Brother P-touch CUBE XP

This is a review of the PT-P910BT (the Cube XP+). I am using this device with both a MacBook Air as well as a Mac Studio, and have also tried this same device with my iPhone 15 Pro Max and my iPad Pro 12.9" Gen5. Both macOS platforms have the Brother P-Touch Editor software installed and no other software from Brother. For iOS devices, you will want the Brother iPrint&Label app from the Apple App Store. If you are familiar at all with laminated label printers (e.g. Brother, Dymo) work -- and I do mean LAMINATED label printers; not the thermal paper label printers although they work similarly -- this device is no different with the exception that it has no keyboard so you must use a computing platform (macOS devices work, so do iOS devices like the iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPad Pro 12.9" Gen5 I have tested it with) in order to design and print your labels. With that, I will dispense with the review of the label-making process and performance other to say it works as you would expect it to if not better and faster. I can absolutely see myself never taking my old PT-D600 out of its case again except to take it with me to a remote site. I will also not review the label-making software (P-Touch Editor) as that also works pretty much exactly as you would expect it to as well. For the purposes of this review, I will focus on the connecting and connectivity of the device to the two platforms I have tried it with. Let me first reiterate that I have tried this device with both my macOS devices (MacBook Air 15" 2024 and Mac Studio 2022) as well as my iOS device. Also, before you attempt ANY connection to ANY device, make sure your PT-P910BT is fully charged before attempting to use it. While it should only take a couple of hours to charge, my best advice for anyone charing a new device out of the box for the first time is let it charge overnight. That is the best way to ensure that the label printer charges properly and fully. (It goes without saying that I am presuming here that you have already installed the proprietary rechargeable battery into the label printer.) First up: macOS. You have two choices to connect your printer to macOS devices: a wired connection using a simple USB-C cable, or wirelessly with BlueTooth. The wired connection also works exactly as you would expect it to. You do not require a driver or other macOS configurations to get the printer to work once it is connected. Just install the Brother P-Touch Editor software to design your labels, select the "PT-P910BTxxxx" in the pulldown at the top right of the P-Touch Editor software window, and you are good to print. It's just that simple. If this does not work for you for some reason, the first thing I would try is another USB-C cable to make sure that isn't the problem. If it is still not working after swapping USB-C cables, make sure to try a different USB-C port on your laptop/desktop. If it is still not working, you may have a defective unit (possible but unlikely). Your second macOS option is to connect the label printer via Bluetooth. This is the exact same process as connecting any other non-Apple Bluetooth device to your macOS device. A simple pairing process is all that is needed and you are ready to print. You do not need any special drivers (Bluetooth or printer) to make this work. Once again, I will also mention that you do need the same P-Touch Editor software installed to design and print labels. As mentioned above, be sure to select the "PT-P910BTxxxx (Bluetooth)" in the pulldown on the upper right side of the P-Touch Editor software and you are ready to print labels. iOS is reasonably similar to macOS in terms of connecting to and using the PT-P910BT. Step 1: Make sure you first establish the Bluetooth pairing between the iOS device (iPhone, iPad) and the label printer. This MUST be done before you start editing and/or printing labels. The printer must be on and not in sleep mode (if the light isn't blinking or solid on, it's not going to pair). Step 2: Once the printer is paired, go to the App Store and download and install the Brother iPrint&Label software on your iOS device. Step 3: Once inside the app, at the bottom of the app you will want to tap the Settings option and select your specific printer. After that is done, you can create and print labels to your heart's content. One important note in both cases (macOS/P-Touch Editor, and iOS/iPrint&Label): It is VERY important that the label size you select in your app matches what is installed in the printer. If there is any mismatch, the software will refuse to print your label, telling you the media doesn't match your app's setting. On both the macOS and iOS apps, there is an option to "check the media" which allows your device to check with the printer on which tape is installed and then set its settings to match. Works fine, but it is a tad slow. I find it faster to just set it myself directly. Your mileage may vary. Regardless of which Apple platform you connect to, how you connect (wired or wireless), and which app you use, this really is a very simple, very straightforward process to get. you from opening the box for the first time to printing labels. Three final notes: 1. I have not tried this with Android/ChromeOS because I do not possess any Android/ChromeOS devices, nor do I have ready access to them. I will defer to someone who does have Android/ChromeOS to describe the process on those platforms, but I imagine it's pretty similar and straightforward. 2. I have used non-Brother third-party tapes with this printer. Some of the better made third-party tapes work just fine, and the cheaper ones fail a lot (printer cannot tell which size they are, they print incorrectly or not at all, etc.). I fully believe that spending $12.00+ (depending on tape size) on a single Brother tape is not necessary. The third-party tapes I use are usually around $3.00 each and have thus far worked just fine. The problem is when you try to go super cheap and get some of the ~$1.00tapes. Those tend to be a waste of money and not work well or at all. Caveat Emptor. 3. If you are looking to print shipping labels, this is the wrong device. This is a utility device to print labels you can put on file folders, jars and containers, cables, and a whole host of other solutions. This is not for printing USPS, UPS, or Fedex shipping labels. For that kind of printing, you might want to look at the Brother QL1100NWBC or other thermal-paper printers.

