HP 218A toner (standard yield)

Both fit the same printers and print the same quality; the difference is how much toner is inside. HP states about 1,300 pages for 218A black and about 3,200 for 218X black; for the colors about 1,200 versus 2,500 (ISO/IEC 19798, continuous printing).

Which one is cheaper per page follows from one division: price ÷ stated yield. That depends on today's prices, not on how much you print — our 218A vs 218X page does the math with the prices we checked.

Your volume decides something else: how many cartridges you buy per year, how much cash you tie up at once and how often you swap. Light users may prefer 218A's lower upfront price; heavy users save swaps with 218X.

Not automatically. HP sells the cartridges individually; U.S. "4-packs" are retailer or marketplace bundles of the same four Original HP cartridges (for example model W2180AQ1 or W2180XQ1). Our checks have found a four-pack that cost more than the same four singles at the same retailer, and another that cost less.

Always compare the set price with the sum of the four single prices on the multipack pages. Some marketplace sets are sold "without manufacturer warranty" — read the listing title before you buy.

Yes. Every color slot takes either the A or the X version of that color, so you can mix freely — for example 218X black with 218A cyan, yellow and magenta. HP lists all eight cartridges as replacements for each of the U.S. 3201/3301 models.

Mixing is often the most sensible setup for offices that print mostly black: the black cartridge empties first because it is used on color pages too.

No. U.S. prices are shown before sales tax, because the tax depends on your address and is only calculated at checkout. Where the listing showed the shipping cost, we add it and label the result "before sales tax"; where shipping was not shown, we say so instead of treating it as free.

Usually, but not by rule. 218X holds about 2.5 times the black toner of 218A and about 2.1 times the color toner, but it also costs more. It is cheaper per page whenever its price is less than that multiple of the 218A price. Our A vs X page recalculates this from the currently checked prices.

HP Color LaserJet Pro 3201/3301 printers use four separate cartridges: black (K), cyan (C), yellow (Y) and magenta (M). The printer's control panel or the HP Smart app shows the level of each. Replace only the color that is low.

The OEM codes per color: black W2180A/W2180X, cyan W2181A/W2181X, yellow W2182A/W2182X, magenta W2183A/W2183X. A or X is a capacity choice, not a color — black in X with colors in A is fine.