For years, my home office operated under a silent, frustrating constraint: the 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper. Every time I needed to review a large spreadsheet, a detailed architectural drawing, or create a full-bleed marketing proof, I’d hit the same wall. I’d squint at microscopic text, tape multiple pages together into a clumsy mosaic, or admit defeat and make a costly, time-consuming trip to the local print shop. This wasn’t just an inconvenience; it was a bottleneck that stifled creativity and slowed down productivity. The dream was always a machine that could effortlessly handle larger formats without demanding a commercial-grade budget or the floor space of a small car. The search for a versatile, cost-effective, and powerful all-in-one printer that could break free from the standard letter-size prison is what led me to test the Brother MFC-J5855DW Wireless A3 Inkjet Printer Refillable Ink, a device that promises professional A3 (11″ x 17″) printing capabilities for the small office and serious home user.
- More uninterrupted printing. Up to 1 year of printing with the INKvestment Tank’s high-capacity in-box ink cartridges (approximately 300 pages/month) and 2-year limited warranty.
- More impact. Our patented MAXIDRIVE print chip redefines printing technology with ultra-fast, durable, precision printing, with print speeds up to 30 ppm black/colour
What to Consider Before Buying an All-in-One Inkjet Printer
An All-in-One Inkjet Printer is more than just an item to check off your office supply list; it’s a key solution for streamlining your workflow, consolidating multiple devices, and bringing your digital creations into the physical world. For small businesses, home offices, and creative professionals, these machines act as a central hub for printing documents, scanning receipts, copying contracts, and even faxing important paperwork. The primary benefit is efficiency—saving space by combining four machines into one, and saving money on both the initial purchase and ongoing operational costs, especially with modern high-capacity ink systems.
The ideal customer for a feature-rich, A3-capable machine like this is someone facing the limitations of standard printers. This includes engineers, architects, graphic designers, marketing professionals, and educators who regularly work with large-format documents. It’s also perfect for small businesses that need to produce in-house promotional materials, posters, or detailed reports. On the other hand, it might not be suitable for those who only print a few black-and-white text documents a month. For such light use, a basic monochrome laser printer or a more compact entry-level inkjet would be more practical and cost-effective. If your primary need is gallery-quality photo printing, a dedicated photo printer with more than four ink colors might be a better alternative.
Before investing, consider these crucial points in detail:
- Dimensions & Space: This is not a compact device. With dimensions of 65.1D x 51.8W x 41.9H centimetres and a weight of nearly 18 kg, the Brother MFC-J5855DW Wireless A3 Inkjet Printer Refillable Ink requires a dedicated, sturdy surface. As several users noted, it has a “larger footprint than many inkjets,” so measure your intended space carefully. This isn’t a printer you can tuck away on a small bookshelf.
- Capacity/Performance: Look beyond just the print resolution. Key performance metrics include print speed (PPM), paper handling capacity, and scanner functionality. This model boasts impressive speeds of up to 30 pages per minute for both color and black-and-white, a generous 350-sheet total paper capacity across two trays, and a 50-sheet Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) for effortless multi-page scanning and copying. These are professional-grade specs that promise minimal downtime.
- Materials & Durability: A printer is a long-term investment. We found the construction of this Brother machine to be robust and solid, a sentiment echoed by users who praised it for feeling “well made and not flimsy” compared to competitors. The internal components, including the MAXIDRIVE print chip, are designed for durability and high-volume output, suggesting it’s built to withstand the rigors of a busy office environment.
- Ease of Use & Maintenance: A powerful printer is useless if it’s a nightmare to operate. Factors like the setup process, wireless connectivity, and ink replacement are critical. While many users, including us, found the setup to be remarkably simple—one reported being up and running in 10 minutes—others have struggled with Wi-Fi connections. The INKvestment Tank system, which uses high-capacity cartridges, is designed to be a clean, simple, and infrequent maintenance task.
Considering these factors will help you determine if this powerful A3 All-in-One is the right fit for your specific needs, ensuring your investment enhances your productivity for years to come.
While the Brother MFC-J5855DW Wireless A3 Inkjet Printer Refillable Ink is an excellent choice, it’s always wise to see how it stacks up against the competition. For a broader look at all the top models, we highly recommend checking out our complete, in-depth guide:
- Print, Copy, Scan: The PIXMA TS3720 is a true colour printer scanner copier all in one that is compact, versatile and easy-to-use with a 60 sheet rear tray that reduces the need to refill paper as...
