In August 2018, Brother introduced the Brother® 3270 Series (the HL-3270, HL-L 3290) as a replacement to their first models of new digital color LED printer line, HL-3170. Before the end of  October 2018 the line included no less than seven printers and MFPs based on similar LED print engines.  Print speed Print speeds ranged from an OEM-rated 19 pages per minute (ppm) to of 25 ppm for both black and color. Duty cycles for all models were rated at 30,000 pages per month.  When compared to its predecessor, the new model has a faster rated print speed (25 versus 23 ppm), larger memory capacity, larger output capacity, support for heavier-weight paper, and higher-capacity cartridges. It also features NFC capability and 2.7” color touchscreen. Via the touchscreen, users can print directly from cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, Evernote, and OneNote. Various mobile print are all supported including Apple AirPrint, Brother iPrint&Scan, Google Cloud Print, the Mopria Print Service, and Wi-Fi Direct. Other key features of the Brother HL-L3270CDW include print features like toner-save mode, N-up printing, watermarks, poster printing, and secure print; support for the Amazon Dash Replacement and Brother Refresh.

The 25 ppm Brother HL-L3290CDW features also unique copy function like ID card copy (which scans both sides of an ID card onto a single sheet of paper) also help streamline document-related tasks. In terms of scanning, users can scan directly to destinations like Microsoft SharePoint, email, and cloud service. The Brother HL-L3290CDW supports Amazon Dash Replacement and Brother Refresh

The supplies set is made up of separate drum units and toner cartridges. OEM-stated page yields are: for the drum unit, 18,000 pages, for color toner cartridges 1,000 pages (standard) and 2,300 pages (high yield), and for black cartridges 1,000 pages (standard) and 3,000 pages. Cartridges require a chip for correct printer operation & utilize a flag gear (or ‘reset’ gear) that resets the printer when a new cartridge is installed. Starter cartridges do not have this reset gear.