The Phomemo D30 Bluetooth Mini Label Maker skips the tiny keyboard that traditional label makers put on the front, and you type everything on your phone instead. Printing is thermal, so there is no ink, no toner, and no ribbon to replace, just the label tape itself. The whole unit weighs 153 grams and fits in a palm. Phomemo includes 80 pre-cut labels and a Micro USB cable in the box.
Head over to Amazon to get the Phomemo D30 Bluetooth Mini Label Maker for just $16, down from its usual price of $20. That’s a $4 discount and 20% off.
A mini label maker to help organize all of your belongings
Thermal printing works by applying heat to specially coated paper, which turns the heated areas dark. Nothing is sprayed or transferred onto the label, so there is no cartridge inside the machine and nothing to run out of except the tape. That keeps the ongoing cost down to whatever a roll of labels costs, and it also keeps the D30 small, since most of the bulk in a printer comes from the ink system. The print head in this one is German-made, and Phomemo puts the print quality 25% above a standard label printer.
Everything gets designed in the Print Master app rather than on the device. There are more than 1,000 symbols and over 60 decorative frames in there, along with a range of fonts, and you can build a label from scratch or start with one of the pre-made templates. The app also generates QR codes and barcodes, which is the sort of thing that would be impossible on a label maker with a physical keypad.
Two kinds of tape work in the D30. Pre-cut labels come in fixed sizes, and the ones included in the box measure 12 by 40mm, or about half an inch by an inch and a half. Continuous tape is the other option, and it can be printed as long as needed without being limited by the fixed size of a specific label. Regardless of whether you are printing from a roll of tape or from pre-cut labels, you will need to tell the app which type you are printing on before you print in order to get your text aligned properly. Each label has a protective coating to resist exposure to both oil and water, which is important when the label is going on a spice jar or a refrigerator storage container. Printing is monochrome, so you get black text on whatever color tape is loaded, and all colors are derived from the tape itself rather than the printer. The battery is rechargeable and will last approximately one and a half hours of continuous print time on a full charge.
Everything you need to make your first batch is in the box. There are also 80 pre-cut labels, so nothing else has to be ordered before you start printing. The Phomemo D30 Bluetooth Mini Label Maker sells for $16, down from $20, which is about what it costs to buy a single roll of replacement tape.