Two things about this model matter more than its speed, and both should be settled before you order.

First, the print languages are GDI and XPS. There is no PCL or PostScript support here, unlike the bizhub 205i, 225i and the i-Series machines above it. GDI printing depends on the host computer doing the processing, which is fine for ordinary Windows office work but restrictive if you print from design software, a Mac, a Linux box or a server-based system. Check what your office prints from before committing.

Second, this is a platen-cover machine. There is no document feeder and no automatic two-sided printing, so every original goes on the glass by hand and every sheet prints on one side.

Against the bizhub 205i at 20 ppm, the step up buys proper print controller support, the option of a document feeder and the option of automatic duplexing. If your office copies more than a few pages a day, that is the better starting point. The 185en makes sense where the requirement is genuinely light and the budget is the binding constraint.

Note also that Konica Minolta states this machine is not self-installable and must be installed by their service team. We handle that as part of supply.

The bizhub 185en suits the smallest A3 requirement in an office: a society or trust office, a small retail back room, a site office, a clinic copying forms and charts, or a shop that needs an occasional A3 sheet alongside everyday A4 work.

It also works as a second device on a floor that already has a faster machine. It is not the right choice for an office that copies stacks of paper, prints on both sides as a matter of course, or prints from anything other than ordinary Windows applications. Tell us what your office prints from and roughly how much, and we will say plainly whether this is the right machine or whether the 205i is worth the difference.