5 Best Thermal Printers for Shipping Labels
It wouldn't be wrong to call thermal printers the backbone of small businesses. These small yet affordable printers work with any thermal paper roll. This feature removes the hassle of monitoring ink and toner levels. More importantly, they are easy to set up, and the overall cost of printing is minimal compared to conventional printers.
So if you’re searching for a good thermal printer, here are our recommendations for the best thermal printer for shipping labels.
Let's check them out. But before that,
Buy
The Jiose Thermal Label Printer is an inexpensive USB-driven thermal printer. It's compact and will easily fit into the nook of your work desk. However, you’ll have to keep a little buffer space for the external roll label holder at the back. The lightweight form factor makes it easy to move around the office.
It can print labels in various sizes. All you need to do is adjust the blue guidelines accordingly, and you will be fine.
As noted earlier, it's a USB printer, and you’ll need to connect it to a Windows or macOS system. Plus, it works on some Chromebooks with the help of a Chrome extension. While it supports e-commerce platforms like Amazon, FNSKU, etc., there is no dedicated app. That means you will have to design and check the size if you want to print labels of other sizes.
For the price, the print quality is decent on the in-house labels. However, it varies as per the quality of the rolls. Another noteworthy thing about this thermal printer is the customer service, which is helpful, responds to queries quickly and resolves issues with the printer.
Buy
Polono's thermal printer stands out from the rest with its bright color. It's a simple printer that churns out regular 4 x 6-inch prints and is compatible with macOS, Linux, and Windows computers. More importantly, it's affordable and easy to set up.
To use it with your computer, you will need to install a few drivers. The Polono PL60 accepts a wide variety of printer labels and can go as far as 4.65-inch. The company also claims that it can automatically gauge the label dimensions and print accordingly.
So far, this affordable thermal printer has amassed many good reviews on Amazon. Users like it for its print quality and easy-to-use nature. Plus, the support of popular platforms like FedEx, USPS, DHL, and Amazon (among others) makes it easy to print.
However, it may not work as expected on Windows 11 machines. Plus, it is not compatible with ChromeOS.
Buy
The iDPRT SP410 has a decent speed. It's a compact printer and can easily print labels in different sizes, including 4 x 6-inch labels. For now, it supports major shipping and shopping platforms like eBay, UPS, USPS, FedEx, Amazon, and Etsy, making it great for small business owners.
However, if your business doesn't use the above, you may have to design a custom template on a third-party website or tool.
Aside from that, the set-up and installation process is easy and neat, and several users have pointed this out in their reviews. The iDPRT SP410 printer is a popular device on Amazon and has more than 3,000 user ratings. The print quality is decent for the price.
It's not too expensive, and if your work involves printing labels regularly, it will prove to be a good buy. While it's durable and reliable, the customer service has received a mixed bag of reviews.
Buy
If price is not an issue and you want a printer that works as advertised, you can't go wrong with the Munbyn Shipping Label Printer. While it can print labels in different sizes, the best bet is to stick to the standard 4 x 6-inch shipping labels. It's a fast printer and can churn out labels in less than 4 seconds. The company claims an IPS (inches-per-inch) of 5.9.
Besides its fast performance, it shares quite a few common features with the printers above. For one, it works brilliantly on macOS, Windows, and ChromeOS systems and doesn't need a dedicated app. Secondly, you will need to connect to the laptop via a USB cable to print. It supports all major shipping platforms, including UPS, USPS, and FedEx. And the same is true of the shopping platforms.
The company also advertises that this Munbyn printer will determine the label dimensions automatically. However, the folks at PC Mag ran into some minor issues with this feature. But the good thing is that if you stick to one label size, it shouldn't be an issue.
Like the Jiose printer, the Munbyn thermal printer for shipping labels doesn't have a cavity to hold label rolls. And you will have to take the aid of an external roll holder for printing labels in one go. It's worth noting that Munbyn also retails a dedicated roll holder.
In short, if you stick to only a particular size of labels and want peace of mind with the printing business, the Munbyn Shipping Label Printer will prove to be a good pick. It's a popular device on Amazon, and users like it for its print quality and value-for-money proposition.
Buy
Last but not least, we have the Rollo Shipping Label Printer. This one is the more expensive thermal printer on this list and brings the advantage of Wi-Fi connection to the table. With it, you can let go of the hassle of physically connecting the printer to your PC. Moreover, you can also use your phone to get the printing job done.
This shipping label printer churns out 4 x 6-inch labels, and the company also ships its label rolls. And the support for multiple shipping and shopping merchants means you can print your label of choice without many hassles. There's no dedicated app for the Rollo printer
This Rollo printer also lets you use the Ship Manager app to ship and manage your labels. This manager brings a slew of merchants under a single roof. However, you will have to shell out a few bucks after the first 200 prints.
Like its counterparts above, it's a compact device and won't take up much space on your work desk. And as you have guessed, you will have to stack the label rolls behind the printer. The printing jobs get done fairly quickly, despite relying on Wi-Fi. But compared to the one above, the Rollo printer is marginally slower.
If you print a ton of labels in a day, it would be best to get a printer that is reliable, durable, and gets your job done without jamming. If you are looking for the best thermal printers for shipping labels, the one by Munbyn and Rollo should serve your purpose just right.
Last updated on 13 October, 2022
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Namrata loves writing about products and gadgets. She has been working for Guiding Tech since 2017 and has around five years of experience writing features, how-tos, buying guides, and explainers. Previously she worked as an IT Analyst at TCS, but she found her calling elsewhere.