PRINTING. The Brother MFC-J995DW INKvestment Tank Color Inkjet prints using inkjet technology, which sprays liquid ink onto the paper from a moving head. Its text printing is Good, though not as good as most inkjets. Text printing speed is typical, about 11.1 pages per minute, costing 1.4 cents per page. It prints color graphics well enough for most purposes, such as school reports, at 5 pages per minute, costing 6.7 cents per page. It prints photos on glossy paper that are fine for casual users, but not as good as most inkjet printers. It has auto-duplex printing to print both on sides of the page, with no loss of quality. If any color ink runs out, it stops printing—it can't be set to just use the remaining black ink. If the black ink runs out, it stops printing—it can't be set to just use the remaining color ink. The capacity of the main paper tray is 150 sheets, a typical size. There's a second single-sheet input tray for full-size paper, in case you just need a printout on letterhead, for instance.
SCANNING and COPYING. Scanning was only Fair in performance, not as good as most all-in-ones. It can scan or copy an area up to 11.6 x 8.4 inches (letter size). Copying was only Fair in performance, not as good as most all-in-ones. It has an Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) for easily scanning/copying a stack of pages.
CONTROLS and DISPLAY. The printer has a 3-inch (diagonal size) color display screen that can preview each image in a 1.4-inch window and a touchscreen.
CONNECTIVITY and NETWORKING. The Brother MFC-J995DW INKvestment Tank Color Inkjet has a memory-card reader for directly printing documents and images stored on an SD card. You can connect directly to a PC with a USB cable, or to your network router either wirelessly with WiFi or with an Ethernet cable. There's a WiFi Auto-connect feature that makes it easy to link to your wireless router. Apple AirPrint is built in, to print wirelessly from Apple devices via your local network. You can also install an app on your smartphone or tablet, as another option for printing over your WiFi network. This model has built-in faxing, can store incoming faxes if the paper runs out, and can send faxes from an attached PC.
COST OF OWNERSHIP AND INK. When this section was last updated, the printer's purchase price was about $215, typical for an all-in-one inkjet printer. Printing uses up ink. Over time, as you print, the costs add up. This printer uses 4 cartridges. The Brother ink cartridges used in testing were the LC3035 XXXL BK, LC3035 XXXL C, LC3035 XXXL M and LC3035 XXXL Y. At the time, their prices were $56 for black and $62.50 (each) for the other three. We estimate the ink cartridges to last an extraordinarily long time — over 5 years — following a typical printing schedule. After 2 years of typical use, we estimate the total equivalent cost to be $274, low for an inkjet. The estimated yearly cost is $29, typical for this printer type. So the 3-, 4- and 5-year estimates are $303, $333 and $362 respectively.
PRINTER FIRMWARE. Firmware is software that exists inside the printer. All models are evaluated using the latest firmware version available at the time of testing. The firmware version of the Brother MFC-J995DW INKvestment Tank Color Inkjet was A.
SOFTWARE. The collection of software accompanying the printer may include: the printer driver, printer applications, electronic user manual, (and for all-in-ones:) scanning, faxing, and OCR apps. These get installed on your personal computer. All models are evaluated with a Windows 10 PC using the latest version of printer driver and printer support apps available at the time of testing. The software version was 4.0.0.0.
ABOUT THE INK CARTRIDGES, SOFTWARE AND FIRMWARE. Our test results are valid only for the Brother-brand ink cartridges, and the software and firmware versions indicated. If your printer's software or firmware differ from the ones shown you either have an older or a newer version of these. Manufacturers may periodically upgrade the printer's firmware to enhance operation, fix bugs, or add features. Firmware updates are downloadable directly to your printer via a wired or wireless network (if internet capable). You can check your printer's firmware version, or upgrade to the latest firmware by either (1) running the Brother printer-update app installed on the PC, or (2) accessing the "Settings" section of the printer menu and navigating to the firmware update option. Consult the user manual or Brother's website for further guidance. Try searching online.
