The Best Label Maker for All Your Obsessive Organizing Needs

As my husband will gladly confirm, I'm not one for tools. I have no interest in using the sous vide machine he trots out every time we buy a really expensive cut of steak, and my first attempt at making something in the Instant Pot ended in tears and a burnt yet undercooked chili. (Too much bulgur and not enough liquid!) But my label maker? That's one tool you'll have to pry out of my cold, dead, semi-organized hands.

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I first bought a label maker when my older daughter was a baby and I was spending an inordinate amount of time and energy filling our freezer with healthy finger foods. The label maker helped me keep track of my copious baby food stock (after all, a quinoa-banana pancake doesn't look all that different from a quinoa-applesauce pancake—and god forbid you should feed your child two such similar items in one day). More importantly, seeing all those neatly printed labels helped me feel like I was On Top of It, despite the fact that many days just getting myself and my tiny daughter out the door for a walk around the block felt almost insurmountable.

Today that daughter walks herself to school, but I still thrill at the sight of a freezer or pantry lined with uniformly labeled containers of food. After my decade-old label maker finally stopped working, I went on the hunt for a new one, testing five different models to figure out which was the most functional and user-friendly. Read on to see which label maker I ended up liking best; for the specifics of how I tested, scroll to the bottom of the page.

This label maker fulfilled my ultimate criteria: I could just pick it up and use it. It even comes with sample tape cartridge to get you started (though you do have to supply six AAA batteries). I appreciate its typewriter-style ("QWERTY") keyboard (typing on the smaller label makers that display the letter buttons in alphabetical order feels awkward and slow). The font and formatting options are easy to find and change. The printer works quickly and isn't too loud, and the label maker is small enough to store in a kitchen drawer and light enough to be schlepped around the house the next time you're on an organizing tear. The labels stick easily and (as I know from using Brother labels in the past) will stay put for years.

In terms of drawbacks, this label maker does waste a lot of tape—there's at least half an inch of blank tape that precedes every label you print—and refill cartridges are not cheap. The work-around solution is to print multiple labels at once and then cut manually to separate. Also, one Amazon user did complain that this label maker lacked a horse icon, which, he noted, "was kind of sucky," but if that's not high on your list of label-making priorities, I'd consider this a forgivable oversight.

This little label maker is very easy to use. It's small and relatively light, and has a QWERTY keyboard. The font size and formatting keys are right at the top, making it simple to quickly bold or italicize your text, or change the font size. It's also extremely reasonably priced. The only reason it scored lower than the Brother P-Touch was that its smaller keyboard is very cramped, making it less comfortable for typing. Other than that, this is an excellent choice for a straightforward, no-bells-and-whistles label maker.

The testing process was simple: I turned each label maker on, typed in "OVERNIGHT OATS," and printed the labels. I tried increasing and decreasing the size of the font, changing the margins of the labels, and printing symbols. Then I placed each label onto a small plastic container to see how well it stuck.

This was the most important criteria for me. I wanted a label maker I take out of the box and use immediately, without having to pour over directions. I also wanted the label-making process to be as quick as possible. It turned out there was a big discrepancy in the amount of time each label maker took to print out a label: one model took 15 seconds—which is a lot when you're waiting for a tiny label to print—while the winning model only took 5 seconds to print the same two words.

I was looking for a label maker that isn't too heavy or bulky, but feels good and solid in your hands. I also paid attention to the tape that came with each label maker, as the quality differed dramatically between brands. Some tapes looked glossy and sleek while others were matte and dull. I also wanted to know if the labels were easy to use once printed, i.e. could I easily peel off the paper backing of the label tape or did it require a flashlight and a pair of tweezers?

As mentioned above, I like a simple label maker. I'm not looking to print fancy templates and I don't need "fun" fonts, but sometimes I do want to change the font size or the capitalization—and I'd prefer to be able to do so without having to read a 20-page manual.

We tested five label makers with a variety of price points and functionality. Two of those models—the Brother P-Touch Cube Smartphone Label Maker ($60) and the aggressively named DYMO LabelWriter 450 Turbo Thermal Label Printer ($300)—offer extended digital capabilities: they connect by Bluetooth to your phone (Brother) or USB cable to your computer (DYMO), features that allow you to get crazy with your graphics and templates, if that's your thing. The DYMO Labelwriter 450 Turbo Thermal can also print postage and produce up to 71 labels in a minute. None of which, of course, I anticipate ever needing to do. Note: The DYMO Labelwriter 450 Turbo Thermal has been discontinued, but you can purchase it secondhand from Amazon.

In order to use the sleekly designed Brother P-Touch Cube, you need to download the special P-Touch app, which right there is a deal-breaker for me, what with my can-I-just-pick-it-up-and-use-it rule. But if you're the type of person to whom the idea of designing labels from the comfort of your phone appeals, this is the model to check out.

The final model we tested was the DYMO LetraTag ($18), which had an alphabetical keyboard, a loud and slow printer, and cheap-looking labels with paper backings that were difficult to peel off.

If your label-making needs are simple and straightforward, buy a Brother P-Touch PT-D210 or the DYMO LabelManager 160. If you're not a technophobe and would like to craft more intricate label designs (including, perhaps, some with horse icons), go with the Brother P-Touch Cube Smartphone Label Maker.

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