Instantly lower your printing costs with these top-rated Inkvestment printers from Brother.
Many consumers have expressed their frustration with high cartridge prices, and most every printer manufacturer has developed their own unique printer line in an effort to resolve that concern. Epson® led the way with their Ecotank® printer series in 2015, Canon® followed suit with their Megatank® series and the Inkvestment® printer series is Brother’s answer. The Inkvestment line is a solid solution for home offices and small businesses, offering cost-effective, high volume prints for pennies on the dollar. The current Inkvestment printer line includes the MFC-J4335DW, MFC-J4535DW, MFC-J1205W, MFC-J805DW, and MFC-J985DW.
What is a Brother Inkvestment printer?
A Brother Inkvestment printer is a type of ink tank printer. If you are not familiar with ink tank printers, they are one of the best ways to print affordably. Instead of printing with a standard inkjet cartridge, these printers use a refillable tank system that’s built into the printer to create a print. Some ink tank printers, like the Epson EcoTank, use an ink bottle to transfer ink to the tank, which is similar filling up your car with gas. With the Inkvestment line, Brother took a hybrid approach and uses an ink tank cartridge to do the job. Installing a tank cartridge is similar to installing a standard Brother cartridge. Once the cartridge is installed, it knows to automatically refill the tank when the ink gets low, so you can keep printing without having to pause and refill.
Brother advertises that every Inkvestment printer comes with “up to 1-year of ink” in the box. Whether it actually contains enough ink for a years’ worth of printing, depends on your printing habits. The numbers are based on an average monthly print volume of 150 pages a month, with 60% of the prints in black and 40% in color. Regardless, that’s still A LOT of ink and should be more than enough for most printer users. Once you get through that first set of ink that comes with the printer, ink replacement costs are much cheaper than most inkjet cartridges. With all that money saved on ink, it’s not surprising that ink tank printers are becoming more popular ever year.
Why choose a Brother Inkvestment printer?
- Super high yield cartridges are inexpensive and offer generous page yields
- Delivers sharp black text and vivid color prints
- All-in-one inkjet machines include print, scan and copy capabilities
- Page gauge feature estimates the amount of ink you have left in your cartridge
- Easily prints and scans from your smartphone, tablet or desktop
In this brief guide, we will go over some of our favorite features of each Brother Inkvestment printer model and reveal a simple way to lower your printing costs even more!
Brother Inkvestment Printers at a Glance
| Best of the Best | Best Small Business Printer | Best Budget Printer | Best Home Printer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brother MFC-J4335DW | Brother MFC-J4535DW | Brother MFCJ1205W | Brother MFC-J805DW | |
| Release Year | 2021 | 2021 | 2021 | 2019 |
| Functions | Print / Copy / Scan / Fax | Print / Copy / Scan / Fax | Print / Copy / Scan | Print / Copy / Scan / Fax |
| Technology | Ink Tank | Ink Tank | Ink Tank | Ink Tank |
| Wireless | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Prints in Color? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Print Speed | 20 ppm (black) / 19 ppm (color) | 20 ppm (black) / 19 ppm (color) | 16 ppm (black) / 11 ppm (color) | 12 ppm (black) / 6 ppm (color) |
| Ink Series | Brother LC406XL ink cartridges | Brother LC406XL ink cartridges | Brother LC404 ink cartridges | Brother LC3035 ink cartridges |
| Black Yield | 6,000 pages | 6,000 pages | 750 pages | 6,000 pages |
| Color Yield | 5,000 pages each | 5,000 pages each | 750 pages each | 5,000 pages each |
Best of the Best
Brother MFC-J4335 – Buy on Amazon
The MFC-J4335DW is our top pick. Featuring an easy-to-use touchscreen display, a 150-sheet paper tray and built-in wireless capabilities, this printer is a great option for any home office or small-business. Print / copy / scan / fax features are all included and a 20-sheet automatic document feeder lets you easily manage stacks of pages without manually switching out each page. Cartridge replacement is a rarity with the LC406XL high yield cartridge series, which includes a 6,000- page black cartridge and three separate 3,000 page cyan, magenta and yellow color cartridges. To cut down printing costs even further, LD Products will be offering a compatible version of this cartridge series soon. Since this is a newer printer model, they aren’t available quite yet, but we will keep this guide up to date!
