TN-850 black · XL

The Brother TN-850 fits five mono lasers in our database: the HL-L5100DN, the HL-L6200DW, the MFC-L5850DW, the MFC-L5900DW and the MFC-L6800DW. All five are from 2016 and all five take the same three toners, so the number on the box is the only thing that changes.

The three toners differ only in size and price. The TN-820 is rated at about 3000 pages for around $80, about 2.67 cents a page. The TN-850 is rated at about 8000 pages for around $110, about 1.38 cents. The TN-880 goes to about 12000 pages for around $160, about 1.33 cents. Going from the 820 to the 850 halves the cost of a page. Going from the 850 to the 880 saves almost nothing per page and asks for fifty dollars more up front, so it only makes sense if you would rather change toner less often.

The drum is a separate part, and it is the cost people forget. These machines use the DR-820, rated at about 30000 pages, which is roughly four TN-850 cartridges worth of printing before you need one. When the panel says replace drum while the toner is still good, that is the drum counter, not the toner.

Brother does not block third party supplies with firmware on any of these models, so compatible and remanufactured TN-850 toner is a straightforward way to cut the cost further. What usually goes wrong with a compatible is the counter. A compatible often reports low or empty early, or keeps showing replace toner after a swap, because the printer is reading a chip rather than measuring what is in the hopper. Rock the cartridge gently end to end to redistribute the toner and carry on printing until the page actually fades. If the message will not clear, our Brother toner counter reset guide walks through the panel sequence for these models.