Brother PocketJet 7 PJ763MFi-WK Review

Brother's PocketJet 7 PJ763MFi-WK ($779) portable thermal printer is an update to the PocketJet PJ673-K we reviewed back in 2013. The biggest change comes in the form of Bluetooth connectivity for Apple iOS devices (that link could previously only be handled via a Wi-Fi connection). It also comes with a Li-ion battery for impressive life off of the cord. It's expensive, but if you're on the go and down and dirty black-on-white documents are all you need, the PJ763MFi-WK is an excellent option. And depending on your needs, it may be the sole option; it's the only thermal printer we know of that prints up to legal-size pages. If you require color prints, though, the Editors' Choice HP OfficeJet 200 Mobile Printer will be more your speed.

Pick a PocketJet

Thermal printers, much like the thermal fax machines of yesteryear, require no ink, making them easy to operate and maintain, even though they can only print in black. There are 18 models of the PocketJet 7 series available, and three of those are PJ76MFi models, or "kits," that include varying degrees of connectivity options and accessories in the box. The "MFi" in the product name indicates that these three PocketJet iterations are certified under Apple's Made for iPhone/iPod/iPad licensing program for developers of hardware and software products that work with iOS.

PJ763MFi prices range from $529 for the basic package containing only the printer itself with Bluetooth and USB connectivity to the more robustly outfitted PJ763MFi-WK (the "WK" stands for Workforce Kit) reviewed here. Don't be tempted by the lower price of the stripped-down version of the PJ763MFi, though. It doesn't even include a power adapter or USB cable, or the complimentary pack of thermal paper that ships with most of the other models.

The Workforce Kit I received, on the other hand, comes with just about every feature and accessory Brother offers for this pricey little thermal printer. The box contents and feature list include an AC power supply, a 3-foot cigarette lighter adapter, a Li-Ion battery, a 4-foot USB cable, fan-folded paper, a roll-up carrying case, access to software, special configuration (auto on, auto off, and auto radio on), and the aforementioned iOS-friendly Bluetooth.

The PJ763MFi-WK measures 1.2 by 10 by 2.2 inches (HWD) and, with the included 7.7-ounce battery installed, weighs just a hair less than 2 pounds. That's downright dainty compared with its portable inkjet competition like HP's OfficeJet 200 Mobile Printer, which measures 2.7 by 14.3 by 7 inches and weighs almost 5 pounds with its battery installed.

Brother says that it sells most of its PocketJet line of printers to enterprises requiring in-vehicle printing. Think, for example, ambulances, delivery trucks, or police cars. They're also practical for more office-centric business travelers, as long as top-notch inkjet-quality prints are not your expectation. Along with their size and portability, the big benefit of thermal printers is that you'll never run out of ink.

As for paper handling, the PJ763MFi-WK (and its siblings) support three types of thermal media: cut sheets, fanfold, and perforated rolls, available in letter (8.5 by 11 inches), legal (8.5 by 14 inches), A4 (8.3 by 11.7 inches), continuous, and custom sizes directly from Brother. There is no input tray, so cut sheets must be loaded manually, a page at a time. Fanfold paper consists of several perforated sheets stacked so that they easily fan off the stack as they are pulled into the printer.

Paper rolls require one of a few available adapters, or roll holders, that attach behind the printer and dispense paper, much like a wall-mounted paper towel dispenser. Depending on what you buy and where, they should run you from about $20 to $100. Brother sent me its fanfold paper, which also has its own optional holder ($75). That accessory isn't required to use the fanfold paper, though; I simply set the stack behind the PJ763MFi-WK and inserted the first sheet into the input slot. It loaded into the printer easily and fed, page-by-page, consistently.

The printer is operated using three buttons—Power, Advance Feed, and Bluetooth (which toggles the Bluetooth radio on and off)—along the left side. There are four status LEDs running along the bottom-left corner on the face of the printer: Power, Data, Status (which has a few different states itself, depending on what the printer is doing), and Bluetooth. Otherwise, the PocketJet is a fairly simple device. It doesn't even have adjustable paper guides for mounting different sizes of media.

Setup and Accessories

The PJ763MFi-WK comes ready to connect to most PCs and mobile devices via either Bluetooth or USB. It cannot, however, connect to Apple AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, Mopria, or any other protocol or service that requires Wi-Fi. Access to those services requires a switch to the PocketJet PJ773 line, which costs the same but swaps Bluetooth for Wi-Fi connectivity.

The PJ763MFi-WK's Li-ion battery, according to Brother, is good for 600 pages per charge. Buying it separately or getting a backup will run you the list price of $125. When purchased with the PJ763MFi-WK, it comes wrapped separately and you must remove a plastic placeholder from the printer to install it. Once unwrapped, you plug it into an AC power source and let it charge.

