What is the difference between original and compatible toner cartridges?

There are original and compatible toner cartridges in the market. Many users are confused to buy original or compatible ones? This is a common concern for many users. To make a suitable choice, you must know what is the difference between original and compatible toner cartridges.

Now we will understand the differences between compatible and original by comparing manufacturers, packaging, compatibility, quality, printing costs, etc.

Manufacturers:
Original ones are produced by manufacturers of printer equipment for matching printers. While compatible ones are produced by third-party manufacturers specializing in consumables.

Packaging:
The packaging of original has the LOGO of the printer manufacturer, and anti-fake stickers to distinguish copy products.

Compatible come in a variety of packaging, including neutral packaging and third-party brand packaging.

Compatibility:
Original cartridges carefully consider the integration with other parts of printer during the design process, and use high-quality parts and manufacturing processes, so the printing effect is relatively ideal, with good performance in terms of clarity and stability.

The parts manufacturing of compatible is not so strict.

Is there any difference in the use of original and compatible toner cartridges?

It depends on the specific model. For example, the quality of compatible models such as Canon C-EXV14 is extremely mature. However, for some unpopular models, such as Fuji Xerox high-speed color machine, there is still a difference between compatible and original.

Cost:
The price of original is very high, usually several times that of compatible ones.

Why are the prices of original toners so high?

Printers are sold very cheaply, but the price of original consumables is very expensive. Take HP as an example, a small black printer costs 100-200 US dollars, but the toner cartridges sell for 50-60 US dollars. Printing consumables are the biggest profit of printer manufacturers.

Compatible printer consumables manufacturers do not have the R&D costs of printers. They only need to produce the consumables to achieve profits.

Capacity, refers to the amount of toner powder filled, which determines the pages yield.

After being modified, compatible cartridges generally have high capacity and a larger toner bin than the original ones, which can fill more toner and print more pages. The overall cost-effectiveness is higher, so more people are willing to choose compatible ones.

Taking HP 85A for example, there are standard, high capacity and extra high capacity versions. The standard version prints the same page yield as the original one, about 1,600 pages, which is suitable for family and personal printing. The high capacity version can print 3,200 pages, and the single-page printing cost is lower than the standard version, which is suitable for enterprises and can meet a large number of printing needs. The extra high capacity version can print 6,500 pages, and the single-page printing cost is lowest, which is suitable for customers who do printer rent business.

Refilling:
As the original cartridge needs to be disassembled when refilling toner, ordinary users cannot refill toner by themselves. There are risks in disassembling the cartridge. Problems in assembly will cause abnormal printing results, and leakage of toner will also cause damage to the printer.

According to the requirements of the original manufacturer, cartridges are not allowed to refill toner. It is a one-time design that can be directly replaced after use. However, original cartridge is very expensive, so the printing cost is very high.

Compatible cartridges have easy-to-refill toner styles, with built-in toner filling ports, and two covers, one for pouring waste toner and the other for refilling toner. There is no threshold, and ordinary users can also complete the toner refilling. Easy to refill toner, recyclable, high cost performance.

From the perspective of printing cost, compatible with high capacity, refillable, the cost is lower.

Conclusion:
The original toner cartridge is a perfect match with the printer, and there is no need to worry about the print quality. However, the price is very high, and it is inconvenient to refill toner, so the cost of use is much higher.

High-quality compatible cartridges are no different from originals in terms of printing quality, but the price is much lower than that of original. And there are high capacity to choose from, refillable by yourself, which is much cheaper to use. Long-term use can save users a lot of money.