PRINTING. The Brother MFC-L8850CDW prints using laser technology, which picks up powdered 'toner' on a roller and fuses it to the paper with heat. It prints color photos with only fair quality, which is not unusual for a laser printer. Photo printing was very quick, only 0.5 minute for a 4x6, costing 20 cents. Its text quality is excellent, as we've come to expect from a laser printer. Text printing was very quick, 16.7 pages per minute, costing 2.1 cents per page. Its color graphics printing is very good for reports, newsletters and web pages, at 4.3 pages per minute, costing 15.5 cents per page. It has an auto duplex feature that lets you 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 250 sheets, a generous size. There's a second tray for full-size paper, allowing you to load letterhead paper, for instance.
SCANNING and COPYING. Scanning performance was very good, fine for general-purpose scanning. It can scan or copy an area up to 13.7 x 8.2 inches (legal size). Copying performance was very good, suitable for most purposes. There's an automatic document feeder to let you copy or scan a stack of pages in one operation. The automatic document feeder can even copy or scan both sides of the pages. Includes OCR (optical character recognition) software, useful for making scanned documents editable in a word processor program.
CONTROLS and DISPLAY. The printer has a medium-size 3-inch display screen with a touchscreen.
CONNECTIVITY and NETWORKING. It lacks USB PictBridge for direct printing from cameras. 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 and Google Cloud Print are built-in, to print wirelessly from smartphones, tablets and PCs. You can also install Brother's app on your smart phone 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. When this section was last updated, the printer's purchase price was about $425, typical for an all-in-one color laser printer. But printing uses up toner. Over time, as you print, the costs add up. The toner cartridges used in testing were: TN-336BK, TN-336C, TN-336M, and TN-336Y. At the time, their prices were $78, $125, $125, and $125 respectively. We estimate the cartridges to last for at least 27.9 months (on a typical printing schedule). After 2 years of typical use, we estimate the total cost to be $600, typical for a color laser. The estimated yearly cost is $88, also typical for this printer type. So the 3-, 4- and 5-year estimates are about $690, $780 and $860 respectively.
NOTE. The printer takes up a lot of space and might be more suitable for an office than a home. This printer was noisier than most while printing, so you might want to locate it away from sleeping areas.
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-L8850CDW was Main A, sub 1 0.34, sub2 A, sub 4 1.00.
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 1.2.0.0.
ABOUT SOFTWARE AND FIRMWARE VERSIONS. Our test results are valid for the versions indicated. If your printer's software and 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 upgrades 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 if further guidance is needed. Try searching online.
