A3 paper is twice the scale of A4, and A3-capable printers are sometimes equally greater than their A4 competitors. Totally A3-capable multifunctions are enormous, which is a powerful purpose to contemplate Brother’s MFC-J5340DW. An office-focused inkjet multifunction peripheral (MFP), it is basically a compact A3 printer, topped off with a daily A4 scanner.
This bottom-heavy mixture has allowed Brother to shrink this multifunction’s total measurement significantly– it is a lot simpler to reside with than most totally A3-capable MFPs. After all, the draw back is that it may’t scan, fax, or copy an A3 authentic, though you’ll be able to enlarge an A4 doc onto A3 paper.
The MFC-J5340DW’s different highlights embrace a bunch USB port and coloration touchscreen, together with help for each wired and wi-fi networking. Its 50-sheet automated doc feeder (ADF) can deal with A4, Authorized, and Letter sizes, though sadly, it does not help duplex (double-sided) scanning, copying, or faxing. And whereas the printer can duplex, it is not accessible for A3 paper, which may show a limitation in a small variety of purposes. We also needs to level out that this printer cannot deal with bigger A3+ paper.
For the worth, this MFP’s single paper enter cassette is suitable, nevertheless it does imply you will must unload your present stack of paper once you wish to change from A4 to A3, or vice versa. Unusually, you load A4 paper with a panorama orientation and A3 in portrait, however switching to the latter means extending the enter and output trays to their full extent, which provides somewhat complexity. Should you simply must sprint off one sheet on a unique paper format, you should use the rear bypass. This additionally accepts as much as A3 paper, nevertheless it’s a disgrace it is not a full multipurpose tray.
Brother ships the MFC-J5340DW with a full set of ordinary capability cartridges, rated for 550 pages every. You may lose a few of this to the one-time ink priming course of, however that is nonetheless pretty beneficiant for a tool on this class. The XL cartridges are way more helpful, lasting for 3,000 black or 1,500 coloration pages every. Stick to those and operating prices work out at a powerful 4.9p (ex VAT) for a full-color web page, or simply 0.9p in black solely.
Brother MFC-J5340DW overview: Establishing
Brother’s inkjets are normally easy to arrange, and the MFC-J5340DW is particularly so when in comparison with different A3-capable gadgets. At 17kg it is a lot lighter than you’d anticipate and pretty simple for an in a position individual to elevate into place. Not like laser MFPs, it does not require room for air flow on both facet, which makes it simpler to accommodate on a worktop. Whereas this positively is not a small machine, it is solely about 30% wider and 16% deeper than a typical A4 Brother inkjet MFP, giving it a footprint only one.5 occasions as massive. It is solely about 5 centimeters taller, too.
There’s not an excessive amount of tape or different packaging to take away from this MFP earlier than it is able to go. You do want to put in the provided ink cartridges, and wait whereas the ink system is primed. Within the meantime, you’ll be able to set the date and time, however sadly not be part of the MFC-J5340DW to a wi-fi community – it is advisable anticipate priming to complete first. Should you’re connecting by way of USB or Ethernet, you will discover the ports secreted away underneath the scanner mattress, a longstanding Brother inkjet quirk that on this case swallows up the primary 50cm or so of a related cable.
After priming, this MFP prints a nozzle examine web page and prompts you to align its print heads – achieved by printing and scanning a single sheet. Be part of it to the community and it’ll examine for firmware updates, after which you are prepared to begin putting in consumer software program. This is available in two precept flavors: for PCs, you’ll be able to obtain a full set up pack containing print and TWAIN scan drivers, together with Brother iPrint&Scan. This helpful workflow supervisor helps streamline varied regularly used duties, akin to scanning to SharePoint or a cloud service.
Confusingly, Brother appears to have deserted the iPrint&Scan cell app, with new gadgets as an alternative requiring Brother Cell Join. This handles the same old printing and scanning capabilities and provides copying management, however it is a little restricted – you’ll be able to’t change a lot apart from the doc measurement.
Brother MFC-J5340DW overview: Printing, scanning, and copying
Brother says the MFC-J5340DW can print at as much as 28 pages per minute (ppm), a declare we might normally take with a pinch of salt for an inkjet. Nevertheless, it acquired extraordinarily near this in our exams, managing a better of 26.8ppm when producing 25 copies of a single textual content web page in Economic system mode. Given we embrace the time taken to spool the print job, it is extraordinarily uncommon for a printer to get this near its said pace.
The MFC-J5340DW was quick in Regular print high quality, too, delivering a primary web page of black textual content in simply 11 seconds, and happening to hit 24.2ppm over 25 pages. Curiously, it wasn’t as fast when printing a single copy of our 50-page doc. Momentary pauses between every web page slowed the print charge all the way down to a extra pedestrian 13.1ppm.
