This twin ink cartridge system is separate from the print head itself. LED indicators show when ink needs replacing and when the machine's printing, cleaning the print heads and feeding or ejecting paper. It can print on paper sizes from 100mm by 100mm to 215.9mm by 356mm, and weights between 60gsm and 157gsm. Output quality at 720dpi by 720dpi on plain paper isn't very impressive, resulting in grainy graphics and washed-out colours. Text is broken and has an obvious jaggy appearance.
Colours are rich and strong, and black text is crisp and unbroken.
In PC Magazine Labs' tests, the highest print speed of 0.44ppm was achieved in the word processor test. A4 photo reproduction proved something of a struggle, the MP-21C delivering just 0.27ppm. To print a full A4-colour photo costs around 80p. Brother's MP-21C delivers mediocre print quality on plain paper, and will prove very expensive to run, especially if you use special inkjet paper all the time. Even so, if you must have access to a printer on the road, it's one of the better units on the market.