TN227 is the high-yield color toner family for Brother's compact HL-L and MFC-L printers — and it shares its cartridges with the standard-yield TN223 family, which is why the names keep getting mixed up. This guide sorts out the two labels, shows what each buying option in our store actually costs per page, and explains why the four-color set is the default buy for most owners.
Buy the combined TN223/TN227 high-yield 4-pack for $52.79 when two or more cartridges are running low. It costs $48.25 less than buying the four TN227 singles one at a time, and it carries Brother-rated yields of about 3,000 pages for black and 2,300 pages for each color. Buy a $25.26 single only when exactly one color is empty and the rest still have useful life left.
The 5-second decision
One box refreshes all four slots at about $13.20 a cartridge. Because the pack is built for both the TN223 and TN227 names, it is the right set whichever of the two labels your printer's manual uses — the cartridges inside are the same high-yield units either way.
View the TN227 4-Pack →
Most of these printers empty black long before any color. If that is your pattern, the 2-pack is the cheapest way to keep text printing at roughly 0.57¢ a page — and the spare means a low-toner warning never stops a workday.
View the Black 2-Pack →The short verdict
Start with the arithmetic. Every TN227 single in our store — black, cyan, magenta, yellow — is priced at $25.26, so a full set bought one cartridge at a time costs $101.04. The four-pack puts the same four high-yield cartridges in a single box for $52.79. That is a straight $48.25 saving, with no yield given up on any color.
Then there is the naming puzzle, and we would rather explain it than let it confuse the purchase: genuine Brother sells two yield classes for these printers — TN223 standard yield and TN227 high yield — but our compatible shelf stocks one high-yield cartridge per color that serves both names, at one price. The listings titled TN223 and the listings titled TN227 are the same cartridges. So on this shelf there is no cheaper standard-yield compatible to hunt for, and no wrong door between the two labels; the full explanation is in the TN223 section below.
This guide is built from the cartridges' listed prices, Brother's rated yields, and Clever Supplies policies. It is not a laboratory test and not a roundup of customer ratings, and we do not decorate it with review counts or stars that are not part of the buying facts.
Brother TN227 options compared
| Option | Price checked | Brother-rated yield | Why choose it |
|---|---|---|---|
| TN223/TN227 high-yield 4-pack BEST VALUE | $52.79 | Black 3,000; colors 2,300 each | The full refresh in one box; $48.25 below the four singles bought separately. |
| Four TN227 singles bought separately | $101.04 total | Black 3,000; colors 2,300 each | Only makes sense when purchases must be spread out; each cartridge is $25.26. |
| TN227 black single (TN227BK) | $25.26 | Black 3,000 | Targeted black replacement; about 0.84¢ per rated black page. |
| TN227 color single (C, M, or Y) | $25.26 each | 2,300 per color | Replace only the empty color; each works out to about 1.10¢ per rated page. |
| TN227 black 2-pack | $34.44 | Black 3,000 each | For black-heavy printing; $17.22 a cartridge and a spare always on hand. |
| TN227 3-color set (C/M/Y) | $43.61 | 2,300 per color | When black is still healthy but all three colors are low; saves $32.17 vs the three singles. |
| TN227 5-pack | $61.97 | Black 3,000; colors 2,300 each | The five-cartridge stock-up box for shared printers that cannot afford a toner outage. |
| Listings titled TN223 | $25.26 each | Same high-yield cartridges | Identical cartridges under the standard-yield name, at the identical price — see the TN223 section. |
Rated yields are Brother's figures for the TN227 class (black about 3,000 pages; each color about 2,300). Real output varies with page coverage, graphics, printer settings, and how much color a document uses.
Best Brother TN227 picks by priority
Best overall: the combined TN223/TN227 4-pack
Choose the set when two or more cartridges are low, when the printer is shared, or when you simply want one delivery to reset every slot to full. It is the lowest complete-set price in this family and it avoids the staggered-expiry trap, where a fresh black goes in beside colors that give out the following week. Open the TN223/TN227 four-pack to confirm the current product-page price before ordering.
Best for one empty color: the matching TN227 single
A set is not automatically the smart buy. If only magenta is empty and the other three cartridges still show healthy levels, replace magenta. Each color is its own cartridge with its own code — match the code on the cartridge you pull out to the single you order.
Best for colors only: the TN227 3-color set
The in-between case is real: black was replaced recently, but cyan, magenta, and yellow are all nearing empty together. The TN227 3-color set covers exactly those three slots for $43.61 — $32.17 less than the same three cartridges bought as singles — without forcing a black cartridge you do not need yet.
TN223 or TN227? The honest answer
On Brother's own shelf, the two names are two yield classes for the same printers. Genuine TN223 cartridges are standard yield — about 1,400 pages for black and 1,300 for each color. Genuine TN227 cartridges are high yield — about 3,000 pages for black and 2,300 for each color. The cartridges are the same shape, fit the same slots, and differ in how much toner Brother fills them with and what it charges. That is the whole difference, and it is why the printers accept both.
