HP LaserJet Pro MFP 3105sdw: Specs, Features, Pros & Cons
Black toner is the only color HP's LaserJet Pro MFP 3105sdw prints, and the rest of the machine is sized for an office whose paperwork is text: contracts, invoices, forms and reports that go out by the hundred.
It is the version without a fax modem. HP sells a sibling with fax built in under a different suffix, so the letters after the model number are worth checking against how your office still receives documents. Everything else a small-office laser needs is here. A document feeder copies and scans stacks, pages print on both sides automatically, and a touchscreen runs the menus. It connects over Ethernet, Wi-Fi and USB, and phones print through AirPrint and HP's app.
The print resolution is 1,200 dpi, enough for small type and clean edges on graphs in black and gray. The engine is fast for a desktop laser, and its main paper tray takes half a ream, so a morning's printing for several desks can go through without anyone refilling it. Its duty rating is set for daily office work, well beyond what a household printer is built to take, and the touchscreen makes a shared machine easier for colleagues who print twice a year.
The buyer is an office of a few people that prints all week, wants black text to look the same on every page, and has no use for color. It cannot print a colored chart or a photo at all. Its feeder also reads one side of an original at a time, so two-sided paperwork needs a second pass. And it is a heavy machine, so give it a sturdy surface near the network point.
Category strengths
Where the HP LaserJet Pro MFP 3105sdw beats the median
- A much higher print speed (black) ?33 ppm vs 16 ppm (median)
- A much higher monthly duty cycle ?50,000 pages vs 10,000 pages (median)
- A much higher input tray capacity ?250 sheets vs 150 sheets (median)
- Has touchscreen display ?
- A much higher output tray capacity ?150 sheets vs 67.5 sheets (median)
Where the HP LaserJet Pro MFP 3105sdw trails the median
- No color printing ?
- A much lower print resolution ?1,200 dpi vs 4,800 dpi (median)
- A heavier build ?10.5 kg vs 7.98 kg (median)
How this VS Score was computed
Score 66: each known spec is measured against the median of all printers (65 products), then weighted; 50 means level with that median. In classes of six or more, a value beyond the class’s 10th–90th percentile range counts as that limit, so one extreme product cannot set the scale. 66% of the scoreable weight could be used; unknown values, features not applicable to this class and proxies (battery capacity where a rated life exists) add or remove nothing.
| Specification | This product | Cohort median | Score weight | Points moved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Print speed (black) | 33 — capped at the class’s upper range (32) | 16 | 2 | +100.0 |
| Color printing | No | 88% of the class have it | 1.5 | −72.0 |
| Automatic duplex printing | Yes | 73% of the class have it | 1 | +50.0 |
| Automatic document feeder | Yes | 55% of the class have it | 1 | +50.0 |
| Input tray capacity | 250 | 150 | 1 | +33.0 |
| Ethernet | Yes | 54% of the class have it | 0.5 | +25.0 |
| Touchscreen display | Yes | 45% of the class have it | 0.5 | +25.0 |
| Supertank / refillable ink | No | 30% of the class have it | 0.5 | −24.0 |
| Duplex scanning | No | 23% of the class have it | 0.5 | −24.0 |
| Print resolution | 1,200 | 4,800 | 0.5 | −18.5 |
| Monthly duty cycle | 50,000 | 10,000 | 0.3 | +15.0 |
| Output tray capacity | 150 | 67.5 | 0.3 | +15.0 |
| Fax | No | 35% of the class have it | 0.2 | −9.6 |
| Weight | 10.5 | 7.98 | 0.3 | −3.6 |
Not scored: Print speed (color) (unknown: not scored); All-in-one (standard for the class (85% have it)); ADF capacity (unknown: not scored); Wi-Fi (standard for the class (97% have it)); Wi-Fi Direct (standard for the class (90% have it)); USB (standard for the class (100% have it)); Apple AirPrint (standard for the class (97% have it)); Mobile app printing (standard for the class (100% have it)).
Editor’s note
The LaserJet Pro MFP 3105sdw is HP's answer to a straightforward brief: mono laser reliability for a small office that prints documents. It prints up to 33 pages a minute, turns pages over automatically, scans through a document feeder, and carries a 50,000-page monthly duty cycle, a figure that quietly says this hardware expects to work for a living. A 2.7-inch touchscreen, dual-band Wi-Fi with Wi-Fi Direct, Ethernet and USB round out a properly connected machine.
Laser economics are the quiet argument. Toner does not dry out between jobs, does not clog printheads after a holiday, and produces the same clean black text on page one and page ten thousand. For anyone burned by an inkjet that spent more on cleaning cycles than printing, that reliability is the entire purchase.
The honest limitations: this is the sdw variant, so there is no fax (HP sells fdw models for that), and the document feeder scans one side at a time, so two-sided originals need a second pass. It is mono only, obviously. And HP's AI-capable branding on this generation amounts to workflow conveniences and brings no new hardware.
One practical note on consumables: this platform ships with a modest introductory toner cartridge (around a thousand pages), so budget for a full cartridge sooner than the duty cycle suggests. High-yield cartridges are where the per-page cost gets low.
Among rivals, Brother's HL-L2460DW is the budget mono-laser pick for basic printing, and the MFC-L2820DW adds fax at a similar price to this HP. The 3105sdw's edge is its faster engine, bigger duty cycle and the touchscreen. For a document-heavy office choosing between them, this is the more serious tool.
Specifications
Quality bars show where each figure sits between the lowest and highest of the 65 printers this VS Score is measured against.
Printing
Scanning & copying
Paper handling
Connectivity
Design
Sources and verification
Where the specifications come from
- Official product pagehp.com
- Retailer listing (cross-check)amazon.com
Verification
- First published
- Specifications last checked
- Sheet completeness
- 21 of 24 specifications verified; the rest show as Unknown and are never estimated or scored
- Page type
- Product specification page — Compiled from the manufacturer’s published specifications and the cited sources; this is not a hands-on test.
- Basis
- Research-based: specifications and editorial text were compiled from the documents listed here and the manufacturer’s published data. We have not tested this unit ourselves; where independent measurements are mentioned they belong to the linked publication.
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The bottom line
The HP LaserJet Pro MFP 3105sdw earns a VS Score of 66, above the median of the 65 printers it is measured against (a score of 50 is level with that median).
- Who it’s for
- Small offices that print documents in volume and value laser reliability: 33 ppm, auto duplex, a 50,000-page duty cycle and toner that never dries out.
- Who should look elsewhere
- Anyone needing color, fax (that is the fdw variant), or two-sided scanning, as the ADF here is single-pass, single-side.
- The trade-off that matters
- Mono-laser dependability against inkjet flexibility, with a starter toner in the box that means budgeting for a real cartridge early.
- The main alternative
- Brother MFC-L2820DW covers similar mono-laser ground with fax included, and the HL-L2460DW is the print-only budget pick.
The VS Score is calculated from the weighted specifications above, each measured against the median of comparable printers — a shortlisting guide, not a substitute for your own priorities. See how we score.
