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Brother MFC-J4335DW Review

A cost efficient printer that makes a great pick for casual home use but isn't the best option for high quality document or photo needs
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Brother MFC-J4335DW Review
Credit: Brother
Price:  $180 List
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Manufacturer:   Brother
By Alex Hocevar-Smith and Genaveve Bradshaw  ⋅  Oct 25, 2022

Our Verdict

The Brother MFC-J4335DW is one of the fastest and most affordable option in the lineup of our favorite home printers. Despite some general ease of use frustrations, its setup is incredibly simple. We think this printer is a great buy for the home or home office that prints a lot of documents but doesn't need those prints to be the best of the best. In particular, we think that college students might get a lot of mileage out of this sort of performance package.
REASONS TO BUY
Mulptiple connectivity options
Compact and small size
Great operating cost with a moderate initial purchase price
REASONS TO AVOID
Mediocre photo
Graphic
Text quality
Display screen
And user interface
Editor's Note: We updated this review for the Brother MFC-J4335DW on June 14, 2022, with more data from our in-depth testing process, a closer look at value, and suggestions for directly comparable products we would recommend to friends.

Our Analysis and Test Results

The Brother MFC-J4335DW is the printer you want if size, speed, and cost are your main priorities. This little thing can pump out 11 simplex pages per minute, is fairly easy to set up and use, has low operating and lifetime costs, and produces decent quality text and images. The MFC-J4335DW stands out as one of the best budget machines in our lineup, perfect for those consumers who print a lot but don't need those prints to be top-notch.

Performance Comparison


brother mfc-j4335dw - with a midsize footprint and weight, the mfcj4335dw fits nicely in...
With a midsize footprint and weight, the MFCJ4335DW fits nicely in the home or small office space.
Credit: Laura Casner

Text Quality


Despite its overall ranking and accolades, the Brother MFC-J4335DW performed the worst in our text quality assessment. We saw small and thin fonts lose clarity during our test prints and lighter shades in the grayscale printed faintly. Though not terrible, it is worth considering that the MFC-J4335DW will not be a great printer for offices that need consistently high-quality text output.

While the MFC-J4335DW under-performs here compared to the others in our review, we still think it's a great buy for someone whose top priority for a printer is not print quality. Its strength is not any one thing that it does a stellar job at, but the overall budget package that it provides.

brother mfc-j4335dw - you may be able to notice the fading in the grayscale test in the...
You may be able to notice the fading in the grayscale test in the top left, or the fuzzy lines in thin fonts and text.
Credit: Laura Casner

Operating Cost


The MFC-J4335DW shines in this category. Its initial buy-in price is relatively low, and its overall operating and lifetime costs are stellar compared to the other printers in our lineup.

A ream (500 pages) of black and white printed text will only cost you $5.50 with this printer. The next best printer for this metric in our lineup had monochrome ink costs of more than double the MFC-J4335DW, at $11.25 per ream. That's significant savings.

The MFC-J4335DW's color cost per ream is also among the best in our lineup, at around $7.83 per. While quality is lacking compared to other printers that we tested, this is a great option if you print a lot and don't need every print to be perfect.

The MFC-J4335DW is best in its class for overall estimated lifetime costs, at around $250 per three years of ownership. That's half the cost of any other printer we tested and why we think this printer can be such a good buy for the consumer whose top priority is budget.

Many of the other printers in our lineup appear to be a good deal at first glance, but their lifetime operating costs make owning one very costly.

brother mfc-j4335dw - the brother mfc-j4335dw is a budget-friendly all-in-one.
The Brother MFC-J4335DW is a budget-friendly all-in-one.
Credit: Laura Casner

Ease of Use


The MFC-J4335DW teases with a very easy initial setup and ink cartridge loading mechanism; however, its WiFi and interface are not the simplest to engage with. Its low weight and small size — clocking in around 20 pounds — make the MFC-J4335DW very versatile in terms of room placement.

Once in place, however, the WiFi setup becomes a bit of a chore, requiring the download of two separate computer programs and one mobile app. Even with these extra steps, we never experienced any glitches or hiccups, and once we loaded everything properly, there were no connection issues whatsoever. We tested out Brother's customer service through their website and found it very helpful, quick, and easy to use. The actual physical printer controls come in the form of a small screen and a few buttons. We had some issues with the fax setting not immediately turning off, but otherwise, the controls were straightforward once we got past the initial learning curve.

Overall, the MFC-J4335DW performed fairly well compared to all other printers in our lineup. Even as a budget model, this printer presents an impressive monthly duty cycle — the number of pages you can print per month without any maintenance issues. We found the hiccups we experienced to be minor compared to other machines that we tested and not strong enough detractors to deter one from purchasing this printer.

brother mfc-j4335dw - this was not our favorite interface that we tested, but it gets the...
This was not our favorite interface that we tested, but it gets the job done.
Credit: Laura Casner

Graphics/Photos


Like its text quality performance, the MFC-J4335DW does just okay with printing graphics and photos. While the general resolution of images was quite sharp, contrasty business graphics often contained blurry text. Photo quality was always good but never stood out in the pack. Color quality is above average, and the color band it can display is quite wide.

However, we noticed some pinkish tinting on parts of white or very light images. Printed images also appeared slightly less saturated than their original counterpart. It's worth noting that despite its limitations, the MFC-J4335DW performed well compared to the rest of our lineup. It was not the worst performer in this metric and can print average quality photos and graphics. We think the consumer that will find this printer most valuable will not be prioritizing photo and graphic quality.

brother mfc-j4335dw - photos appear a little washed out with a general lack of texture...
Photos appear a little washed out with a general lack of texture. While not terrible, performance was not stand-out.
Credit: Laura Casner

Printing Speed


The MFC-J4335DW performed very well for an inkjet in the printing speed test, clocking in at eight duplex and 11 simplex pages per minute.

While not the best of the best, these are very respectable times compared to the rest of our lineup and the market in general.

The MFC-J4335DW stands out because the next fastest printer in our lineup has nearly double the estimated lifetime cost. While not lightning quick, the speed it demonstrates at its price point is fantastic.

brother mfc-j4335dw - the scanner's hinge mechanism has some play to allow larger objects...
The scanner's hinge mechanism has some play to allow larger objects to be placed on the scanning bed.
Credit: Laura Casner

Should You Buy the Brother MFC-J4335DW?


Although it's not the fastest printer and doesn't necessarily offer the best text or photo quality, or the perfect user interface, the MFC-J4335DW still presents a great overall value. Its performance per dollar is stellar compared to the other printers in our lineup. We think consumers who print a lot but don't need those prints to be perfect — like students or a home office — this model is a fantastic option in an affordable package.

What Other Printers Should You Consider?


The Brother MFC-J4335DW is one of the best bang-for-your-buck printers in our lineup, but it isn't the best-performing model we tested. A model like the Epson Workforce Pro WF-4820 significantly improves text, graphics, and photo quality without breaking the bank.

Alex Hocevar-Smith and Genaveve Bradshaw