The likes of Epson, Canon, HP, and Brother are giants in the printer industry. But if you mention Pantum, the person next to you might ask you to repeat yourself. Pantum printers have not exactly saturated the market the way other brands have.
That might lead you to want to err on the side of caution as you wouldn't want to lose on both ends-parting away with your cash and ending up with a product that makes you regret the experience.
But if you want to give an unfamiliar brand a fair hearing before you pick or dismiss them, then this review is for you.
I now invite you to see the answers to your questions about Pantum printers in this review. Amongst other things, I'll discuss the top Pantum printers and what customers have said about them.
Come along.
Overview of Pantum Laser Printer
Pantum is relatively new to the printer tech business, at least compared to brands like Brother or HP.
It came up in the year 2000 as a subsidiary of Zhuhai Seine. Zhuhai Seine is the largest Chinese tech conglomerate for all things printers.
Pantum specializes in laser printers, and the first Pantum laser printer was launched in 2010. This printer was named P 1000 and started the P lineup of Pantum printers.
The P 1000 was as good as it could be at a time when printers were in their early stages, just like phones. The P 1000 featured Pantum's proprietary core technology. The launch of this printer, according to Jackson Wang, Seine's Chairman and CEO, signified Seine's upgrade from printer supplies producer to printer manufacturer.
The Pantum P 1000 was succeeded by the M5000, the P3000, the P3000 PCL, M6500, and P3500 over the next five years. These printers were a mix of multifunction printers, duplex printers, and color printers.
In 2011, Pantum started entering the global market. Due to its market strategies and continuous upgrades, Pantum now has over 5,000,000 users in more than 50 countries around the globe.
Pantum builds laser printers for all kinds of customers. There are entry-level, middle-level, and high-end Pantum printers for every customer demand. That said, they are primarily known for making budget laser printers.
Top Pantum Laser Printers
The best Pantum laser printers pack respectable specs for convenient home and office use. They might not be the absolute best in their price category, but they will hardly disappoint you if your expectations are modest.
I have selected ten Pantum laser printers you might want to try if you wish to test the waters before plunging in.
CM1100 Series Color Laser Multifunction Printer
The CM110 series of printers comprises four models and are distinguished by the letters following the main code, the ADW, DW, ADN, and DN.
They are all color multifunction printers with fast printing speeds and high-quality reproduction of color and monochrome images and text.
They all support auto-duplex printing and have various wireless connectivity options, including AirPrint for Apple devices.
Pantum BM5100ADW Mono Laser Multifunction printer
The BM5100ADW is an office-oriented monochrome multifunction laser printer that can print up to 40 ppm.
The printer is meant for heavy-duty work and can accommodate more than 600 paper sheets in its paper tray.
Like the CM1100 lineup, the BM5100 comprises multiple models whose names end with ADN, FDN, and FDW. All three feature wireless connectivity. One of their highlights is single-pass, two-sided printing.
Pantum P2502W
The P2502W is well known for its affordability, but it also excels in what it can do. It's one of the most popular Pantum laser printers.
This printer outputs decent monochrome text and images but doesn't expect perfection at its price point of $99. You might notice uneven edges and a bit of smudging in some prints, but it's something you can manage if you use it for a light load.
As cheap as the P2502W is, it comes with WiFi connectivity and the standard USB port. It also offers a limited form of duplex printing, which is manual rather than automatic. As for load capacity, it tops out at 150 pages.
It's not all praises, though. The P2502W can make your sheets curl a little, and it isn't quiet in its operation.
Pantum M7202FDW
The M7202FDW is an AIO (all-in-one) laser printer that can print, fax, scan, and copy.
It comes with USB, Wifi, and Ethernet connectivity. It has enough features that make it capable of being your office printer.
There is an LCD control panel, NFC touch to print, and an auto document feeder, amongst other nifty features.
Pantum M6552NW
At $150, the M6552NW gives you an elementary package. It's all in one but lacks fax. It also gives somewhat mediocre quality in prints, but to be fair, better quality prints for any printer come at a higher price point.
Installing the software and setting up the printer is very easy. The latter is due in no small way to the very light nature of the M6552NW.
The page load capacity is 150 sheets, and duplexing is manual rather than automatic, and that's better than the feature not being there at all. Luckily, you can connect your devices to the printer wirelessly via WiFi, Ethernet, and Wifi direct.
Pantum M7102DW
The M7102DW is fast and compact, and cheap to use.
Although being an all-in-one, the printer lacks fax capabilities. Aside from that, it delivers recommendable print quality. The M7102DW is solid and light. All of that, coupled with its variety of wireless connectivity options that include NFC, makes it an appealing device for home and office use.
Pantum P3302DW
The P3302DW is a prominent member of the P lineup. For a very affordable price of about $140, you get auto-duplex printing and one-step driver installation, amongst other useful features.
The P3302DW, however, only supports printing, be it from a laptop or mobile device. There's no extra task function like copying, scanning, or even faxing.
The printer has a wholesome 250-sheet input tray capacity. It also comes with an LCD control panel and NFC touch to print. For its price point, the printer packs a serious punch and will dutifully cater to your office printing needs.
