Xerox WorkCentre 6015N review

If you’re looking for a robust colour multifunction peripheral (MFP) for a home or small business, you might be surprised that a budget of just £250 lets you consider laser-printer-based models as well as inkjets. Xerox’s inexpensive WorkCentre 6015MFP range comprises three models, all based on the same 1,200 dots-per-inch laser that can deliver a claimed 15 black pages or 12 colour pages in a minute.

The base 6015B is a simple printer, scanner and copier with a USB connection, while the two more expensive network models can also send and receive faxes. The mid-range 6015N reviewed here has a wired Ethernet port, while the 6015NI adds support for 802.11b/g/n wireless networks. All three are built to print a maximum of 30,000 pages per month, making them suitable for a fairly busy small office, but it’s worth noting that the extras such as duplex printing or additional paper cassettes are not available.

In off-white and blue, the 6015N is a contrast from the grey and black that dominates affordable printers. Its plastics do feel on the thin side, particularly around the scanner lid and ADF assembly, but there are some quality touches, such as stiff hinges that hold the lid open and a generously big, clear mono LCD screen. We’re not keen on the stingy 150-sheet paper tray, however, which looks cheap and has no dust cover.

Tested over a 100Mbit/s Ethernet network, the 6015N fell some way short of Xerox’s claimed speeds, but it was still quicker than we’d expect at this price. Its speed of 6.3 pages per minute (ppm) in colour is quite reasonable, but it would have been faster were it not for a long job preparation and spooling delay before printing actually started. We wondered to what extent the network connection was responsible; repeating the test over USB reduced the delay and improved the speed to 8.3ppm. We encountered some problems when printing envelopes – they came out slightly crumpled, but we’ve got no other complaints about the 6015N’s strong all-round print quality.

Xerox’s scan interface is reasonably basic, with no automatic document detection or auto exposure, but it’s simple to use and the results are fine for office work. Colours were captured faithfully, and a slight lack of sharpness evident at low resolutions only became problematic softness at the maximum 1,200dpi. Scan speeds were good for a network device, although our 1,200dpi photo scan, which typically produces more than 90MB of image data, was predictably slow.

Entry-level devices are often let down by expensive consumables, but despite the absence of high-capacity toner cartridges the 6015 range is quite reasonable. When printing in black only it’s cheaper than many competing lasers and inkjets, although most inkjets will be cheaper to run in colour. It’s a good choice if you’re set on a laser, but the Epson WorkForce Pro WP-4535 DWF inkjet MFP is faster, much cheaper to run and produces better copies and scans.