Brother DCP-9010CN review

The DCN-9010CN’s scan interface is a no-frills affair that has just a few extra features to tweak your scans, but it covers the basics. Scan times are quick up to 600dpi, but a 1,200dpi photo scan took over a minute to complete. More importantly, the quality was good, having sharp detail and accurate colour, although some areas of delicate shading weren’t rendered with complete accuracy. Photocopy quality proved less inspiring, though, with our mono copies appearing very dark, even at maximum brightness. This effect was less marked on colour copies, fortunately.

We have no complaints about this laser’s overall print quality. Although its colour prints lack the glossy sheen produced by some laser printers, the colours were accurate and text was sharp. Print speeds were also good, being 15.3ppm for mono text and 10.4ppm for a page of mixed colour and mono printing. Unfortunately, high toner costs and a massive number of consumables make the DCN-9010CN incredibly expensive to run. Although mono costs 2.4p per page, a page of mixed black and colour printing costs a wince-inducing 18.8p. The price of separate drum kits also adds to the running costs, making this one of the most expensive MFPs to run for medium or heavy users, and it doesn’t stand out as one of the cheapest for light users either.

The DCN-9010CN does well in some areas, but struggles in others. Its mixed colour printing and consumable costs are a bit high too, so compare your expected long-term running costs with other printers before buying. Consider the HP LaserJet Pro CM1415fn instead.