The Canon imageClass MF465dw is one more variation in Canon's peas-in-a-pod line of nearly identical all-in-one printers (AIOs) that includes the imageClass MF462dw and the imageClass MF455dw, our current top pick for a mono laser AIO for small or midsize offices and workgroups. All three printers offer nearly identical features but differ in speed, image quality, price, and running cost. The MF465dw ($499.99) offers the fastest rated speed of the three, ties the MF462dw for best image quality and highest running cost, but also costs the most. Which of this excellent trio is best for you is down to what you prioritize.

Physical Setup: Plug and Print

The MF465dw is small enough that finding room for it shouldn't be problem for most offices, though you probably won't want it on your desk. At 14.8 by 16.6 by 18.1 inches and 34.4 pounds, it's big and heavy enough that you might want some help taking it out of its box and moving it into place. Setup is easy otherwise, consisting of little more than loading paper and connecting a cable—or just loading paper if you plan to connect by Wi-Fi. The toner cartridge is already installed in the printer and ready to work.

Canon supplies the driver and scan utility on disc, but you can also download both from Canon's website, as I did, to ensure you have the latest driver version. The setup program steps you through choosing which connection to use and which drivers to install, then handles the rest automatically. For my tests, I used an Ethernet connection and Canon's proprietary driver, which is the default choice. You can also choose either Wi-Fi or USB for the connection, and PCL6 or PostScript 3 for the driver.

For mobile devices, Canon offers free, downloadable scan and print apps for iOS and Android devices. As with other Canon models we've tested, the printer lets you call up a QR code on its 5-inch color touch-screen control panel for easy Wi-Fi Direct connection. You can also print from or scan to a USB memory key using touch-screen commands.

Paper handling for printing is typical for the price class, and a match for the MF455dw and MF462dw, as well as appropriate for up to heavy-duty use in a small or midsize office. The base unit includes a 250-sheet drawer, a 100-sheet multi-purpose tray, and automatic duplexing. The 350-sheet total is enough for more than a week between paper refills at the low end of Canon's recommended 750 to 4,000 pages per month. Add the $199 optional 550-sheet drawer, for a total of 900 sheets, and you'll have enough capacity for the high end of the range.

For scanning, copying, and faxing, the MF465dw also matches its two close cousins for paper handling, which means all three outclass much of their competition on this score. In addition to a letter-size flatbed, it offers a 50-sheet, duplexing automatic document feeder (DADF) for up to legal-size paper, which means it can scan both sides of each page at once. This lets it scan duplex documents in less than half the time of a reversing ADF (RADF) that offers the same speed for single-sided scanning, but scans in duplex by scanning one side, then turning the page over before scanning the other side. Some competing AIOs are even limited strictly to one-sided scanning, because they lack the software or firmware that lets you flip a stack of pages over manually, scan the second side, and then automatically interfile pages in the right order.

The MF465dw uses the same toner cartridges as the MF462dw does. As discussed in the MF462dw review, these are different cartridges than the MF455dw uses, with a nearly 0.2-cent higher running cost, at 2.44 cents per page. As always, keep in mind that total cost of ownership—meaning the initial price plus the running cost—is what you need to compare to know which printer will actually cost less. In this case, the MF465dw costs more than the MF455dw to buy, and the difference in total cost increases with each page you print. Note that if you compare any of these printers to a competing model that sells toner separately from the imaging units, you also need to include the other printer's added per-page cost for the imaging unit.

Testing the MF465dw: Barely Slows Down for Duplexing

For our performance tests, I compared the MF465dw with the MF462dw, the MF455dw, and the Pantum BM5100ADN. On our 12-page Word file, the three Canon printers tied for fastest first page out (FPO) time, making any of them enough faster for one-page files to notice if you're sitting right next to the printer, but not if you have to walk to it from your desk. From the second page on, however, the four printers finished in the order you would expect from their ratings, which put the BM5100ADN in first place, the MF465dw in second, and the other two close behind. For the full 12 pages, all four printers finished within 2 seconds of each other, so you won't see much practical difference between them for short text files. If you print single-sided documents that are tens or hundreds of pages long, however, the differences will be enough to notice.

On the full business applications suite, which includes several short Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF documents, the three Canon printers were essentially tied for first place, thanks primarily to their fast FPO times. The BM5100ADN came in fourth, largely because its slower FPO time added extra time for each additional file.

Although the performance difference among these printers isn't significant in a practical sense for short files when printing on one side of the page, the story changes when printing on both sides. For our 12-page Word file, not including the first sheet (pages 1 and 2) , the speed for the three Canon printers dropped by only a little compared with printing on one side—roughly 11% to 15%, depending on the printer. (See the duplex results in the 12-page Word chart above.) The BM5100ADN's speed dropped by a little more than half, which is a fairly common result. Most printers lose a greater percentage of their speed than the three Canon models when printing in duplex. If most of the documents you print are two-sided, any of the Canon models delivers a tremendous advantage for performance, with the MF465dw in first place, and the other two close behind.

On our photo test, all three Canon printers averaged 6 seconds for printing a 4-by-6-inch photo.

As with the MF455dw and MF462dw, the MF465dw's output quality in its default mode was in the top tier for a mono laser. Every font in our tests that you're likely to use in a business document was highly readable, even at 4 points. One of two stylized fonts with thick strokes was easily readable at 6 points, and another, which is harder to render well, was easily readable at 8 points.

Graphics output was essentially identical to the MF462dw's output, making it subtly better in some ways than the MF455dw managed. Although solid dark fills in graphics showed uneven pile height when viewed from certain angles, for example, it was less obvious than in the MF455dw's output. Similarly, the MF465dw (along with MF462dw) did a slightly better job handling one hard-to-render gradient. Most fills were suitably even, most gradients changed smoothly, and single-pixel-wide lines on a black background held up well. I saw some subtle dithering on photos printed on plain paper, but contrast and detail were both in the top tier for 600dpi mono laser output.

The MF465dw also shares the MF462dw's ability to print at 1,200 by 1,200dpi. The higher resolution delivered less-obvious dithering and a crisper look to fine detail in graphics and photos, as well as slightly better-formed text, which showed primarily at 4-point size in our tests.

Verdict: Worth the Price If You Need Quality and Speed

The Canon imageClass MF465dw is a strong candidate if you need fast performance and 1,200dpi output quality. But if you don't mind a small step down in speed, the MF462dw is essentially the same printer with the same quality output at a lower price. And if, as in most business applications, you don't need the 1,200dpi quality for easier readability of small fonts or the step up to slightly better-looking graphics and photos, the MF455dw will give you the same functionality and features, at a lower price and a lower running cost.

Keep in mind also that although any of the Canon printers will give you notably faster speed for duplexing than the BM5100ADN will, that won't matter much if you don't duplex long documents very often. The Pantum printer offers comparable speed for short documents for simplex printing, faster speed for long documents, and the lowest running cost in this group.