Brother DS-640 Compact Mobile Document Scanner, (Model: DS640)
Best for
Best portable / travel
Amazon rating
Amazon aggregate, one input among many in the Verdict Score
Based on 1 trusted source
Current price
$134.98
Updated May 18, 2026 · 1 min read
Sources behind this verdict
12 reviewers weighted by source trust
The consensus
What reviewers found
Synthesized across the trust-weighted source mix below.
Across the reviewers we read, the Brother DS-640 is the consensus budget-portable pick. TechGearLab, a high-trust independent tester, calls it a portable scanner with 'fantastic scan quality and reliable optical character recognition at a budget-friendly price.' High-trust Best Buy verified-purchase reviews back this up, with buyers praising the small footprint and unexpectedly clean output. r/BuyItForLife and r/AskTechnology threads consistently surface it as the go-to USB-powered travel scanner.
What reviewers liked
- TechGearLab (high trust) praises scan quality and OCR at the price
- High-trust Best Buy verified-purchase reviews echo strong scan quality for a portable
- USB-powered, no AC adapter — repeatedly highlighted in r/BuyItForLife as a travel advantage
- Very large Amazon review base (4.3/6463) supports reliability impressions
- Compact form factor noted as desk-friendly across reviewers
Where it falls short
- PCMag flags lack of single-pass duplex — manual flipping required for two-sided pages
- No ADF — designed for one sheet at a time, unsuitable for stack scanning
- r/archlinux and r/NixOS users describe driver setup as non-trivial on Linux
- Slower (~16 ppm) than desktop ADF scanners, per Brother's own specs cited in retailer listings
Across the reviewers we read, the Brother DS-640 is the consensus budget-portable pick. TechGearLab, a high-trust independent tester, calls it a portable scanner with 'fantastic scan quality and reliable optical character recognition at a budget-friendly price.' High-trust Best Buy verified-purchase reviews back this up, with buyers praising the small footprint and unexpectedly clean output. r/BuyItForLife and r/AskTechnology threads consistently surface it as the go-to USB-powered travel scanner.
PCMag is the dissenting voice worth surfacing: their review calls out that the DS-640 lacks single-pass duplex scanning, which makes it 'an occasional-use model' rather than a daily driver. r/archlinux and r/NixOS users add that Linux driver setup is fiddly but workable once configured.
The overall picture is that the DS-640 is great at exactly one job — quietly digitizing a few pages on a desk or in a bag — and not a substitute for an ADF-equipped desktop unit if your volume is high.
- FAST SPEEDS - Scans color and black and white documents a blazing speed up to 16ppm (1). Color scanning won’t slow you down as the color scan speed is the same as the black and white scan speed.
- ULTRA COMPACT – At less than 1 foot in length and only about 1. 5lbs in weight you can fit this device virtually anywhere (a bag, a purse, even a pocket).
- READY WHENEVER YOU ARE – The DS-640 mobile scanner is powered via an included micro USB 3. 0 cable allowing you to use it even where there is no outlet available. Plug it into you PC or laptop and you are ready to scan.
- WORKS YOUR WAY – Use the Brother free iPrint&Scan desktop app for scanning to multiple “Scan-to” destinations like PC, Network, cloud services, Email and OCR. (2) Supports Windows, Mac and Linux and TWAIN/WIA for PC/ICA for Mac/SANE drivers. (3)
- OPTIMIZE IMAGES AND TEXT – Automatic color detection/adjustment, image rotation (PC only), bleed through prevention/background removal, text enhancement, color drop to enhance scans. Software suite includes document management and OCR software. (4)
For nearly a decade, Bill focused on printer and scanner technology and reviews for PCMag, and wrote about computer technology since well before the advent of the internet. He authored or co-authored 20 books—including titles in the popular Bible, Secrets, and For Dummies series—on digital…
This little thing works really well! I have never used a portable scanner before so I had no idea what to expect. What I got was an easy to use device that takes excellent scans. I bought this mostly for pictures, but is has scanned…
I'd use something like: Brother DS-640 Compact Mobile Document Scanner, (Model: DS640) https://a.co/d/bwqB3Of. A name brand usually has ...
Brother DS mobile scanners are perfect..... once you installed the right driver from AUR. When all is setup, this is a very good hardware. And ...
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“Brother DS 640 Document Scanner Review” · YouTube
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