10 Best Thermal Printers & Label Printers in 2022

Thermal printers are a special type of printer that is commonly used to print some heavily and widely used items such as safety signs, barcodes, receipts, different types of labels, etc.

Have you noticed those types of printouts? It can be easily found and seen every day and they are a part of people’s lives. For that reason, thermal printers have become an important device that is frequently used.

If you are looking for that type of printer to use for some of your printing needs, we are here for you to present the best one. Thermal printers have been a great device that has been in use for years till now, since its invention was in the year 1965 by Jack Kilby.

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In this article, we are going to list the best thermal printers that can be bought from the markets these days. Alongside with their functions, you are going to find out why they are some of the best ones that you’ve ever found.

In addition, we have also listed the things that we like about them to help you clearly see their features in just a glance. So, without any further ado, here are the products that we are going to discuss for you.

BEST THERMAL PRINTERS FOR BUSINESS

10 Best Thermal Printers in 2021 – Reviewed

1. Brother Thermal Barcode and Label Printer

This specific thermal printer comes from one of the leading brands that manufacture printers. This is one of the most advanced printers that you will be able to find in markets, and it supports connections through almost any possible connection—whether it can be through ethernet or USB cables.

Brother Thermal Printer

It can even be connected through Wi-Fi. The printing speed of this printer is one of its best features since it can reach a maximum of 6 inches per second. The resolution is also among the best qualities that you are going to see when compared to the other ones, and it is rated 300 dots per inch. Due to the versatility this printer can print barcodes, different types of tags, labels, receipts and even some types of addresses.

This has a spindle less design that gives it the property of being able to accept any core diameter of rolls. The maximum width that this printer can accommodate when printing is 4.27 inches. This is one of the large-sized printers that you can get because it has a size of 8.82 inches in length, 7.08 inches in width, and 6.1 inches in height.

The size of this printer affects its weight because it also has one of the heaviest weights on this list with an exact measurement of 8.73 pounds. Because of its power and performance, this is one of the best thermal desktop printers that you can use for your printing needs.

2. Star Micronics Desktop Receipt Printer

The next thermal printer that we are going to feature for you is a good choice because it is a printer with one of the fastest printing speeds—300 millimeters per second to be exact at a rate of 203 dots per inch. With a printing speed like that, you will be able to save time and print more than the usual output of other thermal printers.

Star Micronics Desktop Receipt Printer

This printer can produce an output of 60 receipts in just one minute. This is made more amazing because of its compatibility with different operating systems. In fact, this will deliver its functions even when paired with a Windows device, a Mac laptop or computer, an Android phone and even an iPhone or iPad.

The exterior casing of this thermal printer is hard and durable, because it is built using a stainless type of steel. In addition, it will never develop any rust on its surfaces because it is stainless. It has a dimension of 6 inches in length and 3 inches in width. It has a built-in guillotine cutter that will cut the printing paper straight for you.

With this additional feature you need not want to worry about using scissors or any other cutting tools anytime you need to cut. When you need to print, this will not give you any stress in connecting any wire and cord since it is among the best thermal printer Bluetooth that you will find in today’s stores and markets.

3. Brother QL-1100 Thermal Printer

This thermal printer produces a monochrome type of printing output which is ideal for printing barcodes and labels. It has been manufactured by one of the best thermal printer brands called Brother, and so this Professional Thermal Label printer is also the best printer in all aspects.

Brother QL-1100 Thermal Printer

This has a printing speed around the rate of 300 dots per inch that can give you 69 address labels in just a span of one minute. This is designed to have an advanced feature called Automatic Crop Function that will automatically separate different barcodes from one another in order to prevent overlapping of the sides.

This thermal printer is compatible with Android phones and Windows devices only, and it comes with a free software when you purchase it. It provides the best capacities when printing labels, since it can print a maximum length of 9.8 feet when connected via USB cable and it can print a maximum of 3 feet when connected through serial connections.

