Samsung Xpress SL-M2071FH Laser Multifunction Printer Driver and Software

The squat black and white body of the Samsung Xpress SL-M2071FH is neat and angular, with all its curves in the vertical direction. The flat lid of the scanner – there is no automatic document feeder (ADF) – is raised slightly at the back to scan magazines. The lid has the NFC sensor built into it, so you can tap your mobile device on the most accessible part of the printer.

In front of the scanner is the control panel with a two-line mono LCD display, a navigation ring and large buttons for starting and stopping jobs and immediately switching the device to standby mode. This is hardly necessary as it will turn off after a minute of non-use anyway.

Then what is NFC all about? Near Field Communication (NFC) is a wireless device connection protocol based on Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) technology, used for contactless payments and Oyster travel cards.

In a printing application, you need to search for a printer on your mobile device and pair it before printing. As long as your mobile device supports NFC – many newer Android phones and tablets do, but Apple devices don’t – you can simply touch the device to the Samsung Xpress SL-M2071FH’s scanner lid in the front left corner.

The required details are then automatically transferred between the device and printer so printing can begin immediately. All this without compromising the security of any network to which the printer may be connected. We tried it with a Samsung Galaxy Young and it worked perfectly. The connection can be reestablished using the WPS button on the printer or by tapping the phone on the scanner lid again.

Samsung claims a healthy speed of 20 pages per minute for the Samsung Xpress SL-M2071FHand we saw 17.1 pages per minute on our 20-page document in testing, which is respectably close. The 5-page text test returned 11.1 pages per minute, but this is still a good speed for a relatively inexpensive printer. 5-page text and graphics printing achieved the same speed of 11.1 pages per minute.

The print quality is consistently above average. Text is clear and dense black, as are areas of black fill. Grayscale is generally smooth, although some tonal levels are difficult to distinguish despite representing different colors. Photos are surprisingly well reproduced, although fine streaking is visible in areas of sea and sky in our test prints.

Related Printer: Samsung SCX-4521FH

This printer only specifies an integrated drum and toner cartridge with a claimed yield of 1,000 pages. This has a typical cost of £35, giving a cost per page, including paper, of 4.4p. This is around 0.5p per page more than some competitors, and it’s a shame that XL consumables aren’t available to reduce costs.