What’s the difference between genuine and compatible printer ink and toner cartridges?

The only time you notice that your printer isn’t working right is when it stops working. As you line up the forms, you may hear whispers all over the office referring to weird lights and warning messages. Probably the most common printer problem you will encounter is running out of toner. The solution is simple: just replace the ink or toner cartridge in the printer.

If you’ve purchased printer ink or toner online, you know several cartridge options are available. The most well-known cartridges are genuine cartridges, also known as original cartridges or OEM cartridges. These genuine cartridges are designed and manufactured by the printer manufacturer for the printer.

A compatible printer cartridge is made and sold by a third party, usually at a lower price than an average brand-new cartridge. Today, compatible ink cartridges and toners are so advanced that the only difference most people will notice is the money you can save. The compatible cartridges are also called generic printer cartridges, have been available for quite some time now. However, many printer users are still unfamiliar with these affordable alternatives.

We’ll explore the differences between the three types of cartridges in this article so that you can make an intelligent purchase the next time you shop for ink or toner. By following this guide, you will learn everything you need to know to make an informed decision: save money while maintaining excellent performance.

Comparison between genuine and compatible toner cartridges

What is a genuine toner cartridge?

Toner is manufactured by the company that makes the printer, known as the Original Equipment Manufacturer. It is also known as a genuine printer toner cartridge. If you own an HP printer, genuine toner is also produced by HP. Typically, genuine toners are a bit more expensive, but they’re also the most accurate and capable of producing the best print quality for your printer.

What is a compatible toner cartridge?

Compatible toner cartridges are toners produced by a third-party manufacturer. Compatible toners are also called generic toners. Original printer manufacturers do not produce compatible toners. To replicate the original toner design, compatible and generic toner manufacturers use replicas without infringing on patents owned by the original manufacturer.

The process is similar to that of drug companies that manufacture generic prescription drugs that mirror the original brand name drug. Like generic prescription drugs, many compatible toners are identical replicas of the original toner model, but many are also different from the original.

Pros and cons between genuine and compatible toner cartridges

Genuine Toner cartridge

Pros Cons

The genuine cartridge has a manufacturer warranty. It costs more than compatible cartridges.
Genuine toners are more durable and can maintain print quality when printing multiple pages.
Many genuine toner cartridges have page yields of up to 20,000 pages, which cannot be matched by compatible, remanufactured toners.

Original toners deliver sharper text and brighter, sharper image quality with more precise colouring. Print produced with genuine toners generally maintains its integrity over time and will not fade.

Compatible toner cartridge

Pros Cons

Compatible cartridges are often less expensive, sometimes more than 50% cheaper than original cartridges, saving you a significant amount of money in the long run.

Compatible cartridges are not approved by the printer manufacturer and therefore may void any warranties you have with the printer supplier.

Print quality rarely differs from original cartridges, and more often than not, incompatible cartridges provide the same value as original cartridges.

There is a very low probability that compatible cartridges will damage your printer because they are not designed for your specific printer model.

Compatible cartridges are usually made using remanufactured, making them the most durable option. This could be seen as part of a more significant push to go green, something many companies consider essential and strive to implement.

These are sometimes made with remanufactured cartridges, and some companies prefer to spend their money on new items rather than spending the money on such things.

Comparison between genuine and compatible ink cartridges

What is a genuine ink cartridge?

Genuine ink cartridges are explicitly made by a printer manufacturer with respect to the model of the printer. They are also generally recommended by a printer manufacturer to use for their printers. Genuine ink cartridges tend to cost a bit more than compatible cartridges. If you like more peace of mind and aren’t too concerned about the monetary savings that the cheaper options can offer, you may choose to purchase the genuine cartridge option.

What is a compatible ink cartridge?

A compatible or generic ink cartridge is basically a copy of the original branded cartridge manufactured by a third party. While hundreds of companies produce compatible ink cartridges, some of the more common generic brands include Qimage, Calidad, PrintRite, and Q inks.

The main areas of concern for compatible cartridges are compatibility, print quality, page yield, and actual cartridge print quality. If any of these qualities are not present, problems of one kind or another will arise. These problems include ink loss, poor print quality and yield, printer jams or misfeeds, and “unrecognized” cartridges.

Pros and cons between genuine and compatible ink cartridges

Genuine Ink Cartridge

Pros Cons

Genuine ink cartridges are rigorously tested to industry standards and have been specially designed to optimize printing performance within your brand of printer. Genuine printer ink cartridge replacement can be costly if you’re frequently printing.

Genuine ink cartridges are the only cartridges guaranteed to work with the printer and are protected by manufacturer warranties.

Images printed with genuine ink tend to be more resistant to fading.

Compatible ink cartridges

Pros Cons

The apparent advantage of a compatible cartridge is its low price. On average, a non-genuine cartridge costs 40-90% less than the brand’s equivalent. They are cheaper, but the generic cartridge will almost always contain significantly more ink than the original brand cartridge. A downside to a genuine ink cartridge is when it comes to high levels of UV exposure.

Compatible ink cartridges are primarily water-based and consist of pigments or dyes to achieve unique colours and black. Because water-based inks dry immediately, while oil-based inks can take much longer to dry and tend to smudge easily if documents are handled before they have time to dry. There was more deterioration of prints using compatible printer inks than those using branded inks. However, this would not be a problem for most consumers.
The print quality is still extremely high, and it is almost impossible to tell a significant difference in the print quality between the two. Compatible and remanufactured toners do not last as long as genuine toners and print far fewer pages.

This is as long as the non-genuine third-party cartridges are high quality and not some of the low-quality trash that online stores always sell.

Conclusion

Nothing beats the original. Original toners are premium quality products that offer superior performance over compatible and remanufactured toners. In summary, Genuine Toners produce better quality text and images that don’t fade over time, more accurate colours, higher page yields, and no risk of printer malfunction and damage. The printer, while compatible and remanufactured toners carry significant risks.

However, being better quality products, original toners come at a higher price.