The Brother MFC-J4550DW targets home-office use with printing, scanning, copying and faxing capabilities. It provides two paper trays totaling 400 sheets and a single-sided automatic document feeder for multi-page jobs. Control is via a 2.7" color tiltable touchscreen. Connectivity includes USB, wired Ethernet and 2.4GHz Wi‑Fi plus a host USB port for direct printing or scanning to thumb drives. The ADF holds 20 pages and cannot automate duplex scanning or faxing. The two trays cannot quite hold a full ream and there is no multipurpose feed, complicating photo printing. Standard cartridges yield reasonable running costs with larger options available.
There's no shortage of choice when it comes to inkjet multifunction peripherals (MFPs) for a home or small office, so new entrants need to stand out. Brother's MFC-J4550DW sits high in the Japanese manufacturer's Mini Business range, meaning it's optimised for home office setups. This is quite a well-specified multifunction, offering two paper trays with a 400-sheet total, along with an automatic document feeder (ADF) to simplify multi-page jobs. It can print, scan, fax, and copy, covering everything the typical office is likely to need.
While the printer supports automatic duplex (double-sided) printing, the ADF is single-sided only. That means you can't automate double-sided copies, scans or outgoing faxes - arguably a misstep on this class of device. It can also handle only 20 pages - rivals can often do 35, or even 50. And while it's handy having two trays, they can't quite accommodate a ream of paper between them.
This printer arrives with a set of cartridges good for 350 full-color pages. You can buy extra-large replacements rated at 3,000 black or 2,000 color pages, but these weren't yet available at the time of our review. Still, even when calculated for the standard supplies' 1,300 black and 900 color pages, this printer's running costs are a reasonable 1.5p (1.8p inc VAT) per black page, and 5p (6p inc VAT) in color.
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