Brother DS-640 Document Scanner, USB 3.0, DSMobile
Brother DS-640 Document Scanner, USB 3.0, DSMobile, Portable, 15PPM, A4 Scanner, Includes Micro USB Cable, White
PowerDesigned with flexibility in mind, powered by USB 3.0 connected to a laptop. You can now take your scanner with you, scanning where it’s most convenient for you.
” data-position=”triggerHorizontal” />High-quality resultsWith a built-in, dedicated roller system, your documents are smoothly fed-through, guaranteeing high-quality, digital files are created every time.
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Brother DSmobile DS-640
Lightweight and portable, scans documents up to A4, as well as plastic ID cards and receipts.
Good Design Award 2020
The DS-640 was awarded the Good Design Award 2020 one of the 100 products most highly evaluated.
Compare Brother products
 DSmobile DS-640 |  DSmobile DS-740D |  DSmobile DS-940DW |  ADS-1200 |  ADS-1700W | |
| Scan speed | Up to 15 pages per minute | Up to 15 pages per minute | Up to 15 pages per minute | Up to 25 pages per minute | Up to 25 pages per minute |
| Connectivity | SuperSpeed USB 3.0 | SuperSpeed USB 3.0 | Wireless & SuperSpeed USB 3.0 | SuperSpeed USB 3.0 | Wireless & SuperSpeed USB 3.0 |
| Paper handling | Single sheet | Single sheet with U-path | Single sheet with U-path | 20 sheet ADF | 20 sheet ADF |
| 2-sided scan | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Display | LED keys | LED keys | LED keys | LED keys | 7.1cm LCD touchscreen |
| Power requirements | USB bus power | USB bus power | L-ion battery power | AC adaptor | AC adaptor |
| Scan to | Email, OCR, file and image | Email, OCR, file and image | Email, OCR, file and image | Email, OCR, file and image | Email, OCR, file and image |
Is this scanner battery powered?
The DSmobile DS-640 scanner is powered by the USB connection of the computer used when scanning.
Does this model scan double-sided or single-sided only?
The DSmobile DS-640 is a single-sided scanner, for double-sided scan see the DS-740D or DS-940DW.
If you have a document of 10 pages will it save the pages as one document or multiple pages?
The scanner will create a multi or single page document. If you are scanning 10 pages and require 1 PDF document then you would just select this option.
Does this scanner scan colour documents and save them as colour documents?
Yes, the DSmobile DS-640 scans colour documents including photos and graphs.
| Dimensions: | 5.06 x 30.1 x 3.68 cm; 466 Grams |
| Model: | DS-640 |
| Batteries Included: | 2 AAA batteries required. |
| Manufacture: | Brother |
| Dimensions: | 5.06 x 30.1 x 3.68 cm; 466 Grams |
| Origin: | China |
Windows 11 recognised the device immediately, but I downloaded the software bundle from the Brother website in order to use the main scanning utility and update the firmware, the latter of which was quick and simple. I didn’t install either the PaperPort software or Kofax Power PDF standard, the latter of which is only a free trial.
Changing the scanning settings is really easy in the iPrint&Scan software, and creating a single document from multiple pages is straightforward having ticked the Continuous Scan option in the settings under Feed Control. Using this, it’s a simple case of pushing the next page into the scanner after the last and the unit automatically pulls it in. Once you’re done, hit Finish and the PDF save options appear. I scanned a 50 page (single sided) report, generating a single searchable PDF, in about 5 minutes. This is much quicker than the hour or so I’d anticipate it would take to do the same on my flatbed scanner.
The quality of the document at 300×300 dpi was good; plenty sufficient for a document. Invariably a flatbed scanner (and one more modern than mine) would produce higher resolution images, which is possibly an advantage for scanning photos, but for quick and decent scans of documents and images this is perfect.
I only have two “niggles” with this product:
a) the paper guide slider moves very easily, which can make the paper feed in slightly crooked, although the de-skew function is good here, and with a little practice it didn’t prove and issue. I used a small piece of blu tack just to hold it in place, which worked fine.
b) the PDF creation software doesn’t have a great compression algorithm. The 50 page PDF I created was 20mb. I ran it through ABBYY PDF editor and even on high quality it shrunk it down to around 4mb.
