Brother LC1013PKS Color Ink Cartridges Review – Are They Worth It?

Quick Verdict

The Brother LC1013PKS ink cartridges are exactly what you'd expect from a genuine OEM product: reliable color output, predictable page yields, and seamless printer compatibility. They're not the cheapest way to keep your Brother inkjet running, but they remove the guesswork that comes with third-party alternatives. If you own one of the compatible MFC or DCP models and print moderate volumes, these do the job without drama. Score: 4.2/5.

What Is the Brother LC1013PKS?

The LC1013PKS is a Brother-branded, three-pack of standard-yield color ink cartridges — one cyan, one magenta, one yellow. There's no black included, which trips up some buyers, so make sure you already have or budget for a separate LC101BK. Brother rates each cartridge at roughly 300 pages per cartridge under ISO/IEC 24711 test conditions (that's 5% page coverage, in plain terms). The pack is designed for the LC101-series inkjet printers Brother released around 2013–2015, a lineup that includes everything from compact home-office MFCs to fuller-featured multifunction units.

I picked up a sealed LC1013PKS from Amazon to test alongside a Brother MFC-J470DW that had been sitting in a home office for a few months — it needed fresh ink and a reality check on print quality. The packaging is standard Brother fare: a slim cardboard sleeve, each cartridge in its own sealed pouch with a desiccant packet. Nothing fancy, but you can tell the seals haven't been tampered with.

Key Features

• Three-pack contains one cyan (LC101C), one magenta (LC101M), and one yellow (LC101Y) cartridge
• Standard yield rated at approximately 300 pages per cartridge at 5% ISO coverage
• Genuine Brother formulation engineered for Brother ViviColor inkjet technology
• Intelligent chip communicates ink levels to your printer's display and driver
• Compatible with nine Brother inkjet models across the DCP-J100 and MFC-J200 series
• Available through Amazon Subscribe & Save for periodic auto-delivery
• Manufactured by Brother as part of their standard OEM consumables line

Hands-On Review

Installation was painless. Popped open the MFC-J470DW's front panel, unlocked each cartridge slot, pulled the orange safety clips, and slid them home. The printer recognized all three cartridges within about 10 seconds — no error codes, no chip warnings, no "unsupported cartridge" messages that you sometimes get with off-brand options. That's the genuine OEM advantage right there: it just works.

For the first test I printed a mixed document — mostly text with a few color bar charts and a logo in the header. Text came out crisp and dark, which isn't always a given with color cartridges on a machine that's been idle for a while. The color bars showed clean gradients, no banding, and the yellow didn't look washed out the way budget cartridges sometimes do. I was honestly a little surprised — I'd braced myself for the usual first-print dry-head artifact streaks, but there were none.

A week later I ran through a stack of roughly 40 pages — some family photos on photo paper, some flyers, a few PDFs with colored tables. The cyan and magenta held up well. By page 30-ish, the printer's ink-level display showed about 80% remaining on each, which tracks with Brother's estimates for moderate-coverage prints. If I'd been running full-bleed graphics or printing photo after photo, those numbers would look very different.

Here's what nobody tells you in the product listings: the LC101 cartridges aren't designed for heavy photo printing. The standard yield means you'd burn through a full set in a single photo-heavy weekend. That's not a flaw — it's just a mismatch if you're buying these for a photo-centric workflow. I also noticed that the magenta cartridge seems to run out fractionally faster than the other two on saturation-heavy prints, which is a common quirk across many inkjet lines, not just Brother.

Would I buy these again? For my use case — printing maybe 20–30 pages a week, mostly documents with occasional color accents — yes. The cost per page is higher than high-yield alternatives or third-party cartridges, but the reliability and print quality are worth the premium for me. Your mileage will vary depending on how hard you push the machine.

Who Should Buy It?

These cartridges make the most sense for:

• Home office users with compatible Brother MFC or DCP models who print moderate volumes and value consistent, reliable output over rock-bottom consumable costs
• Students and occasional home users who need to print reports, assignments, and the odd color graphic without worrying about cartridge errors or clogs
• Anyone who prioritises printer longevity — genuine Brother ink is formulated for Brother print heads, which can reduce long-term wear and maintenance issues compared to third-party alternatives
• Small office teams who already own compatible Brother multifunction printers and want predictable, one-vendor supply management

Skip these if you're printing more than 100 pages per week, or if you're running a home printing side hustle where every cent per page matters. Third-party high-yield cartridges or Brother's own high-yield LC103/LC105 series will serve you better at scale. Also skip if you own a printer outside the compatible model list — these cartridges simply won't fit or register.

Alternatives Worth Considering

• Brother LC1033PKS High-Yield 3-Pack — doubles the page yield per cartridge to around 600 pages each, reducing the frequency of replacements and lowering the cost-per-page significantly for heavier print volumes
• Brother LC101BK Black + LC1013PKS Color Combo — buying the separate black cartridge alongside the color pack gives you a complete set in one order, which makes more sense if you're setting up a new printer or doing a full cartridge refresh
• Third-party compatible LC101 cartridges from reputable brands — options like Smartetree or Esuite offer LC101-compatible cartridges at roughly 40–60% lower cost per cartridge, though quality control varies and some may trigger chip errors or print head issues over time

FAQ

Final Verdict

The Brother LC1013PKS is a dependable, no-nonsense choice for anyone running a compatible Brother inkjet printer who prints at light to moderate volumes. Print quality is solid, installation is foolproof, and the genuine Brother formulation keeps your print heads in good shape. The main trade-off is cost-per-page — these aren't the most economical option on the market, and heavy users will feel the replacement frequency. But for reliability and color fidelity, they deliver exactly what Brother promises. If you've got a compatible MFC-J or DCP-J model sitting on your desk, these will keep it running cleanly without any surprises.