- Table of Contents
- Intro
- Our Verdict
- Test Results
- Compared To Others
- Deals
- Discussions
The Brother MFC-J805DW INKvestment Tank is a decent printer for home office use. It uses a cartridge system called the INKvestment Tank Ink System, which produces high black and color page yields while also maintaining an outstandingly low cost-per-print ratio. Although it has a somewhat large and bulky design, its build quality is great, and thanks to its flatbed and sheetfed scanner, you can easily transition from saving old film photos to processing work reports. However, it isn't the fastest printer for any kind of document and its color accuracy is disappointing.
Our Verdict
The Brother MFC-J805DW INKvestment Tank is good as a family printer. It has a decent photo printing quality and its flatbed scanner can help save more delicate items like film photos. It's also cost-efficient to print off both black and color documents as they have high page yields and their cost-to-print is outstandingly low.
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Extremely low cost-per-print ratio.
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Extremely high page yield for black and color documents.
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Flatbed scanner can raise to support more bulky items like books.
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Decent photo printing quality.
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Mediocre print time for black and color documents.
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Disappointing color accuracy.
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Doesn't support external drives.
The Brother MFC-J805DW INKvestment Tank is decent for home office use. This printer can yield a lot of black-text documents before it needs to be replaced and its cost-per-print ratio is exceptionally low. However, it can be slow to print off black-text documents and while its color cartridges allow you to add a nice splash of color to reports, it's also slow to print using the colored cartridges too. Still, there's an automatic document feeder and an integrated fax feature that can help streamline your work process.
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Extremely high page yield for black and color documents.
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Automatic document feeder.
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Mediocre print time for black and color documents.
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No duplex scanning.
The Brother MFC-J805DW INKvestment Tank is superb for student use. It has an outstandingly low cost-per-page ratio for black ink and it yields a lot of pages before you need to replace the cartridge. You can also hook it to your Wi-Fi via your router and its flatbed scanner makes it easy to save pages from your textbooks. On the downside, it's not the fastest at printing off black or colored documents.
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Extremely low cost-per-print ratio.
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Extremely high page yield for black and color documents.
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Flatbed scanner can raise to support more bulky items like books.
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Mediocre print time for black and color documents.
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Doesn't support external drives.
The Brother MFC-J805DW INKvestment Tank is good for black and white printing. Its black cartridge has an outstandingly low cost-per-print ratio as well as a high page yield, so even if you're constantly printing off black-text documents, you won't run out of ink too quickly. You can even extend the page yield by using Brother's additional XXL ULTRA cartridges. On the downside, while printing the first page of a black-text document is quick, this printer takes its time printing off subsequent pages.
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Extremely low cost-per-print ratio.
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Extremely high page yield for black and color documents.
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Mediocre print time for black and color documents.
The Brother MFC-J805DW is a decent printer for printing photos. Printed photos look decent overall, but there's some graininess and banding throughout the picture. It supports most photo paper sizes and can print on glossy photo paper. Unfortunately, its color accuracy is disappointing.
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Extremely low cost-per-print ratio.
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Decent photo printing quality.
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Disappointing color accuracy.
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Can't print on 2" x 3".
- 7.9 Family
- 7.1 Small/Home Office
- 8.8 Student
- 7.7 Black & White
- 7.3 Casual Photo
- Updated Jul 07, 2020: We previously reported the wrong display screen size. It has been fixed.
- Updated Jun 08, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 0.8.1.
Check Price
Test Results
The Brother MFC-J805DW has a great design. The body of the printer feels good and sturdy and there's easy access to the ink cartridges through the front left compartment. The scanner lid can also raise for bulkier items like books or magazines, and the full numerical keypad on the display panel is a nice touch. On the downside, you can't unplug the power cord from the printer, so if it gets damaged, you may have to replace the entire printer. If you want to connect your printer to your computer using a USB connection, the input is underneath the scanbed, and routing it shortens the cable by about a foot.
This printer is tall and wide. Opening the scanner lid requires space so putting this printer underneath a short shelving unit probably isn't a good idea.
Update 07/07/2020:We previously reported the size of the display screen as 5.1cm, which is wrong. It has been fixed and the score has been updated accordingly.
The Brother MFC-J805DW INKvestment Tank has a good display screen. It's a small screen that lacks a touch interface, but it has physical buttons to its right so that you can punch in commands. They give off audible feedback when pushed, but if you don't like the sound, you can turn them off. You can also vertically tilt the display panel for better visibility as it ensures good viewing angles whether you're sitting or standing. While there's no horizontal tilt, you can still see the screen okay if you're viewing it from the side.
- Fax/phone cable
- 1x LC3033BK Black
- 1x LC3033C Cyan
- 1x LC3033M Magenta
- 1x LC3033Y Yellow
- User guide
- Installation CD
The Brother MFC-J805DW has an exceptional cartridge system thanks to its INKvestment Tank Ink System, which can hold more ink per cartridge. It can yield a lot of black or colored ink pages before it needs to be replaced and Brother also carries even higher yield cartridges if you're constantly printing off things.
This printer will accept third-party cartridges, but this could void its warranty, and special attention must be paid as this printer uses a combination of dye and pigment-based inks.
