With hybrid working a business staple for years to come, the new Brother printer range is made for flexible work solutions, with mobile connectivity a major feature among the range.
Five new A3 multi-function inkjet printers in total will arrive at various Australian retailers. Some models are available this month, while others are due for an October release. Printing and scanning from anywhere in the workplace is a key focus for the range, whether it be at home or in the office. A Brother spokesperson commented that workers not having access to equipment from home is a significant issue, which the new printer range attempts to alleviate.
Core to the experience of each printer is the Brother Mobile Connect app. It allows users to print and scan as needed from anywhere, including the ability to scan to emails and access cloud storage options such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. Another handy feature that could assist digitisation efforts is the included Optical Character Recognition technology, which converts scanned documents into text, making searching files easier.
Efficiency is another aspect of the new Brother printer range. Each model prints the first page in just 4.4 seconds, and prints up to 28 pages per minute using the brand’s MaxiDrive Inkjet technology. High-yield ink cartridges help minimise ongoing costs, with up to 3,000 pages printed using black ink and 1,500 pages in colour before needing replacement ink.
Starting at $299 for the Officeworks-exclusive MFC-J5340DW printer, out in October, and maxing out at $549 for the MFC-J6940DW model, there are various printers to suit different hybrid working needs. The main differences between each model are found in the total paper tray capacity, and ability to simultaneously scan two-sided pages.
Brother printer Professional A3 Multi-Function Inkjet range specifications
| Printer | MFC-J6940DW | MFC-J6740DW | MFC-J6540DW | MFC-J5740DW | MFC-J5340DW |
| Print speed | Up to 28 ppm | Up to 28 ppm | Up to 28 ppm | Up to 28 ppm | Up to 28 ppm |
| Main features | Automatic 2-sided (duplex) A3 print, scan, copy and fax | Automatic 2-sided (duplex) A3 print. A3 scan, copy and fax | Automatic 2-sided (duplex) A3 print. 1-sided (simplex) A3 scan, copy and fax | Automatic 2-sided (duplex) A4 print, scan, copy and fax | Automatic 2-sided (duplex) A4 print, A4 scan, copy and fax |
| Display | 8.8cm colour touchscreen | 6.8cm colour touchscreen | 6.8cm colour touchscreen | 8.8cm colour touchscreen | 6.8cm colour touchscreen |
| Paper tray | 2 x 250 sheet paper trays, 100 sheet multi-purpose tray | 2 x 250 sheet paper trays up to A3 | 1 x 250 paper tray up to A38 | 2 x 250 paper trays up to A3, 100 sheet multi-purpose tray up to A3 | 1 x 250 paper tray up to A3 |
| Feeder | 50 sheet 2-sided (duplex) A3 Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) | 1 sheet manual feed slot up to A3, 50 sheet A4 Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) | 1 sheet manual feed slot up to A3, 50 sheet A3 Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) | 50 sheet 2-sided (duplex) A4 Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) | 1 sheet manual feed slot up to A3, 50 sheet A4 Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) |
| Price | $549 | $419 | $399 | $419 | $299 |
| Availability | July – B2B channels, Harvey Norman, and Amazon. October – Officeworks | July – Officeworks | July – Officeworks, The Good Guys, and Amazon. October – B2B networks | July – B2B channels, and Amazon. October – Officeworks | October – Officeworks |
Printing from home can often be a pain, especially when you don’t print often enough to justify having a recent printer. With this in mind, Brother’s move to address hybrid working is encouraging to see. Here’s to a future where we don’t need to stress about needing a document scanned at the last minute.
