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Brother ScanNCut 2 (CM350) vs Cricut Explore Air 2

Product Comparison: Brother ScanNCut 2 (CM350) vs Cricut Explore Air 2

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Brother ScanNCut 2 (CM350) Cutting Machine

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Cricut Explore Air 2 Personal DIY Cutting Machine

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General Specifications

About the Product

Meet ScannCut, the World's First Home and Hobby Cutting Machine with a Built-in Scanner! The secret to ScanNCut's amazing versatility lies in the 300 DPI built-in scanner, allowing you to take your scanned images, photos or hand drawn sketches and turn them into unique cutting designs, without the need or expense of a computer, software, or pricey cartridges.

Cricut Explore Air 2™ is a DIY speed machine. This smart cutting machine cuts and writes up to 2x faster than previous models and helps you make projects with over 100 different materials.

Brand

Brother

Cricut

Model

ScanNCut 2 (CM350)

Explore Air 2

Origin

China

Key Specs

Type

Electric

Number of Cutting Blades

Cutting Area

12 x 12 in.

Clearance

3 mm

Type
Number of Cutting Blades

What customers say about "Key Specs"

Brother ScanNCut 2 (CM350) Cutting Machine

It is acceptably fast and has a low learning curve.
Powerful cutting options with a good catalog of shapes and fonts
In addition to what the machine came with, I invested in a different blade to exclusively use for fabrics. The one that came with the machine I use for paper/vinyl.
Now I'm cutting my own stencils and all kinds of things on the machine. I'm very happy with my purchase. I will say that when using a new material you should always do a tiny test cut to be sure of the blade setting.
The blade worked through 88+ sheets of paper. The mat needs to be cleaned with an alcohol free scent free baby wipe to keep it sticky.

Cricut Explore Air 2 Personal DIY Cutting Machine

Cuts very intricate details with ease. Easy to use interface. Fast cutting/drawing.
This Cricut was the right one for me. I have do so much with it since I got it, and you'd be amazed at all the little personalized craft projects your friends and coworkers will bring to you once they know you have one.
Love this machine! I use it all of the time! It is very precise. The print then cut feature is amazing! I could never say enough good things about it.
It's ok. Cuts great and cuts lots of materials. It is very simple and easy to use my 8 year old can use it on her own from the designing to the cutting.
The tools are minimal to design with. There isn't much creative freedom with this machine. Creating complex designs hard time consuming and tedious due to lack of tool options.
It's not even been a week and i'm having issues, sometimes it ruins a paper and doesnt cut correctly, or it just marks the paper while its on cardstock, other times it disconnects mid cutting, i was really excited to buy this machine but now it just takes too long to cut one thing.

Size & Weight

Height

10.1 in.

6 in.

Weight

8.6 lbs.

21 lbs.

Width

22.8 in.

22.2 in.

Depth

10.6 in.

7 in.

Features

LCD screen

Yes

Built-in Scanner

Yes

Wireless Cutting

Yes

Accessories Included

AC adapter, USB cable

German carbide premium blade, USB cable, Power cord, Accessory Adapter, Pen & cardstock sample, Cricut 12 in. x 12 in. StandardGrip cutting mat

Extras

Scan your materials using the built-in 300 dpi scanner, Easily edit designs on screen

Up to 2X Faster. Select Fast Mode when you need to make every minute count, Create on your computer, tablet, or smartphone, Embedded Bluetooth® for wireless cutting, Cut 100+ materials from vellum to leather, Smart Set® dial for easy material settings, Upload your own images for free (.svg, .jpg, .png, .bmp, .gif, .dxf), Thousands of designs and ideas to kickstart virtually any project, Upload and use your own image files or fonts for free

Cutting Materials

Paper, Cardstock, Vinyl, Fabric, Magnet paper, Heat transfer material, Photo paper, Copy paper, Rhinestone template material

What customers say about "Features"

Brother ScanNCut 2 (CM350) Cutting Machine

You can cut custom images all day long. You are not limited to an exclusive set library. (Very nice!)
Easy to upload image files, SVG files, etc and translate them to cut files for the machine (on website)
The scanning capability is the bonus, but with Silhouette's newer versions, this machine will have some good competition.
The mat is too sticky at first and you may damage paper when trying to remove it.
This uses its own type of image format with the FCM extension and cannot understand common jpg, gif, bitmaps, pdf or any other standard file type.
No wireless capability out of the box; must buy $50 activation

Cricut Explore Air 2 Personal DIY Cutting Machine

Absolutely Love Love Love this machine! So easy to use with the Cricut design studio. The best feature is the dial for what type of paper you are using. No guessing how much pressure you need as it does it all for you.
Amazing product for DIY for fraction of the cost. I made my own onesies for my friends baby shower and everyone was stunned that I made them. Its so great to personalize things with the Iron-on Vinyl.
love that this machine has the ability to use a pen to write content. I also like the fact that this machine can still use cartridges.
Admittedly, it can be difficult to cut small intricate images and words. I've found the "print and cut" feature a good solution to this problem. That feature allows you to print an image off on your computer and simply have the Cricut cut out the shape of it. I use this technique to make stickers.
The Cricut software needs an always-on, active internet connection to work. Generally speaking, this isn't a problem, however, it does limit your ability to "fire and forget"...as in, send a design to print and walk away with your computer or turning it off.
There is one downfall and it might be something I am doing wrong and that is using the Scoring Tool. It really doesn't score very well. Can't see the lines on the paper of where to fold, so I put one of the cricut markers in the carriage to draw the lines on where to fold.
I bought this on valentines day for my wife. Here 2 weeks later, she gets a notice that she can no longer use the software without paying $10 month. She gets on chat with Cricut and they confirm it. So this machine is now useless to us.

Warranty / Certifications

Certifications

Manufacturer Warranty

1 year(s)

Other Information

Manufacturer

Link

Manual

Download