Frequently Asked Questions

My black cartridge is still going strong — why would I buy all three colors at once?

Because the colors rarely wait for the black to finish. When cyan, magenta and yellow are all getting low, replacing them in one pass resets the whole color side of the printer, and you stop chasing one warning after another over the following weeks. The black TN221BK keeps working on its own schedule.

What exactly is in this box?

Three cartridges: one TN225C cyan, one TN225M magenta and one TN225Y yellow, each rated at 2,200 pages. There is no black cartridge in this set — it is the color refill for printers that already have a healthy TN221BK black installed.

How does the price compare with buying the colors one at a time?

Bought separately, the three TN225 colors run $27.88 each, or $83.64 for the trio. This set is $46.67, so you save $36.97 and pay $15.56 per cartridge instead of $27.88 — the same cartridges, just boxed together. For the full shelf, see our Best Brother TN221 Toner Cartridges guide: the TN221BK black cartridge, the high-yield TN225 colors, the mixed sets and the DR221 drum units are compared side by side — including what each route costs per page when a single slot or the whole printer runs dry.

Which printers does this color set fit?

It fits the Brother color laser and LED models built on the TN221/TN225 platform, including DCP-9020CDN, HL-3140CW, HL-3150CDN, HL-3170CDW, HL-3180CDW, MFC-9130CW and MFC-9330CDW. If your machine takes a TN221BK black, these are the matching high-yield colors for it.

Can I install one color now and keep the other two for later?

Yes. Each cartridge is sealed on its own, so you can swap only the color the printer is asking for and shelve the rest. Toner does not dry out the way ink does, so the spares stay ready for months in a cool, dry drawer.

What protection do I get with these cartridges?

Every cartridge is covered by a 1-year warranty and 1-year free returns — the full policy is on our shipping & returns page. Orders leave from our warehouses in IL, PA, GA or CA, and support answers Mon–Fri, 9 AM–5 PM CST.

One color looks weak — how do I tell the cartridge from the printer?

Start with the simplest tests before blaming either. Reseat the cartridge for that color — pull it out and click it firmly back into its slot — then reprint the page that looked wrong. If the weakness follows the TN225 cartridge after a reseat, the cartridge is the suspect; if the same pale patch appears in other colors too, the machine deserves the attention instead. Judge by the third or fourth sheet, and compare against how that page looked when the color was healthy.

Why do photos and graphics drain the 2,200 pages faster than text?

The 2,200-page rating for each TN225C, TN225M and TN225Y assumes standard document coverage. A page of text covers a small fraction of the sheet; a photo or a full-color chart can cover nearly all of it, several times over in toner terms. So a color set feeding a photo-heavy workflow will finish well inside its rated pages — evenly across the colors your images use most. It is worth setting expectations by your real mix: the rating is a yardstick, not a promise.

How do I check I have the right color before opening a box?

Read the last letter of the code. TN225C is cyan, TN225M is magenta and TN225Y is yellow, and the three cartridges share the same shape, so the letter is the only reliable difference once the boxes are open and look identical on the shelf. Check the box against the slot the printer says is empty before breaking the seal — an opened wrong color is still usable later, but the habit of checking first is what keeps a five-minute swap from becoming a shelf of opened spares.

How should I judge a new color cartridge once it is in?

Against a page you already trust. Keep one color document from when the printer was printing well — a brand sheet or a photo page — and reprint it after the swap. Lay the two side by side: the fresh TN225 cartridge should bring its color back to the reference's strength by the third or fourth sheet. If it does, the old empty can leave with confidence. If one color still lags while the others match, that channel has told you exactly where to look next.

About This TN225 3-Color Set

This three-pack brings the color side of a TN221/TN225 printer back to full strength in one order: cyan, magenta and yellow at 2,200 pages each, for offices whose black cartridge still has life in it. It is one of the Brother compatible cartridges we stock for this platform, and it costs $36.97 less than the same three colors bought one by one.