Brother QL – 1100 Professional Thermal Label Printer makes use of a drop-in DK replacement for its tape rolls that’s why you are never going to encounter any problem in changing its supplies such as its inks and toners.

It does not require a lot of time to clean and for its maintenance. The length of this printer has a total measurement of 8.7 inches, the width has a total of 6.7 inches, and the height has a total of 5.9 inches. The weight of this printer measures about 3.65 pounds that is just easy to carry anywhere.

4. Epson TM-T20II Thermal Printer

One of the simplest thermal printers when talking about the exterior design is Epson TM – T20II Direct Thermal Printer. It has a gray color finish that looks very simple and cool. The power consumption of this thermal printer is rated approximately 1.8 Amperes, and it just uses the standard connectivity options—USB connections, ethernet and serial connections.

Epson TM-T20II Thermal Printer

The reliability of this printer is unquestionable because it has a performance of 360,000 hours for its mean time between failures. On the other hand, it produces an output of 60,000,000 lines for its mean cycle before failure. It has an automatic cutter that will lessen the tasks for you to save more time while finishing more.

The weight of this printer is 3.75 pounds, and it has the following dimensions: 5.51 inches by 5.75 inches by 7.83 inches. It also supports wireless connections through the use of Bluetooth 2.1. This has a flexible coupon printing design for receipts that is why it is included in the best thermal receipt printers that can be purchased all around the world nowadays.

It has a Ready Print Technology that makes it different and convenient when compared to the other thermal printers that you can use. The printing output that this thermal printer known to produce is of the monochrome type—this is just perfect for printing receipts and other similar printouts that are not colored. The buttons of this can be found at the top surface and the other ones can be found at the bottom surface.

5. Zebra GX430t Thermal Printer

The first thermal printer that we are going to discuss is Zebra GX430t Thermal Transfer Desktop Printer—this thermal printer is known to be the topmost product on the list of best thermal transfer printers that has been manufactured in the world. It is very easy to use because it offers a lot of options such as connections through USB, ethernet, serial and parallel.

Zebra GX430t Thermal Printer

This can be paired with media rolls with a dimension of 1 inch in core, 5 inches in maximum diameter, and 4.25 inches in maximum width. This is obviously designed to have a thermal transfer technology that requires the use of a thermal ribbon in order to print.

This is designed to offer an improved efficiency that surely does not waste the energy source because it will reciprocate the energy it consumes for producing the best printing results. This has the ability of printing high-quality barcodes, labels, name tags and even mailing.

This thermal printer has a printing speed of 4 inches per second and 300 dots per inch. The length of this printer is 10 inches, the width is 8 inches, and the height is 7.5 inches. The maximum width of the printing output it can produce is 4 inches, and it is in the form of a monochrome output.

As its name says, this thermal printer can be used for a desktop in order to print and produce the best results. The design is also known to produce the maximum performance while reducing the downtime that usually happens in a lot of other thermal printers these days.

6. WeeiUs Thermal Receipt Printer

WeeiUs 80 MM 3’1/8 POS Thermal Printer for Mac and Windows is a thermal printer that is manufactured by the company Generic. It has a black gray finish for its exterior, and its weight totals to 2.43 pounds only. This cannot be paired with an iPhone, tablet and an iPad. But it can be used for printing when connected to a Mac or a Windows device.

WeeiUs Thermal Receipt Printer

This is one of the best thermal printers for Mac, and is most compatible because it comes with a software that ensures its usefulness. This has a design that features having an easy installation for the printing papers, and it does not require any ribbon or ink in order to start printing. The printing speed of it has a maximum value of 300 millimeters in one second or 11 inches in a second.

The resolution is rated with a value of 203 dots per inch or 8 dots per millimeter. When you purchase this thermal printer, one power adapter, one power cable, one USB cable, one serial cable, one driver CD disk are all included in the package. This has a length of 7.7 inches, a width of 5.7 inches, and a height of 5.9 inches.

