Twenty of Brother's current workgroup printers run on this platform, and Brother sells them four sizes of the same black cartridge: the TN920 at about 3,000 pages, then the XL at 6,000, the XXL at 11,000 and the UXXL at 18,000. Picking a tier is the easy half of shopping here. The half that actually bites sits underneath the toner: the twenty printers divide cleanly between two different drum units — thirteen take the DR920, seven take the DR925, and no model takes both. This guide prices the whole ladder, then settles the drum question model by model, using Brother's own lists rather than anyone's shelf copy.
The short answer: most offices should start with the TN920 2-pack at $56.31 — about 6,000 pages at roughly 0.94¢ each — and step up the ladder only as monthly volume proves the bigger cartridges earn their keep. Before ordering any drum, find your model in the drum section below: the wrong drum does not fit at all, and a compatible DR925 does not exist.
Buy toner by the rung your volume justifies: the TN920 2-pack at $56.31 covers a typical department for months, and each step up the ladder cuts the cost per page — about 0.62¢ on the XL single, 0.35¢ on the XXL, 0.29¢ on the UXXL. Two cautions ride with every order on this platform. The top cartridge, the UXXL, fits only twelve of the twenty printers. And the drum split is absolute: thirteen models run on the DR920, seven on the DR925, with no crossover in either direction.
Start here: the standard tier
Brother rates the base TN920 at about 3,000 pages, and that rating is honest working capacity, not a starter fill — a department printing a few thousand pages a month will measure a cartridge's life in months, not weeks. The pair below is where most buyers on this platform should begin: the 2-pack as the default reorder, the single for anyone replacing one cartridge in one machine and preferring to keep cash in the bank rather than toner on the shelf.
Every model in this family accepts the standard cartridge, which makes this box the one reorder that cannot be wrong for fit. For scale, a genuine Brother TN920 single is $121.92 on our OEM shelf — more than double this whole 2-pack, for half the pages inside it.
View the TN920 2-Pack →
The single earns its place where one machine prints modestly and a second cartridge would sit sealed for a year. Its per-page figure is the platform's highest among the standard packs, and that is the whole trade: less money committed today, more paid per page over the year.
View the TN920 Single →The same cartridge four at a time, for offices that would rather reorder twice a year than six times:
One platform, four cartridge sizes
Prices are the live figures from the product pages carded in this guide, and yields are Brother's published ISO/IEC 19752 ratings. Genuine references use Brother's own prices where Brother publishes them, so the comparison is against the manufacturer's shelf and not just ours. Read the drum rows with their basis attached — Brother rates drum life per print job, and the two drums headline different bases, which the note under the table untangles.
| Cartridge / unit | Compatible single | Compatible 2-pack | Brother rated yield | Cost per page, single | Genuine reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TN920 | $36.19 | $56.31 | About 3,000 pages | About 1.21¢ | Brother lists $95.49 (ours $121.92) |
| TN920XL | $37.13 | $58.19 | About 6,000 pages | About 0.62¢ | Brother lists $128.29 (ours $150.89) |
| TN920XXL SWEET SPOT | $38.24 | $60.39 | About 11,000 pages | About 0.35¢ | Brother lists $204.29 |
| TN920UXXL | $51.68 | $87.27 | About 18,000 pages — 12 models only | About 0.29¢ | Brother lists $241.49 |
| DR920 drum | $32.28 | $48.47 | About 45,000 pages at 1 page per job; 75,000 at 3 per job | About 0.07¢ | Brother lists $273.49 (ours $320.79) |
| DR925 drum | No compatible sold | No compatible sold | About 75,000 pages at 3 pages per job; 45,000 at 1 per job | — | Genuine only — $260.68 on our shelf |
Why the XXL row is flagged: it is the largest cartridge that fits all twenty printers, so its 0.35¢ is available to every owner on the platform, while the UXXL's lower figure belongs to twelve models only. On the drums: at the same pages-per-job basis the DR920 and DR925 carry identical ratings — 45,000 pages at one page per job, 75,000 at three. Neither drum outlasts the other; they are simply built for different machines. Real yields vary with page coverage, printer settings and paper; the ratings are the shared yardstick, not a promise for any one office.
TN920XL: double the pages for under a dollar more
The XL is the rung where this family's arithmetic turns generous. The single costs $0.94 more than the standard cartridge and is rated for twice the pages, which halves the running cost to about 0.62¢ a page. Nothing about fit changes — all twenty printers accept it — so the only question the XL asks is whether your volume will work through 6,000 pages before the cartridge ages on the shelf. For a shared department printer, the answer is almost always yes.
