The entry-level HP LaserJet Pro M118dw ($129.99) is designed for use in small offices, at sales counters, or as a personal or home-office monochrome laser printer.
It's fast, it has a respectable feature set for the price, it's compact enough to fit on most desktops, and it supports automatic two-sided printing.
Like most laser machines in this class, though, it's somewhat expensive to use, thereby rendering it more suitable for low-volume printing.
It's a good choice for environments that need to churn out a couple hundred text pages each month, but it can't match the print quality of our Editors' Choice, the Brother HL-L2370DW.
Bare-Bones and Basic
At 8.8 by 14.6 by 16 inches (HWD) and weighing 15.2 pounds, the M118dw ($129.99 at HP) is about average in size and girth.
The Brother HL-L2370DW ($169.96 at Amazon) mentioned above is, for example, slightly shorter and a few pounds lighter, but not enough to matter in terms of fitting it on your desk.
If you need something even smaller, though, the Editors' Choice HP LaserJet Pro M15w is about half the size of the M118dw.
As a print-only model, the M118dw doesn't require much by way of controls, as demonstrated by its sparse control panel, shown below.
From top to bottom, the controls are Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) for facilitating one-touch wireless connectivity, Attention LED (which flashes when there is an error), Ready LED, Supplies LED (which alerts you when toner is low), Resume (continue the current print job), and Cancel.
More extensive controls, configuration options, consumables monitoring, status and usage reports, and so on are available via the M118dw's built-in web site, which is a common feature among business-oriented printers, especially laser models.
The M118dw's paper handling consists of one 250-sheet input tray that pulls down from the front of the chassis.
Just above the primary input source resides a 10-sheet multipurpose tray for printing envelopes and other off-shape media, such as labels, without having to unload and reconfigure the lower tray.
The HL-L2370DW also holds 250 sheets, and it comes with a one-sheet override slot.
The M118dw's maximum monthly duty cycle is 20,000 pages, and its recommended monthly print volume is 10 percent of that, which is about average for entry-level machines in this price range and slightly higher than the Canon LBP151dw ($279.99 at Amazon) and Brother's HL-L2370DW.
The Epson WorkForce Pro WF-M5299, a much beefier monochrome inkjet laser alternative (and another Editors' Choice model), can support about twice as much printing per month.
Connectivity and Smart Tasks
The M118dw's standard and mobile connectivity options are relatively versatile, but the addition of HP's Smart App and its Smart Tasks preset workflow profiles help increase convenience and productivity further.
The standard interfaces are Ethernet, dual-band Wi-Fi, and USB 2.0.
Mobile connectivity options include Apple AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, Wi-Fi Direct, and HP ePrint.
Smart Tasks are essentially workflow profiles, or presets, for performing repetitive tasks, such as printing from a cloud site or, in this case, scanning documents with your smartphone and sending them to your printer.
Smart Tasks can also handle multiple destinations, such as sending scans to various locations (local drive, cloud or social media sites, a specific file format, and so on) all by tapping or clicking a Smart Task shortcut.
Smart Tasks are a relatively new feature on HP printers and AIOs, and I suspect that we'll see more dynamic and useful development soon.
Lickety-Split
One of the M118dw's more impressive attributes is its print speed, which HP touts at 30 pages per minute (ppm).
During my tests, however, I couldn't get it to churn quite that fast.
I timed it over an Ethernet connection to our standard Intel Core i5-equipped testbed PC running Windows 10 Professional.
On our first test, a 12-page Microsoft Word text document, the M118dw averaged a rate of 26.5ppm, or 3.5ppm short of HP's rating.
See How We Test Printers
That's about 6.5ppm slower than the Brother HL-L2370DW and 1ppm behind the Epson WF-M5299.
The Canon LBP151dw was tested under an earlier set of protocols using different test documents, thereby making speed-test number comparisons impractical.
The next portion of our test protocols entails printing a set of complex Acrobat documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint handouts with embedded business graphics.
I then combined these results with those from printing the previous 12-page text file and came up with an impressive score of 20.9 for churning our entire suite of test documents.
That score is 4ppm (or more) faster than the other monochrome printers mentioned here, as well as most other entry-level competitors.
I should also point out that, during our 12-page text document test, the M118dw turned in an excellent first page out score of 6.7 seconds.
We use that score to determine how well-suited a printer is for front-counter and reception-desk environments, where whipping out quick one- and two-page documents in rapid succession is critical.
