Head-to-head · Best All-in-One Printers Under $300

Brother MFC-J4335DW vs Epson WorkForce Pro WF-3820

Which is the better buy? Side-by-side on rating, price, strengths, and watch-outs — with the published ratings we averaged to get there.

The short answer

Brother MFC-J4335DW comes out ahead by a narrow margin (4.6 vs 4.4). The gap is mostly about home and home-office users who print a lot of documents and want the lowest long-term cost — read the strengths below before deciding.

Higher ratedRanked #1 in Best All-in-One Printers Under $300

Brother MFC-J4335DW

4.6

$268as of May 29

The MFC-J4335DW is the best-overall pick under $300, built around Brother's INKvestment Tank system that TechGearLab measured at roughly $250 over three years, half the lifetime cost of rival inkjets. It ships with up to a year of ink, prints fast at 20 ppm black, and RTINGS rates it ahead of the HP OfficeJet Pro 8135e on build and speed. The trade-off is print quality that is good rather than best-in-class.

Strengths

— Lowest lifetime running cost in its class via INKvestment Tank, about $250 over three years
— Fast for a home AIO: up to 20 ppm black and 19 ppm color
— Up to 1 year of ink in the box, with 3,000 black / 1,500 color page yields

Watch-outs

— Text and photo quality trail the best printers, weakest in TechGearLab's text test
— 150-sheet main tray is smaller than the Epson WF-3820's 250-sheet tray
— INKvestment cartridges are a proprietary hybrid, not true refillable tanks

$268 · Check Price on Amazon Full review →

Ranked #3 in Best All-in-One Printers Under $300

Epson WorkForce Pro WF-3820

4.4

$129.99as of May 26

The WF-3820 is the high-capacity workhorse pick, with a 250-sheet tray, the largest here, and the fastest measured text speed: Consumer Reports clocked 5 pages in 19 seconds at just 6.6 cents per page. It is a full four-function AIO with a big 6.8-inch touchscreen. The compromises are weak photo quality and cartridge running costs that trail the Brother MFC-J4335DW's INKvestment Tank.

Strengths

— Large 250-sheet main tray, the highest input capacity in this group
— Fast text printing: 5 pages in 19 seconds, the quickest measured here
— Very good text quality at a low 6.6 cents per page

Watch-outs

— Below-par photo quality, near the bottom among inkjets tested
— PrecisionCore cartridges cost more long-term than the Brother's INKvestment
— Bulkier footprint than the compact HP Envy 6555e

$129.99 · Check Price on Amazon Full review →

How they stack up

Brother MFC-J4335DW

The best-overall value pick. Its INKvestment Tank lifetime cost undercuts the cartridge-based HP OfficeJet Pro 8135e, Canon PIXMA TR8620a, and HP Envy 6555e, and RTINGS rates it ahead of the HP OfficeJet Pro 8135e on build and speed. The Epson WorkForce Pro WF-3820 has a larger paper tray, and the Canon PIXMA TR8620a prints better photos, but neither matches the Brother's running cost.

Epson WorkForce Pro WF-3820

The high-capacity workhorse. The largest paper tray here beats the Brother MFC-J4335DW and the HP OfficeJet Pro 8135e, and its measured text speed is the fastest in this group. But its cartridge running cost trails the Brother MFC-J4335DW's INKvestment Tank, and like the Brother MFC-J4335DW its photo quality is weak compared with the Canon PIXMA TR8620a. It is bulkier than the compact HP Envy 6555e.

Specs side-by-side

Spec	Brother MFC-J4335DW	Epson WorkForce Pro WF-3820
Type	Color inkjet (INKvestment Tank)	Color inkjet (PrecisionCore)
Functions	Print / Copy / Scan / Fax	Print / Copy / Scan / Fax
Print Speed	20 ppm black / 19 ppm color	21 ppm black / 11 ppm color (ISO)
Resolution	4800 x 1200 dpi	2400 x 4800 dpi
Paper Capacity	150-sheet tray + 20-sheet ADF	250-sheet tray + 35-sheet ADF
Duplex	Automatic 2-sided print	Automatic 2-sided print
Page Yield	Up to 3,000 black / 1,500 color in box	—
Connectivity	Wi-Fi + USB + mobile/cloud	Wi-Fi + Ethernet + USB
Display	—	6.8" color touchscreen

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