Best Direct Thermal Printers for Small Businesses

It depends on your staff size and each one’s preferences. Expanding OS compatibility drives up gadgets’ prices, so you need to consider if getting such units will be cost-effective.

Most Americans favor Mac and Windows devices over others because of their handiness. This is why a majority of manufacturers prioritize compatibility with these systems over others. However, some people choose operating systems like Linux and Unix for instant malware protection, low cost, low memory requirements, etc.

If you’re the business owner or someone whose computer is central to your operations, you need to get a compatible thermal printer. The same goes if you have a large staff—say, more than 10—and you delegate some of the labeling tasks to employees who don’t use Mac or Windows. Otherwise, wide OS compatibility is not necessary.

That depends on multiple factors, such as staff size, store or warehouse size, the nature of your business, personal preferences etc. Remember that wireless capability enhances workforce mobility. While it is not required in some settings, it may be critical in others.

• • If you have multiple users on your staff, it’s more cost-effective to get one unit that everyone can share wirelessly than buy multiple printers tied up to different computers. Additionally, if several people shall rely on the device, you might need to get a fast-printing model that also has a reputation for sturdiness. These qualities ensure efficiency and fewer maintenance hassles.
  • If you have a rapidly expanding store, warehouse, or both, the printer’s portability may be crucial to your operations. Different items will need different tags, and their templates may not all fit in the printer’s memory. Alternatively, stickers may be difficult to customize by just using the gadget’s control panel. Instant connection to high-storage mobile devices lets you change your labels’ info on demand while making them inside a large storage area.
  • Some small businesses are in healthcare settings, e. g. clinics that provide outpatient procedures. Such facilities need a portable, wireless-enabled direct thermal printer so users can identify patients correctly and print labels right on the spot.
  • Some users may prefer to work with fewer electric cords to declutter their desks.

The list of these uses for wireless label makers goes on. You need to ask yourself if printer mobility is something that you can’t do without in your organization.

It definitely should, but you also need to consider why you’re getting a direct thermal printer in the first place. Brother and Dymo printers can be set up without drivers. However, their units are also rather cost-ineffective and slower compared to other brands. They are more suited for home businesses and smaller offices.

Meanwhile, expanding establishments are better off investing in faster and more cost-effective brands. Every second or label wasted impacts their financial position and should thus be minimized. Besides, there are many online resources to help you install your unit’s driver. If you’re unable to do it on your own, you can call or live chat with the technical support staff or ask a technician to do it for you.

In most settings, printer resolution is more a matter of preference than need. Direct thermal printers are available in three default resolutions—203, 300 and 600 dpi. Both e-commerce and online postage sites can work with 203-dpi models without any problems.

Some will claim that platforms like Amazon FBA require at least a 300-dpi printer, but such claims are disputable. Check out YouTube. Many retailers post videos wherein they use a 203-dpi Zebra or Rollo unit on the Amazon FBA page.

Higher-resolution printers are not only unnecessary in most businesses, but they are also more expensive and tend to be slower. Other than preference, their use is justified in only a few settings. Healthcare and chemical lab vials smaller than your pinky finger are some examples. Their barcodes are so small that they need to have better definition than usual.

Some may argue that printing complex logos requires a high-resolution direct thermal printer. However, image-enhanced and colored logos are better off created using an inkjet, laser or thermal transfer printer. Remember that logos promote branding. They need to be printed richly to be eye-catching.

Check your settings if you’re unsatisfied with how your 203-dpi gadget performs. It may just be printing on grayscale, using a light default shade, etc.

Print speed will significantly impact your business if you already have large labeling volumes, a big crew or both. Faster-performing machines improve efficiency in such situations. On the other hand, most home businesses and small offices do fine even with slower devices.

Media capacity—or the maximum label volume that the printer can load—also dictates efficiency. Larger media loads mean fewer refills and less reloading time. You may not feel its impact when your labeling requirements are still few, but you will notice the difference when they are already picking up.

Media capacity can be gauged by a label roll’s outer diameter. The larger is the diameter, the bigger is the printer’s label-loading capacity. In Brother and Dymo’s case, their label roll sizes are expressed as the number of labels per roll.

“Proprietary” labels are those with markings associating them with certain brands, while “generic” ones lack those features. The markings appear in different forms on the label’s liner, such as black squares or rectangles, oval slots, etc. Some proprietary tags also come in sizes that cannot be used in other machines.

The use of proprietary labels does not in any way enhance a machine’s performance. However, the unit’s sensor needs the markings so it can function. Brother and Dymo are the ones in the industry that normally use proprietary labels. Other direct thermal printers run well even if they only use generic stickers.