Our compatible shelf works differently, and we will state it plainly: we stock one high-yield cartridge per color for this family, and it is listed under both names. The TN223-titled singles — TN223BK black, TN223C cyan, TN223M magenta, and TN223Y yellow — are $25.26 each, exactly like the TN227-titled singles, because they are the same cartridges from the same shelf. The four-pack at the top of this guide carries both names on its box for the same reason.
So the practical rule is simple. If your printer or its manual says TN223, you are not settling for a shorter-life cartridge by buying here, and you are not overpaying for the TN227 name either — there is one cartridge, one yield class, and one price. Buy whichever listing matches the label you know; the product that arrives is the same.
Which printers use Brother TN227?
The TN227/TN223 family fits Brother's compact color LED printers: the HL-L3210CW, HL-L3230CDW, HL-L3270CDW, and HL-L3290CDW, and the MFC-L3710CW, MFC-L3750CDW, and MFC-L3770CDW multifunction models. Every one of them takes both yield classes in the same four slots, so the class decision is about price and page count — never about physical fit.
Browse the model-specific toner pages for the HL-L3210CW, HL-L3230CDW, HL-L3270CDW, HL-L3290CDW, MFC-L3710CW, MFC-L3750CDW, and MFC-L3770CDW.
One near-name warning worth printing in bold: the MFC-L3780CDW is not a TN227 printer. Despite sitting next to the MFC-L3770CDW in Brother's lineup, it uses the TN229 cartridge family. If your model number ends in 80 rather than 70, this page's cartridges are not the ones your printer takes.
What a TN227 page really costs
Cost per page starts with one cartridge at a time. For black, divide the $25.26 TN227BK single price by its 3,000-page Brother rating: about 0.84¢ per page. Each color single is also $25.26, but its rating is 2,300 pages, so cyan, magenta, and yellow each contribute about 1.10¢ when that color is used at the rated coverage assumption. The black 2-pack lowers black further, to roughly 0.57¢ a page.
A full-color page draws from all four cartridges. Add the components — 0.84¢ for black plus 1.10¢ for each of the three colors — and the total is about 4.1¢ per full-color page. Do not add all four yields together and divide a set price by the combined figure: the colors do not pool their capacity, and a page that spends magenta cannot use yellow's unused pages. The four-pack's separate $48.25 saving lowers what you pay up front, while the single-cartridge math above is the cleanest way to read the running cost.
Toner, the drum, and a two-minute install
Brother keeps toner and imaging separate on these printers. The TN227 cartridges hold the toner; behind them sits the DR229CL drum unit, a longer-life part rated at about 20,000 pages that only needs attention when the printer asks for a drum — a "Replace Drum" message is about that unit, not about your toner. One honest note about our own shelf: we do not sell a compatible DR229CL drum for this family — that part is genuine-Brother-only territory in our store, so this guide links toner only and makes no drum recommendation.
Installation is the simple end of the toner world. Open the top cover, lift the empty cartridge out by its handle, slide the new one in until it seats, and close the cover — no tools, nothing to transfer from the old cartridge, and no settings to change. The cartridges in this guide arrive chipped and ready to run. If a "Toner Low" notice lingers right after a swap, finish the print job and let the printer complete a cycle; the counter updates as the new cartridge registers.
Buying checklist
Frequently asked questions
In genuine Brother cartridges, yield. TN223 is the standard-yield class (about 1,400 pages black, 1,300 per color) and TN227 is the high-yield class (about 3,000 black, 2,300 per color); both fit the same printers. In our compatible range there is no difference to buy: one high-yield cartridge per color is listed under both names at the same $25.26, so the choice of listing does not change the product or the price.
Because the printers themselves carry both names in their documentation, and the cartridges serve both. The four-pack is the family's flagship set in our store, built from the same high-yield cartridges sold as singles, and its dual naming is there so a TN223 owner and a TN227 owner can each recognize their cartridge on one box.
Replace one cartridge when only one is empty and the rest still have meaningful life. Buy the 4-pack when several are low, when the printer is shared and downtime is costly, or when you want a matched full refresh. The set saves $48.25 against the four singles bought separately, but that saving only counts if you actually need all four.
No. The MFC-L3780CDW belongs to the TN229 family, even though its name sits one digit away from the MFC-L3770CDW, which does take TN227. Check the full model number on your printer's label before ordering — on this family, a single digit changes the cartridge.
No. Toner and drum are separate parts on these printers. The DR229CL drum unit is rated at about 20,000 pages and is replaced only when the printer reports a drum message. We do not sell a compatible DR229CL — in our store that part is genuine Brother only — so this guide makes no drum pick and links none.
Clever Supplies compatible toner carries a 1-year warranty and 1-year returns. Support is available Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM CST. Orders are shipped from warehouses in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and California.