Brother MFC-J5855DW Ink Cost Per Page: Cheaper Than a Laser, Not Than Its Rivals
The Brother MFC-J5855DW is an ink tank all-in-one that prints, copies, scans and faxes, with a touchscreen and automatic duplexing built in. It sells for $330. Running costs land at $1.23 per 100 pages in black — traced to Brother's LC406XLBK ink bottle, $74 for 6,000 pages — and $6.06 per 100 pages in color.
A mono laser might seem the obvious pick for cheap black printing, but the HP LaserJet Pro 4006dw costs more per page: $2.23 per 100 pages against the Brother's $1.23. The HP prints only — no copy, scan, fax or color — and costs $400 up front against the Brother's $330. It is far faster, at 47 ppm versus the Brother's 30 ppm.
The ink-tank running-cost floor belongs to the Canon PIXMA G3270, at $0.38 per 100 pages black and $0.97 per 100 pages color, both well below the Brother. It sells for less too, $249, but drops fax, auto-duplex and the touchscreen, and tops out at 11 ppm against the Brother's far quicker 30 ppm.
Stepping down Brother's own lineup, the MFC-J4355DW costs $210 up front but runs at $1.67 per 100 pages black and $9.37 per 100 pages color, both above the J5855DW's rates. It keeps the same print, copy, scan and fax lineup but drops the touchscreen and Ethernet, and prints at 20 ppm against the J5855DW's 30 ppm.
Among the 30 ink tank printers InkTax tracks, the MFC-J5855DW ranks 23rd on black cost per page and 23rd on color cost per page; one spot ahead of it sits the Canon MAXIFY GX1020, at $0.57 per 100 pages black and $1.70 per 100 pages color against the Brother's $1.23 and $6.06. The Canon costs $357 up front, drops fax, and tops out at 15 ppm versus the Brother's 30 ppm.