Wait — an HL That Copies and Scans?

The model number invites a double-take. Brother's HL prefix normally means print-only, yet the HL-L3290CDW carries a flatbed scan glass on top and will happily copy a document or scan it to email, OCR, file or network. What it does not have explains the badge: there is no automatic document feeder — every page is placed on the glass by hand — and no fax modem at all. Think of it as a printer with a copier lid, built for homes that scan occasionally rather than offices that scan constantly.

The rest of the hardware is brisk: up to 25 pages per minute, automatic two-sided printing, a 250-sheet tray plus manual feed slot, a two-line backlit LCD, and Wi-Fi or USB connection (no Ethernet socket on this one). The starter cartridges in the box are good for about 1,000 pages each.

What Goes Inside, and What It Costs to Run

Cartridge	Color	TN223 (standard)	TN227 (high yield)
Black	Black	~1,400 pages	~3,000 pages
Cyan	Cyan	~1,300 pages	~2,300 pages
Magenta	Magenta	~1,300 pages	~2,300 pages
Yellow	Yellow	~1,300 pages	~2,300 pages

On our shelves, checked November 2, 2026, both sizes of single cartridge are priced at $25.26. That turns the high-yield black into about 0.8 cents per page and each high-yield color into about 1.1 cents, while the standard sizes land near 1.8 and 1.9 cents respectively. A copying household should care about the color figure in particular: every color copy pulls on all four cartridges at once, unlike a black-only print job — copying is where high-yield colors quietly pay for themselves.

Changing Toner on the HL-L3290CDW

With the machine on, raise the top cover and draw out the drum assembly for the spent color. Depress the lock lever, remove the old cartridge, and gently rock its successor left and right before taking off the protective cover. Drop it into the drum cradle until it clicks, glide the green corona-wire cleaning tab across and back to its home position, push the assembly in, and shut the cover. Working one color at a time keeps the other three sealed and undisturbed.

Every Color Has Its Own Page

TN227 high yield

• TN227BK Black
• TN227C Cyan
• TN227M Magenta
• TN227Y Yellow

TN223 standard yield

• TN223BK Black
• TN223C Cyan
• TN223M Magenta
• TN223Y Yellow

The Full Set, Honestly Assessed

A compatible TN227 four-color set costs $52.79 on our site — barely above the price of two singles, and $48 less than the $101.04 total of four singles bought separately. For this model there is an extra argument: flatbed copying tends to spend the colors together, so when one starter color fades, its three companions are rarely far behind, and the set's timing is natural. Still, singles keep one clear use case. If a single color dies mid-year while the LCD shows the others comfortably half-full, replacing just that color is the frugal move, and no set discount changes that arithmetic.

Under the Toner: Drums and Service Parts

Each cartridge locks into its own drum, supplied together as the DR223CL drum set — $86.11 on our listing when checked, with a listed yield of 18,500 pages against Brother's approximate 18,000-page rating for the set. Streaks and spots that repeat at the same place on every page are drum symptoms. The BU223CL belt unit and WT223CL waste toner box complete the consumable list at roughly 50,000 pages apiece; on a home machine they may never come due, but the part names are worth recognizing.

HL-L3290CDW Questions

Does the HL-L3290CDW really not fax? Correct — there is no fax function. It prints, copies and scans. If faxing matters, all three MFC models in this family include it.

Can it scan a legal-size document? It prints on legal paper from the tray, but the flatbed glass measures 8.5 by 11.7 inches, so a legal sheet will not fit on the glass in one pass. Owners who scan legal pages regularly need a model with a document feeder.

Why is there no document feeder? That is the trade Brother made to hold this model's price and size down: flatbed-only copying and scanning, in exchange for adding those functions to a printer-shaped machine at all.

Do color copies use more toner than color prints? A copy and a print of the same page consume comparable toner. The difference is habit: people copy whole documents in color by default, while print jobs are often black-only. Setting the copy default to mono for text saves the colors for when they matter.

Are its cartridges the same as the MFC models'? Identical. TN223, TN227 and the DR223CL set are shared across all seven printers in this group, so a household upgrading to an MFC later keeps its spare cartridges.

Other Printers That Use TN223 and TN227

Also on this supply shelf: HL-L3210CW, HL-L3230CDW, HL-L3270CDW, MFC-L3710CW, MFC-L3750CDW and MFC-L3770CDW.

Ready to order? Start from our HL-L3290CDW toner page, which lists every cartridge and set that fits this printer.