No, you are not. However, fanfold labels have certain advantages over rolls, particularly, less waste and usable space. You may occasionally want to switch between these sticker types in the daily course of your business.

Among direct thermal printer makers, Dymo is the one that does not make units suited for fanfold labels. Brother produces proprietary fanfolds for some of their pricier units, but the QL1110NWB, which is featured here, does not use them. Other brands process fanfold tags readily and without problems.

Direct thermal technology is used mostly for purposes that do not require colored labels or where non-black colors can render tags less machine-readable. Barcodes and QR codes are examples. Therefore, having multiple font colors is not critical when buying a direct thermal printer.

Note, Brother is the only one in the industry that sells two-color direct thermal printers. However, those models print narrow labels and are not appropriate for making standard shipping tags. Also, multi-color direct thermal labels are more for organizational than decorative purposes as they lose readability after a few years. If you need fade-resistant colored tags, you can use a thermal transfer, inkjet or laser printer instead.

As previously mentioned, thermal transfer printers can make fade-resistant tags of various colors. Thermal transfer stickers also do not always use paper for their facestock. Therefore, they enhance customization and are very useful for branding.

Some printers were designed to use both direct thermal and thermal transfer technologies. We featured some of them in our Zebra and Brother thermal printer review blogs. Such dual-purpose machines are more expensive, but they also expand your labeling options. 

Consider buying a thermal transfer printer or a dual-purpose thermal printer if you have the budget for it and you’re thinking of using it for any of the following:

• • Making branded shipping labels
  • Your business requires one, e. g. for designing shirts and other textiles
  • If you have not outsourced the production of your packaging materials and you want to enhance their appearance
  • You want to make durable non-paper labels on your own

Among the units featured in this blog, the only one that has both direct thermal and thermal transfer modes is the TSC TE210. It’s likewise one of the most competitively priced printers.

While every unit will eventually malfunction, some are more prone than others because of their design. Poor maintenance also contributes to the problem. For example, cutters and peelers may have sticker adhesive buildup if they are not cleaned regularly. Label positioning and print head settings must also be optimized to prevent paper jamming.

As to which printers are prone to logjams, customers report more of them with Rollo, Brother and Dymo units than others. However, in our experience, good maintenance, no matter what equipment, keeps us from frequently encountering such issues. 

With good maintenance, any direct thermal printer can last for many years. However, the ones with a reputation for durability are Zebra, TSC, Wasp, and Sato. All of them are big names in making industrial-grade printers. 

It depends on your business goals and needs. Warranties are essentially a manufacturer’s commitment to replace or repair your unit if it malfunctions despite adequate maintenance and careful use. Their downside is that you are obligated to use the manufacturer’s original labels throughout the warranty’s life. As we all know, original manufacturer labels are rather expensive. Additionally, printer makers may choose to limit their responsibilities as they see fit.

While we do not encourage violating warranty conditions, some online sellers will tell you that they do not have problems using third-party labels on their brand new units. Doing so helps them reduce costs, and the printers’ performance remains the same as long as they are well-maintained.

First-time users of direct thermal printers need to have access to good technical support. From various reviews, Zebra, Arkscan, Rollo and Sato have very good technical support staff. They are reliable, always available, prompt in answering queries and very friendly. Meanwhile, Dymo, Brother, TSC and Wasp do not get the same reaction from users.

CFrom our own experience, Zebra and Rollo have very good tech teams, but we’ve encountered many issues accessing technical information on Brother USA’s page.

A unit’s resale value is a rough estimate of how appreciated it is by customers. It may be due to its durability, the combination of its other features or both. Even if you don’t intend to resell your unit in the future, this information helps to know if you’re making a good investment. Zebra and Brother units have some of the highest resale values in the industry.

Unit design impacts use of space, office neatness and many printer functions. You may consider buying compact machines if you have limited space. However, keep in mind that such devices limit media loading.

In Rollo’s case, for example, its design is so minimalistic that you need to buy a separate label holder. The latter is bigger than the printer itself and needs to be oriented perpendicular to it, so you end up requiring more space. 

Aesthetically speaking, the most appreciated models among our choices are the Brother QL1110NWB, Zebra ZD420, Sato WS408 and Arkscan 2054A-LAN. Arkscan printers look like old Zebra units that are known for their sturdiness. The Brother QL1110NWB has the lowest media capacity among the units featured in this blog.

Direct thermal printers have similar energy requirements, so this is not a crucial factor. The bigger determinant of electric consumption is your frequency of use. However, if you want assurance that your machine is an energy saver, check out if it is in the Energy Star database. Among the units discussed here, you will find the Zebra ZD420, Brother QL1110NWB and TSC TE210 in it.