Brother LC401
Brother LC401 is the compact home-and-office branch of the LC40x generation, in two tiers: Standard Yield at 200 pages per cartridge and XL High Yield at 500 pages per cartridge (ISO/IEC 24711), for three printers — MFC-J1010DW, MFC-J1012DW and MFC-J1170DW. The Clever Supplies compatible LC401 and LC401XL singles and sets below are chipped for those printers and carry a lifetime warranty.
| Cartridge | Type | Color | Approx. Yield |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brother LC401BK (compatible) | Standard Yield ink cartridge | Black | 200 pages |
| Brother LC401C (compatible) | Standard Yield ink cartridge | Cyan | 200 pages |
| Brother LC401M (compatible) | Standard Yield ink cartridge | Magenta | 200 pages |
| Brother LC401Y (compatible) | Standard Yield ink cartridge | Yellow | 200 pages |
| Brother LC401 Set of 4 (compatible) | Standard Yield full cartridge set | Black / Cyan / Magenta / Yellow | 200 pages per cartridge |
| Brother LC401XLBK (compatible) | XL High Yield ink cartridge | Black | 500 pages |
| Brother LC401XLC (compatible) | XL High Yield ink cartridge | Cyan | 500 pages |
| Brother LC401XLM (compatible) | XL High Yield ink cartridge | Magenta | 500 pages |
| Brother LC401XLY (compatible) | XL High Yield ink cartridge | Yellow | 500 pages |
| Brother LC401XL Set of 4 (compatible) | XL High Yield full cartridge set | Black / Cyan / Magenta / Yellow | 500 pages per cartridge |
| Brother LC401XL Set of 9 (compatible) | XL High Yield bulk set (3 Black + 2 per color) | Black / Cyan / Magenta / Yellow | 500 pages per cartridge |
LC401 Ink — Two Tiers, Three Printers, Four Look-Alike Families
Brother LC401 is the compact home-and-office branch of the LC40x generation, in two tiers: Standard Yield — LC401BK, LC401C, LC401M, LC401Y at 200 pages per cartridge — and XL High Yield — LC401XLBK, LC401XLC, LC401XLM, LC401XLY at 500 pages per cartridge (ISO/IEC 24711). Brother lists exactly three printers for this family — MFC-J1010DW, MFC-J1012DW and MFC-J1170DW — and this page serves those three. The tiers mix by slot, so stepping up to XL can happen one color at a time.
What LC401 is not: the LC40x generation splits into LC401, LC402 (A3 office), LC404 (small INKvestment) and LC406 (large INKvestment), each with its own cartridge body — no LC40x family fits another’s printers. One seller habit to ignore: the MFC-J1800DW is sometimes attached to this family in marketplace listings; it is not on Brother’s official LC401 page and is not claimed here. Buy by the family code and the model list, not by the generation’s shared look.
Which LC401 should you buy?
- Light use — Standard singles: black $10.49, cyan, magenta and yellow $8.99 each; the Set of 4 is $29.94 (200 pages per cartridge).
- Everyday use — XL singles: black, cyan, magenta and yellow at $14.99 each (500 pages per cartridge).
- Sets: the LC401XL Set of 4 ($50.94) for a full XL refresh, or the Set of 9 ($103.82, 3 black + 2 of each color) for a stocked shelf.
Chip, ink and everyday use
Every cartridge here carries a new compatible chip. Brother’s official “Cannot Detect Ink Volume” page names this generation and warns that with non-genuine ink the machine may or may not detect the ink volume; we print that warning rather than promise recognition. Lifetime warranty with 1-year free returns on every cartridge. Stepping between tiers needs no conversion: a standard color and an XL color can sit side by side in the same printer, so the move to XL can happen one cartridge at a time.