Overall, I would recommend this product if you want a decent portable scanner that’ll make digitising documents quick and easy. If you want high resolution scans of photos, you’re going to want a flatbed.
The only drawback of this Scanner is that since it does not have a carriage that “drives” the sheet in a linear way. So, if you don’t put the sheet in the correct way, you are forced to make 10,000 scans until you can get one straight.
It scans just as well and easily as a large desk bound scanner, yet is as small as a 30cm ruler, so is perfect for keeping in a drawer when not in use. I have been so impressed with it that I’ve already recommended it to several friends, and am honestly surprised there aren’t more manufacturers making ones of this size
I used this to copy documents onto a micro-disk so I can print out copies whenever they are needed or just store them instead of having to find a photocopier.
I find it works well, it grips the paper and keeps the text on the page level. The power light is always red, not sure if this is right as it only seems to turn green when I plugged it into the electric
I am a prolific archivist and detest paper so any paperwork given to me gets scanned in and stored electronically. With the MFD shortage brought on by covid I struggled to get a worthy replacement MFD for home with an ADF when the ADF on my Canon just wore out.
Over the recent year my job has changed to that of a more flexible worker either from the Office, home or client sites so a portable unit that can be added to my office in a rucksack was the best fit.
Anyway enough about my situation.
This unit can scan to a machine over USB, Wi-Fi and via a memory card you insert into the back of the device. Whilst the memory card does not petrude it would be nice if there was a clip or cover over it to stop it from being accidentally ejected. This may after all contain sensitive information or the remains of sensitive information after deletion.
Scanning to the memory card is OK and just OK. Each page is saved as a separate document, even when selected PDF and 2 Sided each side will be safed as a separate document and not combined. You just put another piece of paper in the feeder and it scans and saves. There I no method, that I have found documented to continue a scan to the memory card into one file. The scans require assembly into a single file after the fact in the included software. I use this feature only for documents of one page. Only when there is no other practicable choice do I use this for multipage scans as it is a bit of a ball ache. Quite why they didn’t make use of the “WStart/Stop” button is anyone’s guess.
The Wi-Fi functionality is OK, it is a bit slow in my experience. There is also no “known” Wi-Fi settings listed on the device’s settings so it just remembers the previous network it is connected to. It would be useful it it retained the settings for a number of networks to allow it to move between home, work and Mi-Fi adapter without having to repair the thing by the WPS button each time.
As you can tell I mostly use my device over USB, its plug and play and fast. The built-in blank page detection is brilliant and the Brother iPrint & Scan software really is very good. This has a continuation feature so you can just keep stuffing pages into the feeder and they become one document. Automatic page rotation is also a good feature that works well as does deskew.
The ability to insert a few pages at once would be nice but it isn’t worth sacrificing the extra size needed to support this. As a portable unit it would have been nice if it included even a cloth carrying case to stop it from being marked in my bag but this is an extra purchase.
On th front of the feeder there is a peper guide for the feeder of the slidy piece of plastic type but there is no resistance to moving it so it is pointless. I may well gluee mine in position at somepoint.
Despite these shortcomings it works well, the scans are good and it chewed through a massive backlog of scanning in a short period of time and will be taking up its place in my Office in a rucksack.
Fantastic A4 and card scanner. Works off WiFi or USB cable (supplied). Download the software click on scan and away you go. I’ve not had any issues with mine. Card, A4 and other document scanning does both sides automatically and in colour. Not sure what has caused others issues with this product, but I haven’t? Very compact and handy for me when travelling on business or at home in the office.
I had a lot of documents to scan. While my printer has a flatbed scanner, it is slow lifting the lid each time. This little scanner does a great job. Feed the sheets one at a time and off you go. The brother PDF software is basic but does the job. Should have bought it sooner.
This is not a flatbed scanner and as such won’t be as good and won’t scan quite as well, but it’s not meant to, it’s a mobile device!
Scan Quality – The default setting for most of the document types this scanner is aimed at is great, you can adjust the setting to a higher DPI (and therefore better scan) but this does 2 things, 1 reduces some of the auto features (like deskew) and 2 slows the scan time slightly.
Alignment – You can get it almost spot on with a little patience, but for 99% of the time making sure the alignment guide is in the right setting for your document means your scan will be almost straight. And in all fairness after many years of flatbed scanners and high end document feeder scanners it’s no worse than most of those. As with any device, if you take your time you get better results.
