- Table of Contents
- Intro
- Review Updates
- Comparison
- Best Printers
- Page Updates
- Conclusion
- Discussions
Brother is a company that produces printers that closely fit the needs of small businesses, whether working from home or in a small office. They focus on laser printers, which help you maximize page yields and are great if you're printing out forms. They have a small lineup of color inkjet printers that use a hybrid between a supertank and a traditional cartridge system, so it's easy to add a splash of color to graphs. Overall, they maintain quick print speeds so you can get your report out the door as quickly as possible.
Updates
- 08/30/2022 Brother MFC-J1010DW reviewed
- 02/08/2022 Brother MFC-J4535DW reviewed
- 09/03/2021 Brother MFC-J4335DW reviewed
- 08/04/2021 Brother MFC-J6945DW reviewed
- 07/30/2021 Brother MFC-J1205W reviewed
Best Brother Printers
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Best Brother Printer For Offices
Family7.6Small/Home Office8.5Student8.1Black & White8.4Photo4.5The best Brother printer for small business use or offices we've tested is the Brother MFC-L3770CDW Laser. This all-in-one model feels solid and sturdy, with well-designed input and output trays that support different paper formats. It has a high-resolution scanner with an automatic feeder, allowing you to scan multi-page documents quickly, and it can scan double-sided sheets in a single pass, so there's no need to flip the pages yourself. Though it takes a while to warm up and print the first page, subsequent pages come out very quickly, up to 26 black or 25 color pages per minute. The toner cartridges yield roughly 1300 black and 1600 color prints, and you can get higher-yield cartridges that'll last even longer. It also works with third-party toner, which might be cheaper.
Although the cost per print is excellent, remember that the drum is a separate unit that you'll have to spend extra to replace. Unfortunately, the drum doesn't last as long as Brother claims, so you'll have to replace it more often, which will drive up your long-term maintenance costs. It prints very quickly at 26 black or 25 color pages per minute, and its input tray holds 250 sheets of paper, which is great for large print jobs as you don't have to interrupt the process to put in fresh stacks of paper. Its wide connectivity options include USB, Wi-Fi, and Ethernet. It also supports Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service, allowing you to print without having to install pesky drivers or third-party apps. All in all, this printer is a great addition to any office and also the best Brother laser printer we've tested.
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Best Brother Family Printer
Family8.2Small/Home Office8.4Student8.8Black & White8.4Photo7.3The best Brother printer for home use we've tested is the Brother MFC-J4535DW. You'll rarely have to worry about printer maintenance, thanks to its 400-sheet input tray capacity and exceptionally high page yield. It gets your prints out quickly at 14 black or 15 color pages per minute and doesn't take long to wake from sleep mode. For your scanning needs, it has an ADF-equipped scanner that processes up to 20 pages per minute, but it doesn't support duplex scanning, so you'll still have to flip the pages yourself when scanning double-sided documents.
As for photo printing, this printer is decent at it. Printed pictures have a good amount of fine details, but they look slightly grainy with washed-out colors. You get the usual Wi-Fi, USB, and Ethernet connectivity options, and you can print directly from a USB flash drive. It's compatible with Brother's mobile companion app on Android and iOS devices, allowing you to print, scan, copy, and even perform maintenance tasks right from your smartphone. Overall, although it isn't the best for photo printing, it's still one of the best Brother all-in-one printers we've tested so far.
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Best Black & White Brother Printer
Family6.4Small/Home Office8.4Student8.1Black & White8.8Photo1.4Our pick for the best black and white Brother printer is the Brother MFC-L2710DW. It's a monochrome laser all-in-one with a sturdy build, a high page yield, and an incredibly fast printing speed. Its high-resolution scanner scans up to nine pages per minute through its automatic feeder. It has an optical character recognition feature built-in, allowing you to scan documents into text files for quick keyword searches and edits. It prints up to 32 black pages per minute and only takes around 10 seconds to wake from sleep and get a page out.
A single toner cartridge yields about 1900 prints, meaning you won't need to replace it for a while unless you print a lot. The cost per print is exceptionally low thanks to its high page yield and the cheap cost of replacement toner, but similar to other Brother laser printers, the drum is a separate unit that you need to spend extra to replace. There are high-yield toner cartridges available that'll last longer, and it accepts third-party toner. If you run a small business and only need to print in black, this is the best Bother printer for small business we've tested.
Compared to other brands
- Can yield a high number of pages. Both their laser and inkjet printers tend to yield many pages before you need to replace their ink or toner cartridges. It's great if you're constantly printing off several pages at a time.
- Low cost-per-print. Although their cartridges can cost a little more to replace, you have to do it less often, which results in a very affordable cost-per-print.
- Quick print speed. Most Brother printers can print black-only text documents very quickly.
- Sturdy and well-built. Brother generally makes well-built printers that feel sturdy and have good access to their ink tanks or cartridges.
- No Bluetooth support. While they have excellent wireless connectivity, and some even have NFC capabilities, none of the Brother printers we've tested support Bluetooth, which is disappointing.
- Not really for printing photos. Most of Brother's printers are monochrome, so they only have a black ink or toner cartridge. Their inkjet printers typically print worse-quality photos compared to other brands.
Brother makes well-built printers with a straightforward design. They mostly focus on laser printers suited for office use, so you can expect that their products have a quick print speed and high page yields. They also make monochrome printers better suited for those who primarily need to print off documents rather than scan multiple pages at a time. They also make a couple of color inkjet printers, which are great if you want to add a splash of color to your quarterly report.
Recent Updates
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Aug 02, 2022: Replaced the Brother HL-L2370DW with the Brother MFC-L2710DW because it has a better page yield and a scanner.
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Apr 15, 2022: Renamed the 'Best Home/Small Office' category to 'Best Small/Home Office'. Replaced the Brother MFC-J4335DW with the Brother MFC-J4535DW for 'Best Family' since the J4535DW performs better overall. Verified availability of picks.
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Jan 17, 2022: Picks verified for availability and accuracy; no changes to picks.
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Oct 19, 2021: Replaced the Brother MFC-J995DW with the Brother MFC-J4335DW for 'Best Family'. Verified availability of picks.
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Jul 21, 2021: Verified accuracy and availability of picks, and updated text for clarity.
Conclusion
Brother is a well-known brand that offers practical and efficient business solutions through its printer lineups. They tend to produce sturdy and well-built printers with high page yields at an affordable cost, and their ink or toner cartridges tend to need replacing less. However, their ink or toner cartridges tend to be more expensive than their competitors. Their printers also don't usually have Bluetooth support; this can be a little disappointing if you have multiple people sharing a printer.