The size it has is just one of the standard sizes that is not bulky to be placed on top of tables. This also does not weigh that much because it only has a total weight of 2.43 pounds, so it can really be placed on tables and other surfaces inside your room. This does not support being connected via Bluetooth or any other wireless connectivity options, but it already comes with the needed connecting cables for you to use.

7. PUQU Thermal Label Printer

When purchasing this thermal printer, you are given two options for its color—you can either choose blue or white. Just like most of the thermal printers, this also has a monochrome type of printing output that’s why it is perfect for receipts and almost all types of labels.

PUQU Thermal Label Printer

Some of the types of labels it can print are jewelry labels, folder labels, address labels and many more. This will let you save money for a long period of time since it does not require the use of toners and inks. Having a light weight of 9 ounces and a height of 4.8 inches, this is one of the best portable thermal printers on this list and in the world.

The printing speed of this thermal printer is not that fast, but it is adequate for printing—it is just 10 millimeter per second to 35 millimeter per second. PUQU Label Printer is compatible with both iOS and Android phones, so you will be able to use it regardless of the brand of your phone. The output of this printer has a resolution with a measurement of 203 dots per inch.

As said above, this can be used for printing receipts and labels but it can also be used for printing barcodes. The battery that you can use for making this printer functional is just the usual type of Lithium Ion battery that can be bought in most stores these days. So you need not want to worry about that because the battery is already included in the price that you are going to pay for this.

8. DYMO Thermal Label Printer

Have you been wanting to save money and time by having an inkless and toner-less thermal printer? If yes, then it is the time to check the features and performance of DYMO Label Printer. With the use of this thermal printer, you will be able to customize the labels that you are going to print because it is compatible with any type of editing software that can be installed in either Windows or Mac Book.

DYMO Thermal Label Printer

This also includes the needed cables when you purchase it, as well as the address labels starter rolls. This will also provide you with a guide on how to set it up with a laptop, whether it can be Mac or Windows.

Its printing speed is amazing that is why it is known as one of the best thermal printers for labels. It is reliable and can provide an output of 71 labels in just a span of one minute. The label rolls of this printer are very easy to load when compared to the usual or conventional label sheets that are usually done manually—with this design, time will be saved.

You are also going to have a frustration-free experience with its easy loading. The maximum width of the labels that you can print is 2.2 inches. The weight of it is just 2.2 pounds, so there will be no hassle in carrying it to another place or room.

9. LOSRECAL Thermal Printer

Bluetooth Thermal Receipt Printer (LOSRECAL Portable Personal Bill Printer) is a portable thermal printer that offers a lot of useful properties such as being quieter and faster in performance. It is also more energy efficient when you compare its performance with other printers.

LOSRECAL Thermal Printer

This does not require the use of cartridges, ribbons and inks, so you are going to benefit a lot from its low operating cost. The height of this printer is 7 inches, the width is 4.5 inches, and its thickness is 2.7 inches—with this size, you have the option of just keeping it in your pockets. You can also carry it using the carrying case that is included in the box while purchasing.

This produces black and white print outs only, and it does not support colored printing. The buttons of this thermal printer are properly labelled, so you are not going to experience any confusion when using it for printing bills.

This has a battery capacity indicator that will tell you the status of the battery. It also has an error indicator that will give you an alert once there are some things that need to be fixed first before continuing to print. When you need to recharge this, you can just simply plug it into an electricity source or use a power bank.

This is probably the best thermal printer for billing because it has the ability of printing a lot of types of bills such as restaurant bills, food delivery bills, hospital bills, parking bills, transportation bills and many other types of bills that are commonly seen every day.

10. Kunxilin Electronic CO. Thermal Printer

A4 Thermal Printer Portable Inkless Printer includes the needed accessories when being purchased. These accessories are CD, USB cable and power adapter. This produces a printing output with a resolution of 8 pels per millimeter for the horizontal printing and 15.4 pels per millimeter for the vertical printing.