I’m using the Brother software designed for the Mac from the Mac App Store (I’m running it on Big Sur with no issues) and the drivers from the Brother site – everything works perfectly with no issues.
But as with everything there is a little bit of learning and once you’ve set things up it’ll work very well for you.
Workflow scanning – I’ve set up 2 workflows, one for PDFs and one for JPGs, I’ve set the scan location, filename settings etc. Works like a treat, single page PDF or a JPG is just a single click.
Multi-page scanning – I’ve seen a couple of people mention this is difficult and hard to do, well actually it’s not, it’s really simple. Open the iPrint&Scan app and hit the scan button (not any of the workflows you may have setup) and scan the first sheet, you’ll see a button on the screen that says ‘Add Page’ click this, scan your next page and repeat. You then select the save location, document type, filename and folder and you have a multipage scanned document.
It’s neat, it’s small, it takes up very little room and it works very well.
The product is very small, suitable to carry, and the scanning result is perfect at this price. Software download from brother’s website has the function of automatic correction (however this function only work with 300dpi, cannot be used at higher dpi), which is very convenient to have a good scan even the paper put in is not exactly 90 degree. All in all it’s a very good portable scanner.
Arrived as scheduled and is a very portable and sleek looking scanner. I use a MAC, and I don’t have a disk drive but I was able to download the Driver from the Brother website. I’m running 10.13 on my Mac and I couldn’t initially open the DMG file (a known Apple issue), but I restarted my laptop and it opened without an issue and I’ve started scanning documents and it’s really easy to use. So if you’re running a Mac it works but it wasn’t as straightforward as I’d hoped. But happy that I’ve bought this scanner, and love that it comes with it’s own bag for protecting it while I travel.
This is a great portable scanner, size makes it easy to put in a laptop bag if you are travelling for work and need to scan receipts etc.
Software isnt so intuitive at first and took a couple of times to get used to, but I’d say that’s the only downside I have had so fa
Even though I can’t get the wifi to work on this I am giving it 4 stars because it has really had such a positive effect on my work. I used to let scanning build up and get in a muddle and avoid doing it. Now it is no hassle at all, no need to leave my desk and its done in a flash. I am sure I read that it takes a few seconds to scan an A4 sheet in colour, it is much quicker than I was anticipating.
I would say this is a great gadget to have at your desk but don;t waste money getting the wifi version. Other reviewers have said they struggled with getting it working I am too. Apart from that fantastic.
Although it can be a little fiddly to use initally, I have tested this for the purpose for which it was bought and found that once I got to grips wth the process it is actually a brilliant piece of kit.
Of course I ignored the user guide and just set the output to pdf and off I went, but it really is very handy, almost silent in operation and fast!
Excellent bit of kit!
This is a fantastic scanner, and at a great price. It is additionally, fully supported in linux (all features, and across all models in the DS range), and is really great for implementing a scan to searchable PDF workflow.
Brilliant for archiving paper documents and moving to a paperless office.
If you’re looking for a portable scanner, that can help in digitising documents, look no further. This is a great buy.
Reliable for the odd document, quality is just fine don’t expect miracles however.
Not great for id cards etc. they can be done but it needs help not to get jammed.
I chose this one because I have used Brother kit for a few years now and always found it to be reliable (they’re not the quickest at releasing driver updates for new OS’s though), and affordable kit.
The supplied CD didn’t include the Windows 10 drivers, though having bought it a few months ago this may have changed with more recent batches, and they instead had to be downloaded from the Brother website.
The software is rather basic, but more than adequate for scanning documents – if you’re wanting to digitize your photo collection this isn’t the scanner for you.
It’s fairly quiet, and although it feels a little slow at scanning, it is worth remembering that it is only USB powered and a very small device.
All in all, for document scanning, occasional use, or adding to portable kit for working on the road, and considering the price, I don’t think you’ll go far wrong with this scanner.
The scans of both pdf and jpg are good quality.
The best thing I find about this little device is that it stores the scans on an SD card. I can then whip out the SD card and put it into my Chromebook ready to upload the scans to Google Drive. You can also do it by connecting via USB, and it even has it’s own Wifi hotspot. Nice piece of kit.