TN920XXL: the largest cartridge every model accepts
At about 11,000 pages, the XXL nearly quadruples the standard cartridge while adding only $2.05 to the single's price over the base tier — about 0.35¢ a page, and the flagged sweet spot in the table above. It is also the ceiling for eight of the twenty printers, the ones the UXXL section below excludes. If your fleet mixes models and you stock one cartridge size for all of them, this is the size: one SKU, every machine covered, and changeovers measured in months even on a busy box.
TN920UXXL: 18,000 pages, twelve printers
The UXXL is the family's flagship capacity — about 18,000 pages per cartridge, down to roughly 0.29¢ a page as a single and 0.22¢ in the 4-pack, the cheapest printing this platform offers. It is also the one tier with a gate on it. Brother fits the UXXL to twelve of the twenty models: the HL-L5215DW, HL-L6210DW, HL-L6210DWT, HL-L6310DW, HL-L6415DW, HL-L6415DWT, HL-EX415DW, MFC-L5715DW, MFC-L5915DW, MFC-L6810DW, MFC-L6915DW, MFC-EX915DW. The remaining eight — the HL-L5210DN, HL-L5210DW, HL-L5210DWT, HL-L6217DW, DCP-L5510DN, MFC-L5710DN, MFC-L5710DW, MFC-L5717DW — are not on Brother's list for this cartridge, whatever a given listing's compatibility text claims, and this guide does not present the UXXL as an option for them. Owners of those eight lose nothing but the top rung; the XXL above is their ceiling, at nearly the same per-page cost.
Two drums, twenty printers, no overlap
Here is the fact this whole platform turns on. Brother assigns thirteen of the twenty models to the DR920 drum and the other seven to the DR925, and the two lists share not a single model. A DR920 physically does not fit a DR925 machine, and the reverse is equally true — this is not a yield preference or a settings question, it is two different units for two sets of printers. The groups, from Brother's own documentation:
DR920 models (13): the HL-L5210DN, HL-L5210DW, HL-L5210DWT, HL-L6210DW, HL-L6210DWT, HL-L6217DW, HL-L6310DW, DCP-L5510DN, MFC-L5710DN, MFC-L5710DW, MFC-L5717DW, MFC-L5915DW, MFC-L6810DW.
DR925 models (7): the HL-L5215DW, HL-L6415DW, HL-L6415DWT, HL-EX415DW, MFC-L5715DW, MFC-L6915DW, MFC-EX915DW.
Two traps hide in those lists. The first is the "15" in the model names: most of the 15-suffixed Workhorse models do take the DR925, which makes the MFC-L5915DW the exception worth memorizing — Brother puts it on the DR920 list, and the DR920 is what it takes. The second trap is closer to home: our own drum listings are assigned across all twenty model categories and their text names the full twenty, DR925 machines included. That shelf copy overstates the fit. Brother's lists above are the authority this guide follows, and they are the lists to order by.
For the thirteen DR920 models, the compatible drum cards follow. One labeling warning first, because it confuses buyers every week: our three compatible DR920 listings are titled "Toner Cartridge" on their product pages. They are drum units — the DR920 code, the drum description and the 45,000-page rating all say so — and they are carded here under the name the product actually is.
For the seven DR925 models, the honest position is short: no compatible DR925 exists in our store. The only DR925 we sell is the genuine Brother unit, at $260.68 on our OEM shelf — a reference figure, not a card, because this guide links compatible options only. Do not let a search result talk you into the DR920 as a substitute; it is a different unit and it will not fit. What those seven models' owners can buy compatibly is everything on the toner side of this page — all four tiers, subject to the UXXL's twelve-model list.
A note on the numbers in this section: Brother headlines the DR920 at 45,000 pages and the DR925 at 75,000, but those headlines sit on different bases — one page per job against three pages per job. On the same basis the two drums rate identically, so plan either drum's life at 45,000 pages if your work arrives as single pages, and expect more when it arrives in longer jobs.
The twenty printers, by series
Every model below takes TN920, TN920XL and TN920XXL toner — the tier question is about volume, never about whether the cartridge fits. The two qualifications live elsewhere on this page: the UXXL's twelve-model list in its own section, and the drum each model needs in the section above.
HL printers (11): the HL-L5210DN, HL-L5210DW, HL-L5210DWT, HL-L5215DW, HL-L6210DW, HL-L6210DWT, HL-L6217DW, HL-L6310DW, HL-L6415DW, HL-L6415DWT, HL-EX415DW.
DCP (1): the DCP-L5510DN.
