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Whether your small business needs barcodes for its products or you want to identify what’s inside the jars in your kitchen, a label maker can help. The This Old House Reviews Team has combed through the options on Amazon and selected the best label makers for a variety of uses. Keep reading for more information on each of our picks.
Top 5 Label Makers
- Easiest To Use: Brother P-Touch Easy-To-Use Label Maker
- Best Basic Label Maker: DYMO Label Maker
- Best Display: Brother P-Touch Label Maker
- Best Professional Label Maker: DYMO Label Writer
- Best Portable Label Maker: NiiMbot Label Maker Machine
Easiest To Use: Brother P-Touch Easy-To-Use Label Maker
This label maker has a keyboard that mimics the one on a computer, making it easy to type and print your labels. It also has 27 user-friendly templates that allow you to make a wide variety of labels for gift tags, scrapbook pages, and more.
Key Features
- Has a keyboard to design labels
- Has an LCD display
- Offers 14 fonts, 97 frames, 27 templates, and over 600 symbols
- Has a one-year warranty
What Customers Are Saying
Satisfied customers liked this label maker’s portability, print quality, and user-friendly interface. Other reviewers recommended this product because of its many personalization features. Negative reviews criticized this label maker for wasting space on the label and missing tape that it was supposed to come with.
Best Basic Label Maker: DYMO Label Maker
This label maker can print one- and two-line text labels for simple projects, such as labeling the contents of your desk drawers. This DYMO label maker also has an auto-off functionality to turn off the machine when it’s not in use. Plus, its ABC-style keyboard allows you to create labels quickly.
Key Features
- Has a keyboard to design labels
- Has an LCD display
- Offers five font sizes, seven print styles, and eight box styles
- Comes with three label rolls
- Has a two-year warranty
What Customers Are Saying
Many customers were pleasantly surprised with how high-quality this DYMO label maker was, especially for the price. Positive reviews highlighted that the label maker was easy to use because of its user-friendly interface. Negative reviews said that their label maker didn’t work right out of the box and that customer service didn’t help them solve this issue.
Best Display: Brother P-Touch Label Maker
This label maker offers 14 fonts, 11 styles, 99 frames, and over 600 symbols, allowing you to customize your labels. It lets you design your creations on your computer or with its large built-in keyboard. The high-resolution, colored display allows you to see your creations, and the thermal technology prints labels without using ink or toner.
Key Features
- Has a keyboard or connects to your computer to design labels
- Has a color display
- Has a two-year warranty
What Customers Are Saying
Positive reviews noted that the adhesion of the labels was excellent. Many also said that the machine was versatile and easy to use, making labeling a faster job. Unsatisfied customers pointed out that this product had color banding on its printed labels.
Best Professional Label Maker: DYMO Label Writer
This label maker can print labels, stamps, barcodes, and more, making it a multifunctional machine that’s fit for any printing task. Additionally, it can print on two label rolls at once, doubling your speed.
Key Features
- Connects to your computer to design labels
- Prints labels, stamps, barcodes, and more
- Prints out of two slots
- Has a two-year warranty
What Customers Are Saying
Positive reviews highlighted how easy to use the DYMO label maker was. In addition, many enjoyed the strong adhesion and high print quality of the labels. Negative reviews criticized this label maker for jamming easily and having a poor label guide.
Best Portable Label Maker: NiiMbot Label Maker Machine
This rechargeable label maker designs labels by using an app on your smart device or by plugging its USB cord into your computer. This label maker is also small and lightweight, making it portable and convenient.
Key Features
- Connects to your computer or phone to design labels
- Prints labels, barcodes, and more
- Features a carrying handle
What Customers Are Saying
Positive reviews praised this product for its long battery life and easy setup. Other reviews noted that this product was a good value for the money. Some customers reported that their labels seemed somewhat sheer. They also disliked having to make an account to use the label maker’s app.
Buyer’s Guide
Here are a few of the most important factors to consider when looking at label maker options.
Built-In Keyboard vs. Device Connectivity
Some label makers have a keyboard with either an ABC or QWERTY arrangement for typing your labels into the device. These are usually the simplest to use, but they can be bulky to carry. The other option is a label maker that connects to your computer or mobile device. This gives you more design options, but it’s more expensive. Some high-end models offer both, allowing you to choose the method that works best for the specific task at hand.
Portability
Label makers can be powered by a cord, batteries, or both. Battery-powered machines are more portable, but they tend to require quite a few batteries and run through them pretty quickly. Corded models must be used by a wall outlet, but you don’t have to worry about replacing batteries every few uses.
Customization
Basic label makers give you only one font, though you can often customize its size and style. Other models come with multiple fonts, symbols, frames, and graphics. You’ll have even more design options if you’re using a computer. Consider how complicated your labels will be to determine how many design settings you’ll need on your label maker.
Labels
Most label makers use spools of paper with an adhesive backing. However, these spools come in many widths and colors. Determine how much content you want to put on your labels and what you want the labels to look like when choosing spools.
Professional Functions
Modern label makers can print more than just text. Small businesses often use them to print QR codes, barcodes, and postage stamps. However, you probably won’t need these functions for household use.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do thermal label printers work?
Unlike typical office printers, thermal label makers don’t print with ink or toner. Instead, components within the machine burn the words or graphics onto specially treated labels that react to heat.
How long do printed labels last?
It varies depending on temperature and humidity fluctuations, but most labels can last for years if kept indoors.
Do label makers require ink cartridges?
Ink label makers require cartridges, but thermal label makers don’t. You’ll need to replace ink cartridges every so often. They’re fairly affordable, only costing about $5 each or even less in a pack.
Why Trust The This Old House Reviews Team
This Old House has empowered homeowners for more than four decades with top-notch home improvement content in the form of television programs, print media, and digital content on its website and social media platforms. The This Old House Reviews Team focuses on creating in-depth product and service review content to help inform your purchasing decision for just about any item or resource that you might need for your home. The This Old House Reviews Team has written over 1,000 reviews on products in the home space, from cordless drills to kitchen trash cans, lawn mowers, and dining room decorations.
We recommend products in each review using an intensive research process, spending hours combing through the best available models on Amazon. For a product to make our list of top picks, it must hold a solid sales record on Amazon, have consistently positive customer reviews, and offer unique features, among other factors. After narrowing down our list of recommendations, we conduct additional research and sometimes in-person testing to ensure that the products meet our standards. Once we conclude the research phase, we craft a well-rounded, user-friendly article that includes our recommended products and additional information to help homeowners like you make the right purchase.
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