- Innovative Cartridge-Free Printing ― No more tiny, expensive ink cartridges; each ink bottle set is equivalent to about 80 individual cartridges (2)
- FROM CANADA'S MOST TRUSTED PRINTER BRAND – The DeskJet 2855e is perfect for homes printing to-do lists, letters, financial documents and recipes. Print speeds up to 5.5 ppm colour, 7.5 ppm black.
First Impressions: A Substantial and Purpose-Built Machine
Unboxing the Brother MFC-J5855DW Wireless A3 Inkjet Printer Refillable Ink immediately communicates that this is a serious piece of equipment. It’s heavy and substantial, and a far cry from the lightweight, often flimsy feel of many consumer-grade printers. The clean white and grey design is professional and attractive, fitting well into a modern office aesthetic. Setting it up was refreshingly straightforward. The 3.5-inch color touchscreen guided us through the process, from removing the protective orange transport pieces to installing the four large INKvestment Tank cartridges. These cartridges slide into a front-facing compartment with a satisfying click, making the process clean and foolproof.
Connecting to our office Wi-Fi network took less than a minute via the touchscreen interface. From there, downloading the Brother Mobile Connect App and the desktop software was simple, and within about 15 minutes from opening the box, we sent our first print job wirelessly from a laptop. The initial impression is one of thoughtful design and robust engineering. Every tray, lid, and access panel feels solid. This machine is clearly built not just to print, but to handle a consistently high workload with a level of durability that inspires confidence right out of the box.
Key Benefits
- True A3 (11″ x 17″) printing and copying capability
- Blazing fast print speeds of up to 30 ppm (black and color)
- Generous in-box ink supply provides up to a year of printing
- Versatile paper handling with two trays and a 50-sheet ADF
- Robust build quality and easy initial setup for most users
Potential Drawbacks
- Large physical footprint requires significant desk space
- Some users report inconsistent print quality (banding) and Wi-Fi issues
A Deep Dive into the Brother MFC-J5855DW’s Performance
A printer’s value is ultimately determined by its real-world performance. Over several weeks of intensive testing, we pushed the Brother MFC-J5855DW through a gamut of tasks, from high-volume document printing to detailed A3 graphics. We evaluated its speed, quality, connectivity, and the all-important cost-effectiveness of its ink system to see if it truly lives up to its professional-grade promises.
A3 Printing Powerhouse: Unleashing Large-Format Creativity
The single most compelling feature of this printer is its ability to handle A3 / ledger-sized (11″ x 17″) paper, and in this area, it absolutely excels. For us, this was a transformative capability. We printed large-scale project Gantt charts that were finally legible in one view, architectural plans with fine-line detail, and vibrant, full-bleed marketing proofs that looked ready for a client presentation. The ability to do this in-house, on-demand, is a genuine game-changer. This sentiment was strongly shared by an engineer in the user reviews who called the A3 feature “a total must” for printing job site plans from home instead of driving to the office.
Loading the A3 paper is handled through the main 250-sheet paper tray, which easily adjusts to the larger size. For specialty media like cardstock or glossy photo paper, we used the 100-sheet rear multipurpose tray, which provides a straight-through paper path to minimize curling. Print quality on these large documents was consistently sharp and clear for text and vector graphics. Colors were vibrant and accurate, making presentations and charts pop. The duplexer also works with A3 paper, allowing for automatic double-sided printing that saves paper and adds a professional touch to reports. This single feature elevates the Brother MFC-J5855DW Wireless A3 Inkjet Printer Refillable Ink from a standard office all-in-one to a specialized tool for creators and professionals.
The INKvestment Tank Promise: A Smart Balance of Cost and Convenience
Brother’s “INKvestment Tank” branding can be a point of confusion, as one user noted they initially mistook it for a bottle-fed ink tank system like Epson’s EcoTank. Instead, it’s a clever hybrid system. You still use cartridges, but they are very high-capacity and serve to fill an internal ink storage tank within the printer. This design provides two key benefits: first, the in-box cartridges contain a massive amount of ink—Brother claims up to a year’s worth (based on 300 pages/month). Our testing and user feedback suggest this is not an exaggeration, with one user confirming they went “almost exactly a year” before needing replacements. This drastically reduces the frequency of ink changes and lowers the overall cost per page compared to standard cartridges.