MFC all-in-ones (8): the MFC-L5710DN, MFC-L5710DW, MFC-L5715DW, MFC-L5717DW, MFC-L5915DW, MFC-L6810DW, MFC-L6915DW, MFC-EX915DW. Smaller Brother fleets run on other platforms — the home-and-small-office machines are covered in our Best Brother TN660 Toner Cartridges guide, and the previous workgroup generation in our Best Brother TN850 Toner Cartridges guide.
Drum and toner, boxed together
Every set in this section pairs cartridges with the DR920, so it serves the thirteen DR920 models only — there is no equivalent set for the DR925 seven, because there is no compatible DR925 to put in the box. The sets earn their shelf space when a drum change and a toner change land together: each is priced below the sum of its parts bought as singles, by the amount on its card. Four mixes per tier — drum plus one, two or three cartridges, or a two-drum fleet box.
With TN920 cartridges (about 3,000 pages each):
With TN920XL cartridges (about 6,000 pages each):
With TN920XXL cartridges (about 11,000 pages each):
With TN920UXXL cartridges (about 18,000 pages each) — remembering that the cartridge itself fits twelve models, and a set is only useful where both halves fit:
The drum keeps its own calendar
Toner and drum are consumed on separate schedules, and the printer tracks them on separate counters. A toner cartridge rated at 3,000 pages will be swapped many times inside one drum's 45,000-page life — fifteen standard cartridges, to be exact, or seven and a half XLs, about four XXLs, two and a half UXXLs. That ratio is why the drum is a rare, deliberate purchase rather than a standing reorder, and why a fresh toner never clears a drum message: the counters do not talk to each other.
When the drum counter reaches its rating, the machine asks for the drum by name, and the swap involves a counter reset so the new unit starts its own count. What each drum message means, and the reset procedure step by step, are set out on our Brother Monochrome Toner & Drum Compatibility page. Fading or streaking that persists across a new cartridge is the drum asking ahead of its counter — believe the pages over the display.
Before you order: the TN920 family checklist
Frequently asked questions
Match the rung to the machine's monthly volume. A few thousand pages a month lives comfortably on the standard TN920 or the XL; a shared workhorse printing five figures a quarter belongs on the XXL, which fits every model on the platform; the UXXL pays where one of its twelve supported models runs hot all day. The per-page ladder runs about 1.21¢, 0.62¢, 0.35¢ and 0.29¢ across the four singles, so overbuying capacity is cheap insurance — underbuying it just means more changeovers, never a misfit.
Only if your model is one of the twelve on Brother's UXXL list: HL-L5215DW, HL-L6210DW, HL-L6210DWT, HL-L6310DW, HL-L6415DW, HL-L6415DWT, HL-EX415DW, MFC-L5715DW, MFC-L5915DW, MFC-L6810DW, MFC-L6915DW and MFC-EX915DW. The other eight models — including the whole 5210 series and the MFC-L5710 line — are not listed by Brother for this cartridge. Some product text on our own site claims all twenty; Brother's documentation is the authority, and this guide follows it.
Brother splits the platform cleanly. Thirteen models take the DR920: the HL-L5210DN, HL-L5210DW, HL-L5210DWT, HL-L6210DW, HL-L6210DWT, HL-L6217DW, HL-L6310DW, DCP-L5510DN, MFC-L5710DN, MFC-L5710DW, MFC-L5717DW, MFC-L5915DW and MFC-L6810DW. Seven take the DR925: the HL-L5215DW, HL-L6415DW, HL-L6415DWT, HL-EX415DW, MFC-L5715DW, MFC-L6915DW and MFC-EX915DW. Watch the MFC-L5915DW in particular — its name groups it with the DR925 machines, but Brother assigns it the DR920.
No. Our store sells no compatible DR925, and this guide will not pretend the DR920 covers those seven printers — it is a different unit and does not fit them. The genuine Brother DR925 is $260.68 on our OEM shelf. What DR925-model owners can buy compatibly is toner: all four tiers fit all seven of those models, the UXXL included.
Because the headline figures are measured on different workloads. Brother rates the DR920's 45,000 at one page per print job and the DR925's 75,000 at three pages per job. Put both on the same basis and they are the same drum life: 45,000 pages at one page per job, 75,000 at three. Neither drum is the longer-lived one; they simply serve different printers.
The title is wrong; the part is right. Our three compatible DR920 listings went up titled as toner cartridges, but their code, their descriptions and their 45,000-page rating are all the drum unit's. If the product code says DR920, you are ordering the imaging drum that the toner cartridge rides in — which is what the drum section of this guide cards. Judge these listings by the code, and raise the title with us if it gave you pause.
Every compatible cartridge and drum in this guide carries our 1-year warranty, and returns run a full year as well — if a unit underperforms, it comes back to us. Stock ships from four warehouses in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia and California, and our support team answers Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM Central.