Editor
We’ve written a lot of reviews on shipping label printers for small businesses. However, shipping label printers are not the only type of thermal printing machine a small business needs. If you are a business with perishable products, sticker labels are vital to managing inventory. In retail, thermal labels are crucial for tagging and keeping track of products too – alongside drawing customers’ attention to unmissable price drops, boosting your sales. Even in office environments, clear, high quality, well-made labels can revolutionise workflows by keeping the space organised, identifying employees, and presenting a professional image to potential customers or partners. With a thermal label printer machine, you can take advantage of all these benefits, whatever your business. Yet, with so many models on the market, how do you know which make is right for you? Here are our top recommendations for the best label printer for your small business.
Product Comparison Table: Best Sticker Printer Machine
| Title | Price | Rating (Amazon) | Best in class | Buy | |
 | Brother P-Touch PTD210 Label Maker | $ | 4.5 stars | Best value | Amazon |
 | Brother QL-820NWB Professional Label Printer | $$ | 4.5 stars | Best connectivity | Amazon |
 | Brother P-Touch PT-900W Industrial High Resolution Label Printer | $$$ | 4 stars | Best heavy-duty | Amazon |
 | DYMO LabelManager 280 Label Maker | $$ | 4.5 stars | Best portable | Amazon |
 | Dymo LabelWriter 450 Turbo Label Printer | $$$ | 4.5 stars | Best desktop | Amazon |
Brother P-Touch PTD210 Label Maker
The Brother P-Touch PTD210 is a great value choice, coming in at a ridiculously low price point for its level of quality. With easy-to-use one touch keys, you can create your label design directly onto the mini LCD display, before printing it out onto a variety of coloured and patterned tapes. With 14 fonts, 97 frames, and over 600 symbols, your labels will always clearly express your brand identity; there are even 27 templates to give you inspiration if you’re stuck for ideas. The recommended Brother Genuine TZe Laminanted tapes are also durable, water and fade-resistant, so will stand up for use in fridges, microwaves, indoors and outdoors. There are also options for non-laminated iron-on clothing tapes, cable wires and photo print stickers. Lastly, the machine is conveniently powered by six easily replaceable AAA batteries, or an optional AC power adapter.
Pros
- Large range of fonts and styles
- Built in keyboard for standalone use
- Great value low price
- Battery and
Cons
- Doesn’t connect to external devices
Verdict
The Brother P-Touch PTD210 portable label maker is ideal for creating labels for organising inventory, pricing products and designating important files. This little machine promises to make ordering your workplace ten times easier, at an insanely low price. However, this device is exclusively intended for organisational labels; due to the lack of external connection, you’ll need to invest in a second machine for specialist labels, shipping labels or barcodes.
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Brother QL-820NWB Professional Label Printer
The Brother QL-820NWB Professional Label Printer has Bluetooth wireless connectivity technology, meaning it can be connected to a whole office worth of computers, smartphones and tablets at one time. This is something conventional USB connected printers could only dream of! It even offers a USB host interface, allowing it to be connected to peripheral devices and accessories, like a scanner. An LCD screen mounted into the device means it doesn’t even need to be connected to a computer to be used – especially if you’re printing simple text based labels. Ultra fast print speeds reach up to 110 standard 4×6 size labels per minute, with black text at 300dpi; this resolution is acceptable in monochrome inkjet printers, so you can be assured labels will always come out clear.
Pros
- High resolution for clear prints
- LCD screen allows standalone use
- Bluetooth wireless connections
- Ultra fast printing speed
Cons
- Only works with Brother Genuine GK Label rolls
Verdict
The Brother QL-820NWB Professional Label Printer offers truly game-changing connection options, perfectly suited to the modern wireless working environment. Super fast, high quality printing overcomes the expensive cost of proprietary rolls, in our opinion. Best of all, the machine comes with Brother’s network management tools and free software development kits (SDKs) for Android, Windows and iOS, meaning you can seamlessly integrate the printer into your existing systems.
