Alice
Printing Royal Mail shipping labels at home is becoming increasingly commonplace, with the introduction of the Click & Drop service. With this, you can pay for your postage without having to wait around for a postage clerk to print off labels individually; just pay online, print the label, stick it on and post. Nowadays, you don’t even need to set foot in a post office, as parcels can be collected directly from your home after Click & Drop is paid! If you’re printing a lot of labels – or don’t want to waste money on ink and toners – the best way to get your labels made is with a thermal printer. Whether you’re an eCommerce seller, sending gifts, or just love to post things, there’s a printer out there for you. We’ve reviewed thermal printers from across the market, to find you the best printer for Royal Mail in 2022. Considering that Royal Mail usually offers 4×6 labels, we’ve focussed on machines that can produce this size with speed, quality, efficiency and value.
Product Comparison Table: Best Thermal Printer for Royal Mail
| Title | Price | Rating (Amazon) | Best in class | Buy | |
 | HotLabel S8 Desktop Thermal Label Printer | $ | 4.5 stars | Best for beginners | Amazon |
 | MUNBYN Desktop Thermal Label Printer | $$$ | 4.5 stars | Best for eCommerce | Amazon |
 | OFFNOVA Shipping Label Printer | $ | 4.5 stars | Best value | Amazon |
 | Zing Pro Series Direct Thermal Label Printer | $$ | 4.5 stars | Best resolution | Amazon |
 | Brother QL-1110NWB Wide Format Thermal Label Printer | $$$ | 4.5 stars | Best overall | Amazon |
HotLabel S8 Desktop Thermal Label Printer
The HotLabel S8 Desktop Thermal Label Printer requires no ink or toner to print, as is true of all thermal printers. However, the Japanese ROHM printer head means the HotLabel is still able to print 60 labels (at Royal Mail standard 4×6 size) in a minute flat, with no paper jams, and a high resolution. Considering most monochrome inkjet printers in this price range work at 300dpi, the HotLabel’s 203dpi is very respectable. Moreover, it can work continuously for more than 12 hours, producing up to 43200 labels. Labels are held internally for less clutter, and both fanfold and roll labels are supported. It also includes free software in-box for cutting Royal Mail labels down from PDFs to the necessary size. Best of all, it also includes100 free labels to get you started, and a 24-7 customer service program.
Pros
- Fast printing speed and good quality
- Includes free software
- 100 labels added in box
- Customer service
Cons
- No wireless connection
Verdict
If you’re used to using an inkjet printer and want to make the switch to thermal, the HotLabel S8 Desktop Thermal Label Printer is the perfect machine for you. It comes with all the key features you’d associate with a thermal printer – no inks, fast speeds and solid monochrome resolution – plus some great add-ons that’ll really help to smooth your transition, such as free software and labels. It may not support wireless connection, but this does make setup as easy as just plugging in a USB.
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MUNBYN Desktop Thermal Label Printer
The MUNBYN Desktop Thermal Label Printer is beloved stateside for its incredible aptitude at printing USPS labels, and this is still the case across the pond. This thermal printer is perfectly compatible with Royal Mail labels; it can produce almost 72 4×6 labels a minute, at a blistering speed of 150mm/s. Auto calibration means the machine immediately detects which size and type of media is being fed in, and considering that the machine supports any kind of thermal direct label (branded or generic), this makes the MUNBYN perfect for a huge variety of uses alongside Royal Mail labels: shipping labels, Amazon FBA, warehouse labels and even food nutrition labels. The printer is compatible with Windows, Mac and Chrome OS. MUNBYN even claims it takes just one minute, and one button, to set up.
Pros
- Supports generic labels
- Comes in a variety of colours
- Super fast printing speed
- Auto size detection/calibration
Cons
- Low resolution
Verdict
For users with eCommerce businesses or large volumes of orders, the MUNBYN Desktop Thermal Label Printer is a perfect choice. The lightning-fast print speed means you can produce a huge amount of Royal Mail labels in a small amount of time. Auto-size detection also makes this machine a great multitasker; you can use it for other business interests too, such as FBA barcodes and product labelling. It also comes in several colours to match your premises. The low resolution does mean it is better suited to larger text, though.
