2-Inch Mobile Receipt Printers Product Review | Table Of Contents
By The Business Solutions Network
Testing by Greg Nelson, VP and CTO, Gware POS (formally Genesis-POS)
A VAR evaluates four 2-inch mobile receipt printers and shares the pros and cons of each.
Mobility in the worlds of retail and hospitality is one of the hottest topics. There’s also a lot of hype, confusion, and speculation. In an attempt to provide clarity on just one aspect of a mobile POS solution, we decided to review 2-inch mobile receipt printers. We once again teamed up with Greg Nelson, VP and CTO of GwarePOS (formally Genesis-POS). As our starting point, we utilized our most current Best Channel Vendors survey results, re-sorting the data to determine which manufacturers had the highest product-related scores in the survey. As a result, we had a field of about 10 manufacturers with scores we felt were high enough for consideration. As with our previous 4-inch mobile label printer review, we found some vendors didn’t offer the type of printer we were testing. Others had products that fit but openly told us that they didn’t think they’d fare well in the review, or certain aspects of the review, because their products were outdated. So, if you’re wondering why your manufacturer of choice isn’t included in the review, it’s not because we didn’t ask. In the end, we received units from Citizen, Epson, Star Micronics, and Zebra. Once the units began arriving, Nelson began his testing.
-- Click Here To Read The Side-By-Side Product Comparison Article --
Individual Mobile Receipt Printer Product Reviews
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Like the other printers, the Citizen CMP-20 require software to be installed on a PC and then for the printer to be connected to that PC via a standard mini USB cable. Once the software was installed and the printer connected to the PC, Nelson was able to configure the printer’s network connectivity. The CMP-20 was quickly connected to his wireless LAN with no issues. |
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Battery life is something else we wanted to test. It’s one thing for a manufacturer to promise that a printer will work over a full shift, but would our tests prove otherwise? Each unit tested used 7.4V batteries but differed when it came to amps. Epson’s had the most juice at 2,000 mAh. It’s important to note that size doesn’t necessarily mean more run time. |
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In testing mobile label printers back in May, loading rolls of media was an area where some printers struggled and others shined. Nelson reported paper loading to be a nonissue with the Star Micronics SM-S220i. The unit had an easy-to-access button to open the media door and fast, pain-free paper loading. |
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If you or your customers look only at features and price, you could be dooming users to wear a brick all day long. A major factor when it comes to evaluating mobile printers has to be the size and weight of the units. On paper and in person, it’s easy to see the physical differences among the reviewed units. At .66 lbs with battery and paper, the Zebra unit was the lighted of the group tested. |