Kunxilin Electronic CO. Thermal Printer

The printing speed of this printer is rated at 200 dots per inch for the horizontal printing and 400 dots per inch for the vertical printing. This can be paired with Windows devices and Android phones. For the Windows devices, here is the exact list: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows XP.

The temperature of the room where you should place this printer must be within the range of 10 degrees Celsius and 35 degrees Celsius. On the other hand, the humidity in the room must be between the range of 30% RH to 80% RH.

Those temperatures and humidity must be checked at all times otherwise this thermal printer might get damaged. The design of this printer includes the use of Direct Thermal Technology that does need the use of thermal ribbons in order to be functional.

The dimensions of this printer are the following: 280 millimeters for the length, 78 millimeters for the width, and 46 millimeters for the height. It does not need the use of inks, so it really saves a lot of money in the long run. This is well-known to be the best A4 thermal printers that you will be able to buy in today’s stores and markets.

HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST THERMAL PRINTER FOR YOUR BUSINESS

When choosing a thermal printer that you can use for almost every day of printing receipts, barcodes, labels and etc., it is important to consider some factors in order to ensure that you are going to get the best one. We are also going to discuss the importance of these factors for you to further assess how they can address your printing needs.

1] Printing Speed

If you want to save time when you are printing or if your job / tasks needs hurrying while printing, then it is a must to consider the printing speed of the thermal printer that you are going to get. For example, if you are working on a restaurant and you need to print receipts, you surely do not want to keep your customers waiting.

With that, you must buy a thermal printer with a fast printing speed such as 5 inches per second or 6 inches per second. But if you are not in a hurry, then you can just freely buy the best thermal scope with a printing speed of 4 inches per second, 3 inches per second or even lower. Mostly, the ones with the higher speed are more expensive; so, it is important to know and take this factor into serious consideration.

2] Portability

Most of the thermal printers that you are going to see can be used in different ways and in different places. For that reason, it is important that you consider buying a portable one if you want to use it in different places.

Having a portable device is always an advantage especially for using it almost everyday such as a thermal printer. There are printers that are just pocket-sized and there are some that can be placed on top of tables.

We suggest you look for those ones because they are really portable unlike the bulky ones. With a portable one, you will not experience any problems when moving to a different place. Also, portable thermal printers do not take too much space, so they are really beneficial to have.

3] Versatility

When you look at the different thermal printers, you will see that some of them are just focused on printing one type of print outs. For example, there are printers that can be used for receipts only while there are some that can be used only for labels.

There are also some that are used for barcodes only while others are used for signs. Even though all of those types are helpful, it is more beneficial to get a thermal printer that can print almost any type of print outs ranging from small ones to big ones.

With a versatile thermal printer, you can print a variety of types instead of buying different types of thermal printers. The main benefit that you can get from a thermal printer is you do not have to spend much money since you already have all the functions just in one device.

4] Durability

One among the factors that you must check is the durability of the thermal printer that you are going to buy. This factor should never be removed on the list of the important things to look for when buying all types of things.

In the case of thermal printers, you surely want the one that can be used for years. For that reason, you must take its design and construction into consideration to ensure that it will serve you for a long time. Check the materials used for its casing, and also check the proper way of maintaining it, so you’ll have an idea of how much it can last, as long as it is taken care of.

Bottom Line

Choosing a best thermal printer is one of the hardest things to do because there are already a wide variety of options. Manufacturers have been producing a lot of different units and models that have different designs too.

With that scenario happening, buyers often get confused about what thermal printer to buy. But we can assure you that the products that we have discussed for you are truly the most useful ones and they have the greatest designs too.

Thermal printers have been one of the devices that have helped people in a lot of ways that is why it is important to have the best decision when buying one. With everything that we have discussed for you, we hope that the things we said have been of great help for you in making a decision.

10 Best Thermal Printers To Buy in 2023 – Updated Picks & Guide