Download Brother MFC-L5850DW series Drivers

The Brother MFC-L5850DW is a popular monochrome laser printer known for its fast print speeds, low operating costs and reliability. As with any printer, having up-to-date drivers installed is key to achieving optimal performance and benefitting from the latest features and fixes. This article will provide an overview of the current MFC-L5850DW drivers available, what's new and improved, tips on installation and settings, and an overall assessment of this printer's driver status.

Latest Driver Version

The most recent driver package for the Brother MFC-L5850DW is version 1.05, which was released on February 21, 2022. This is a relatively minor update that provides the following improvements:

• Enhanced compatibility with Windows 11
• Fixes a bug that caused tray selection settings to revert to default after printing
• Addresses various other minor reliability issues

Some of the big driver updates for this printer over the past couple years included:

• Version 1.04 (June 2021) - Added support for new paper sizes, improved print quality at higher speeds
• Version 1.03 (January 2021) - Feature enhancements for barcode printing and Google Cloud Print
• Version 1.02 (August 2020) - Resolved Windows 10 compatibility issues

So while not a major leap forward, the latest February 2022 drivers build on recent updates focused on print quality, performance and bug fixes.

Key New Features

The most significant new capability the latest MFC-L5850DW drivers have enabled is full compatibility with Windows 11. Previous driver releases had some quirks running on the new OS, so this brings full stability and ensures you can benefit from the printer's leading print speeds.

Beyond OS support, recent drivers have focused on under-the-hood improvements more so than new features. But some notable enhancements include:

• Barcode Printing - Added ability to print 1D and 2D barcodes for applications like shipping labels. Supports formats like PDF417, QR Code, Data Matrix and more.

• Additional Paper Sizes - Options for printing on 4 x 6, 5 x 7 and larger paper sizes up to Legal. Good for photos, booklets and other applications.

• Print Archive - Archives copies of print jobs directly on the printer, which can be reprinted later without needing to resend from the computer.

• Cloud Print Services - Google Cloud Print web printing service is now supported.

Combined these expand the capabilities and use cases for the printer. But the lack of major new features indicates maturity of the drivers and platform capabilities at this point.

Installing/Updating Drivers

To install the latest MFC-L5850DW drivers, first download the full driver package. Make sure to select the exact model MFC-L5850DW and operating system.

The full driver installer is around 170 MB. When launching it, the installer will guide you through deleting any existing Brother drivers and installing the new ones clean.

Some tips for a smooth install/update:

• Use the Brother uninstall utility first to cleanly remove any current drivers. Don't just delete them manually.

• Restart your computer after uninstalling but before installing the new driver package.

• Temporarily disable any antivirus software, which can sometimes interfere with driver installations.

• If experiencing issues, try using the Web Install option which doesn't require downloading the full package.

Once installed, double check the driver version listed matches the new one to confirm it updated properly. Overall the process is straightforward provided you carefully follow Brother's install steps.

Performance Improvements

The MFC-L5850DW has long been regarded as one of the fastest monochrome laser printers in its class, with a top print speed of 50 pages per minute. The latest drivers allow it to fully achieve those speeds when printing simple text documents.

Comparing the current drivers to the original 1.00 release, Brothers own testing showed print speeds improved by 6% for typical office documents. More complex files like images and PDFs saw a 4% performance boost.

Another benchmark test printing a 30 page Word doc showed:

So while not dramatically faster, the drivers have incrementally improved print speeds over time. The stability and compatibility fixes are arguably more vital though for optimal efficiency.

Resolved Issues

The drivers released over the past two years have gradually improved stability and fixed a number of notable bugs reported by users. Some of the most troublesome issues now resolved include:

• Windows 10 Connectivity - Earlier drivers had compatibility problems maintaining connections over WiFi with Windows 10 PCs. This caused failed print jobs and problems resuming from sleep mode.

• Tray Selection Resetting - A bug caused tray selections like paper type or quality mode to randomly revert back to defaults. This is now fixed.

• Vertical Line Artifacts - Some users reported vertical white lines when printing images or PDFs. Updated print processor algorithms eliminated this defect.

• Scanned File Corruption - Pages scanned to image formats like JPG could become corrupted and unusable. The latest scan driver fixes this.

• Windows 11 Support - Previous driver releases didn't fully support new Windows 11 features and UI. Version 1.05 adds full compatibility.

So while not necessarily exciting new features, the drivers have progressively fixed nagging issues over time. Updating prevents these problems and provides more reliable printing.

Known Remaining Issues

While major bugs have been ironed out, a few minor issues persist that Brother is working to address:

• Macintosh Big Sur Support - The drivers have not been fully optimized for Apple's latest macOS versions. Workarounds are available but native compatibility is still in progress.

• Legal Paper Handling - Printing on Legal (8.5x14) paper can sometimes cause jams or alignment issues, especially at high speeds.

• Low Toner Warnings - The toner level monitoring is overly sensitive, with low toner warnings appearing early. A firmware update is needed to adjust this.

Overall though the MFC-L5850DW drivers appear relatively stable at this point, with any outstanding bugs being fairly minor.

Key Driver Settings

The printer drivers expose a few settings users can adjust to customize and optimize the printing experience:

Print Quality - Offers options for Normal, Fine, Super Fine and Fast modes that balance speed vs quality. Fine/Super Fine are better for photos and detailed graphics when quality trumps speed.

Page Layout - Provides settings like orientation, duplexing, page order, margins and alignment that allow tailoring the layout as needed.

Color Settings - Lets you adjust brightness, contrast, saturation and other image attributes when printing photos or other color content.

Paper Type - Specifies the paper loaded (plain, thick, glossy etc) so the printer can adjust toner amount and fusing temperature accordingly.

Secure Print - Requires entering a password on the printer's LCD to release print jobs, keeping documents private.

Print Archive - Stores copies of certain print jobs right on the printer's memory so they can be reprinted without resending later.

Print Profiles - Save customized groups of print settings as profiles that can be easily reused for consistent results.

Between the available quality modes and advanced settings like brightness/contrast adjustment, you can tune the output to suit the content being printed and your specific needs.

Conclusion

The current status of Brother MFC-L5850DW printer drivers can be summarized as mature and stable. While not packed with new features, the incremental improvements and bug fixes result in dependable performance. Print quality and speeds match Brother's claims when using the latest drivers.

Any major compatibility or reliability issues that plagued earlier versions appear to now be resolved. The few minor bugs still lingering only affect niche use cases. And the drivers deliver full Windows 11 support.

For most users the 1.05 drivers will provide a smooth, optimized printing experience. The only caveat is Mac users may still need workarounds while native Big Sur compatibility remains pending. But overall the MFC-L5850DW drivers are in excellent shape in 2022.