Brother MFC-6490CW

The MFC-6490CW is designed for small offices interested in a loaded inkjet all-in-one and after putting Brother’s latest to the test, we found it delivers in spades.

In terms of features the MFC-6490CW is a superstar. It boasts two paper trays; one capable of storing 150 sheets and the other 250 and, offering yet more flexibility, is the fact that these trays can store different paper sizes. The all-in-one also features an automatic document feeder, so large scan jobs can be automated and for connection flexibility, the Brother packs ethernet and WiFi capabilities.

The Brother also packs in phone-centric features such as a PictBridge port and a memory card reader. The LCD can be used to preview photos and you can even perform minor editing, which ensures you can accomplish digital photo prints without needing to ever boot your PC. Despite all its features, the Brother is ultimately very impressive because of its compact footprint (given its capabilities) and aggressive US $399 asking price.

The only area in which the Brother didn’t blow our socks off was with regards to performance. Printing our 20-page monochrome and colour documents in normal quality, the 6490CW managed speeds of 4.2ppm and 3.1ppm respectively. Moving to our more intensive six-page monochrome and colour text and image PDF document, the machine completed the job with speeds of 3.3ppm and 2.2ppm. Not the fastest inkjet we’ve come across then. Performing copy jobs, the Brother proved somewhat slow again as it needed 30- and 49-seconds to complete our monochrome and colour copy tests.