Review: Lexmark X4850 multifunction device

Lexmark is really going gung-ho with its range of wireless multifunctional devices at the moment, launching new models on an almost monthly basis.

The X4850 is a higher-spec version of the X4550, which was released recently. Both printers have the same resolution - 1,200x1,200dpi for black and white printing, 4,800x1,200dpi for colour - along with the same built-in 1,200x600dpi scanner.

However, the X4850 is significantly faster, with Lexmark quoting the X4850 at 30 pages per minute (ppm) for black and white and 27ppm for colour, compared to 26ppm and 18ppm for the X4550. It also includes additional features such as double-sided printing and, of course, it has the wireless networking option that allows you to share its printing and scanning features with other users on a wireless network.

As always, the manufacturer's quoted speeds are somewhat optimistic, but the X4850 still performed quite well in our various printing tests. Its time to first page when printing Word documents was 16 seconds, and then just 100 seconds to print 10 pages.

Photo printing is pretty good too, taking less than 30 seconds to produce a 4x6in print, although larger prints were far slower, taking almost four minutes for a large A4 print.

When using the printer's standard four-colour inks quality is good, although there's a slight graininess on large areas of solid colour, so we wouldn't recommend it as a dedicated photo printer. Ink cartridges cost £16.99 for a high-capacity black ink cartridge (500 pages of mono text) and £16.99 each for colour and photo-ink cartridges (210 pages of mixed text and graphics).

Lexmark lists the X4850 at £129.99, although at the time of writing it was currently on offer for £99. The X4850's performance, quality and features make it ideal for the home office or small businesses.