I know this is an expensive piece of tech but wow I wish I bought this sooner. It has been a huge help as a business owner and pro makeup artist/hair stylist to organize my kits, and label my products. The apps were so easy to set up and start using in minutes plus its portable i can work at my office desk or move to my counter or even my 2 other rooms depending on what im working on and what space i need. Stays charged for quite a while too.

There should be an update or something via Wi-Fi. However, the only way to connect to this is Bluetooth. It works very well for what it is. An auto detect white tape is actually inside of it.

Just do yourself a favor and get one of these! So far I haven't needed the 1.5" wide tapes, but I appreciate the capability should the need arise, and the higher resolution this offers compared to the smaller Cube models made it an easier choice. The quality is killer... literally just writing this review makes me want to go start labeling stuff. Only downside is there don't seem to be great options for cases (Brother or third party), just a couple third party ones that hold a couple of tape cartridges. No big deal as it fit fine in a container I had, but case options for something this large would be great.

Love it so far. A few observations: (1) 360dpi is *such* an improvement over the more common 180dpi -- it's like Retina display versus dot-matrix printer. (2) The label design software is pretty basic, but in some ways that's a feature: it keeps the most common labeling tasks simple. If you want to do something complex, just fire up a real design tool like Keynote or Photoshop and generate a PDF or PNG, which you can then simply drag and drop into the label app. (3) Bluetooth pairing is a breeze but, I think, not persistent across power cycles. Not a big deal (at least to me), but something to be aware of. (4) I've used Brother TZe tapes and Labelife equivalents without issue.

I LOVE the $100 version of this thing and was SO excited for the 1.5” tape for barcodes. I got it, charged the thing for HOURS! Then came back the next morning to use it and it said battery too low. I charged it AGAIN! This time, I used it within a reasonable amount of time after the charge and the SAME. THING! This is outrageous for a $350 product. Insane. I’ve never been more letdown. I immediately returned it. As a professional Home Organizer, I cannot wait HOURS for something to charge and I can absolutely NOT be so tied to an outlet. What be the point? It only works while plugged in? The new(?) software isn’t plug and go. It seemed less intuitive and way more customizable? The frame had to be moved around, the .47 size wasn’t an option on any of the suggested tabs of what you might be labeling. The tab label options didn’t fit what I was using it for job wise so I’m not clear who else this would actually be for. Someone suggested I exchange it for another one but if that was just defective? Then maybe wait to purchase this until then next updated variation comes out? I had such high hopes and really wanted to fall in love with this so I could take my business to the next level. Maybe if the price tag wasn’t the most expensive label maker out there? Couldn't even tell you how it printed bc I couldn’t get my words to shift into place on the label maker software. I’ve printed THOUSANDS of labels on the other Cube Plus

Some of these type of printers are a pain to deal due to bluetooth problems but this one connects with no issues and is very reliable. The labels are large and look great. One tip is you may find the older version of the software (5.X) to have more features than 6.X. That may have been fixed by now but just know you can run both of them at the same time if you wish. I posted how to in my other brother review (610)

Love the tons of options. Best label machine I have had...and there have been ,many!

So, if this printer had a better app I might have kept it, but still, for it's insane price it's very lacking. - It produces 25mm of waste for each label unless you chain print unlike the 0 to 10mm of waste with Epson label makers. This means that your 8m cartridge is realistically 5m based on your average label length (40mm), that's 3m of waste per cartridge. - It has 2 phone apps, and 1 PC app, and all of these lack features the other ones have. The result of this is a mess. With Print and Design, you can't generate Wi-fi QR codes or manually add a QR Code unless you choose a pre-made template, aligning/centering or resizing labels can be a pain. - Sometimes, my labels are printed ever so slightly crooked - The label maker does not auto-connect with bluetooth unlike some of their cheaper models, you need to go into your settings and manually connect each time. - If your surface has a lot of contact/abrasion/abuse, the corner or the laminate can peel off. - A very small flaw, but the 36mm tapes are very limited in colour. (No pastel set) - It's a bit loud - Leaves Black lines on some labels - Changing tapes especially to the thinner ones can be a bit of a pain + The half-cut is really convenient and great + The 360 dpi resolution means you can print images, your text is also a lot sharper + 36mm wide labels are not always useful, but really great to have as an option, specially for portrait labels. + The ability to print QR Codes is great, I can put a QR Code with a link to the details of my SMD components when there's little space to write the exact info such as rating or tolerances. + A huge plus is the very minimal (1mm~) vertical marigins makes smaller labels feel bigger and be more useful, specially when using invert mode or a frame, or when printing a symbol/image. For purely text, the PT710BTa does the job for 1/4th the price, it just lacks 36mm labels which are only useful around 1% of the time for me, unless you're a store and are printing logos for a product such as pastry, soap etc it's not that important. Although the labels are very ugly from up close, they're ok or indistinguishable from a distance. So in short, this label maker is insanely expensive and it feels like ancient tech from the 80's, mostly because of the horrible app.