printing.
• Lexmark CS331dw / C3326dw — small-footprint options for tight desks; the C3326dw listing is pre-owned.

Skip anything without duplex or wireless if you print double-sided or from a laptop.