The Brother MFC-L8690CDW is a chunky multifunction system is designed for a busy SMB and the specs are geared towards velocity and quantity. It’s large enough to carry 300 sheets of paper in its two in-trays and 150-sheets within the central out tray, whereas the provided black toner cartridge is nice for a really respectable three,000 mono prints. An excellent greater yield cartridge is on the market that can double that determine. 

It may’t deal with A3 paper and there’s no NFC connectivity with out shopping for the non-compulsory dongle, however in all different respects, it is vitally effectively featured. You’ve got touchscreen management through a big 9.3cm LCD, duplex printing and Wi-Fi Direct management through a quite spectacular companion app. 

For round £479 (or about US$640, AU$856) the bundle consists of Wi-Fi and 4 regular-sized toner cartridges able to printing three,000 mono pages and 1,800 color. 

Design 

The Brother MFC-L8690CDW is a giant unit that may quite stand by itself desk than share a desk. It’s additionally reassuringly heavy. Apparently Brother has strengthened its printers to enhance longevity and it definitely feels very strong for a largely plastic system. The beneficiant dimension means there’s loads of room for paper and toner. You may even purchase an extra paper drawer that acts as a plinth including one other 250-sheets of plain paper. 

The normal design has the scanner mattress and ADF situated above the central supply tray with the toner compartment and two paper trays beneath that. The touchscreen show is a really beneficiant 9.3cm in diameter with massive keys to the facet which register with a powerful beep when pressed. 

There’s a USB port on the entrance for flash drives and a sq. USB port on the rear for plugging in a knowledge cable (not provided), with an Ethernet port beside it. That giant flap on the entrance is the place you entry the 4 toner cartridges. They’re good for round three,000 mono and 1,800 color prints, which is simply as effectively as a result of at £87.59 for a black refill, Brother cartridges are costly. 

Options

As a Four-in-1 system, the Brother MFC-L8690CDW can print, scan, copy and fax and being a premium mannequin from Brother’s steady, it has loads of different options too. It may print each side of the web page (duplex printing) and print in full color on any dimension paper as much as A4, together with envelopes and shiny laser paper. 

Given the majority, it’s a pity the Brother MFC-L8690CDW can’t accommodate A3 paper like the wonderful Brother MFC-J5330DW, which has related dimensions. It additionally lacks NFC connectivity, except you buy the non-compulsory dongle for £13.19 ($17.30).

You may in fact join through Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi Direct and it’s supported by a really helpful free app referred to as iPrint&Scan. The companion app lets you print wirelessly from cloud companies equivalent to Evernote and iCloud. It’s also possible to use it to test your toner ranges and scan paperwork remotely. 

Scanning is quick and the decision is excessive. In truth it’s double the DPI at which it could print. Laser printers are usually decrease than inkjet printers on this respect, however at 1,200 x 600dpi, the print decision is merely common.

Setup and operation 

The Brother MFC-L8690CDW is uncommon in not having a setup wizard on the show, or the companion app to stroll you thru initialisation, nevertheless it wasn’t an issue as a result of the printed setup handbook could be very straightforward to observe.

It’s merely a case of eradicating the entire transport tape and plastic items from the machine and deciding on the right Wi-Fi community from the record. Inputting the password is made pretty straightforward by the 9.3cm touchscreen show, which registers with a bleep each time you contact a key. This printer is sensible sufficient to set the right date and time itself. 

The touchscreen with its pictorial interface and enormous exhausting buttons to the facet make the Brother MFC-L8690CDW significantly straightforward to make use of, whereas the indispensable companion app is even higher at monitoring toner ranges and scanning remotely. 

Efficiency

In terms of turning out textual content paperwork, the Brother MFC-L8690CDW is each quick and exact. The time taken to print ten pages of textual content on each side, together with the time taken to heat up was simply 53 seconds. Brother’s quoted web page price of 31ppm is way sooner and it achieves the identical velocity with color paperwork.

Extra importantly, every web page is persistently clear and exact, with no creases, smudges, or paper jams. It has a very mild contact with plain textual content, which makes it potential to print very small font sizes with no lack of readability.

 Color paperwork are much less spectacular as a result of the colors generally tend to seep into each other very barely. At 1,200 x 600dpi the decision will not be significantly excessive, so pictures are likely to look gentle and flat, even when utilizing shiny laser paper. Observe that inkjet picture paper ought to positively not be used as a result of Brother laser printers generate sufficient warmth to wreck the shiny coating.  

The Brother MFC-L8690CDW scans at the next decision than it prints and it scans rapidly too. It can save you your scans to a USB flash drive, PC, or to the cloud utilizing the companion app. The Brother iPrint&Scan app makes this significantly straightforward to do. Usually, we discovered the Brother MFC-L8690CDW carried out reliably all through the take a look at and was intuitive sufficient to function with out reaching for the consumer information.

Last verdict

While you lever this heavy MPF from its field, it looks like a machine that’s constructed to final. The color touchscreen is an efficient dimension and makes it straightforward to setup and a pleasure to make use of. It prints rapidly and persistently and is very good at churning out duplex mono pages of textual content, guaranteeing every character is frivolously and clearly printed. There’s loads of room for plain paper and excessive yield toner cartridges can be found, so you possibly can preserve printing with out having to high it up always. Scanning at high-resolution is quick too, whereas the Brother iPrint&Scan app makes it straightforward to each print and scan through the cloud.

If you’re pushed for house, the Brother MFC-L8690CDW is on the massive dimension for a printer that may’t address A3 paper and weighing in at virtually 28kg (62lbs), it’s not precisely moveable. Whereas it prints rapidly in color, we seen a slight seepage between colors, which implies color paperwork will not be as crisp as with another laser printers and the print decision is quite low. This implies pictures look fairly gentle and disappointing, even by laser requirements. Toner cartridges are included, however replacements are costly at £87.59 ($114.80) for a black cartridge able to three,000 prints.

It’s quite cumbersome for an MFP that’s restricted to A4 paper, nevertheless it additionally feels strong sufficient for heavy use and has a excessive capability for each toner and paper, which can go well with a busy workplace and a big workgroup. Even by laser requirements, it prints rapidly at 31ppm in mono, or color and it does so with out creasing, or smudging. When it comes to print high quality, the Brother MFC-L8690CDW carried out effectively with plain textual content and fairly effectively with color paperwork, however like many laser printers, it lacks the decision and color constancy to print respectable pictures. 

It’s straightforward to arrange and function because of the touchscreen and is supported by a good companion app. Brother’s alternative cartridges are on the costly facet, however this bundle consists of sufficient toner to make this package deal a superb deal for any SMB that should churn out paperwork with minimal fuss.