Which toner fits the HP LaserJet Pro MFP M426dw?

What economy mode actually does

Contrary to what the name suggests, this setting does not "make the toner last" by magic: it lays down less powder on every page. The result is lighter, a little greyer, and the number of pages per cartridge rises by roughly a quarter to a third depending on the documents.

So it is a trade-off between legibility and cost, not a free optimisation. It is set from the machine's touchscreen, or document by document from the print driver — that second use being by far the smarter one.

When to turn it on, when to leave it alone

• Yes for drafts, working documents, proofs for checking, internal copies, anything that ends up in the bin within the week;
• No for a contract, a customer quotation, a document meant to be scanned or photocopied in turn — text that is already pale becomes illegible on the second pass;
• No for barcodes and machine-read documents: insufficient contrast makes readers fail.

One last point rarely made: economy mode does not harm the machine and voids no warranty. Nor does it wear the drum faster — it wears it slightly less.

The real lever remains the cartridge format

Saving a third of the powder on drafts is useful; moving from the 26A to the 26X changes the scale: 9,000 pages against 3,100, at a clearly lower cost per page and two interventions fewer out of three. On a shared office multifunction, that is the first decision to make, with economy mode coming afterwards.

The M402dn takes exactly the same toners, without a scanner or Wi-Fi; its page explains how to check the level remotely from a browser.