Brother offers a dozen or so optional mounting kits, ranging from the simple (about $40) to elaborate telescoping models (about $100), to headrest ($160) and armrest (upwards of $300) units. As mentioned, much of this equipment is designed for mounting the PJ763MFi-WK in vehicles, making it, perhaps, the quintessential road-warrior printer.

There are no drivers or other software in the box, but installing them isn't difficult. Simply search for them on Brother's support site, then download and install. You can pair the PJ763MFi-WK with your mobile device using Bluetooth; you'll just need to install the Brother iPrint&Scan app on your phone or tablet to print.

Fast Enough and Respectable Print Quality

All four major inkjet printer manufacturers—Brother, Canon, Epson, and HP—make at least one mobile printer for road warriors, but PocketJet printers aren't exactly head-to-head competition to the others, which are mostly color inkjet models. How fast it prints compared with the competition, then, is probably only mildly or anecdotally relevant, but here goes…

Brother rates the PJ763MFi-WK at eight pages per minute (ppm), but, when printing my standard test documents, I couldn't get it to go faster than 4.4ppm. I tested it over USB 2.0 from our standard Intel Core i5 testbed PC running Windows 10 Professional, and the initial test document was a lightly formatted 12-page Microsoft Word doc. That 4.4ppm is about half as fast as HP's OfficeJet 200 Mobile Printer. The two contenders from Epson and Canon, the WorkForce WF-100 and the Pixma iP110 Wireless Mobile, respectively, were tested under a different set of protocols, making it impossible to do head-to-head comparisons here.

See How We Test Printers

I then tested the graphics prowess using PCMag's standard PDF, Excel, and PowerPoint test documents, combining the results from these tests with those from the previous 12-page Word document test. The PJ763MFi-WK managed 3.3ppm, which isn't the slowest in our database, but close. But then this printer was designed to print only one-, perhaps two-page documents, which it's plenty fast enough for.

As for print quality, the PJ763MFi-WK prints quite well for a thermal model. Text is well-shaped and highly legible, even for smaller fonts down around 9 and 10 points. Monochrome and solid-fill graphics look good, too, though when you start throwing gradients and grayscale content at it, the PJ763MFi-WK is clearly out of its league. In fact, if you need to print complex graphics and photos on the road, you'll want to go with one of its inkjet competitors.

Wide-Ranging Running Costs

There are a lot of variables in determining the cost per page (CPP) here, including paper type (cut, fanfold, or roll), quality, and archivability (how long it lasts). For example, you can buy a six-pack of perforated 100-sheet rolls with seven-year archivability at Brother Mall for $58, or a six-pack of 100-page waterproof rolls rated to last 20 years for $155.93. (There are third-party paper brands available, but for my testing, I used PocketJet thermal paper prices and page yields from Brother Mall.) The running costs, then, for these two grades of thermal paper rolls is just less than 10 cents per page for the seven-year archivability product and the 20-year viability paper runs about 26 cents per page.

Rather than going through all the options at Brother Mall (and not to mention several other sites and paper brands), here are a few other common examples: 100-sheet packs of premium (20 years) cut paper runs about 14.5 cents per page, and a 1,000-sheet pack of premium (20 years) fanfold paper will run you about 9.5 cents per page.

Again, you can beat these running costs by buying Brother's paper at another outlet or by going with a different brand, or by using an inkjet mobile printer. When you use HP's highest-yield ink cartridges with the OfficeJet 200, for example, monochrome pages will cost you about 6 cents each. Epson's WF-100 ($172.99 at Amazon) mobile printer's monochrome pages run about 8.8 cents each, and the Canon Pixma iP110 ($190.79 at Amazon) prints black pages at about 6.3 cents each. It's important to note, though, that none of these printers are designed to churn out hundreds of pages each month, and the fewer pages you print, the less important running costs become.

The Choice Is Black and White

While there may be hundreds of portable thermal printers in the world, most are barcode and label printers. We couldn't find any others specifically designed to print legal-size documents, which would, at least to some extent, make them competitors to inkjet mobile printers. The PJ763MFi-WK's inkjet counterparts mentioned above, however, cost hundreds of dollars less, print color, are faster, and can handle two-sided documents. On the other hand, the PJ763MFi-WK is smaller and its thermal technology means you never have to worry about running out of ink. As long as you have paper, it will print, and it's not susceptible to ink nozzle clogging after periods of dormancy.

Without question, whether the PocketJet PJ763MFi-WK or a mobile inkjet, such as HP's OfficeJet 200, is right for you depends on your application. If you plan to mount the device in a vehicle (think ambulance, delivery truck, or police car), or simply need quality monochrome prints—especially letter or legal size—while on the go, the PJ763MFi-WK is an excellent choice. If you need color prints or are willing to tote around a larger and heavier printer to save a good deal of cash, you'll want to go with one of the inkjet competitors.

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