Brother MFC-J6960DW

BROTHER MFC-J6960DW Wireless Colour Inkjet Printer, A3 and A4 4-in-1 (Print/Copy/Scan/fax), Wi-Fi/USB/NFC, 2 x 250 sheets, 8.8cm touchscreen, UK Plug : desertcart.co.uk: Computers & Accessories Review: All-In-One Office Ninja - in a Business Suit - I bought the Brother MFC-J5334ODW printer as a middle ground between a semi-pro home office printer. Just for background: MFC = Multi-Function Centre - An all-in-one device that can print, scan, copy, and fax J = Inkjet technology 5340 = Model number within the series D: Automatic double-sided printing W: Wi-Fi connectivity There's a more expensive 'E' version with comes with a 4 month free 'EcoPro' subscription trial. My key decision factors for buying this were: - Business/Home-Office use - AirPrint connectivity - Dual duplex function for single-pass double-sided scanning - A3 capability for occasional larger format printing and scanning It certainly has a more premium feel as a semi/prosumer home office printer. Design: The styling is sleek and modern, departing from typical boxy black printers. Its predominantly white housing with rounded corners creates a visually lighter presence that complements my home office setup without dominating the desk space. While the construction is indeed plastic (similar to consumer-grade Canon and HP models), this is expected at this price point. The build quality feels appropriate for the market segment, balancing aesthetics with affordability without compromising functionality. But where this Brother printer stands out is that it looks quite appealing in it's cream/white livery with charcoal grey front. Features: The large retractable 2.6 inch touchscreen is a standout feature—practical, bold, and exceptionally clear with intuitive navigation. I appreciate being able to execute common tasks like scanning or printing with just one or two taps, streamlining my workflow considerably. It has a number of clever openings anf backdoors which easily allows you to get inside the printer, change cartridges, remove paper jams etc. Having said that, I've hardly experienced much paper jams with this printer. Just pay attention to loading paper correctly. It has an internal external USB-A slot. It also has Ethernet Port (LAN) Ideal for office use where a stable network connection is needed or to setup a home/office LAN print server. The wi-fi is Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN IEEE 802.11b/g/n). The device connects to your wireless router for network printing/scanning and supports wireless printing from laptops, desktops, and mobile devices. But this does not have Near Field Communication (NFC) or Bluetooth. Ink Cartridge Usage and Printing Quality: The printer comes with supplied cartridges, which is a nice touch. However, in practice, after a couple of months of moderate use (only about 350 printed pages), two colour cartridges ran out. But of course, this is not a gripe, just an expectation - I would say compared to previous printers i've had like Epson, Canon and HP, these ink cartridges last longer. I only print occasionally as I work paperless when possible. The actual product information on Brother's website says it prints 550 pages from a full cartridges. The printer takes four ink cartridges – black, cyan, magenta, and yellow – which come in two types, the standard-sized LC422 cartridge and the bigger LC422XL variety. Brother LC422BK Ink Cartridge – Black: about £24.00 Brother LC422C Ink Cartridge – Cyan: about £17.00 Brother LC422Y Ink Cartridge – Yellow - about £17.00 Brother LC422M Ink Cartridge – Magenta - about £17.00 or: Brother LC422VAL ink cartridge multipack - all colours - about £62 The Clip-in ink cartridges are easy to install via the front loading compartment to thr right of the printer. Borderless printing works very well, and both quality and speed are very good. However, compared to ink tank devices that are now widely available, the cost per page is considerably higher, which is the one drawback of this otherwise excellent device. While the printer's price is really competitive for its quality, like most home consumer/semi-pro printers, be prepared to spend money on new cartridges after a few months of use. Paper Handling: Don’t be misled by reviews stating you can only load A3 paper one sheet at a time. Simply pull out and extend the paper tray as shown in the instructions, and you’ll be able to load an entire ream of A3 paper with ease. It prints a variety of paper types really well—card, glossy paper up to 300 gsm—but you need to load the document feeder carefully, ensuring proper alignment with the roller