Compatible Brother TN248XL toner (colour): guide, installation and savings

The compatible Brother TN248XL colour toner is a high-capacity consumable for Brother colour laser printers in the L3200, L3500, L3700 and L8300 series. With a yield of 3,000 pages in black and 2,300 per colour (to ISO/IEC 19798) and manufacturing under the ISO 9001 quality standard, it is the straightforward choice for carrying on printing in colour without paying the original's price. Available for €13.98.

What it is and which printers it fits

The TN248XL is the high-yield (XL) version of the TN248 cartridge. At Star Toner you can get it in black, cyan, magenta and yellow to complete your machine's CMYK set. It is compatible with exactly these Brother models:

• Brother DCP-L3520CDW and DCP-L3560CDW
• Brother HL-L3220CW, HL-L3240CDW, HL-L8230CDW and HL-L8240CDW
• Brother MFC-L3740CDW, MFC-L3740CDWE and MFC-L3760CDW
• Brother MFC-L8340CDW and MFC-L8390CDW

Remember that in these printers the toner and the drum are separate parts: the toner provides the colour and the drum transfers the image onto the paper. If your drum has already reached the end of its service life, you can replace it with a compatible Brother DR-2000 DR-350 drum.

How to install it and what to do if it says "cartridge not recognised"

Installation is simple: open the front cover, take out the drum-toner assembly, push the green locking lever to release the used toner and click the new TN248XL into place. Refit the assembly and close the cover. Always remove the protective seals before fitting it.

If, after the change, a message such as "cartridge not recognised" or "incompatible toner" appears, it is not usually a fault with the consumable, but rather the chip reading. Try these steps:

• Turn the printer off, wait a few seconds and turn it back on to force a fresh reading of the chip.
• Check that the colour cartridge is placed in its correct position (C, M, Y or K) and properly seated.
• Carefully clean the chip contacts with a dry cloth if there is any toner dust residue.
• If the machine asks you to confirm a new consumable, follow the on-screen menu to reset the counter.

To verify that the colour quality is correct after the change, print a CMYK test page and check that all four colours come out clean and without streaks.

Yield and savings compared with the original

A compatible TN248XL cartridge delivers the same declared capacity as the original: 3,000 pages in black and 2,300 per colour, with the reliability of an ISO 9001-quality process. The difference is in the price: compatible cartridges significantly reduce the cost per page compared with the OEM, especially when you print in colour frequently and need to replace several colours at once.

If you want to see the real difference in quality, we show you in our article original vs compatible printed side by side, and if you prefer to understand how much you really spend when printing, work out your cost with the guide on the real cost of printing.

Why buy it from Star Toner

Buying the compatible Brother TN248XL toner from Star Toner gives you a product manufactured to the ISO 9001 standard, with the stated capacity and backed by a guarantee. What's more, in Spain you have full legal cover: using compatible cartridges does not void your printer's warranty, as we explain in the legal guarantee for compatible cartridges.

If your Brother machine is a mono model (TN325/TN360 series), we have specific alternatives such as the compatible Brother TN360 toner or the compatible Brother TN325 TN315 colour toner. Choose the model that matches your printer and keep your colour prints at a reasonable cost.

Frequently asked questions