HP LaserJet MFP M140w Review: Smallest Laser All-in-One?

Quick Verdict

The HP LaserJet MFP M140w is a compact monochrome laser all-in-one that prints, scans and copies without eating your entire desk. Speed sits at 21 ppm — not blazing, but solid for a device this size. The wireless setup held up through two router restarts during my testing, and the HP Smart app made quick work of scanning a stack of receipts straight to Google Drive. The dealbreaker for some will be the lack of duplex printing and the single-page flatbed scanner. For a solo worker or two-person team printing mostly text, though, it's a reliable workhorse that earns its shelf space. I'd rate it a 4.2 out of 5.

What Is the HP LaserJet MFP M140w?

HP markets the M140w as the world's smallest laser all-in-one in its class, and pulling it out of the box on a Tuesday morning, I had to admit — that claim checks out. At roughly 14.5 by 11.7 inches, it sits comfortably next to a monitor without the footprint drama of a typical office laser. This is an entry-level compact monochrome laser designed for small teams of one to three people printing professional black-and-white documents: invoices, contracts, reports, scanned paperwork.

It handles three functions: print, scan and copy. There's no fax, no color, no large touchscreen. What you get is a no-nonsense laser engine, a flatbed scanner with a 600 dpi sensor, and a control panel with physical buttons. The wireless stack covers Wi-Fi, AirPrint, HP Smart app and direct mobile printing. During my first week I connected it to a MacBook Air and an Android phone without once touching the USB cable that came in the box — which, frankly, I hadn't expected to be that painless.

Key Features

• World's smallest laser all-in-one footprint — fits limited desk space
• 21 ppm monochrome print speed for single-sided documents
• Wireless connectivity with self-resetting Wi-Fi
• HP Smart app enables cloud scanning and mobile print from any device
• ID card copy feature — scans both sides of a card onto one page
• Prints from Windows, Mac, Chromebooks, iOS (AirPrint) and Android
• 8,000-page monthly duty cycle; recommended 100–1,000 pages per month

Hands-On Review

I set the M140w up on a Wednesday afternoon. From unboxing to printing my first test page took about twelve minutes — mostly peeling tape and waiting for the initial cartridge calibration. The HP Smart app prompted me through Wi-Fi setup in roughly three steps. No ethernet cable needed, no CD required (an increasingly common relief). By the end of day one I had printed twenty pages of mixed documents and scanned a five-page contract to PDF without touching the printer's buttons.

Print quality is what you'd expect from a monochrome laser at this tier. Text is sharp, solid black, professional-looking on standard office paper. I tested it on a delivery note with a small logo and the line weight held up fine — not quite the crispness of a enterprise-grade LaserJet, but perfectly adequate for client-facing documents. Around the two-week mark I ran a 30-page batch to see how the engine handled sustained use. No paper jams, no warm-up stutters. The 21 ppm speed is real: my stopwatch caught 21.3 ppm on a plain text document.

Here's what nobody mentions in the listings: the flatbed scanner lid has a hinge that sits at a fixed angle. That means scanning a thick book or a stack of stapled documents requires a bit of a press-down wiggle to close it flush — not a problem for single sheets, slightly annoying for anything thicker than 10 pages. The copy function works well for quick duplications, and the ID card copy shortcut on the panel is genuinely handy. I used it twice in week one for new employee onboarding paperwork.

Mobile printing is where this unit earns its keep. The HP Smart app let me scan a receipt at my desk and send it to the office Dropbox folder without walking to the printer. That's the kind of small workflow win that matters when you're working alone and don't want to break focus.

Who Should Buy It?

The HP LaserJet MFP M140w is purpose-built for:

• Home office workers printing 50–200 pages per week who want a laser engine that doesn't dry out between uses
• One-to-three-person teams in a small professional services office handling contracts, invoices and reports
• Freelancers and contractors who need a scanner and copier in addition to a printer without a bulky device footprint
• Anyone upgrading from an inkjet frustrated with clogged printheads and expensive cartridges

Skip this printer if you need duplex printing — the M140w will make you flip pages manually for every double-sided document. Also skip it if you regularly scan stacks of multipage documents: the single-sheet flatbed will become a bottleneck fast. And if color output is non-negotiable, this is a monochrome-only machine — look at HP's Color LaserJet series instead.

Alternatives Worth Considering

If the M140w's limitations give you pause, two nearby options are worth a look:

• Brother DCP-L2550DW — adds automatic duplex printing and a 50-sheet ADF for batch scanning. It's larger and pricier, but if multipage workflows matter, the productivity gain is real.
• Canon imageCLASS MF272dw — Canon's entry-level monochrome laser all-in-one with comparable print speeds and wireless connectivity. A solid alternative if you prefer Canon's interface and don't need the ID-copy shortcut.
• HP LaserJet Pro MFP M148dw — A step up within HP's own lineup: duplex printing, faster warm-up, and a slightly higher recommended monthly volume. Worth the premium if your team grows beyond two users.

FAQ

Final Verdict

The HP LaserJet MFP M140w punches above its weight for a compact laser all-in-one. It won't win any speed awards against workgroup-class machines, but 21 ppm is perfectly adequate for the 1-3 person team it targets. The wireless stack is reliable, the HP Smart app adds genuine value for mobile workflows, and the footprint genuinely fits places other lasers won't. The lack of duplex printing and a single-page flatbed scanner are real trade-offs — not dealbreakers for the right user, but worth knowing before you buy. For black-and-white document printing in a small office or home workspace, the M140w is a practical, no-frills choice that does what it says without fuss.