3.0 out of 5 stars printing is not as good compared to comparable HP printer

2026-02-08    -Bryan Andrews

poor quality printing ...the colors are not bright like our HP printer was ...going to return it and get the HP

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Printer with Smart Design and Smooth Performance!

2026-01-29    -Stacy

I recently purchased the Brother INKvestment Tank 980, and I’m extremely impressed with its overall quality and functionality. The build feels solid and well-designed, giving the impression of a premium product. One of my favorite features is the refillable ink tank system. Yyou can easily see the ink levels right on the front, which makes monitoring and refilling simple and stress-free.Setup was a breeze. It connected to my Wi-Fi network within minutes, and I was printing almost immediately. The Brother app is very user-friendly, making quick printing and scanning tasks effortless. The scanner is fast and offers flexible options for different scanning needs, which is great for both personal and work use.The auto feeder for copying works flawlessly. It pulled in multiple sheets smoothly without any jams, which is something I’ve struggled with on other printers. Overall, the performance has been consistent and reliable.If you’re looking for a printer that combines easy maintenance, wireless convenience, and strong all-in-one functionality, I highly recommend the Brother INKvestment Tank 980. It’s a fantastic choice for home offices or anyone who wants a hassle-free printing experience.

This is a good printer with large potential savings but....

2026-01-13    -Blackrain

I have been using this printer for several weeks now before submitting this review because I have really been on the fence about it. I have a great deal of experience with the Epson line of refillable inkjet printers, dating back about 5 years ago to present and I must say, this Brother printer brings nothing new to the table. Nothing. There is nothing special, no amazing new tech, it is offering all the same features as any number of printers on the market, many going for half the price.Is this a low cost printer ? To buy absolutely not, in fact it is pretty expensive. To run on the other hand, over the long term, yes, it is a lost cost printer. I firmly believe however that you need to be a very heavy user or have this machine working as a high volume office printer in order to realize that benefit of low cost operation.I will not spend time describing every little feature and nuance of this printer but the mains will be mentioned. This printer bills itself as an "INKvestment" product and to that, it could be true, only the user can say for sure if it is an investment that pays off or not.This Brother INKvestment Tank MFC-T980DW printer is a full-featured all-in-one inkjet printer that prints, scans, copies, and faxes. The printer has the option of using multi sizes of paper as well as 4 connection options which include LAN, USB, BT and WIFI.This printer can also handle legal and letter sized paper that is housed in 150 page tray plus an additional 2nd multipurpose tray that holds up to 80-sheets. The ADF (Automatic Document Feeder) feature is consistent and reliable, with no jams experienced.Print speeds are solid at 17ppm in Black and just slightly slower in color at 16.5ppm. The text is sharp and crisp as are the colors saturated. Photo quality is on par with other printers that I have used of late. Again, none of the above performance is exceptional and can easily be obtained from printers that cost half as much.Refilling the ink bottles is very simple and mess free, if you take your time. The procedure is straight forward and fill times are between 30 seconds and a minute each. With the purchase of the printer, ink bottles are included and according to the literature, you should be good to go with enough ink to last up to 3 years. Credit where credit is due, that is a very long time. Naturally, this is based on a very specific threshold of use.The flatbed scanner is, once again functional, consistent in ADF performance and provided pretty reliable results with the occasional instance of digital artifacts being noted within the scan file but not exceptional in anyway. High quality scans, double sided scanning and up to 20 sheet capacity in the ADF rounds out the basic features.This printer features a 1.8” colour display that is easy to read and use. It allows for direct commands on board the printer in lieu of the app interface. Some of these include direct to Cloud scanning capabilities. I found that using the app was the most convenient method of interaction and the user interface was fair slick and fluid to use.This printer is very cheap to run, there is no question and on that basis alone, it is a solid buy. It is my experiemce that very cheap printers that do everything well in a household environment, are typically expensive to run. More expensive office oriented printers like this one perform about the same but cost MUCH more to purchase up front and tend to be very economical to run over time. It boils down to these major manufacturers getting your money, one way or the other. They have done the math and engaged in the marketing.Refill bottles are where the gold is with this printer. At about $15 each individually or cheaper still if you buy the complete black and color bundle, the cost of ink is $60 (or lower with the bundle) for approx 3 years worth of ink, that is unheard of BUT you need to use the printer frequently enough to realize that kind of savings otherwise your ink expires before you get through it all.Don't get me wrong, there is alot to like about this printer, it does everything well, just not exceptionally and for the price, I would expect more innovation and advancement. I have a 6 year old Office jet that does EVERYTHING that this Brother printer does and in some areas (printer quality and speed) it does it better. At $650 (currently) it is a steep initial cost to realize a savings in ink over time.This is very much an individual decision that requires informing yourself of the options versus your needs. THIS is an expensive option, that does not produce any better quality of work or better workflow than many other models and brands. Many of those options are much more reasonably priced to buy and your usage may be in line with a higher operational cost.

