Brother
Printers · Last assessed Jun 9, 2026
Read the scope and sources before applying this finding.
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The letter is the published assessment. Missing factor evidence is labeled; it does not become a zero.
Why this grade
Brother long had the most third-party-friendly reputation and still does not hard-block non-OEM ink — Brother publicly stated its firmware updates 'do not block the use of third-party ink.' However, a 2025 controversy (raised by repair advocate Louis Rossmann and reported by Tom's Hardware, TechSpot and The Register) accused Brother of firmware updates that degrade print quality with non-Brother toner and disable features such as automatic color registration when third-party toner is used, and of removing older firmware versions from support portals — eliminating rollback. Brother denies blocking ink but has not fully rebutted the quality-degradation and firmware-removal claims. Laser hardware is reasonably serviceable, service manuals circulate (some hosted on iFixit), and Brother offers higher-yield toner and INKvestment Tank refillable lines. Net: relatively permissive but trending worse, and the contested nature of the claims keeps confidence medium.
Sources
Methodology & scope
Five dimensions are scored 0–100 and weighted equally: parts availability, schematic access, repairability, OEM pricing and software freedom. The letter scale is A (90–100), B (80–89), C (70–79), D (60–69), F (below 60).
This assessment was last assessed Jun 9, 2026. Its assessment scope is Printers and is not a claim about every device the maker ships.
The record does not supply a methodology version identifier. Read the published method, limitations and version history ↗
Manufacturer response
No manufacturer response is recorded for this assessment.
What makes up the grade
- Parts Availability
- 50 / 100
- Schematic Access
- 45 / 100
- Repairability
- 48 / 100
- OEM Pricing
- 50 / 100
- Software Freedom
- 52 / 100
Grade history
No grade changes are recorded.
Corrections
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