Aficio MP C305

Small departments rarely have floor space to spare, and the Ricoh Aficio MP C305 was built for exactly that constraint: a compact color multifunction that prints, copies, scans and faxes from a footprint its larger C-series relatives cannot match. It runs on four separate toner cartridges — the 841621 black, rated for up to 12,000 pages, plus the 841591 cyan, 841592 magenta and 841593 yellow, each rated for up to 4,000 pages. Every cartridge on this page is a compatible replacement made for the MP C305, sold singly, in black multipacks and in complete color sets.

Think of this machine as the departmental workhorse that happens to sit on a credenza. Teams that outgrew a desktop printer but cannot justify a full-size copier get the complete document workflow — color printing for client-facing material, scanning into shared folders, fax for the offices that still demand it — without surrendering a corner of the room. Because each color lives in its own cartridge, a department that prints mostly contracts and invoices sips cyan and magenta while burning through black, and only ever replaces the slot that actually ran dry.

Toner Cartridges for Aficio MP C305

Which cartridge should you buy?

Start with how the department actually prints. The black cartridge carries the everyday load — memos, invoices, reports — and its 12,000-page rating triples any single color, so heavy document desks should look at the black two-, three- and five-packs to cut cost per page and keep a spare on the shelf. Color output is the opposite pattern: cyan, magenta and yellow drain unevenly depending on what you print, so buying singles and swapping only the empty slot is usually the thriftiest route. If a full refresh is due, the four-color set replaces everything in one order; the three- and six-piece color-only bundles suit departments whose black is still healthy but whose colors are fading together.

Chip, toner and everyday use

Each compatible cartridge carries a chip the MP C305 reads for toner-level reporting, so the panel warnings stay meaningful instead of guessing. Seat a new cartridge until it clicks, and let the machine finish its calibration before judging the first prints. Page ratings assume roughly 5 percent coverage — a page of text, not a full-bleed brochure — so photo-heavy work will land lower. A gentle side-to-side rock of a cartridge that is running low redistributes the remaining toner and often buys a few dozen extra pages while the replacement ships. Keep unopened cartridges flat, out of direct sunlight, and they will be ready when you need them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which toner cartridges does the Aficio MP C305 take?

Four separate cartridges: 841621 black, 841591 cyan, 841592 magenta and 841593 yellow. Each color is its own cartridge, so any one of them can be replaced on its own schedule without touching the other three.

Why does the black cartridge last so much longer than the colors?

The 841621 black is rated for up to 12,000 pages against up to 4,000 for each color. That reflects how offices print: most pages are black text, while color is spread across three cartridges that only lay toner down where the page actually uses it.

Can I buy just the colors without black?

Yes. Alongside the complete four-color sets, this page lists three- and six-piece bundles built from only the cyan, magenta and yellow cartridges — useful when the black still has plenty of life left.

Are these cartridges covered by a warranty?

Yes. Every compatible cartridge sold here is backed by a 1-year warranty and 1-year returns, and each one is quality-tested before it ships.

More printers that use the same cartridges

The same four cartridges also fit the scanning-focused sibling of this machine: Aficio MP C305SPF.