Samsung Multifunction Xpress M2875FW

Pros Prints, scans, faxes, copies. Duplex (two-sided) printing. Automatic document feeder. Ethernet. Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi Direct.

Cons No additional paper handling options available. Bottom Line The Samsung Multifunction Xpress M2875FW can be a good fit as either a heavy-duty personal MFP or a shared printer in a micro or small office or workgroup.

By M. David Stone

Small enough to serve as a personal multifunction printer (MFP), but capable enough to fill the shared printer slot in most micro and small offices, the Samsung Multifunction Xpress M2875FW delivers everything most small offices need in a mono laser MFP. It's not as fast as the Editors' Choice Canon imageClass MF4880dw, but it offers better output quality plus some features the Canon printer lacks. This makes it a highly attractive MFP, and an Editors' Choice as well.

Like the Canon MF4880dw, the M2875FW offers Ethernet and Wi-Fi as connection choices. However, the M2875FW also adds Wi-Fi Direct, which lets you use Wi-Fi to connect directly to the printer from a smartphone, tablet, or laptop that offers Wi-Fi. You don't need an access point on your network, and you don't even need to connect the printer to the network. This can be particularly useful if want to connect the M2875FW to your computer by USB cable as a personal printer, and still want to print to it from your mobile device.

In addition to letting you print from an iOS, Android, or Windows smartphone or tablet over Wi-Fi, the M2875FW will also let you scan to and fax from your mobile device. And if the printer's connected to a network that's connected to the Internet, you can also print through the cloud.

Not so incidentally, if you don't need Wi-Fi, you can save a little money by getting the Samsung Multifunction Xpress M2875FD ($250 street). According to Samsung, it's the identical printer, but without Wi-Fi. Samsung also says that if you connect it by Ethernet to a network that has a Wi-Fi access point, it will it support the same mobile print features. All the comments in this review about print quality, speed, and features should apply to it as well.

Basics and Setup
Basic MFP features in the M2875FW include the ability to print and fax from, as well as scan to, a PC, including over a network, and the ability to work as a standalone copier and fax machine. For scanning, the letter-size flatbed is supplemented by a 40-page automatic document feeder (ADF), which can scan up to legal-size pages. The ADF is limited to simplex (one-sided) scans, but menu options let you take advantage of the automatic print duplexer (for two-sided printing) to scan single-sided originals to two-sided copies.

Paper handling for printing is limited to a single 250-sheet tray plus a manual feed, which lets you print on different paper stock without having to swap out the paper in the tray. This should be enough for most micro- and small-office use, not to mention personal use, with the duplexer a particularly nice extra. If you need more input capacity, however, you'll have to look elsewhere, since Samsung doesn't offer any upgrade options.

Setup is standard. The M2875FW is a little large to share a desk with, at 14.4 by 15.8 by 14.3 inches (HWD), but it's small enough so you shouldn't have much trouble finding enough room for it. For my tests I connected it using its Ethernet port, and ran the tests from a system running Windows Vista.

Speed and Output Quality
Samsung rates the M2875FW at 29 pages per minute (ppm), which is the speed you should see when printing a simple text file with little to no formatting. I timed it on our business applications suite (using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing), at 10.0 ppm. That counts as reasonably fast, but not impressive for the price. The Canon imageClass MF4770n, for example, came in at 12.3 ppm. The MF4880dw's official speed on our tests is only 9.6 ppm, but that's in its default duplex mode. In simplex mode, it hit 12.5 ppm.

Output quality for the M2875FW is easily good enough for most business use, with text at the high end of the range that includes most mono laser MFPs, graphics dead on par, and photos at the low end of par.

For text, that translates to the printer being suitable for anything short of high-quality desktop publishing. For graphics the output is good enough for any internal business need. Depending on how much of a perfectionist you are, you may or may not consider it suitable for PowerPoint handouts and the like. Photos are good enough to print recognizable images from photos on Web pages, and potentially good enough for photos in newsletters and handouts, if you don't mind roughly newspaper-level photo quality.

The Samsung Multifunction Xpress M2875FW does an unusually good job of offering lots of strong points and no real weaknesses. Its particular balance of speed, output quality, paper handing, MFP basics, and small conveniences—like Wi-Fi Direct and the ability to copy single-sided originals to double-sided copies—adds up to the proverbial more than the sum of its parts. That's enough to make it an excellent fit for a micro or small office and also an Editors' Choice.

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Samsung Xpress M2825DW

Pros Small enough to share a desk with. Ample paper capacity. Automatic duplexing. Ethernet. Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi Direct.

Cons No additional paper handling options available. Bottom Line The Samsung Xpress M2825DW monochrome laser can serve nicely as a personal printer, but its natural home is as a shared printer in a micro office.

By M. David Stone

One step up in Samsung's line from the Editors' Choice Samsung Xpress M2625D that I recently reviewed, the Samsung Xpress M2825DW ($150 street) delivers essentially the same output quality, paper handling, and speed on our tests. What it primarily adds for the step up in price is Ethernet and Wi-Fi, including Wi-Fi Direct, along with support for mobile printing. As with its lesser sibling, it delivers enough to make it Editors' Choice, but in this case as a shared printer in a micro office or as a personal printer if you need the network connection or mobile printing.

The mobile printing support lets you print through the cloud and print from Android, iOS, and Windows smartphones and tablets. For printing through the cloud, the printer has to be connected to your network, using either an Ethernet or Wi-Fi connection. For printing from a mobile device, however, you have two choices.

If the printer's on a network, you can connect through a Wi-Fi access point. Thanks to the printer's Wi-Fi Direct, however, you can also connect directly from your mobile device to the printer, a trick you can take advantage of even for a personal printer connected to your computer by USB cable.