Issues had been a lot much less spectacular when it got here to printing coloration graphics, nonetheless. This MFP reached 5.0ppm on our advanced check, which incorporates a mixture of presentation slides, internet and journal pages. Whereas that is not terrible for an inkjet, it is a lot slower than a primary coloration laser printer. Conversely, the MFC-J5340DW duplex printed at 5.0ipm, which is not too unhealthy by inexpensive inkjet requirements.
We examined A3 printing with a scaled-up model of our A4 textual content doc and a single graphics-heavy coloration web page. This MFC delivered the primary textual content web page in 16 seconds and wanted solely 44 seconds to print 5 copies. It took 36 seconds to finish the primary web page of graphics, with all 5 rising after 77 seconds.
This MFP’s scanner could also be restricted to A4, however there’s nothing improper with its speeds. It accomplished a preview in six seconds and will seize an A4 doc at 150 dots per inch (dpi) on the similar charge. It wanted solely 9 seconds to scan A4 at 300dpi. We use a single, 6×4″ (15x10cm) photograph to check higher-resolution scanning. The MFC-J5340DW captured it in 11 seconds at 600dpi, and 29 seconds on the most 1,200dpi – each very aggressive occasions.
With a quick printer and scanner, it is no shock this MFP was a fast copier, too. It wanted 10 seconds to repeat a single black web page, and solely 11 seconds to repeat the job in coloration. A ten-page black copy accomplished in 34 seconds, whereas in coloration this job took 52 seconds – each very sturdy outcomes for an inkjet. ADF copying accounted for the height energy use we measured, which was solely 37 watts. This MFP used 5W when in standby, and when sleeping its energy use fell beneath our meter’s 1W minimal.
This MFP’s print high quality is its largest weak point. It produced acceptable textual content, however character outlines had been somewhat jagged even to the bare eye, which means you won’t wish to apply it to formal letters or different supplies the place a very good first impression counts. Colour graphics had been usually somewhat poor, with out the agency blacks and vivid colours you get from one of the best workplace inkjets – not to mention a laser. Sharp-eyed viewers could be prone to spot refined graining in areas of stable coloration, whereas we additionally famous some banding in massive coloration fills.
Usually for many inkjets – which should strike a steadiness between ink density and drying time to keep away from smearing – duplexed prints had been noticeably extra faint than single-sided ones. This left coloration graphics trying even much less authoritative on the web page.
Nevertheless, whereas this is not a photograph printer, it did an honest job when printing at Very best quality on coated inkjet paper. Colour images appeared extra nuanced than you’d get from a laser, whereas our black and white check print confirmed a very good quantity of distinction besides in its very darkest areas. We may make out a big quantity of grain in all our prints, although, significantly in lighter areas.
Sadly, photocopies had been very disappointing. Although legible, effective black textual content appeared patchy and distorted in each mono and coloration copies. This multifunction reproduced coloration significantly poorly, with the browns of our check web page inheriting a wierd purplish bruise – we needed to double-check not one of the ink cartridges had run out mid-job.
This MFP’s printer is not solely in charge for its disappointing copies – our scan check outcomes weren’t sensible, both. Whereas images had been captured fairly faithfully, we seen that particulars had been misplaced from darkish areas of photos and graphics. Workplace paperwork had been usually adequate for archiving, however colours had been too drab for extra creative makes use of. Our Q-60 coloration goal revealed a scanner with a restricted dynamic vary: it could not distinguish the six darkest gray shades, and the darkest greens specifically congealed right into a murky sludge.
Brother MFC-J5340DW overview: Verdict
Our disappointing outcomes had been particularly so as a result of this MFP is in any other case very sturdy. It is inexpensive, compact, and fairly well-specified, and its A3 print functionality may very well be a terrific characteristic for small places of work who want it, however who haven’t got the area for a devoted printer. It is impressively quick on all the pieces besides coloration prints, too.
We can also’t complain in regards to the MFC-J5340DW’s worth. It is fairly keenly priced, and gives very cheap print prices offered you keep on with the bigger provides. That is significantly true in black, with its penny-a-page price maintaining it appropriate even for medium-volume purposes.
Sadly, it is all undone by prints, scans, and copies that had been all beneath the requirements we might anticipate from a very good workplace inkjet. Should you’re on the lookout for good speeds and options, and might settle for sub-par outcomes, the MFC-J5340DW remains to be price a glance, however for those who can reside with out A3 printing, contemplate one thing else from our greatest all-in-one printers information.
Brother MFC-J5340DW specs
| Know-how | Colour inkjet MFP |
| Most print decision | 1,200×4,800dpi |
| Dimensions (HWD) | 530x398x305mm |
| Weight | 17kg |
| Most paper measurement | A3 (print solely) |
| Guarantee | One 12 months RTB |