Second, the internal tank acts as a buffer, so you can continue printing even after a cartridge runs empty, giving you time to get a replacement without interrupting a critical job. The printer’s “Page Gauge” feature on the LCD screen provides a real-time estimate of remaining pages, which we found to be a genuinely useful tool for planning. This system, combined with the blistering speed powered by Brother’s MAXIDRIVE print chip—which consistently hit close to the advertised 30 ppm for standard documents—makes the printer an incredibly efficient workhorse. It starts printing in as little as 5 seconds from sleep mode, a speed that even beats many laser printers.
Setup and Connectivity: A Tale of Two Experiences
Our experience setting up the printer was overwhelmingly positive, mirroring the reports of users who found it exceptionally easy. One happy customer noted they abandoned a competitor’s printer after a two-hour support call and had this Brother model connected to their Wi-Fi, phones, and computers in just 10 minutes. Our own setup was similarly seamless. The touchscreen wizard is intuitive, and connecting to our network and devices using both Wi-Fi and the Brother Mobile Connect app was flawless.
However, it would be remiss not to address the significant connectivity issues reported by a minority of users. Several reviews detail frustrating, multi-day struggles with getting the printer to work on their Wi-Fi network, particularly with 5G systems, and unhelpful encounters with customer support. While the printer is designed to work with modern networks, variables like router models, network configuration, and firmware can clearly create conflicts for some. For this reason, while we had a perfect experience, potential buyers should be aware of this possibility. For those concerned, the printer offers a full suite of connection options, including Ethernet for a rock-solid wired connection and USB for direct-to-PC use, which one user preferred for its simplicity.
All-in-One Versatility: The Scanner and Copier Shine
Beyond its printing prowess, the MFC-J5855DW is a highly capable scanner, copier, and fax machine. The flatbed scanner accommodates documents up to letter size (A4), delivering crisp, high-resolution scans. Where it truly shines for office productivity is the 50-sheet Automatic Document Feeder (ADF). We loaded a 30-page contract into the ADF, and it scanned the entire document to a single PDF in just over a minute without a single jam. This is a crucial feature for anyone needing to digitize multi-page documents regularly.
Copying performance was equally impressive. As one user aptly put it, the color and black-and-white copies were “difficult to distinguish from the originals,” even when the source material included photographs. The speed is excellent, matching the print speed of 30 ppm, so you can quickly generate multiple sets of documents. The ability to scan directly to email, a connected PC, or cloud services like Google Drive and Dropbox from the touchscreen adds another layer of workflow efficiency that makes this a true central hub for any small office.
What Other Users Are Saying
Synthesizing the broad spectrum of user feedback reveals a largely positive consensus, though not without some notable criticisms. The most frequently praised feature, by far, is the A3 printing capability, with users from engineering and business backgrounds calling it an invaluable addition to their workflow. The fast print speed and the long-lasting “one year of ink” are also major highlights, with many confirming the longevity of the starter cartridges. As one satisfied customer put it, “Do not need to fill ink over and over again.” Many users who switched from other brands like HP or Canon expressed relief at the straightforward setup, with one exclaiming it was “way easier to connect to the Internet.”
On the negative side, the most common complaint revolves around print quality degradation over time, particularly for those who print infrequently. One user grew to “loathe it” after a year and a half due to persistent lines and faded spots that required constant nozzle cleaning. This suggests the printer performs best with regular use. The other significant issue, as mentioned, is Wi-Fi connectivity, with a handful of users detailing infuriating battles to get and keep the printer connected. Finally, some buyers received units that appeared to be returns with ink spilled inside, highlighting potential quality control or fulfillment issues in the supply chain.
How Does the Brother MFC-J5855DW Compare to the Competition?
The Brother MFC-J5855DW Wireless A3 Inkjet Printer Refillable Ink occupies a unique space in the market, but several other popular models cater to different needs within the all-in-one category. Here’s how it stacks up against three leading alternatives.
