Which toner fits the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 3303fdw?

A new part number in an aisle full of old ones

HP renews its toners with every generation of machines, and older part numbers stay in circulation for years. On a shelf or on a supplier's list, the 222A therefore sits next to the 216A and the 117A, all three for compact HP colour lasers, all three incompatible with each other.

The marker is the machine's full name, never how alike the boxes look: Color LaserJet Pro 3303 and 3203 take the 222A; LaserJet Pro M183 and M182 the 216A; Color Laser 178nw and 150a the 117A.

A recent machine: what that changes

On a new printer, the question is not whether the consumable exists — it does — but whether it will still be there in eight or ten years. On that point HP's record is rather reassuring: the 307A of a CP5225 more than a decade old is still available from us. A widely distributed part number long outlives the machine it serves.

The real risk on a recent machine lies elsewhere: buying, in a hurry, a toner from a neighbouring generation because "it looks the same". Write the 222A down now, while the original box is still around.

What this machine changes about your consumption

The 3303fdw is a 4-in-1 — printing, copying, scanning and fax — at 25 pages per minute, with automatic duplex. Incoming faxes print on their own and use black without anyone asking; automatic duplex doubles the printed sides per sheet loaded. Two handy functions that speed up consumption, and are better known than endured.