Of the toners tested by TÜV Rheinland, Kyocera Genuine Toner performed best

TÜV carried out the tests following the international ISO/IEC 19798 standards. Three sets of toner cartridges from each of three third-party toner brands were printed on three identical Kyocera FS-C5250DN printers for statistically viable results. The TÜV test results refer to the third-party toner brands as Toner A, Toner B and Toner C. In total over 200 toner cartridges were used and 300,000 pages printed during the test period, which lasted from March to July 2012. The TÜV tests looked at blackness/lightness, contrast, adhesion, background, ghosting, evenness, waste toner, number of misprints and mechanical errors and leakage.

The TÜV results proved that the print quality of the Kyocera Genuine Toner is more reliable than the third-party toner. The Kyocera Genuine Toner produced consistent colour printing throughout the cartridge life as well as visibly more colour intensity. The tests showed that the third-party toners resulted in up to nine times more non-usable prints as well as an inferior level of evenness and significantly high numbers of misprints. Toner B images were noticeably faded after approximately 5,000 prints.

Concerning the reliability of the toner itself, the TÜV tests found that the Kyocera Genuine Toner caused zero printer down-time compared to Toner C which damaged four developer units in two printers. The Kyocera Genuine Toner cartridges didn’t have any leakage, unlike two cartridges from Toner A and one from Toner B. 

The third-party toner created up to 73% more waste than the Kyocera Genuine Toner. In addition, out of 69 boxes of Toner A, 65 were supplied without a waste toner box.

“Kyocera welcomes the test results, especially as they come from an internationally-respected, independent testing facility,” says Bernhard Koll, Product Manager, Kyocera Document Solutions Europe. “It shows that it is important for our customers to look not only at the purchase price of toner, but also at indirectly related costs, such as additional maintenance requirements and the time and expense of misprints and non-usable prints.”

Kyocera Genuine Toner can be identified from the Kyocera logo printed on the packaging and moulded into the toner container itself and the (holographic) ‘genuine toner identification label’ on the toner container. An RFID chip inside the toner container enables the Kyocera printer to recognise if Kyocera Genuine Toner is being used.

The full test results can be found here.

Kyocera Document Solutions is one of the world's leading office document solutions companies. Its range of products and services includes Ecosys printers, reliable multifunctional systems, high-quality consumables, a comprehensive portfolio of software solutions and Managed Document Services (MDS). Kyocera Document Solutions provides innovative products built on a foundation of long-life components. Its customers benefit from low total cost of ownership and high efficiency in any workplace. Its solutions portfolio and Managed Document Services division help customers to reduce costs and environmental impact at the same time as improving the efficiency and reliability of common business processes. For further information, visit: www.kyoceradocumentsolutions.eu.

Kyocera Document Solutions Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kyocera Corporation, which marked its 50th anniversary in 2009. Ranked no. 604 on Forbes magazine’s 2011 “Global 2000” listing of the world’s largest publicly traded companies, Kyocera is a leading manufacturer of high-tech ceramics, electronic components, solar cells and electronic office equipment. Kyocera’s long-term growth strategy is to focus on business that supports telecommunications, information processing, environmental protection and the preservation of quality of life.