Brother DCP-L1640W review: A cheap and cheerful mono laser multifunction, but without the depth some users will need

The DCP-L1640W is one of a few new laser multifunction peripherals recently released by Brother. It's a cheap device, and its specifications are quite basic. The mono laser printer in its base is rated at a modest 20.0 pages per minute (ppm), and it doesn't support automatic duplex (double-sided) printing. You'll find no automatic document feeder (ADF) to help with multi-page copies – if you want one, consider paying another few pounds for the otherwise identical DCP-L1660W. Neither model has a touchscreen or USB host port, though.

To be fair, we wouldn't expect to find these features at this price, and the DCP-L1640W covers the basics well. It supports both wired Ethernet and Wi-Fi, for example, which could be handy. Typically, for a compact laser MFP, the scanner is slung low over the paper output tray. Here, that's a slight irritation, as you need to lift it to fully extend the paper stop.

As one of Brother's more affordable devices, the DCP-L1640W doesn't support its EcoPro ink and toner subscriptions. That means you're left buying your own consumables: a toner rated for a lowly 1,000 pages, and a drum good for around 10,000. Using the best prices we could find online, costs work out at 3.2p per page (ex VAT), or 3.6p if you factor in the drum. That's pretty high, although perhaps not shocking in such a cheap device.

Brother DCP-L1640W review: Setting up

Unpack this MFP, and you'll soon see reminders that it didn't cost you much. It comes with a captive power cable, which might be the first one we've seen on a printer. There are worse horrors in store: the DCP-L1640W might have one of the flimsiest-feeling paper inputs we've encountered. It's a simple fold-down tray, with unpleasant paper guides that don't feel like they'd necessarily last the distance. With no cover, plain paper could attract dust if you don't print too often.

While most laser printers these days arrive with their consumables already in place, here you have to unwrap and insert them. It's not difficult, but if you're sending out a fleet of printers to a home workforce, it's another step you could probably do without.

On the plus side, this simple MFP is relatively light and compact, so it's easy for users to move around and slot into a convenient space. With no ADF or complex control panel, it's uncluttered and not unattractive. It's also quite simple to use, with just a two-line LCD screen and some basic buttons. That said, this straightforward interface isn't the easiest to navigate if you prefer to enter wireless passwords by hand.

You'll find Brother's full software suite available online. During the install, you'll be prompted to update the device's firmware, for which you'll need the password printed on the device itself – an increasingly common security feature which is nonetheless irritating when you're setting up multiple devices. The installer asks if you want to disable sending data for the inevitable product improvement programme. Opt out, and you might be put out when the iPrint&Scan software asks if you want to stop sending your data the first time you start it. We hope that's a quirk of translation, rather than a result of ignoring you the first time.

Brother DCP-L1640W review: Printing, scanning, and copying

With a modest print speed, this would be a reasonably quiet printer to live with if it wasn't for an alarming clack every time it picks a new sheet of paper. Other than that, its fans pipe down quickly after printing, and they're not especially harsh. It's quick to spring into action, delivering a first page of text in 11 seconds, or 22 seconds if left unused for an hour or so first. It managed to hit 18.5ppm over our 25-page test; not bad considering we include the time the host PC takes to prepare and send the job.

Mono lasers usually aren't too discouraged by our complex graphics test, and sure enough the DCP-L1640W attacked it with gusto, narrowly beating its own text speed to hit 18.9ppm. We tested to see if it might get even closer to its 20ppm rated speed on a 50-page text document; its 19.5ppm was just a shade off.

This MFP has a quick scanner, which could preview or capture an A4 page at up to 300 dots per inch (dpi) in 14 seconds or less. Even at the maximum 600dpi optical resolution, scanning a 6x4" (15x10cm) colour photo needed just 17 seconds. With no ADF and only mono printing, our copy tests were quick and straightforward: the DCP-L1640W took 10 seconds to copy an A4 page.

Brother DCP-L1640W review: Results

This MFP's print quality was generally about average for a mono laser. Entirely predictably, text was near-perfect, being dark and extremely crisp. The Brother DCP-L1640W's graphical output wasn't bad, with some subtle half-toning and good shade control, however graphical and photo prints tended to be too dark, rendering them a bit gloomy.

This MFP had a better than expected scanner. It captured office documents nicely, with well-judged exposure that preserved text and kept graphics clear and legible. Photo scans were also quite impressive, with more neutral, accurate colors than we've seen from some Brother scanners in the past. Only with the very dark shades on our Q60 test target did it begin to struggle, with the last three grey shades out of 22 merging into one.

With a lack of bandwidth for very dark shades, and a printer prone to dark graphics, it's perhaps no surprise that this MFP produced quite dark and dingy photocopies. You can tweak the exposure to improve it, of course.

Brother DCP-L1640W review: Is it worth it?

This is a compact device that's easy to live with, and it does most of the basics pretty well. It's fast enough whether printing, scanning or copying, and its relatively low specification shouldn't necessarily be a problem for the typical home worker. It is a shame it doesn't have duplex printing, however: we think every printer should.

The flip side of a cheap purchase price is often expensive running costs, and that's certainly the case here. At 3.6p per page, the Brother DCP-L1640W will work out expensive to own with any significant volume of printing. Unless you print very occasionally, and you can live with so-so results, we'd look elsewhere.

Brother DCP-L1640W specifications