Of the other models discussed here, as well as several other monochrome competitors, most can't match this low score, though the Epson WF-M5299 (at 8 seconds) came close.
Near-Typesetter-Quality Text
Compared with their inkjet counterparts, laser printers churn out excellent-looking text, and the M118dw is no exception.
It reproduced the characters in our font test page documents accurately, with attractive kerning and leading, down to the smallest typeface I could see without magnification, making the M118dw's text output appropriate for most business applications.
I was not impressed, though, with its grayscale output.
I saw blotches, streaks, and a few other toner distribution flaws in dark backgrounds, gradients, and embedded photos.
Though these output flaws were not bad enough to make the M118dw's output unusable, I couldn't recommend that you distribute the M118dw's prints to would-be clients, or as marketing material.
Run-of-the-Mill Running Costs
Like most entry-level monochrome laser printers, when you buy its highest-yield (2,800 pages) toner cartridge, this one prints pages with about 5 to 20 percent toner coverage for about 3.4 cents per page.
That cost is acceptable if you print only about 100 to 200 pages each month.
Should you encroach on the M118dw's 2,000-page recommended monthly print volume, though, that's going to get costly fast.
To save in the long run, you'll have to consider a more expensive, higher volume machine like Brother's HL-L6300DW, which has a cost per page of 1.3 cents.
Short and Sweet Text Runs
What the LaserJet Pro M118dw has going for it is a robust feature set for the price, HP Smart App and Smart Tasks mobile device integration, and a comparably low purchase price.
Where it misses is in its grayscale output quality and its cost per page.
If you require high-quality graphics and images, the Editors' Choice Brother HL-L2370DW is a solid alternative.
But if your print volume is more than a couple hundred pages a month and you're looking to save cash in the long term, you'll have to shell out a bit more for a more robust model like the Brother HL-L6300DW.
Otherwise, the M118dw can churn out quality text pages at a fast clip.
Cons
High running costs.
Subpar grayscale output.
The Bottom Line
The HP LaserJet Pro M118dw is an inexpensive single-function monochrome laser printer with a strong feature set for the price, but high running costs and below-average grayscale output relegate it to a light-duty text printer.
The entry-level HP LaserJet Pro M118dw ($129.99) is designed for use in small offices, at sales counters, or as a personal or home-office monochrome laser printer.
It's fast, it has a respectable feature set for the price, it's compact enough to fit on most desktops, and it supports automatic two-sided printing.
Like most laser machines in this class, though, it's somewhat expensive to use, thereby rendering it more suitable for low-volume printing.
It's a good choice for environments that need to churn out a couple hundred text pages each month, but it can't match the print quality of our Editors' Choice, the Brother HL-L2370DW.
Bare-Bones and Basic
At 8.8 by 14.6 by 16 inches (HWD) and weighing 15.2 pounds, the M118dw ($129.99 at HP) is about average in size and girth.
The Brother HL-L2370DW ($169.96 at Amazon) mentioned above is, for example, slightly shorter and a few pounds lighter, but not enough to matter in terms of fitting it on your desk.
If you need something even smaller, though, the Editors' Choice HP LaserJet Pro M15w is about half the size of the M118dw.
As a print-only model, the M118dw doesn't require much by way of controls, as demonstrated by its sparse control panel, shown below.
From top to bottom, the controls are Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) for facilitating one-touch wireless connectivity, Attention LED (which flashes when there is an error), Ready LED, Supplies LED (which alerts you when toner is low), Resume (continue the current print job), and Cancel.
More extensive controls, configuration options, consumables monitoring, status and usage reports, and so on are available via the M118dw's built-in web site, which is a common feature among business-oriented printers, especially laser models.
The M118dw's paper handling consists of one 250-sheet input tray that pulls down from the front of the chassis.
Just above the primary input source resides a 10-sheet multipurpose tray for printing envelopes and other off-shape media, such as labels, without having to unload and reconfigure the lower tray.
The HL-L2370DW also holds 250 sheets, and it comes with a one-sheet override slot.
The M118dw's maximum monthly duty cycle is 20,000 pages, and its recommended monthly print volume is 10 percent of that, which is about average for entry-level machines in this price range and slightly higher than the Canon LBP151dw ($279.99 at Amazon) and Brother's HL-L2370DW.
