Samsung ML-1865W review

Samsung has something of a reputation for creating tiny, smart laser printers, and the ML-1865W is no exception. It’s as small as any other laser we’ve seen, and made from the kind of glossy black plastics that make it particularly well suited to the home. Sat on a desk, it takes up little more room than a laptop.

Although it’s small, Samsung hasn’t quite been able to fit everything into the ML-1865W. The simple paper tray extends out of the front, but unfortunately there’s no cover: if you print only occasionally you may find that dust settles on the top sheet of paper. The output tray is fairly steeply raked, but even so we found that some pages rode up higher than others, leaving the printed stack a little scruffy.

As the ‘W’ in its name suggests, this printer has a wireless network interface in addition to its standard USB port. There’s a Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) button for easy configuration with compatible routers, but no display: those with older routers will need to configure the printer using a USB cable first. A version without the wireless network costs about £20 less, but neither printer has an Ethernet port.

Samsung claims a modest 18 pages per minute (ppm) print speed for the ML-1865W, and it came quite close to those figures in our tests, reaching nearly 16ppm for documents and graphics. With a slow engine it’s quieter than most, making it possible to work next to it in a home study or small office. It’s also easy to use, with an excellent driver interface that separates basic, paper, graphics and advanced settings onto different tabs. The paper options tab has its own mini-tabs for quick selection of paper and envelope types, and it’s particularly easy to use.

The ML-1685W may not be quick, but it produces high quality prints – among the best photos and graphics we’ve seen from a mono laser. The only notable problem in our tests was very slight horizontal bands in darker regions. Unfortunately, that all-in-one consumable lasts for only 1,500 pages and costs around £46, meaning that print costs will soon add up.