Brother DCP-1610W Review: A surprisingly small laser MFP capable of prints, scans and photocopies
A cheap, compact mono laser, MFPBrother’s DCP-1610W is a surprisingly small MFP capable of prints, scans, and photocopies. It can only print and make copies in monochrome, although scans are in full color. While it lacks a fax modem and an SD card slot – so you can’t print directly from a storage card – several people can connect to it over Wi-Fi.
Fit the remarkably small and light toner cartridge, and you’re ready. The separate imaging drum is already fitted and should last around 10,000 pages – we doubt many people will ever need to replace it. However, the toner lasts for just 1,000 pages. Even when excluding the cost of a replacement drum, running costs are a high 2.8p per page. Build quality is good, apart from the thin and flexible scanner lid. As expected for a laser printer at this price, the paper input tray is uncovered, and there’s no bypass slot for feeding single envelopes or sheets of headed paper. The control panel consists of a simple black-and-white screen with a few buttons, including one for scanning.
This works unusually well: load up a document, press the button, and you’re asked whether you want to create an image, a PDF file, or an email attachment. You’re asked which PC or mobile device to send the result to if you have more than one. With this done, press Start and wait for the scan to finish. You can control scans directly from a PC, and here, the DCP-1610W is quick enough, taking just 18 seconds to capture an A4 document at 300 dpi (dots per inch), which is a reasonably detailed resolution.
Prints were also swift, with the first page of text arriving in 12 seconds and five pages completing in 23 seconds. Five pages of graphics took only a second longer. The text was excellent, while the graphics and photos were surprisingly good for a cheap mono laser. Photocopies – often a weak point for budget laser printers -were also good and quick, with a single A4 page completed in 12 seconds. This is a good choice if you want a no-frills MFP and don’t need color printing or a fax modem. However, it’s certainly not as cheap to run as a good inkjet MFP, such as Epson’s WorkForce WF-3540DTWF.
VERDICT
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Specifications
2400x600dpi maximum print resolution • 20ppm mono quoted speeds • 600x1200dpi maximum scan resolution • USB • Wi-Fi • One-year warranty
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Hi, I have a Brother DCP-1610W. I cannot find the option for printing on both sides of a document and would like to know if that is something the machine cannot handle. If not, I might have to purchase another. Any recommendations?
Kind regards,
Halvor Musaeus
You can print on both sides by turning the printed page over manually and placing back on the top of the stack of paper printed side down and with the top of your document in first, then just print the second page as before.
This is a good cheap basic machine with no frills and it works very well, but it does not print both sides automatically.
Hi, I have Brother 1610WE. I used to print via pc on both sides manually, but there was the possibility to chose it from the print menu. Unfortunately, such time that I tried to print on both sides via high Sierra I couldn’t even find this option on the menu. Is there any solution?
Kind regards,
Maria
No wireless Connection??????? It is not true
I think there must have been a revision to the machine since this review, as the on/off button is on the top of the machine with the other buttons.
So definetely not a “Awkwardly placed/sized power button” now.
Precisely, and the “W” stands for Wireless which it certainly has.
Also, the toner (TN-1050) is available in OEM versions with almost double the capacity,
1.600 instead of original 1.000 at half the cost, so it`s not more expensive to run than
other similar Laserprinters. The drum will last for 10.000 copies, the OEM version cost
almost the same as the original toner. Supplies has been running low due to Covid19 & Brexit.