The HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe is an all-in-one monochrome printer. It's a very good option for small offices that primarily print in black and white but occasionally need to scan some simple text documents. It yields many black-only text pages at a very low cost-per-print. While it has a flatbed scanner and an automatic document feeder, the resolution maxes at 600 DPI and 300 DPI, respectively. Unfortunately, there's no duplex scanning feature, which may be a bother if you frequently need to scan long, double-sided documents often.
Our Verdict
The HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe is bad for family use. It can’t print in color, and photos look grainy and have a lot of banding. While it has a flatbed scanner, the resolution maxes at 600 DPI, which may not be enough to scan an item with small details, like a photo or pencil sketch.
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Incredibly low cost-per-print.
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Very high black page yield.
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Feels well-built.
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No Bluetooth support.
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Flatbed scanner resolution maxes at 600 DPI.
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Can't print in color.
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Terrible photo quality.
The HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe is disappointing for small or home offices. It prints very slow, and it doesn’t have a duplex scanning feature, so double-sided documents may be tedious to scan since you need to flip over each sheet manually. Also, it can’t print in color, which may be an issue if you need to print graphs or diagrams in color. While it has a flatbed scanner and an ADF, the resolution maxes at 600 DPI and 300 DPI, respectively. On the bright side, this well-built printer has a high page yield and a low cost-per-print.
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Incredibly low cost-per-print.
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Very high black page yield.
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Feels well-built.
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No duplex scanning.
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Flatbed scanner resolution maxes at 600 DPI.
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Can't print in color.
The HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe is mediocre for students. It's slow at printing, and the first page takes a fair amount of time to come out. Also, it can't print in color, and it doesn't support printing via Bluetooth or off a USB thumb drive. On the bright side, it has a remarkably low cost-per-print and several other wireless connectivity options.
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Incredibly low cost-per-print.
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Very high black page yield.
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Feels well-built.
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No Bluetooth support.
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Flatbed scanner resolution maxes at 600 DPI.
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Can't print in color.
The HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe is good for black and white printing. While it’s disappointingly slow at printing text documents, it has a high page yield and a very low cost-per-print. It’s a well-built laser model that provides easy access to paper jams and the toner cartridge. Also, there’s both a flatbed scanner and an automatic document feeder. Unfortunately, it can’t perform duplex scanning, which may be a bother if you need to scan large, double-sided documents often.
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Incredibly low cost-per-print.
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Very high black page yield.
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Feels well-built.
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No duplex scanning.
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Flatbed scanner resolution maxes at 600 DPI.
The HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe isn’t designed for photo printing. It can’t print in color, and images are grainy and have a lot of banding present.
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Feels well-built.
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Can't print in color.
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Terrible photo quality.
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Feels well-built.
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Feels well-built.
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Feels well-built.
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Feels well-built.
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Feels well-built.
- 6.2 Family
- 7.6 Small/Home Office
- 7.8 Student
- 8.1 Black & White
- 1.6 Photo
Performance Usages
- 0 Color Quality
- 8.5 Document Quality
- 7.1 Scanner
- 7.5 Speed
- 9.4 Recurring Costs
- Updated Feb 09, 2023: Added mention of the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M283fdw in the Color Documents box as an alternative for color printing.
- Updated Sep 21, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
- Updated Sep 09, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 1.1.
- Updated May 02, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 1.0.
- Updated Apr 29, 2021: Review published.
- Updated Apr 27, 2021: Early access published.
- Updated Apr 22, 2021: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Apr 21, 2021: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Apr 17, 2021: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe comes in white only. It has a variant called the HP LaserJet MFP M234sdw, which seems identical, but it doesn’t come with a six-month subscription to HP Instant Ink. You can see the label of our unit here.
Compared To Other Printers
The HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe is similar to other monochrome laser printers. While it's awful at printing photos, it's great at printing black and white documents thanks to its very high page yield and low cost-per-print. Unfortunately, it's missing many important features seen on other office printers, like a high flatbed scanner resolution, a duplex scanning feature, and fast printing speed.
For other options, check out our recommendations for the best black and white printers, the best printers for small businesses, and the best laser printers.
The HP LaserJet M209dwe and the HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe are similar monochrome laser printers, but the M234sdwe is better overall. The M234sdwe has a flatbed scanner, an automatic document feeder, and a slightly higher page yield. Each comes with a free six-month subscription to the HP Instant Ink service, and neither accept third-party toner cartridges.
The HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe and the Brother MFC-L2750DW are monochrome laser printers, but the Brother is better overall. The Brother has an automatic document feeder with a duplex scanning feature, a higher flatbed resolution, and prints significantly faster. Also, it has a slightly higher page yield with a marginally lower cost-per-print.
The HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe and the Canon imageCLASS MF445dw are monochrome laser printers, but the Canon performs better overall. The Canon has a significantly higher page yield, a duplex scanning feature, and a much faster printing speed. Also, its input tray can hold more than double what the HP can, and it supports printing off a USB thumb drive.
The HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe and the HP Neverstop Laser MFP 1202w are both monochrome laser printers, but the LaserJet uses cartridges while the Neverstop doesn't. The Neverstop has a refillable tank that yields nearly nine times the estimated number of pages of the LaserJet. On the other hand, the LaserJet can duplex print automatically, unlike the Neverstop, which requires you to flip them over manually.
The HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe and the HP OfficeJet Pro 7740 are both small office printers, but the 7740 is an inkjet, and the M234sdwe is a laser. The 7740 has a large flatbed scanner that's wide enough to scan tabloid size and an automatic document feeder with a duplex scanning feature. Also, it prints significantly faster, supports printing off a USB thumb drive, and can also print in color, which is great if you need to print color documents or photos. On the other hand, the M234sdwe yields significantly more black pages, but it lacks the ADF and duplex scanning that the 7740 has.
The HP LaserJet Tank MFP 2604sdw is a better overall choice than the HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe. The LaserJet Tank MFP 2604sdw uses a toner tank, unlike the more conventional LaserJet MFP M234sdwe, which uses more conventional replaceable toner cartridges. This results in the LaserJet Tank MFP 2604sdw having a greater page yield and lowering the cost per print. The LaserJet Tank also outputs slightly sharper documents, though the LaserJet MFP's scans are marginally higher quality.
Test Results
The HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe feels sturdy and well-designed. It has a removable power cord, making it easy to replace if necessary. You can easily access paper jams by pulling down a cover at the rear and the toner cartridge by lifting the flatbed scanner base. The printer has adjustable width sliders that are part of the body below the paper tray but not a part of the paper tray itself. The display panel can fold upwards to provide easier access to the input tray and width sliders, and when down, it acts as a cover for the input paper tray. Unfortunately, the output tray is thin and feels a little flimsy. Also, the scanner lid’s hinges can’t raise to fit thick items like a magazine or textbook.
The HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe has a small, monochrome LCD screen. It has good visibility if you look at it from the left side, but the text is harder to read from the right side. There are many touch-sensitive buttons around the screen, including Copy, ID Card, Information, Wireless, Resume, and Cancel. The power button is a physical button with a status light. Right above the screen, there are four status lights to alert when paper or cartridge is low, if there's an error, or when to open the lid to flip over an ID card (specific to the ID copy mode). Note that these lights are unlit in our photo.
The HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe yields many black ink pages, so you shouldn’t need to replace the toner cartridge too often. There's also a high-yield version of the toner cartridge available that will last you longer. Note that this is an HP+ printer that accepts original HP cartridges only. If you want an HP monochrome scanner that yields significantly more pages, check out the HP Neverstop Laser MFP 1202w.
The HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe has both a flatbed scanner and an automatic document feeder. Unfortunately, it can’t automatically process double-sided documents, so you need to manually flip over each sheet, which may be a hassle if you have a long document to scan. Also, the flatbed scan resolution maxes at 600 DPI, which may not be enough for items with small details, like photos or sketches; however, it should be enough for simple black and white text documents. Note that the ADF’s maximum resolution is 300 DPI. We had to uninstall and install the HP desktop program twice during testing to get the scan feature to work.
This printer can't print in color. If you need color printing, check out the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M283fdw.
The HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe has a remarkably low cost-per-print. This printer is an HP+ enabled printer with a six-month subscription to the HP Instant Ink delivery service.
The printing speed is decent. The first page takes a fair amount of time to come out, but subsequent pages get a bit faster from there. According to HP, the HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe uses Instant-On Technology, which means the printer takes less time to warm up and get the first page out. Despite this feature, the first page still takes a fair amount of time. Note that our test results are much slower than the advertised 30 PPM. We tested the speed at different times of the day and changed the connection method, but our results were consistent.
The HP LaserJet MFP M234sdwe supports a wide range of paper sizes and material types, including laser paper, vellum paper, envelopes, labels, cardstock, and postcards.
The HP Smart app lets you print, copy, and scan from your mobile device. You can also access printer settings and reports, manage your Instant Ink account, and use the Private Pickup feature, which only prints your documents when you’re physically near the printer.