The Epson WorkForce Pro WF-M5299, a much beefier monochrome inkjet laser alternative (and another Editors' Choice model), can support about twice as much printing per month.
Connectivity and Smart Tasks
The M118dw's standard and mobile connectivity options are relatively versatile, but the addition of HP's Smart App and its Smart Tasks preset workflow profiles help increase convenience and productivity further.
The standard interfaces are Ethernet, dual-band Wi-Fi, and USB 2.0.
Mobile connectivity options include Apple AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, Wi-Fi Direct, and HP ePrint.
Smart Tasks are essentially workflow profiles, or presets, for performing repetitive tasks, such as printing from a cloud site or, in this case, scanning documents with your smartphone and sending them to your printer.
Smart Tasks can also handle multiple destinations, such as sending scans to various locations (local drive, cloud or social media sites, a specific file format, and so on) all by tapping or clicking a Smart Task shortcut.
Smart Tasks are a relatively new feature on HP printers and AIOs, and I suspect that we'll see more dynamic and useful development soon.
Lickety-Split
One of the M118dw's more impressive attributes is its print speed, which HP touts at 30 pages per minute (ppm).
During my tests, however, I couldn't get it to churn quite that fast.
I timed it over an Ethernet connection to our standard Intel Core i5-equipped testbed PC running Windows 10 Professional.
On our first test, a 12-page Microsoft Word text document, the M118dw averaged a rate of 26.5ppm, or 3.5ppm short of HP's rating.
See How We Test Printers
That's about 6.5ppm slower than the Brother HL-L2370DW and 1ppm behind the Epson WF-M5299.
The Canon LBP151dw was tested under an earlier set of protocols using different test documents, thereby making speed-test number comparisons impractical.
The next portion of our test protocols entails printing a set of complex Acrobat documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint handouts with embedded business graphics.
I then combined these results with those from printing the previous 12-page text file and came up with an impressive score of 20.9 for churning our entire suite of test documents.
That score is 4ppm (or more) faster than the other monochrome printers mentioned here, as well as most other entry-level competitors.
I should also point out that, during our 12-page text document test, the M118dw turned in an excellent first page out score of 6.7 seconds.
We use that score to determine how well-suited a printer is for front-counter and reception-desk environments, where whipping out quick one- and two-page documents in rapid succession is critical.
Of the other models discussed here, as well as several other monochrome competitors, most can't match this low score, though the Epson WF-M5299 (at 8 seconds) came close.
Near-Typesetter-Quality Text
Compared with their inkjet counterparts, laser printers churn out excellent-looking text, and the M118dw is no exception.
It reproduced the characters in our font test page documents accurately, with attractive kerning and leading, down to the smallest typeface I could see without magnification, making the M118dw's text output appropriate for most business applications.
I was not impressed, though, with its grayscale output.
I saw blotches, streaks, and a few other toner distribution flaws in dark backgrounds, gradients, and embedded photos.
Though these output flaws were not bad enough to make the M118dw's output unusable, I couldn't recommend that you distribute the M118dw's prints to would-be clients, or as marketing material.
Run-of-the-Mill Running Costs
Like most entry-level monochrome laser printers, when you buy its highest-yield (2,800 pages) toner cartridge, this one prints pages with about 5 to 20 percent toner coverage for about 3.4 cents per page.
That cost is acceptable if you print only about 100 to 200 pages each month.
Should you encroach on the M118dw's 2,000-page recommended monthly print volume, though, that's going to get costly fast.
To save in the long run, you'll have to consider a more expensive, higher volume machine like Brother's HL-L6300DW, which has a cost per page of 1.3 cents.
Short and Sweet Text Runs
What the LaserJet Pro M118dw has going for it is a robust feature set for the price, HP Smart App and Smart Tasks mobile device integration, and a comparably low purchase price.
Where it misses is in its grayscale output quality and its cost per page.
If you require high-quality graphics and images, the Editors' Choice Brother HL-L2370DW is a solid alternative.
But if your print volume is more than a couple hundred pages a month and you're looking to save cash in the long term, you'll have to shell out a bit more for a more robust model like the Brother HL-L6300DW.
Otherwise, the M118dw can churn out quality text pages at a fast clip.
Cons
High running costs.
Subpar grayscale output.
The Bottom Line
The HP LaserJet Pro M118dw is an inexpensive single-function monochrome laser printer with a strong feature set for the price, but high running costs and below-average grayscale output relegate it to a light-duty text printer.
