The Brother MFC-J6955DW is the new generation of Brother printers that replaces the discontinued MFC-J6945DW, which received the Editors’ Choice award for multifunction inkjet printers that handle paper sizes up to tabloid size (11 x 17 inches). The new model offers nearly similar capabilities at a similarly low operating cost, achieving comparable print speeds in our tests, even though it is rated as faster. Even without any major feature upgrades compared to its predecessor, it still provides enough to replace it as the top choice for a new tabloid inkjet printer for small offices, small businesses, or small workgroups.
Large and Heavy, But Easy to Set Up
The MFC-J6955DW weighs enough – 52.9 pounds when opened and 59.9 pounds in the box – that you may need some assistance moving it to the right spot. Like any multifunction printer that handles larger than letter-sized paper, it is relatively large as well, measuring 14.8 x 22.7 x 18.8 inches (H x W x D). However, setup is straightforward, involving removing some tape, loading the paper, connecting cables, and installing ink cartridges, which Brother uses instead of ink bottles for its INKvestment tank printers. At this point, you can take a break while the printer pumps ink into its internal tanks for several minutes, or you can start downloading software.
Excellent Print Speed
There were no paper handling issues as I noted in the MFC-J5855DW review. (Credit: M. David Stone)
The quality of text, graphics, and images in our tests is described as good enough for most purposes, but it does not reach an impressive level. For text, all fonts in the test set that you might use in a business document were easily readable at 5 points, some could be read comfortably at 4 points, but a close look showed they lacked clear edges even at 12 points, and the problem became more evident with each step down in size. For heavily stylized fonts in our tests with large thickness, the issue was much more pronounced, although both were easily readable at 12 points, and one was easily readable at 8 points. A quick look with a magnifying glass showed uneven edges at all sizes. (Credit: M. David Stone)
Graphics on plain paper display vibrant colors and smooth gradients, and the printer maintains a one-pixel-wide line against a black background. I noticed some wavy lines in some full-page graphics, but not in all of them, and they were somewhat moderate. I did not see any wavy lines in images on Brother’s glossy BP71G photo paper, and images were at the lower end of pharmacy-quality overall. (Credit: M. David Stone)
In our tests for ink spots on plain paper, the color inks resisted spotting but showed water smudges after drying. Black text smeared easily, but only slightly, from water and text erasers. (Credit: M. David Stone)
Acceptable Output Quality and Excellent Paper Handling
The MFC-J6955DW offers a strong combination of print speed and paper handling for tabloid size printing and scanning, in addition to output quality that is suitable for most business needs. However, be sure to consider the other printers mentioned here as well. If you need to print tabloid size without needing to scan anything larger than letter size, for example, the smaller MFC-J5855DW is cheaper, and its smaller size may be more suitable for the small office. On the other hand, it also has a lower paper capacity.
As an alternative,
If you need to print on super tabloid-sized paper (13 × 19 inches), check out the two Epson models, which offer a similar paper capacity to the MFC-J6955DW. Between the two, the EC-C7000 was significantly slower for text documents in our tests compared to any of the other models mentioned here, while the ET-16650 was slightly slower for text than any of the Brother models and costs much more.
If you need the capability to scan tabloid-sized, but do not need to print on super tabloid size, the MFC-J6955DW is the perfect choice, making it a multifunction inkjet printer worth selecting as the best printer for printing, scanning, copying, and faxing in small offices, small businesses, or small workgroups.
Source: https://me.pcmag.com/en/migrated-20242-printers/20815/brother-mfc-j6955dw
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