Brother MFC-1810 review

Brother’s MFC-1810 is a budget multifunction printer (MFP) based on the entry-level HL-1110 mono laser printer. Like the HL-1110, this is a no-frills product with only a single paper input tray, no automatic duplex (double-sided) printing and no network support. It does, however, provide useful features such as a built-in fax machine and a 10-page automatic document feeder (ADF).

The MFC-1810 doesn’t feel cheap, but at this price there are inevitable compromises. The hinges for the scanner lid are sturdy, but they don’t extend upwards to let the lid close flat on thicker originals. The paper input tray is a basic, 150-page item with no cover, so dust could build up on the top sheet over idle periods.

More significantly, the printer’s paper guides adjust only between A4 and letter widths, ruling out alternative paper sizes including A5. The short paper output tray is completed by a two-part paper stop which folds into place, but you need to lift the scanner bed out of the way to get it up or down.

The MFC-1810 is swift, reaching 17.4 pages per minute (ppm) when printing text, and 16.2ppm in our more demanding mixed graphics test. Print quality of text was good, but less so for graphics. There was some banding despite well-judged exposure, and some fairly crude half-toning patterns visible in lighter areas. Photos had the same issues, but generally looked better.

Brother’s clear, simple print driver is easy to use

The MFC-1810’s scanner was slightly slow at low resolutions, taking 17 seconds to produce a preview or 18 seconds to scan an A4 page at 150 or 300 dots per inch (dpi). It was more competitive at higher resolutions, though, with a 1,200dpi photo scan taking just 28 seconds. The results were more than good enough for everyday office work and archiving. Our only criticism is that colours were a touch over-saturated. By default, photocopies were a touch too dark.

The TWAIN scan interface offers only preset resolutions, but the choice includes all the ones we’d want

One thing we aren’t keen on, is the MFC-1810’s running costs. Each page will cost 2.7p even if you never have to replace the drum, while inclusive running costs are 3.2p per page.

With a decent set of features and swift, reasonably good results, this is an impressive MFP for anyone looking to set up a home office on a very tight budget. It’s unfortunate that its print costs are so high. Anyone expecting to print in high volumes should consider spending more on a better printer with lower costs, such as the Kyocera FS-C2026MFP+, or an inkjet alternative such as Epson WorkForce WF-3540DTWF.