heads to prevent jams. In essence, treat the printer well—don't just carelessly load reams of paper, or it will get stuck. The Brother MFC-J5330DW can handle a variety of paper weights, and the key figure you're looking for is the maximum supported GSM (grams per square metre). - Standard Tray (Tray 1): Supports: 64 to 220 gsm - Manual Feed Slot: Supports: 64 to 300 gsm So, if you want to print on thicker card stock or photo paper, use the manual feed slot — it can handle up to 300 gsm, which is pretty robust for an office inkjet printer. Connectivity: Stays reliably connected to Wi-Fi.It does not cut out, which is excellent for home office use. I use the internal USB port for direct connection to my desktop computer. The device also Includes a convenient external USB-A port on the front. Performance / Everyday Use: It's very quiet and unassuming, even when printing. In fact it has quite a pleasant muted printing sound - compare that to the irritating screech of inkjet printers of yesteryear. Be warned though, it does sometimes go into an automatic self-clean cycle - this could wake you up at 12am if you so happen to have it in your bedroom, but again, it's very very quiet and muted (almost pleasant in an ASMR kind of way) and not too disturbing at all. Some stats: - Fast printing – A4 at around 28ppm, A3 at around 24ppm - < 1 min for photos on glossy 10x15cm (4x6in) paper - Scans plain text on A4 at 300dpi in under 5 seconds - Passable prints at Normal quality setting Document Handling The auto document feeder (ADF) allows A4 documents to be scanned directly on both sides without having to flip the paper manually. My girlfriend scans around 100 pages per week via the ADF with no problems, even with sticky notes attached. The document feeder is possibly not ideal for A3 on a professional basis (speed-wise) but works fine for home use. My daughter's watercolours can be scanned in A3 at very good quality via the flatbed, which is fantastic. My Son's high megapixel DSLR photography prints come out really well on glossy paper too, but It'll make you cringe at the amount of ink it's using! When I'm particularly in a hurry, I use the Scan directly to email or to my Desktop via the ADF and scan directly from my Mac. Like i say, I bought the printer as a middle ground between a semi-pro home office printer but also as a casual printer that the kids will use frequently, but it sits in my home office so I can control when the cheeky monkeys send 500 print jobs from their upstairs bedroom to the printer in my downstairs office, I can control this with the printer queue management software. SUMMARY All in all, the Brother MFC-J5334ODW does the job well, both functionally and practically. It strikes an excellent balance between professional features and home usability, making it a worthwhile addition to any home or small office environment. Its combination of A3 capability, duplex scanning, wireless connectivity, and appealing design delivers solid performance for everyday printing needs while providing enough advanced features for more demanding tasks when required. No real complaints, so 5 out of 5 for me. Review: Excellent A3 printer/scanner - I've been really impressed with this printer, I've been trying to find one that would print and scan A3 for ages and decided to give this a go. I'm a garden designer so I needed something that would scan and print in colour, good quality, and quickly. The build quality is excellent, it's sturdy and feels well made and I feel is excellent value for the price. Ignore the reviews that say you can only feed in A3 paper one sheet at a time, you have to pull the paper tray out and extend it and then you can put a whole ream of A3 in (it comes with instructions!). The only downside as a few people pointed out is that the tray sticks out at the front, so if left for long periods of time the inside of the tray could get dusty. Solution is to swap back to A4 once you've finished with A3 paper, and the drawer can stay closed. Scan quality is excellent - max is 600 dpi - but picks up all my pen marks (but not tippex, woop). The flatbed scanner is very easy to use once drivers are installed on the computer. Photocopying is a breeze, in A3 and A4, it's not very loud, and the multi-page scan function works well (although tested for A4 only). Connected immediately once I set it up and haven't had any problems! It's obviously not the smallest machine given it has an A3 flatbed scanner, but it's reasonably compact nonetheless. Overall would absolutely recommend to anyone looking for A3 printer/scanner for home office/small business.