The Marklife P11 is a flattering label printer, plus an iOS or Android app that’s powerful but imperfect.This combination provides low-cost, lightweight plastic laminate label printing for home or small businesses.
The Marklife P11 Label Printer lets you label just about anything, from leftover soup in the fridge to jewelry items that need a price tag for craft displays.This thermal printer is just $35 for a roll of tape ($45 or $50 for four or six rolls, respectively); Amazon sells it in white for $35.99 or pink for $36.99.The laminated plastic labels it uses are also inexpensive, making the Marklife a limited but attractive budget alternative to the $99.99 Brother P-touch Cube Plus, our Editors’ Choice winner among label printers, Or the $59.99 P-touch Cube.
All of these labelers allow you to print from an app on your Apple or Android phone or tablet via a Bluetooth connection, and all three labels can be printed on laminated plastic label stock.A key difference between them is that Brother offers a much longer selection of P-touch tapes than Marklife offers for the P11.Also, Brother tape is continuous so you can print labels of the desired length, whereas the P11′s labels are pre-cut and the length depends on the label roll you are using.The printer’s maximum label width also varies, 12mm (0.47″) for P-touch Cube, 15mm (0.59″) for Marklife and 24mm (0.94″) for P-touch Cube Plus
As of this writing, Marklife offers seven different tape packs of three rolls each.All but two packs are available in 12mm wide x 40mm long (0.47 x 1.57 in) labels in white, clear and a variety of solid and patterned backgrounds.Most are calculated at 3.6 cents per label, with clear labels a little higher (4.2 cents each).You can also purchase slightly larger 15mm x 50mm (0.59 x 1.77 in) white labels for 4.1 cents each.The most expensive are the cable marker labels, which measure 12.5mm x 109mm (0.49 x 4.29 inches) and cost 8.2 cents each.
All labels are laminated plastic, and Marklife says they’re rub and tear-resistant, as well as water, oil, and alcohol-resistant, as my ad hoc tests confirmed.The company says it will soon offer more patterns in the same size, and the P11 will also be available for Niimbot D11 pre-cut labels from 12mm to 15mm.
Cable marker labels deserve special mention.Each consists of three parts: a narrow tail that can be wrapped around cables or other small items, and two wider parts that serve as the front and back of the roughly 1.8-inch flag that sticks out from the tail.After printing the label, use the tail to attach it, then fold the front so it sticks to the back.
Aligning the two pieces correctly is easier than you might think, thanks to a little curl along the line where it should fold.I found it easy to fold correctly even on my first try, the edges of the front and rear sections line up perfectly.
As mentioned, the 8.3-ounce P11 is available in white as well as white with pink highlights on the outer edge.It is about the shape and size of a large bar of soap, a rectangular block measuring 5.4 by 3 by 1.1 inches (HWD).The rounded corners and edges plus some clever recesses on the front, back and sides make it more visually appealing and more comfortable to hold.The release button for opening the tape roll compartment cover is on the top edge, the micro-USB port for charging the built-in battery is on the bottom, and the power switch and status indicator are on the front.
Setup couldn’t be easier.The printer comes with a roll of tape installed; just connect the included charging cable to the micro-USB port and let the battery charge.While you wait, you can install the Marklife app from Google Play or the Apple App Store.After the battery runs out, you turn on the printer and use the app (not the device’s bluetooth pairing) to find your phone.You are ready to create and print labels.
I found the Marklife app easy to pick up, but hard to master.It offers a solid set of label printing features, like barcodes, but you’ll have to try or hunt around to find them.Some features, including basic ones like changing regular text to italic text, are hard to find where I don’t think they’re there until I know where they’re hidden.Marklife said it plans to address the issue in a software upgrade.
Print speed isn’t particularly important for a labeller like this, but for the record, I set the average time to 2.6 seconds or 0.61 inches per second (ips) for 1.57″ labels and 4.29″ cable labels to 5.9 seconds or 0.73ips, which is slightly below the rated 0.79ips, no matter what’s printed on it.By comparison, Brother’s P-touch Cube was a little slower at 0.5ips when printing a single 3-inch label, and the P-touch Cube Plus was a little faster at 1.2ips.In practice, any of these printers are fast enough for the kind of light duty they’re designed for.
The print quality of the three printers is comparable.The P11′s 203dpi resolution is average to above average among label printers, delivering crisp-edged text and line graphics.Even small fonts are highly readable.
The low initial cost of the Marklife P11, combined with its low price tag, makes it ideal for everyday labels.As with any label printer, your decisive question is whether it can create all the types, colors and sizes of labels you need.If you need to print labels longer than the P11′s pre-cut label lengths, you’ll want to consider either of the two Brother label makers, and if you need wider labels too, the P-touch Cube Plus is the obvious candidate.But as long as its pre-cut labels are suitable for your purpose, the Marklife P11 works well for your home or micro business, especially if you can take advantage of its handy cable labels.
The Marklife P11 is a flattering label printer, plus an iOS or Android app that’s powerful but imperfect.This combination provides low-cost, lightweight plastic laminate label printing for home or small businesses.
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M. David Stone is a freelance writer and computer industry consultant.A recognized generalist, he has written on a variety of topics including experiments in ape languages, politics, quantum physics, and profiles of top companies in the gaming industry.David has extensive expertise in imaging technologies (including printers, monitors, large screen displays, projectors, scanners and digital cameras), storage (magnetic and optical) and word processing.
David’s 40+ years of writing about science and technology include a long-term focus on PC hardware and software.Writing credits include nine computer-related books, major contributions to four others, and more than 4,000 articles in computer and general interest publications nationally and worldwide.His books include The Color Printer Underground Guide (Addison-Wesley), Troubleshooting Your PC (Microsoft Press) and Faster, Smarter Digital Photography (Microsoft Press).His work has appeared in many print and online magazines and newspapers, including Wired, Computer Shopper, ProjectorCentral, and Science Digest, where he serves as a computer editor.He also writes a column for the Newark Star Ledger.His non-computer-related work includes the Project Data Book for NASA’s Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (written for GE’s Astrospace Division) and occasional science fiction short stories (including simulation publications).
David wrote most of his 2016 work for PC Magazine and PCMag.com as a contributing editor and principal analyst for Printers, Scanners, and Projectors.He returned in 2019 as a contributing editor.
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Post time: Jan-11-2022
