Brother MFC J6530DW printer review: Fast print and Designed for the Small office

These days, inkjet printers go beyond A4 printing and offer larger A3 printing. Brother has been one of the first printer brands to include A3 printing in a few models. Brother MFC-J6530DW is one of the printers offering not just a simple or occasional single sheet A3 printing but a full A3 design including main paper tray loading as well as automatic document feeder.

Brother MFC-J6530DW is a smart all-in-one printer with flatbed A3 scanning and speedy first page printout efficiency. It is the perfect choice for small offices with a medium workload. With high-yield cartridges capable of printing 3000 pages offers cost-effective operation. 

Design and Features

The printer is designed for home office and small business needs and features a simple yet efficient design that can easily fit on a small table. It is reasonably compact for a printer offering A3 printing and scanning. It comes with a 50-sheet feeder on the top and a pull-out control panel in the front. The control panel consists of a 6.8cm touchscreen and a number pad for faxing. All printer functions are accessible through the touchscreen including download and printing of files through external storage clouds like Dropbox. Scanned documents can also be directly dropped seamlessly and quickly. 

The single paper tray can take a maximum of 250 sheets, be it A4 or A3 size. When using only A4 paper, the tray does not protrude out at all. It can also take up smaller sized 15 x 10cm photo printing paper. The single-sheet feed is located at the rear end of the printer to handle printing without having to reload the tray often. 

The USB socket provided near the control panel is useful for using a flash drive to print out documents or photos. The flip-down cover on the right side of the printer provides easy access to four separate ink cartridges which can be fixed into their respective slots and is easy to maintain.

The MFC-J6530DW offers printing through USB, Ethernet or WiFi connectivity. If you’re planning to use Ethernet with phone line and handset, the cables have to be fed through channels inside the machine. The printer can be connected wirelessly and Brother offers apps for both Android and iOS for quick and easy connection. The availability of NFC technology would have made the whole process easier, however, the printer does not include it. 

However, using Ethernet or wireless connectivity still provides access to a number of mobile platforms including Apple Air Print, Google Cloud Print, Brother iPrint & Scan, Cortado Workplace, and Morpia. It also supports other third party apps like: Dropbox, One Note, Evernote, Flickr, Google Docs, and Picasa web albums. 

The ADF supports automatic duplexing, a feature that can double the paper capacity. The recommended monthly duty cycle range is a good estimate of a printer’s efficiency and speed. This printer’s recommended limits for a month are 250 sheets with a maximum limit not exceeding 2000 pages.

Cartridges for the printer are available in two yields: Brother LC3317 and Brother LC3319XL. While LC3317 offers average printing output, Brother LC3319XL offers value for money by offer higher number of prints.

Specifications

• Full A3 copy, scan and fax
• Up to 20 ipm colour print and 22 ipm mono colour print
• Automatic 2-side printing
• 6.8 cm LCD colour touchscreen
• Mobile and cloud compatible operation
• Ethernet, USB and wireless connectivity enabled
• 50 sheet automatic document feeder and rear manual feed slot

Pros

• Robust construction
• Fast print speeds " Trust Reviews"
• Twin paper sources " Trust Reviews"

Cons

• Mixed graphic print quality " Trust Reviews"
• Single-sided scanner only "Product Reviews"
• Lack of duplex scanner

Verdict

The Brother MFC-J6530DW is not particularly compact, but it isn’t large either. Weighing around 20 kg and measuring 575 x 477 x 305 mm, the printer is made of plastic parts and is moderately sturdy. It is equipped with a 576Hz processor and 128MB RAM and offers speedy printing, with the first page printing takes under 6 seconds.

The printer comes with standard security features and the control panel is tiltable. Under the panel is located the USB port for printing documents from the flash drive. It comes with an attractive one year return to base warranty. 

The print quality is decent for a versatile device like this one. The black and white printing is good though not as sharp as what is offered by many high-end printers. Photo images were bright and sharp and fairly quick to print. 

Available at prices under $250, the printer is not only cost effective but also offers economically cheap operations. Each printed page costs roughly 12.8 cents on an average while using genuine cartridges. Opting to use generic or compatible cartridges that are cheaper than the genuine ones bring down the per page printing cost even more. 

Be it a home business or a small work setup, the Brother MFC-J6530DW is a great addition if good quality A4 and A3 printing are necessary on a daily basis.