Brother MFC-J1360DW: Specs, Price, Pros & Cons
This review measures the Brother MFC-J1360DW against the full 24-spec sheet we track for printers, comparing it like for like with the 50 other models in our database. It earns a VS Score of 46 out of 100 — the weighted result of every verified specification measured against the class average.
On the spec sheet it is strongest in scanning & copying and weakest in design. Its clearest single advantage over the class average: a much higher print resolution — 6,000 dpi vs 4,041.94 dpi (avg). Street prices currently start at $ 89.98 for the Brother MFC-J1360DW.
Category strengths
Where the Brother MFC-J1360DW beats the average
- Has automatic document feeder ?
- Has automatic duplex printing ?
- A much higher print resolution ?6,000 dpi vs 4,041.94 dpi (avg)
- Has color printing ?
- Has all-in-one ?
- A lighter build ?7.6 kg vs 9.07 kg (avg)
- Has Wi-Fi Direct ?
- Has Apple AirPrint ?
- Has Wi-Fi ?
Where the Brother MFC-J1360DW trails the average
- A lower print speed (color) ?9 ppm vs 12.51 ppm (avg)
- A much lower monthly duty cycle ?2,500 pages vs 19,346.15 pages (avg)
- No ethernet ?
- A lower ADF capacity ?20 sheets vs 34.48 sheets (avg)
- No touchscreen display ?
- A lower input tray capacity ?150 sheets vs 182.02 sheets (avg)
- No supertank / refillable ink ?
- A slightly lower print speed (black) ?16 ppm vs 17.21 ppm (avg)
- No duplex scanning ?
- A lower output tray capacity ?50 sheets vs 68.95 sheets (avg)
Editor’s note
Start with the thing the name gets wrong. Brother's MFC prefix has meant fax for decades, and this machine does not have one. There is no fax section on Brother's own specification page, the network features list reads printing and scanning only, and there is no telephone cord in the box. It prints, copies and scans. If you went looking specifically for a cheap fax machine, this is not it, and I would rather you learned that here than after delivery.
Taken as what it actually is, a ninety-dollar all-in-one that includes automatic duplex printing, a 20-sheet document feeder and a 150-sheet tray is decent value. Budget printers usually skip all three.
The numbers set the boundaries clearly. Black printing reaches 16 ppm and colour drops to 9 ppm, with the first colour page taking about 9.6 seconds. The maximum monthly duty cycle is 2,500 pages and Brother's recommended volume is 50 to 1,000 pages a month, an order of magnitude below the rest of this class. The output tray holds 50 sheets. There is no Ethernet, and the 1.8-inch display is not a touchscreen.
The cost trap is the starter ink. The cartridges in the box are rated at roughly 200 pages each, so the first replacement set arrives sooner than most people expect, and the LC501 cartridges that follow are ordinary ones with ordinary economics.
This makes sense for a household that prints school forms, tickets and the occasional photo and leaves the printer off in between. If you print most days, the ink bill will overtake the purchase price quickly, and either Brother's own INKvestment models or a supertank will cost less to live with.
Specifications
Quality bars are generated automatically against 50 other printers.
Printing
Laser prints crisp text fast; inkjet handles photos and colour better.
Prints in colour, not just black and white.
Black-and-white pages per minute; higher is faster.
Colour pages per minute; higher is faster.
A higher dot density produces sharper prints.
Prints both sides of the page without manual flipping.
Refillable ink tanks cut the cost per page dramatically.
The maximum recommended pages per month.
Scanning & copying
Scans and copies as well as prints.
Feeds multi-page documents through the scanner unattended.
How many pages the document feeder holds at once.
Scans both sides of a page automatically.
Sends and receives faxes.
Paper handling
A larger tray needs refilling less often.
How many printed pages the output tray holds.
The largest paper format supported (e.g. Letter, Legal, A3).
Connectivity
Print wirelessly over the home network.
Connect devices directly without a router.
A wired network port for reliable office use.
A direct USB connection to a computer.
Print from iPhone, iPad and Mac without extra drivers.
Print and manage the printer from a phone app.
Design
An onboard touchscreen makes standalone tasks easier.
A lighter printer is easier to place and move.
How the VS Score works — and what it can’t tell you
Every measurable spec is scored against the average of all the printers we track: matching the class average scores 50, clearly beating it climbs towards 100, and each spec counts according to an editorial weight that reflects real-world impact — a battery-capacity gap moves the score far more than a colour-options list. The quality bars on the spec cards above show where this model sits inside the full range for its class, and the overall VS Score rolls every weighted result into one number.
Unknown values are never estimated. A spec this product doesn’t report simply drops out of its scoring — it isn’t penalised with a guess — but a thinner spec sheet does mean a score built on fewer data points, which is why completeness is disclosed under About this data.
Most importantly: a spec-sheet lead is not the same as a better product. Megapixels, gigahertz and benchmark points describe capacity, not experience — image processing, software optimisation, thermals, haptics and ergonomics decide how a device actually feels, and no table captures reliability or long-term support quality. Treat the VS Score as a structured summary of what can be measured, not a substitute for your own priorities.
About this data
- Specifications are compiled from each manufacturer’s official spec sheet, cross-checked against trusted specification databases, and normalised into one schema so identical things are compared identically.
- Specifications last verified August 18, 2026.
- Data completeness: 24 of the 24 specs in this category are verified (100%). Anything we could not verify is shown as Unknown — never estimated — and is excluded from the score.
- Prices and availability come from live retailer feeds via our shopping partners and refresh throughout the day; a missing price means no partner currently lists the product, not that it is discontinued.
- Want the full picture? Our editorial guidelines explain how we research products, weight the scores and stay independent.
- Spotted an error in a spec? Tell us and we will correct the sheet.
Where to buy
Prices and availability may change. Check the retailer before buying. We may earn a commission on purchases.
Price history
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The bottom line
The Brother MFC-J1360DW earns a VS Score of 46, a solid mid-pack result among the 51 printers we compare here.
- Who it’s for
- Households that print occasionally – forms, tickets, the odd photo – and want duplex printing and a document feeder at the very bottom of the market.
- Who should look elsewhere
- Anyone who needs fax, despite the MFC branding, and anyone printing most days: the 2,500-page duty cycle and 200-page starter cartridges both say light duty only.
- The trade-off that matters
- A very low purchase price against running costs and headroom. You save at the till and pay it back in cartridges if your volume is anything but modest.
- The main alternative
- Brother MFC-J1365DW is the same class of machine fitted with INKvestment Tank cartridges, which is the version worth having if you print regularly.
The VS Score is generated automatically from the weighted specifications above, measured against all other printers in our database. Treat it as a shortlisting guide — not a substitute for your own priorities.