1. Epson EcoTank ET-2800 Wireless All-in-One Supertank Printer
- Innovative Cartridge-Free Printing ― No more tiny, expensive ink cartridges; each ink bottle set is equivalent to about 80 individual cartridges (2)
- Dramatic Savings on Replacement Ink ― Save up to 90% with replacement ink bottles vs. ink cartridges (1) – that’s enough to print up to 4,500 pages black/7,500 colour (3)
The Epson EcoTank ET-2800 is a champion of low-cost printing. Its key advantage is the true supertank system, which uses large, refillable bottles of ink instead of cartridges, offering an exceptionally low cost per page. This makes it an excellent choice for families, students, or home offices that print a high volume of color documents and photos and want to minimize recurring ink costs. However, it cannot compete with the Brother on speed, features, or paper handling. It lacks an ADF, has a much smaller paper capacity, significantly slower print speeds, and most importantly, it is limited to standard 8.5″ x 11″ paper. The EcoTank is for the budget-conscious, high-volume home user; the Brother is for the performance-driven professional who needs speed and A3 capability.
2. HP Envy Inspire 7955e All-in-One Printer
- HIGH-QUALITY PRINTING: The HP ENVY Inspire 7955e All-in-One Printer delivers exceptional print quality with up to 1200 x 1200 rendered dpi for black and up to 4800 x 1200 optimized dpi for color...
- PRODUCTIVITY AND CONVENIENCE: Designed for both work and play, this all-in-one printer features a built-in photo tray and automatic document feeder for seamless printing. With a duty cycle of up to...
The HP Envy Inspire 7955e is geared towards the modern home user and photo enthusiast. It produces excellent quality photo prints and integrates tightly with the HP+ smart system and Instant Ink subscription service. For users who prefer a hands-off approach to ink management and print a predictable number of pages each month, the subscription model can be convenient. However, this model is slower than the Brother, has a smaller paper capacity, and is also limited to letter-sized printing. The reliance on an internet connection for full functionality and the subscription-based ink model will not appeal to everyone. The HP Envy is a better choice for creative photo projects, while the Brother is a superior tool for business productivity and document management.
3. HP Smart Tank 7602 Wireless All-in-One Printer
- FROM CANADA'S MOST TRUSTED PRINTER BRAND – The Smart Tank 7602 is perfect for families printing a variety of color documents in high volumes. Print up to 15 pages per minute black and 9 pages per...
- FULLY LOADED WITH SAVINGS – Best for low-cost, high-volume printing—2 years of HP Ink included; get up to 8,000 color pages or 6,000 black pages right out of the box
The HP Smart Tank 7602 is a more direct competitor to Epson’s EcoTank line and a step up from the Envy series in terms of business features. Like the EcoTank, it uses a refillable bottle system for low-cost, high-volume printing and includes business-friendly features like an ADF and faster print speeds than entry-level models. It’s a strong contender for small businesses looking to minimize ink costs. However, it still falls short of the Brother MFC-J5855DW in two critical areas: raw speed and A3 printing. The Brother’s 30 ppm output is significantly faster, and its ability to handle 11″ x 17″ media is a capability the HP Smart Tank simply does not offer. Choose the HP for cost-effective A4 document printing; choose the Brother for high-speed, large-format versatility.
The Final Verdict: Is the Brother MFC-J5855DW Worth It?
After extensive hands-on testing and analysis of user feedback, our verdict is clear: the Brother MFC-J5855DW Wireless A3 Inkjet Printer Refillable Ink is a phenomenal machine for its target audience. If you run a small business, work from a home office, or are a professional who has ever felt constrained by standard paper sizes, this printer is a productivity powerhouse. Its combination of blazing speed, excellent A3 printing, versatile paper handling, and a cost-effective, high-capacity ink system creates a package that is difficult to beat for the price.
While we acknowledge the potential for Wi-Fi connectivity hiccups and the necessity for regular use to maintain optimal print quality, these issues seem to affect a minority of users. For the majority, the experience is one of robust reliability and game-changing capability. It’s a substantial investment in space and budget, but the return in efficiency, convenience, and professional output is undeniable. If you’re ready to break free from the A4 box and elevate your in-house printing capabilities, we wholeheartedly recommend it. You can check the latest price and explore its full feature set right here.
Last update on 2025-11-07 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API