Pantum M6702DW
The Pantum M6702DW is a printer that can do a lot, but it's also one that knows its limitations too.
Is it for home or office use? Yes, if your expectations are moderate. It's relatively inexpensive and has all kinds of connectivity options save for NFC.
Setup is easy, and the running cost is not too high. The M6702DW is almost all-in-one, but it lacks fax. The load capacity is 250 pages, and while that's not extraordinary, it's manageable.
But you have to keep in mind that the printer does text printing a little bit better than graphics. Banding is also an issue for the $190 printer.
But if you look past the M6702DW's flaws, you will like the fast print speed of 32 ppm, the print duplexing, and the ease with which it can connect to any smartphone or laptop.
Review of the Pantum Laser Printer
Now it's time to dive deeper into how Pantum printers generally fare when tested against the criteria we expect the average printer to satisfy.
Print Quality
All of the aforementioned Pantum printers deliver solid print quality in their respective price categories.
Laser printers generally excel at printing, and blacks look very sharp. You can expect the same level of quality when using a Pantum printer.
For black prints, a resolution of 1200*1200 dpi is considered gold. Most Pantum printers should be able to give you that level of quality.
When it comes to graphics, where you have to print out color images and photos in monochrome, Pantum printers generally do well.
But you must be careful as not all models will do the job well. There are Pantum printers whose photo and image quality convey an image at best (I'm looking at you, Pantum P3012DW). But other models print out graphics with above-newspaper quality. They are the likes of the M6552NW, BM5100ADN, M7102DW, et cetera.
That's not to say the latter models do graphics perfectly. There's always a little banding here and a little smudging there, but unless you pixel-peep, the results will be satisfactory.
Printing Speed.
Printing speed is another mixed affair, as different Pantum printers run at different speeds.
Some Pantum printers are slow in ppm and FPO (first page out) time. Actually, those are the older models. The more recent Pantum printers from, let's say, yeah, 2016 can handle above 20 pages per minute.
All of the models mentioned in the top Pantum laser printer section of this review don't go below 15 ppm, and that's more than enough for light home use.
The Pantum P2502W, for example, is one of the most popular Pantum printers ever built, averaging 23 pages per minute. The Pantum M6550W goes all the way to 40 ppm, and I can't ignore the model that does an impressive 50 ppm, the P2518.
Ink Cartridge
Pantum laser printers don't use ink, of course, but they need toner, and it comes in cartridges.
There are low-yield and high-yield cartridges, and fortunately, many Pantum laser printers are compatible with high-yield cartridges.
Many Pantum printers come with high-yield cartridges, while others come with lower-yield cartridges. It seems that the more expensive models come with high-yield cartridges that offer a low cost per page price to save running costs in the long run.
The Pantum M7102DDW, for example, sports a high-capacity cartridge that can serve 6,000 pages. You only pay 2.8 cents per page.
The Pantum BM5100ADN can accommodate high-capacity cartridges for 3,000, 6,000, and 15,000 pages. The latter capacity allows you to keep running costs to just 1.33 cents per page, and the printer costs about $350.
However, lower-cost models like the M6702DW, M3012DW, and P2050, with their high-capacity cartridges, offer cost-per-page prices of between 2.8 to 3.5 cents. In the long run, it can be expensive to keep such printers.
All of that shows that if you are considering a Pantum printer, you can save money in the long run by opting for a higher-end printer, as the high-capacity cartridges will offer you a lower cost per page price.
Usage
Pantum laser printers, for the most part, will hardly make you break a sweat to use and maintain.
In fact, usage is a test I can say Pantum laser printers ace. Firstly, finding a place for them on your desk shouldn't be hard. They are usually compact and light enough for only one person to carry them happily. You can even carry some of them between your arm and armpit.
How about setup? In many cases, it doesn't exceed simply removing the packing material and plugging in your USB or Ethernet cable (if you prefer a wired connection). For software installation, just load the installation routine, choose your connection type with a click, and wait for the process to run. Your drivers and the Pantum scan app will be automatically set.
Cartridges are also easy to set up and don't take more than three simple steps that will only set you back by a few minutes.
Connectivity
Needless to say, connectivity is another plus point for Pantum laser printers. USB and Ethernet accompany almost every printer, but you can easily find a Pantum laser printer that offers dual-band WiFi, WiFi direct, and even NFC.
Many Pantum printers even support wireless services like Apple's AirPrint for more seamless interaction with Apple devices.
Mind you, though, not all Pantum laser printers come with wireless connectivity options. To select one that has, look for the 'W' ending in the model name as it stands for WiFi.
Customer Reviews
From the statistics I gathered from sites like Amazon, Newegg, and most especially Reddit, Pantum laser printers generally manage to garner between 2.5 to 4.5-star ratings.
Check the screenshots below for reviews by Redditters.
Wrap Up
Pantum laser printers may not be as common as printers from big-name brands, but they are not scams or fakes in any way.
Rather, they perform just as well as (even though they may not beat) their counterparts from the more popular brands. Pantum laser printers are mainly budget-oriented printers with sometimes flattering specs that also have their fair share of cons.