P-Touch Cube Smartphone Dedicated Label Maker REVIEW

I like to stay organized but these days, with how hectic my schedule has become, that can be a difficult task. I try to be diligent about keeping things in their proper places but when those places keep changing, it is nearly impossible. Simple labels can be a necessary tool to give you the opportunity to keep your things organized and in their proper place. I like the concept of creating labels for everything but hate the older embossed-style label makers. I would rather work with something digital, but many digital labelers require software or you have a basic handheld digital label maker. Until recently, there just wasn’t a good middle ground option. Fortunately, Brother designed the P-Touch Cube label maker, which works directly with your smartphone, for people just like me.

Details

The P-Touch Cube is a convenient printer for personalized labels that are created directly on your smartphone or tablet. Users have the option to choose from a wide variety of pre-designed templates or they can design custom labels using the 450 symbols, 60+ frames, and numerous fonts. The P-Touch Design & Print app works with both iOS and Android operating systems and it is compatible with voice-to-text functions as well as spell check. The label maker connects using Bluetooth and the P-Touch app. The device works with TZe tape in widths up to 12mm. While the label maker only prints in black ink, you can use different color tape to make your labels stand out. The TZe tape is laminated so it’s fine for use indoors or outdoors. The tape is water resistant, fade resistant, temperature resistant, abrasion resistant, and chemical resistant.

User Experience

The P-Touch Cube arrives in a colorful Brother-branded box. There are several images on the exterior of the box that show the product, the app, and different ways to use the device. The box outlines several different uses for the labels produced by the Cube including Kitchen, Storage, Garage & Garden, Home Office, Occasions, and Personal ID. The package includes the label maker, 1 black on white standard laminated TZe starter tape, a user’s guide, and the AC power adapter.

Getting started with the P-Touch Cube is incredibly simple. You plug the printer into a power source and press the ‘on/off’ button. There is an LED light on the top that indicates the device’s connection status. The first time you power it on, it should be blinking green as it searches for a Bluetooth device to connect to. On your phone or tablet, you need to download the Design & Print app and visit Settings. From here, you select tap on the name of your printer and the two devices will connect. I did notice that it can take up to 15 seconds or so to connect to the printer. But, once you are connected, the printer stays connected to your phone — even when you power it down and then back up again. The only issue I ended up having with connectivity was when I unplugged the printer completely for long periods of time and even then, I just had to reconnect it using the same method. All in all, the label maker is very easy to communicate with.

The app is easy to navigate, too. When you open the app, you will get the option to start with one of their templates. The nice thing about this is that they are pre-sized for certain things. For example, under the Home Office category, there is a Flash Drive label that is designed to fit on most standard flash drives. When you use this option, you can only enter so many characters, which will guarantee that the label will fit the side of the Flash Drive. When you print it out, the label actually has a cut line on it, too. I also tried making my own labels. I did this when we were re-wiring our home entertainment center. I printed out labels for the various cables that were connected to our TV and A/V Receiver. The P-Touch Cube ended up being ideal for this because I could customize them to say things like “X-Box” or “Apple TV”. And because the labels are self-adhesive, I didn’t have to worry about getting a covering for them or finding a way to stick them to the various cables.

Conclusions

The P-Touch Cube is the ideal label maker for smartphone users. Brother makes it so easy for users to be able to connect, create, and print labels on the spot that I can’t imagine any other way to do the job. This device takes what can be a complicated job and turns it into something very simple.

For more information, visit brother-usa.com.
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Originally published at macsources.com on May 22, 2018.