Easy to fill ink; love the scanner

2026-01-18    -Canada

This printer is great. It was easy to fill up and it was a completely mess free process. The prints came out sharp and looks great for the forms that I printed out using it. Graphics and maps that I printed out with this looked good: not really a photo printer but very much fine for graphicsI like that there is a excellent scanner on this that allows for quickly scanning multiple pages. I sometimes find myself needing to scan a dozen or so pages at a time for paper documents that need a physical signature but allow scans... and this does the trick.

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice printer.

2026-02-01    -Jack Petri Jr

Nice print quality and easy to set up with the phone app. Filling the ink is very easy and not messy at all. Got this to replace our piece of junk HP. Will see how it holds up over time.Update: realized it can not do full duplex scan/print from the automatic document feeder. Am returning because I need that feature. Otherwise I would still recommend

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh Brother! What a Printer!

2026-01-19    -EFam

Our printer was on it's last legs and I have two children that are home schooled so a printer is a necessity for us. Further we print a lot and ink cartridges are very pricey. As such this printer made a lot of sense for us, and I've used Brother printers in the past in office applications so it's a name that I trust. After setting it up and putting it through its paces, I'm happy to report that my trust was well placed.First of all the setup is fairly straight forward. I suggest using your smart phone to get the printer online and ready, but a computer can be used also. A QC code will display upon powering up the printer although it will only take you to your app store to download the "Brother Mobile Connect" app which you can find and install yourself in advance. Once the app is installed simply enter your Printer's model number and follow the on screen steps to connect your printer to Wi-Fi. Of course the Wi-Fi setup can be skipped if you are hardwiring to a network via Ethernet cable.The app will then instruct the user on setting up the printer's primary functions which include filling the ink reservoirs with the included ink bottles, printing the test pages, and scanning said pages for alignment. It's all pretty straight forward and should take about half an hour or less. The ink bottles and corresponding reservoirs are clearly labeled. I was concerned that this would be a messy process and had some paper towels on hand just in case but they weren't needed. The design of the bottles ensures that the ink goes into the tanks and not on your work surface. Once the printer was online and ready to go I thought I would test it by printing something more complex; the cover of a Spider-Man comic. I figured this would give me a good sense of speed and quality in one shot. I'm very satisfied with the results. The printer wrapped up quickly, quietly, and the end result was impressive.My wife was delighted by the automatic double sided printing. Our old printer didn't allow for two-sided printing unless you manually printed a page at a time and turned the paper over which obviously is not ideal. This will save us quite a bit on paper as well!. Of course, this feature can be shut off in the settings if you desire. Other great features includes a 150 sheet primary paper tray, accessible USB connectivity for printing, remote printing, and faxing capabilities among other features.Most companies make their money by selling the printer for pretty cheap but absolutely crushing the end user on the prices of ink cartridges. You can perhaps get off easier using third party re-manufactured cartridges that may or may not work. Not the case here. I couldn't believe how reasonable the OEM Brother ink is. If this ink lasts anywhere close to the advertised 3 years then the value is incredible.All told, I'm very happy with this printer!

