The Brother MFC-J880DW is probably the best duplex printer available right now for budget shoppers. It has a modern compact design and features excellent reliability and performance. On top of that, it is also very ink efficient. It’s not like your average run of the mill duplexing inkjet printer. What other features makes it stuck up aganist the best printers in the market? Read on to discover more…
Related: In case you want to check other options, read the Brother Mfc J805 review
Why We Like It – Brother MFC-J880DW
Brother discontinued the MFC J880DW a while ago. But that doesn’t mean it lacks in any front compared to modern inkjet printers. And now most storefronts are selling this printer at a very low price. But don’t worry, it does have all the modern features you will ever need built-in.
- Fairly small and compact design
- Versatile bypass tray included
- High yield ink cartridges supported
- Print head dries up and clogs regularly, needs maintenance often
Related: If you like what you’ve read so far, have a look at our Brother Mfc J895dw review
Speed
If you’re printing text at a low enough resolution, you might just be able to get 12 ISO PPM print speed out of it. But when printing normal content, you should be getting around 6 PPM for both color and monochrome prints. We know that the print speed isn’t that high, and the number is only going to go down even further depending on your content and the resolution. But this printer isn’t really made for high volume workloads. You need the Brother HL-L2350DW for that. For most home users, the print speed of the Brother MFC J880DW should be just fine.
Print Quality
Once again, the print quality of the MFC J880DW is just good enough, nothing extraordinary. If you’re going to print on photo paper, you should avoid this printer. It is more suitable for printing documents, envelopes, and text on plain paper. If you’re planning to print detailed photos, you should rather opt for the Epson WorkForce WF-3540 wireless inkjet printer.
Efficiency
The MFC J880DW might have a few quirks in other sections, but it nails efficiency. It is very power and ink efficient. In fact, it is more ink efficient than even some of the recently launched ink efficient printers. Most people who are going to pick this printer are going to print documents. So the black ink cartridge gets used the most. Still, the high yield ink cartridges last a very long amount of time.
Advanced Features
This wireless inkjet printer has all of the features current printers come with. Other than Wi Fi, it does have NFC for easy one-tap pairing, unlike the HP OfficeJet 4650. It also features Wi Fi direct. You don’t even need an active internet connection in order to print from your mobile device wirelessly. It’s very rare to see all these features at the price bracket this printer comes in.
Value
If you can find this printer below $120, it’s a steal. Granted, it doesn’t perform well in a few aspects, and Brother has already discontinued it, so you might face issues availing the three years of limited warranty. Still, compared to the current inkjet printers from other brands, it does hold up reasonably well.
Brother MFC-J880DW Wrap Up
All in all, the Brother MFC-J880DW wireless color printer is still quite good in some aspects. If you can find it at the price we mentioned above, you won’t be disappointed with its performance.