Basics and Setup
Other than the network and mobile printing support, there's little difference between the Samsung M2625D and M2825DW. Both printers are the same size at 8.0 by 14.5 by 13.2 inches (HWD), making them small enough to share a desk with easily, and both weigh just 16.4 pounds. They also both offer the same paper handling, with a 250-sheet input tray, a one-sheet manual feed slot, and a duplexer (for automatic two-sided printing). This should be suitable for most personal or micro office use, but if you need more, you'll have to look elsewhere. Samsung doesn't offer any paper handling upgrades.

Setting up the M2825DW on a network is absolutely typical for a monochrome laser. For my tests, I connected it using the Ethernet port and installed the drivers on a system running Windows Vista.

Speed and Output Quality
Samsung rates the M2825DW at 29 pages per minute (ppm) compared with 27 ppm for the Samsung M2625D. The differences showed in my tests when printing a text file with little formatting, with the M2825DW coming in at 30.3 ppm, or not quite 2 ppm faster than the M2825DW. However, the two scored essentially identical speeds on our business applications suite (using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing), at 9.9 ppm.

As with the Ssamsung M2625D, this counts as a good speed for the price, but not a particularly impressive one. The Editors' Choice Brother HL-2270DW, for example, came in at 11.7 ppm.

The M2825DW was virtually identical to the Samsung M2625D for output quality in my tests as well. Text was easily good enough for any business needs, with scores falling in the middle of a fairly tight range that includes the vast majority of mono laser printers.

Graphics and photos were both absolutely typical for a mono laser. For graphics output, that translates to being suitable for any internal business need. Depending on how critical an eye you have, however, you may or may not consider it good enough for PowerPoint handouts or the like. For photos, par quality means being able to print recognizable images from photos in Web pages and print photos in general at roughly newspaper-level photo quality.

The Samsung Xpress M2825DW is a strong contender not because of any particularly impressive feature, but because of a constellation of features that fit together well. It's not quite fast as the Brother HL-2270DW, for example, but it delivers a highly attractive balance of speed, output quality, paper handling, and more. As a shared printer in a micro office, or a personal printer that also makes mobile printing easy, that overall balance makes the Samsung Xpress M2825DW an easy pick for Editors' Choice.

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Samsung Xpress M2625D

Pros Small. Ample paper capacity for a micro office. Automatic duplexing.

Cons USB connection only. No additional paper handling options available. Bottom Line The Samsung Xpress M2625D is an excellent fit as a personal mono laser for any size office, with a low price, small size, and more than acceptable output quality.

By M. David Stone

The Samsung Xpress M2625D is the kind of highly attractive package that stands out from the crowd, which is quite a trick for a mature category like personal monochrome laser printers. Along with the appropriately low price and a small enough size to let it sit comfortably on your desk, it delivers reasonably fast speed, high-quality output across the board, and unusually capable paper handling. The combination makes it an Editors' Choice.

The M2625D's least strong point—I wouldn't call it an actual weakness—is its speed. Although it was a bit slower on our tests than the Editors' Choice Brother HL-2240 it outdoes the Brother printer in other ways, with an automatic duplexer (for two-sided printing) and slightly better quality for text and graphics. Both printers connect only by USB cable, which is what makes them decidedly personal printers.

Also helping define both as personal printers is that they're both compact enough to take up less space on your desk than most inkjets. The M2625D is just 8.0 by 14.5 by 13.2 inches (HWD). It's also light enough, at 16.4 pounds, for one person to move easily.

Setup
For my tests, I installed the M2625D on a system running Windows Vista. I ran into one potentially confusing setup issue. The installation program, which is apparently written for multiple Samsung models, includes options for installing the printer for wired or wireless network connections, which the printer doesn't offer. If you don't already know to ignore those choices, there's no hint on screen that you should.

At the very least, the program should include a comment with each network option indicating that not all models support it. Even better would be a list of which models each option applies to. Without this information showing, I suspect some people will wind up trying to connect by network options that simply don't exist in the printer. Once you get beyond that issue, however, setting up with a USB connection is standard fare.

Speed and Output Quality
On our business applications suite (using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing), I clocked the printer at 9.9 pages per minute (ppm). That qualifies as a good, but not great, speed for the price. It makes the M2625D faster than the Dell B1160w Wireless Mono Laser Printer, for example, at only 7.3 ppm, but slower than the HL-2240, at 11.4 ppm. Also worth mention is that the M2625D was a bit faster than its 27 ppm rating for printing a text file with little formatting. I clocked it at 28.4 ppm.

The output quality is in the typical range for a mono laser across the board. Text in my tests was in the middle of a fairly tight range where the vast majority of mono laser printers fall. That translates to being easily good enough for any business need.

The graphics were dead on par for quality, making them good enough for any internal business need. Depending on how much of a perfectionist you are, you may or may not consider them good enough for PowerPoint handouts and the like as well. Photo quality was also typical for mono lasers, which translates to printing recognizable photos from Web pages or for handouts that don't require any more than newspaper-level photo quality.

This printer offers unusually capable paper handling for personal use. In addition to the automatic duplexer, it includes ample capacity, with a 250-sheet paper tray, plus a one-page manual feed slot, so you don't have to swap out the paper in the tray every time you want to print a page or two on a different paper stock. The better than par paper handling, the solid scores for speed and output quality, and the small size make for a highly attractive printer for the price. More to point, the Samsung Xpress M2625D offers the right balance of features to make it Editors' Choice for personal monochrome laser.

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