Best Small-Business Printer
Brother MFC-J4535DW– Buy on Amazon
Brother’s MFC-J4535DW is ideal for small businesses, offering a larger page capacity and lightning-fast print speeds. Two adjustable paper trays accommodate up to 400 pages and an automatic duplexer makes it easy to produce two sided copies. It has a variety of connectivity options too, including wireless, ethernet, USB and NFC touch to print, a short-range wireless technology that lets you print instantly from any phone that’s near the printer. Like the Brother MFC-J4335DW, it uses the LC40XL6 high yield ink cartridge series. An original Brother black cartridge goes for $59.99 and color cartridges go for $66.49 each. LD Products doesn’t offer compatible versions of the LC406XL series yet, but they will be available soon – stay tuned!
Best Budget Printer
Brother MFCJ1205W – Buy on Amazon
The MFCJ1205W is the cheapest Inkvestment printer from Brother, offering print, copy and scan features and a super low cost per page. You won’t get as many features with this printer compared to the others on our list but if you are looking for low start-up costs, this is a smart buy. Checking ink levels is a breeze with the page gauge feature, which provides a real-time estimated page count directly on your printer display. A 150-sheet capacity paper tray handles a little less than half a ream of paper with ease and wireless connectivity options let you print from anywhere using your smartphone or tablet. The printer uses four LC404 standard yield cartridges and each one prints approximately 750 pages. If you are looking for a printer with a high yield option, check out any of the other three printers in this guide. Low cost compatible cartridges from LD Products will be available soon!
Best Home Printer
Brother MFC-J805DW – Buy on Amazon
If you’re on the hunt for an affordable and ink-efficient home printer, the MFC-J805DW is a solid choice. Released in 2019, it is one of the more expensive printers on this list, but when paired with LD compatible ink cartridges, it boasts the lowest operating costs. Case in point, original Brother LC3035 cartridges cost anywhere from $55-65 each, depending on the color. When you print with LD, you can get the same number of prints for a fraction of the cost! The LD-compatible black LC3035 prints 6,000 pages for just $24.99 and each color cartridge prints 5,000 pages at $23.99 apiece – that’s a huge savings! Feature-wise, it has many of the same specs as the MFC-J4335DW. Print / copy / scan / fax options come standard. You get automatic two-sided printing, a 150-sheet paper tray and an automatic document feeder that accommodates up to 20-sheets. The ink cartridge page yields are also the same between printer models. The one area where the MFC-J4335DW is superior is print speed. Since the MFC-J805DW is an older model, it’s speed isn’t quite up to par with the newest Inkvestment printers, but if saving money with compatible ink is more important to you than fast prints, you’ll be more than happy with this printer.
How to Save More with an Inkvestment Printer
One of the Inkvestment printers’ biggest advantages is its low cost per page. Cost per page is determined by dividing the price of the cartridge by its page yield. For example, we mentioned earlier that an original Brother LC3035 black cartridge costs $55.99 and has a page yield of 6,000. After doing a little math, the cost is less than 1 cent per page. The reason why Inkvestment cartridges work well is because they offer an incredibly high page yield (giving you more prints per cartridge) and they are economically priced. To save even more, consider purchasing LD brand compatible LC3035 cartridges. LD brand cartridges offer a comparable page yield at a lower price per cartridge, further reducing your printing costs! The LD brand black compatible cartridge offers the same number of prints for just $24.49, giving you a cost per page of .3 cents. Each color cartridge is priced at $23.99 apiece at .5 cents per page. LD also sells a bundle set of 4 cartridges for $90.96!
How do LD compatible cartridges make Inkvestment printers even better?
- Save up to 60% when you use LD compatible ink cartridges with your Inkvestment printer.
- Invest less, print more – get comparable print results for an even lower cost per page.
- LD brand cartridges are backed by a lifetime guarantee!
If you are looking for a dependable printer with a low cost per page, Brother’s Inkvestment line is worth considering. With tons of useful features and a cartridge line that doesn’t skimp on ink, you can print freely without agonizing over your budget. The Brother MFC-J4335DW is the most accessible option for the majority of consumers, but the other models are worth considering as well, depending on your printing needs. No matter which one you go with, you are getting a reliable, ink-efficient printer that produces great looking prints! If you have any questions about Inkvestment printers or their cartridges, drop us a line!
Read More
- Best Ink Tank Printers of 2023
- Are Epson® EcoTanks® Worth the Money?
- Inkjet vs. Laser: Which Printer Should You Get?
*Savings based on price comparison between compatible cartridge prices on www.LDProducts.com and OEM cartridge and printer prices from Staples® and Amazon®. All prices effective as of June 15, 2023. OEM names are registered trademarks of their respective owners and are not affiliated with, and do not endorse LD Products.