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Brother P-Touch PT-900W Industrial High Resolution Label Printer
The Brother P-Touch PT-900W Industrial High Resolution Label Printer makes durable laminated labels up to 36mm wide. It prints fast, too, at up to 3 images per second. A built-in auto cutter with easy peel function makes it easy to produce a lot of labels in a short time, while the drop-in tape cartridge is easy to replace. The labels made by this machine hold up against a wide range of extreme conditions; they are resistant to UV, chemicals, water and abrasions. Integrated WiFi allows connection with multiple workplace devices at once, including smartphones and tablets. Best of all, it comes with P-Touch Editor 5 Professional label design software included, allowing you to create anything from wire tags, to warehouse signs, to bottle labels.
Pros
- Durable high-quality laminated labels
- Fast printing speed for large volumes
- Built-in auto cutter and Wi-Fi
- Comes with label design software
Cons
- Can’t print colour, only black or white
- Only uses proprietary labels
Verdict
Whether your business needs a machine that can be used in a warehouse, or one that makes hard wearing labels for water-based products, the Brother P-Touch PT-900W is a perfect choice. The built in laminating function means that you won’t have to invest in an extra machine, and labels will stand up to basically anything you can throw at them. Relying on proprietary labels is only expected when you’re creating a specialist finish like this.
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DYMO LabelManager 280 Label Maker
The DYMO LabelManager 280 Label Maker was created to work on the go, allowing you to create text-based organisational labels instantly, without needing a computer or power connection. A traditional PC-style QWERTY keyboard is mounted into the front of the device, allowing you to type quickly and easily. Even better, one touch fast formatting keys allow you to edit your labels in a snap. You can choose from over 20 text formatting styles, plus clip art and over 200 plus symbols to fully customise and personalise your prints. If you already have certain fonts, graphics or barcodes in mind, you can also connect the printer to your machine via USB and access them that way. As for supported tapes, the DYMO LabelManager only allows DYMO D1 label tapes; however, these are available in 0.25 inch to 12 millimetre sizes, and a wide range of colours.
Pros
- Built-in keyboard for standalone use
- Wide range of formatting styles and fonts
- Allows download of external fonts and images
- Rechargeable battery
Cons
- Only supports DYMO branded labels
- Relatively small print area
Verdict
The DYMO LabelManager 280 Label Maker is our choice for the best portable model, providing maximum ease of use, convenience and speed. The battery is long lasting, and the labels created are perfect for organising files, charts or tools. We can imagine this being hugely useful for either offices, retail or hands-on businesses, like plumbers or electricians.
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DYMO LabelWriter 450 Turbo Label Printer
The DYMO LabelWriter 450 Turbo Label Printer has one of the fastest speeds in its class, printing 4-line standard address labels at up to 71 labels per minute. However, it is not only for printing address labels; with the included DYMO label software you can also create custom storage, file folder and barcode labels, perfect for a variety of businesses including retail and offices. It can even print name labels directly from Mac Address Book, or organisational labels from Microsoft Word. The resolution is the highest on this list at 600x300dpi – better than the average monochrome inkjet printer – so your labels will be clear no matter the size. For best performance, the makers recommend using only DYMO Labelwriter branded labels, up to a maximum width of 2.2 inches.
Pros
- Comes with DYMO label software
- Extremely fast printing speed
- High resolution for quality prints
- Compatible with a wide range of OS and programs
Cons
- Only supports branded labels
- Only connects via USB
Verdict
If you aren’t planning to move your label printer around – for example, if your business is very desk-based – then it’s worth investing in a desktop printer. These machines usually have the fastest speeds, greatest reliability and highest quality results; the DYMO LabelWriter 450 Turbo Label Printer is no exception. Seeing as it is a desktop model, the USB connection shouldn’t be too much of a problem. However, considering the moderate price point, it’s important to factor in how proprietary labels could eat into your profits.
