Brother RuggedJet 2″ Moveable Printer (RJ-2050) Evaluate

The Brother RJ-2050 ($695) is a strictly trade label maker, designed basically for extremely cellular on-demand packages. As a part of Brother’s RuggedJet collection, it is constructed to a excessive set of sturdiness requirements. In lots of settings, reminiscent of your showroom, warehouse, or order achievement table, personnel can raise it round with them, printing receipts, markdown tags, order pickup tickets, and so forth, at the fly. Those attributes mixed with its more than one connectivity choices make it an excellent selection for enterprises the place printing and distributing a large number of labels on call for (and at the fly) is undertaking vital.

Petite and Robust

Among the consumer-grade labelers we’ve got reviewed, such because the Editors’ Selection Brother QL-820NWB ($385.00 at Amazon)(Opens in a brand new window) , include—or have not obligatory—batteries and supply wi-fi connectivity, permitting them some extent of autonomy. Then again, they may be able to’t fit the RJ-2050 in a couple of vital spaces, together with its petite moveable measurement, RuggedJet sturdiness, and high-volume rankings. It helps 2-inch label media, making it a part of the RuggedJet 2″ collection (or Sequence 2). Brother provides 10 RuggedJet fashions: 4 Sequence 2, 4 3-inch Sequence 3 machines, and two 4-inch Sequence 4 fashions. The RJ-2050 is 2d from the ground within the Sequence 2 pecking order, making it one of the vital more cost effective, with fewer options and decrease capability than probably the most others within the circle of relatives.

At 2.2 through 4.8 through 3.9 inches (HWD) and weighing just one pound, the RJ-2050 is not up to part the scale of the Brother QL-820NWB, which helps label rolls as much as 2.4 inches huge. The QL-820NWB has an not obligatory battery, however it is nonetheless a bit of large and ponderous to hold round as you’re employed. The RJ-2050, however, comes with a belt clip that lets you with ease print labels or receipts anyplace you cross. If you do not in finding the belt clip at ease, Brother additionally provides a shoulder strap for $25.

The RJ-2050 helps seven varieties of media, in each steady and die-cut configurations as much as 4 inches lengthy. The 4 die minimize label rolls have adhesive backs, and the 3 steady “receipt” paper rolls are available Same old, Top class, and Speedy Dry. You load the media rolls through merely losing them in to a compartment behind the printer, and the device does the remainder, together with speaking to the computing tool you might be printing from which media sort is to be had.

There’s a set of controls at the entrance, and gear and mini USB ports, in addition to levers for opening the media and battery hatches, at the proper aspect. The keep an eye on panel is composed of Energy, Menu/down-arrow, and Feed/OK buttons; an Lively/Battery standing indicator; and a small two-line monochrome LCD for making connection and different configuration adjustments.

In step with Brother, the RJ-2050’s Li-ion battery is just right for six,400 labels sooner than requiring a recharge, which takes about 3 hours, then again, each the AC charger and USB cable are bought one after the other.

After all, the identify “RuggedJet,” after all, denotes toughness and sturdiness, which the RJ-2050 and its siblings reside as much as with their IP54 (Global Coverage Marking, IEC usual 60529) score, this means that, amongst different issues, that it is water and mud evidence and that it’s been drop and tumble examined from 8.2 ft.

Connectivity and Tool

The RJ-2050’s connectivity options encompass USB, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, with strengthen for Home windows, Apple iOS, and Android by means of drivers you obtain from Brother’s web page (there is not any set up media within the field). You’ll be able to print labels without delay from the Brother’s P-Contact Editor instrument for your PC, or you’ll function the printer out of your cellular tool through downloading templates and databases. The quickest, most productive resolution, even though, is to push your templates, databases, trademarks, graphics, and different content material to the printer itself. You’ll be able to then recall the template for your cellular tool, exchange knowledge as required, after which print the finished label, receipt, pickup order, and so forth.

The instrument package contains Printer Environment Device, P-touch Template Environment Device, P-touch Switch Supervisor, Switch Categorical, and P-touch Replace Tool. That remaining one helps to keep your P-touch Editor instrument and printer firmware up-to-the-minute, whilst the others are the utilities required to push templates and different information for your cellular tool and printer.

In the beginning look, the usage of the instrument gave the impression somewhat sophisticated, however after nearer inspection, the stairs were given clearer and it were given more uncomplicated. It took me about an hour to create a couple of templates, a database, and different supporting information, after which obtain them to my smartphone and the printer. The excellent news is that, until you convert your paperwork or upload new ones, you handiest want to do that as soon as, and, once you have all of it arrange and configured to your units, the method of downloading information is a lot more streamlined and automated.

Speedy Cell Printing

Brother charges the RJ-2050 at 6 inches according to 2d (ips). Many of the label printers I have examined, except for the professional-grade Zebra GC420d Direct Thermal Printer , measure efficiency in labels according to minute, which makes direct comparisons between the RJ-2050 and those different machines tricky. In spite of everything, I ran two assessments: printing over USB the usage of P-touch Editor from our usual Intel Core i5-equipped testbed PC operating Home windows 10 Skilled, and, after downloading the proper information to my telephone and the printer, printing over Wi-Fi from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

Printing from our testbed PC, the RJ-2050 churned out a batch of 1-by-2-inch mailing labels with a small border round them on the fee of about 1ips, which is reasonably gradual. That ranking is greater than 75 p.c in the back of the Zebra GC420d’s tempo of 4ips. When printing from my smartphone to the RJ-2050 with preconfigured templates and different supporting information resident within the printer’s reminiscence, then again, print speeds advanced considerably, to simply not up to 5ips. The bigger and extra advanced the label, after all, the slower the print velocity.

Appropriate Output

Whilst monochrome thermal output isn’t as sexy as inkjet print high quality, it is greater than just right sufficient for the RJ-2050’s meant packages. Many label printers, together with the ones in Brother’s QL-series, strengthen resolutions as much as 600dpi, while the RJ-2050 and its enterprise-grade Zebra GC420 competitor each strengthen handiest 203dpi. Even so, the entirety I published with the RuggedJet style appeared wonderful, and I particularly favored that it used to be in a position to printing without boundary lines prints. Some varieties of labels glance a lot more sexy with without boundary lines, or “bleed,” finishes. I haven’t any proceedings in regards to the RJ-2050’s print high quality.

Price of Consumables

Relying on which of the label or receipt thermal paper sorts you select and the place you purchase them, your operating prices will range some. I used the costs at Brother Mall to make the next calculations, and every assumes that you just acquire the less expensive 12-roll packs, which, within the following situations, comprise greater than 5,000 labels or receipts.

If you are going to buy Brother’s top rate 2.25-by-1.25-inch die minimize label 12-pack at Brother Mall, you might be per-label price will likely be about 1.1 cent according to label. And the usage of the corporate’s top rate steady 2-inch receipt paper, assuming receipts of four inches lengthy, every print will run you about 0.8 cent. Those numbers are quite upper than the Zebra GC420’s for in a similar way sized labels. Brother’s consumer-grade fashions, in addition to output from Dymo and Leitz emblem fashions, all price a number of instances as a lot, making the enterprise-grade fashions higher values in the end.

For the Lengthy Haul

The Brother RJ-2050 comes at a top rate worth, however what you get is a rugged, succesful device supposed for heavy-duty use in less-than-optimal prerequisites. You’ll be able to print many various kinds of labels and receipts at reasonably low operating prices, and it is simply toted round your warehouse or gross sales ground. It’ll require some management to get optimum effects, however the RJ-2050 is constructed to accomplish in lots of varieties of high-volume, on-demand settings.