Brother MFC-9340CDW

The Brother MFC-9340CDW is the most full featured of Brother's three new laser-class (LED-based) multifunction printers (MFPs). It includes all the features of the Brother MFC-9330CDW and Brother MFC-9130CW, and like them, it has a 35-page automatic document feeder (ADF) for copying, scanning, and faxing multipage documents unattended. But it's the only one whose ADF is duplexing, able to scan both sides of a two-sided document—on a single pass, no less.

Features
The MFC-9340CDW can print, copy, scan, and fax. It lets you fax either from your computer (PC Fax), or standalone faxing from the MFP's touch-sensitive keypad without needing to be connected to a computer. As an LED printer, the MFC-9340CDW uses LEDs as a light source instead of lasers. LED printers are typically smaller than the equivalent laser printer; and this model is reasonably compact at 16.1 by 16.1 by 19.0 inches (HWD) and weighs 51.8 pounds.

This two-toned (off-white and black) MFP is boxy except for a swept-back front panel, which includes a 3.7-inch color touch screen. The backlit numerical keypad to the right of the touch screen only appears when you press Fax or other functions that require data entry. The only physical button is the start/stop button. A front-facing port lets you print JPEG and PDF files from (and scan files to) a USB thumb drive.

Paper capacity is 250 sheets, plus a one-page manual feed slot, with no additional paper options. It has an automatic duplexer for printing on both sides of a sheet of paper.

The MFC-9340CDW connects to a PC via a USB cable, or to a network via Ethernet or Wi-Fi. It also supports Wi-Fi Direct, which enables direct printing between compatible devices without needing to go through a WiFi network. It supports mobile printing via Apple AirPrint, Brother iPrint&Scan (which allows you to print from or scan to an Apple, Android, or Windows Phone mobile device as well as Kindle Fire), Google Cloud Print, and Cortado WorkPlace. I tested it over an Ethernet connection with the drivers installed on a computer running Windows Vista.

Printing Speed
The MFC-9340CDW printed out our business applications suite (as timed with QualityLogic's hardware and software) at 5.8 effective pages per minute (ppm), a reasonable speed considering its 23 page per minute rated speed for both color and monochrome printing, which should be about its print speed when printing text only. (Our test suite includes text pages, graphics pages, and pages combining text and graphics.) Its tested speed was a bit lower than the Brother MFC-9330CDW (6.8 ppm), also rated at 23 pages per minute, and the Brother MFC-9130CW (6.5 ppm), despite its rating of only 19 ppm.

The Editors' Choice Dell 2155cn, rated at 24 ppm for both color and black output, tested at 5.9 ppm, while the Canon Color imageClass MF8580Cdw, rated at 21 pages per minute for simplex printing and 10 ppm for duplex, tested at 4.9 ppm in its default duplex mode, and 6 ppm in ad-hoc testing using simplex mode.

Output Quality
Overall output quality was a touch below par. The MFC-9340CDW's text quality was typical of laser-class printers, which is to say it's very good. It's suitable for any business uses short of those requiring very small fonts.

Graphics quality was on the low side of average for a color laser. Though colors were generally bold and well saturated, some darker backgrounds looked slightly faded or blotchy. I noticed traces of banding (a regular pattern of faint striations) in many of the illustrations. The printer had some trouble maintaining distinctions between similar shades of colors, with little differentiation between them. Graphics are suitable for basic PowerPoint handouts, though perhaps not to clients you're seeking to impress.

Photo quality was slightly sub-par for a laser-class printer. Several prints showed mild tinting. Dithering (graininess) was evident in a few of the prints, and there was a loss of detail in some bright areas.

The Editors' Choice Dell 2155cn provides good speed and better output quality than the MFC-9340CDW, though it only supports simplex scanning and lacks an auto-duplexer as well. The Canon Color imageClass MF8580Cdw has both of those items—and an even larger-capacity (50-sheet) duplexing ADF, plus better output quality than the MFC-9340 (though not the 2155cn).

The addition of a duplexing ADF makes the Brother MFC-9340CDW stand out among the three recently launched Brother MFPs. Its speed and output quality are solid if unspectacular, and it has a good feature set and range of connectivity choices. It's best for a small or home office that does mostly text printing but has occasional need for color for casual or in-house use.