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OFFNOVA Shipping Label Printer
The OFFNOVA Shipping Label Printer is one of the lowest-priced by far, costing over three times less than the most expensive machine on this list. Despite this, it still has very impressive statistics: it can produce 80 labels per minute, at the fastest speed on this list (200 mm/s). It is compatible with Royal Mail, working at any size between 1.57 inch and 4.1 inch width. The 203 dpi resolution also ensures clear, quality prints every time. The machine is compatible with Windows and Mac OS systems, but not Linux, Google chromebook or others. There’s no wireless connectivity either, just plain old USB. On the other hand, the box does include 30 free sheets of 4×6 labels, and a free label roll holder.
Pros
- Fastest print speed
- Free labels and label holder
- Great value low price
Cons
- No wireless connection
Verdict
As our best value thermal printer for Royal Mail, the OFFNOVA Shipping Label Printer is fairly basic in a lot of areas, having some rudimentary compatibility and connectivity issues. However, this aside, it is surprisingly the fastest machine on our list, saving you time, effort and money. The free extra labels and label holder push the cost lower, too.
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Zing Pro Series Direct Thermal Label Printer
The Zing Pro Series Direct Thermal Label Printer has a lot of great features on the printing front. The Japanese ROHM printhead can print up to 72 4×6 labels per minute, or 150 mm/s, perfect for Royal Mail labels. It also boasts an automatic size detector, sensing any size from 1.57 inches to 4.3 inches wide (40mm-110mm) and automatically calibrating the machine to print on it correctly. It is compatible with other platforms too, including Amazon, Shopify, Ebay, UPS, DHL and more, potentially allowing you to diversify your business further down the line. However, the most unique feature is its incredibly high resolution. Considering that most monochrome inkjets work at around 300dpi, this thermal printer outputs 300dpi too, for a crystal clear print every time.
Pros
- Fast printing speed
- Automatic size detector
- Widespread compatibility
- Very high resolution for clear prints
Cons
- No Wireless connection
Verdict
The Zing Pro Series Direct Thermal Label Printer is pretty average in a lot of categories, such as speed or automatic size detection; plenty of other machines on this list offer similar features. Yet, the incredibly high, inkjet-quality resolution makes this a perfect fit if you need maximum clarity on your Royal Mail labels. Some labels, such as international or customs labels, can print with extremely small text – this printer will handle them with ease.
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Brother QL-1110NWB Wide Format Thermal Label Printer
Unlike any other printer on this list, the Brother QL-1110NWB Wide Format Thermal Label Printer allows you to print from your smartphone, desktop, laptop or tablet. This is because it supports wireless connection via WiFi, Ethernet and Bluetooth. It prints wide format labels up to 4 inches wide, ideal for Royal Mail. Print speeds reach a very respectable 69 labels per minute, at an inkjet-quality 300 dpi. The machine can also detect the size of the tape inserted, and then automatically adjusts the onscreen template before cutting the sheet down to size. This is very useful considering Royal Mail labels usually need to be cropped down. Setup takes as little as five minutes, as “Plug and Label” technology allows you to print instantly on wireless connection, without the need to install software or drivers.
Pros
- Very high resolution for clear prints
- Wireless connectivity
- Fast printing speeds
- Automatic features (Plug & Label, size detection)
Cons
- Some features are Windows-only
- Brother branded labels only, no generics
Verdict
The Brother QL-1110NWB Wide Format Thermal Label Printer is our number one best thermal printer for Royal Mail. There are some minor issues; the Plug and Label feature is Windows-only, and it only supports official Brother branded labels. Although, if you consider the resolution, quality, speed and price, you’ll find the positives clearly outweigh the negatives for this machine. Just like Click & Drop streamlined Royal Mail’s postage process, this printer’s wireless technology will streamline your label printing.
