A comparison between two quality entry level sewing machines from Brother, the BB370 and XL2600I. To add to the confusion, both fall in the same price bracket.
This is a comparison between two popular entry level sewing machines from Brother. Brother BB370 and XL2600I fall in the same price segment, so it is worth having a comparison. There is no doubt about the quality of these two machines, which is pretty much evident from their popularity. All we want to know is, which machine offers more value for your hard earned money. Brother BB370 has always been the expensive of the two. But the price gap between them fluctuates quite a bit. I have seen the price gap rise up to $40. So keep an eye on the prices.
Brother BB370 Vs XL2600i – Features Comparison
Even though both Brother BB370 and XL2600I are mechanical sewing machines, there is quite a bit of difference between them in their designs. XL2600I has a curvaceous outlook whereas BB370 has a squarish design. The oversized reverse sewing lever is a striking thing about XL2600I. The reverse sewing lever is comparatively smaller on BB370. Their positioning is purely subjective though. Now let us have a look at the feature differences.
Built-in Stitches : This is the major difference between these two machines. Brother BB370 has the upper hand here with 37 built-in stitches. Brother XL2600I on the other hand has just 25 built-in stitches. So those who want a variety of stitch options will like BB370 more.
Actually the difference in built-in stitches is the only feature difference between these two machines. Everything else is the same. So there is no point in providing a table comparing features side by side. So I am skipping the table for this post.
Brother BB370 Vs XL2600i – Performance Comparison
Both are beginner friendly machines, the ease of use is something that both machines are famous for. The performance on medium-lightweight fabrics is quite good. The stitch quality is excellent in that department. One area where these two machines struggle is with multiple layers of thick fabrics. Especially with 6 plus layers of fabrics, the machines seem to struggle a bit. It is not their fault. Brother BB370 and XL2600I are not designed for such kind of heavy duty sewing. Other than that, both are excellent beginner machines and they can easily put shame on even $200 sewing machines.
Verdict
The first thing you need to decide is whether you need all 37 stitches that comes with Brother BB370. If the answer is yes, don’t think twice.
If you don’t need a lot of built-in stitches (BB370 has only 12 more stitches after all), then Brother XL2600I will be a good option. But watch its price. Sometimes XL2600I is priced so low that it will be an absolute steal (about $40 price gap between the two). But at the time of writing this post, the price gap is just about $19, which makes BB370 a better option. So please don’t forget to compare the prices.