The Brother MFC-J805DW has great scanner features. The flatbed scanner is great for more delicate items like film photos or bulky items such as books. There's also a sheetfed scanner for processing more pages as it has an automatic document feeder, which can help streamline your workflow. On the downside, it doesn't have duplex scanning so if you have double-sided documents, you'll have to scan each side manually.
If you need a scanner that can perform duplex scanning, check out the HP OfficeJet Pro 9025.
The Brother MFC-J805DW's cost-per-print ratio is outstanding and is an economical choice for those who print a lot of things. Whether you're printing off black or colored documents, the cost remains very low. Printing photos is also very affordable too, but if you're looking for a printer with an even lower cost-per-print, check out the Epson EcoTank ET-2720.
Keep in mind that even if you print only in black, most inkjet printers continue using the color cartridge for servicing tasks, so you'll likely still need to replace it eventually.
The Brother MFC-J805DW has a mediocre printing speed. While the first page of a black-text document is fairly quick to print, subsequent pages are much slower. Color documents and 4" x 6" photos are even slower to print.
The Brother MFC-J805DW has disappointing color accuracy. While it may not be a dealbreaker for those who like to add a small splash of color to their reports, it's not recommended for tasks that demand more precise color accuracy.
If you need a printer with better color accuracy, check out the HP ENVY Photo 7155.
The photo printing quality of the Brother MFC-J805DW is decent. Colors appear vibrant but yellow is a little washed out. The photo looks quite grainy and there's a lot of banding throughout the photo. Even though this printer has borderless printing, there's still a thin border around the photos.
The Brother MFC-J805DW INKvestment Tank has a front input cassette that has sliders for length and width. There's also a rear manual feeder with a width slider. Each tray supports most popular paper formats and types.
This printer has decent connectivity options. You can hook it up to your Wi-Fi via your router or by Wi-Fi Direct. If you're on a mobile device, you can also use Apple AirPrint or Mopria Print Service. However, this printer lacks Bluetooth connectivity and you won't also be able to print off photos directly from external storage like a USB key or an SD card. Still, if you're using this printer in your home office, it has a phone line for faxing, which is nice. If you need support for external drives, check out the Epson Expression Premium XP-6100.
The Brother MFC-J805DW is compatible with the Brother iPrint&Scan app, which allows you to print, scan, and copy directly from the app. You can check ink levels as well as order ink, and if you scan a document using this printer, you can see it directly on your mobile device.
Compared To Other Printers
The Brother MFC-J805DW INKvestment Tank is a high-yielding inkjet printer. Its ink cartridges produce a large number of pages before they need to be replaced, and its cost-per-print is more affordable than that of the Brother MFC-L3770CDW Laser. However, it prints more slowly than the Brother MFC-J995DW, and its photo printing quality isn't as good as dedicated photo printers like the HP ENVY Photo 7855/7858. Check out our recommendations for the best inkjet printers, the best office printers, and the best wireless printers.
The Brother MFC-J995DW is a better overall printer than the Brother MFC-J805DW INKvestment Tank. While both printers are similarly well-built and high page-yielding, the MFC-J995DW has a faster printing speed for black and color documents as well as photos, it has slightly better color accuracy, and its photo printing quality is better too. It also has an ethernet port, which some users may prefer.
The Epson EcoTank ET-3760 and the Brother MFC-J805DW INKvestment Tank are differently designed printers but the Epson is better for small/home offices. The Epson uses a supertank ink system, so it can yield more pages than the Brother before you need to refill them, and its cost-per-print is lower too. It also has a quicker print speed for both black and color documents, it has better color accuracy, and it has an ethernet port. However, the Brother is better-built, and it has an integrated fax feature.
The HP ENVY 5055 and the Brother MFC-J805DW INKvestment Tank are both similarly decent photo printers. However, the Brother is better performing in all other aspects and is more versatile. The Brother is well-built, its cartridge system produces higher page yields, and its cost-per-print is much more affordable too. It also has a scan sheetfed with an automatic document feeder. Conversely, the HP has better color accuracy, and it can print photos much quicker.
The Brother HL-L2390DW and the Brother MFC-J805DW INKvestment Tank are two very differently designed printers. The HL-L2390DW is a monochrome laser printer. While its toner cartridge may not yield as many pages as the MFC-J805DW, it still has an excellent cost-per-print. It's also able to rapidly print out black-text documents. Conversely, the MFC-J805DW is an inkjet printer that uses higher-yielding cartridges, which helps to lower its cost-per-print. It also has an automatic document feeder, which is something the HL-L2390DW lacks, and even though it has sub-par color accuracy, it's able to print decent quality photos.
The Epson Expression Premium ET-7750 EcoTank is slightly better than the Brother MFC-J805DW INKvestment Tank. The Epson has a lower cost-per-print, a faster print speed, more accurate looking colors, and better photo quality. It also supports printing from an external storage device. However, the Brother has better scanner features, a higher page yield, and it feels much better built.
| Retailers' prices | Amazon.com | BestBuy.com | B&H |
|---|---|---|---|
| White MFC-J805DW INKvestment Tank |
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