Samsung Xpress C1860FW – Print Speeds

If you include pre-processing time when measuring print speeds, there’s no way you can get to Samsung’s quoted 18ppm for colour or mono. We saw a speed of 7.7ppm on out 5-page mono test print, though this did rise to 11.4ppm on the 20-page equivalent. Even so, 18ppm is really just a page-to-page speed, not for complete jobs.

A single-page colour copy from the flatbed took 25s and a 5-page mono copy from the ADF took 48s, both times comparatively good for this class of machine. Photo prints took around 30s, with the fastest time coming from the USB slot on the front of the printer, even though that print was a full A4, with the others, 15 x 10cm images.

Samsung Xpress C1860FW – Print Quality and Costs

The print quality is generally very good, though we did notice some patchiness in thick black headings, where it appeared insufficient toner had been laid. This was slight, though and, in general, black text looks clean and light.

Colour print is very good with solid, bright hues and excellent registration of text over colour. Photo reproduction is also better than from many colour laser machines and looks more natural when depicting landscapes.

Although the printer has a low overall noise level of 61dBA measured at 0.5m, it makes a lot of distracting bangs and clunks while printing – more than most of its rivals.

The four drum and toner units slide easily into the front of the machine, behind its fold down front cover, and are staggered in their tray, providing very easy access. They are only available in one capacity, though: 2,500 pages for black and 1,800 pages for each colour.

At the best prices we could find, we get a page costs of 3.6p mono and 15.4p colour. These figures are quite high, particularly the colour cost, but may come down with a drop over time in the cost of consumables.

Should I buy a Samsung Xpress C1860FW?

Samsung puts a lot of functionality into this compact case, but there are cheaper machines to run, such as the https://www.trustedreviews.com/canon-i-sensys-mf-8280cw_Printer_review Canon i-SENSYS MF-8280Cw, with figures of 3.1p and 13.0p for mono and colour pages, respectively. The Canon machine prints at much the same speed as this Samsung, but it has a lower capacity paper tray and doesn’t have NFC capabilities. Even so, it can print wirelessly from phones and tablets.

Verdict

The Samsung Xpress C1860FW is a sound colour laser all-in-one, though not without its foibles. It’s not as quick as the figures on the box suggest, it makes a lot of uncomfortable clunks when printing and its single-sheet feed is off-putting to use. However, print quality is good and facilities for mobile print, including NFC recognition, are second to none.

Next, check out our pick of the Best Printers