Lexmark X6570 review

The X6570's helpful installation program includes automatic print head alignment.

This is the only printer in the group with built-in support for wireless networking. You have to use the included USB lead to set it up, but you can unplug it once it's configured - or use a normal cabled USB connection to print.

Text print speeds were very fast, both at draft and normal quality. Draft prints were easy to read, but some letters were broken. The X6570 was one of the fastest MFPs in our 50-page correspondence-quality print test, and was also quick to print a single page. Lettering was sharp and solid, although there was some smudging around bold characters. Colour documents took longer to print, but the results had sharp text and no stripes or speckling. Photo prints had a purple tint that made dark shading seem dull and gave brighter colour an unrealistic oversaturated appearance.

The scanner driver wasn't available over our wireless network, so we had to plug in a USB lead. The interface has minimal options, with few of the fine colour controls that users of Epson and Canon scanners will be familiar with. We were annoyed to find that the scanner controls closed after each scan without retaining settings or previews. However, the X6570 performed well in our basic document- and photo-scanning tests, producing excellent results even at low resolutions. Scanned text was sharp and easy to read, while colours were exceptionally accurate. Colour copies were detailed and free from streaks, although mono copies were stripy. Documents could be hard to align in the 25-page automatic document feeder, though, so the edges of some pages were cut off in copies and faxes.

Author: Kat Orphanides