Very expensive printer with quite a few issues

2026-01-30    -Séraphin

First off, as you might already be able to tell from the price point alone, it's a very expensive printer. It promises ease of use, spill-free refilling and decent performance. To tell the truth, we've been using laser printers for ages at the office, so I wanted to know how a modern, relatively expensive inkjet printer would fare.Long story short, it's good, but not exactly impressive considering the 650$ price tag. To initially set up the printer, you must plug it in and follow the instructions. If you go the Wireless route, it's easy and you can set it through an App (Android or Apple I suppose), but I went the USB cable route, which I had to find myself as nowhere is it explained how to do so : If you're looking, it's under the scan bed, which is kind of an odd place. Setting up through WiFi is kind of easier through the App, but it can take a long time : My WiFi signal is strong, and it still took more than 5 minutes for the App/Printer to detect it.Initially filling is the cartridges is straightforward, and relatively foolproof. If you go relatively slowly, there's no risk of ink droplets being sent anywhere, and you shouldn't have to do this very often unless you print at the highest quality setting (which is kind of mandatory if you're looking to print quality documents : more on this later).However, after that, another thing annoyed me though : The paper tray adjustment is kind odd, and not well explained, if not at all. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to put larger paper (as in Letter) in. Maybe it's standard for inkjet printers to have very small tabs to push, and no indication as to how to where to push, but I had to look and it took me a while. We only have multiple Brother laser printers here (5, in fact), and the adjustment tabs are kind of easier to find and to move without even thinking about it and it's the first printer where I literally had to waste time there.Then comes the printing session. After a few tests and cleanups, you're ready to go. As far as the initial print delay goes, it's fine. It's a tad faster than heating up a laser printer, but not by much. On one hand, laser printer smells pretty bad, while an inkjet is noisier. Pick your poison, but if you print a lot near where you sit, and don't mind the noise, an inkjet printer like this one might be preferred to being intoxicated by laser toner dust and odors.My only grippe as far as printing goes is that even at the highest quality, the print quality isn't exactly impressive. It's great for sketches, and maybe some internal documents, but not really for promo materials and the like.Now to scanning : Using the scan bed, it's kind of slow, and opening and closing the cover is more annoying than on our heavier and older, laser MFC-6700DW. So I wanted to try the automatic document feeder (ADF) : For a 650$ printer, it's kind of a bummer as how basic and slow that thing is. It's not bad, but it's not great either and it scans relatively slowly and can sometimes induces some "vertical lines" in a scan which normally only happens after years and years of use.All and all, it's a decent printer, but it's also extremely expensive for what you get. If you don't need the ADF as you don't scan often and don't mind slower color prints (and similar black and white prints speed), I recommend stepping down to another, less expensive model like the MFC-T580DW.

4.0 out of 5 stars Brother's New Ink Tank System

2026-02-05    -R. Ferguson

The Brother inkjet lineup is a little confusing. They have two different Inkvestment systems, one in which you replace the tank, and this newer version in which you refill the tank. I believe this newer system is a response to Epson’s long running EcoTank series, of which I have used two different models over the last ten years. There are, as I understand it, three printers in this new range; the model reviewed here is the most capable.This printer is positioned as a small office printer. I would be hesitant to buy it on two counts. First, the scanner is not duplex. Second, there is only a single paper tray and it is limited to 150 sheets. The Epson models going head-to-head against the Brother 980 offer duplex scanning and larger trays. Performance-wise, the 17ppm rate is about what you get right now. Print resolution falls short of the stated resolution of comparably priced Epson models.I am not too impressed with the ink reservoirs. These feel a bit flimsy and oddly angled outward. Be very careful when loading these inks (Brother, Epson, etc.) as any spill can be a nightmare to clean up. The overall build quality also strikes me as not as robust as I would like for a small office printer. This is closer to what I expect for a home printer. One design oddity is that the telephone jacks are on the left side, but the ethernet and USB jacks are hidden underneath the scanner bed (what you would need to lift to get to a paper jam). I would have preferred all cable connections to be in a single, easily accessible location.With respect to the packaging, watch out for the inks at the top of the box (see my photo). You don’t want a box cutter to slice through a bottle. And I found it safest to remove the printer by laying the box on its side once I determined which direction was up for the printer, and then sliding it out onto the floor. The printer is fairly lightweight.I am a fan of using ink tanks and would probably never return to buying whole print cartridges. I have seen this technology work well for me for the last decade. I think Brother is wise to try out its hand with this system, though I think it needs to evolve a bit and offer more capability to compete.

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice printer.

2026-01-12    -Jack Petri Jr

Nice print quality and easy to set up with the phone app. Filling the ink is very easy and not messy at all. Got this to replace our piece of junk HP. Will see how it holds up over time.Update: realized it can not do full duplex scan/print from the automatic document feeder. Am returning because I need that feature. Otherwise I would still recommend

Everything you need in a Printer and More. Easy to fill Ink Tanks and cloud features.

2025-12-21    -Darran Taylor

I have always had laser printers for my day to day use and wanted to get a inkjet for other projects. The Brother INKvestment Tank MFC-T980DW was a great choice for this purpose. It does everything I need and more. Printing, copying, scanning, and faxing in one compact machine. Not that I have a phone line for a fax but its there if needed. Print quality is good for text and vibrant for color documents.One of the best features is the refillable ink tank system. Refilling is fast and mess-free, and the printer includes enough ink to last a long time, which significantly reduces ongoing costs. Automatic 2 sided duplex printing, a 150-sheet main tray, an 80-sheet multipurpose tray, and a 20-page automatic document feeder features are more than sufficient for all your needs.Connectivity options are plentiful, with wireless, Ethernet, and USB support. I set mine via wireless and it was easy to do using the app. I really like being able to print from and scan directly to cloud services like Google Drive and Dropbox using the 1.8-inch color display. Print speeds are quick, and setup was straight forward. Overall, this printer has everything you will need for home or small office and is feature packs. The cost savings of the ink tank will be a future benefit.