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Best Bluetooth Receipt Printers for Card Readers

Stephen Hart

Stephen Hart

Founder - Cardswitcher

Former - Chief Financial Officer @ Worldpay

Although businesses are not required to provide their customers with a receipt, it's usually a good idea to offer one after every transaction.

While digital receipts are becoming more popular amongst retailers and small businesses, paper receipts will remain popular for a long time to come. Although more expensive to operate, paper receipts are ideal as they're much quicker to generate and reduce manual data entry time for SMS or email receipts.

If you want to offer paper receipts, there's a wide range of receipt printers on the market and generally speaking, you can split receipt printers into two camps: stationary receipt printers and mobile receipt printers. Mobile printers are battery powered and connect to your POS via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Stationary receipt printers are powered via mains electricity and connect with your POS wirelessly or via Ethernet or USB cable.

 

Best Receipt Printers for UK Businesses

When you're deciding which receipt printer to buy, it's essential you choose one that is compatible with the specific card reader and POS app you use. There's no point buying a fancy receipt printer only to find out that it won't talk to iZettle or SumUp or PayPal or whatever card reader you use.

At the moment, the card reader receipt printer market is dominated by two manufacturers: Star Micronics and Epson. Both Star and Epson both produce excellent receipt printers that are compatible with a range of popular card readers (and POS system) like SquareiZettle, and SumUp. In the next few sections, I'll take a look at the best stationary and mobile receipt printers on the market.

 

Wired Stationary Receipt Printers

Although wired receipt printers have almost been (almost) completely replaced by their wireless counterparts, there are still a few models available to buy. Here are two good ones.

 

 

Epson TM-T20II

If you want an affordable and efficient thermal receipt printer, the Epson TM-T20II should be your first choice. With a print speed of 200mm per second and an impressive energy-saving mode, the Epson TM-T20II is a good option for small retail outlets.

Key Specifications

  • Price: £157
  • Speed: 200mm/sec
  • Paper Width: 80mm or 58mm
  • Connectivity: USB, Ethernet, Serial
  • Print Method: Thermal line printing

 

 

Star SP700

The Star SP700 is an effective matrix receipt printer suitable for a diverse range of businesses. It offers a great printing performance with its compact, protective design, good printing speed, and reliable USB/Ethernet connectivity.

Key Specifications

  • Price: £137
  • Speed: 8.9 lines/sec
  • Paper Width: 76mm default paper width (also 69.5 and 58mm)
  • Connectivity: USB, Ethernet, Serial, Parallel
  • Print Method: 9 Pin Serial Impact Dot Matrix

 

Wireless Stationary Receipt Printers

Old stationary printers used to rely almost exclusively on wired USB or Ethernet connections. This produced a very stable and secure connection between printer and POS but wasn't particularly practical as the printer and POS had to be physically connected.

Nowadays, most modern stationary printers will offer Bluetooth or WiFi connectivity. Here are our favourite wireless stationary printers.

 

Star mPOP

If you're looking for an all-in-one POS solution, the Star mPOP is the POS hardware for you. More than just a receipt printer, the Star mPOP comes with an integrated cash drawer, which allows you to save on space at your checkout.

Unlike a lot of bulky plastic POS hardware, the Star mPOP is surprisingly well designed and looks great on any counter. It's not just a pretty face either as it's got the printing credentials to back it up. Expect print speeds of 100mm per second and Bluetooth connectivity!

One thing to watch out for is compatibility as the Star mPOP only works with iZettle.

Key Specifications

  • Price: £339
  • Speed: 100mm/sec
  • Paper Width: 58mm
  • Supported OS: iOS, Android and Windows
  • Print Method: Thermal line printing

 

 

Star TSP143III

The Star TSP143III, an upgraded version of the Star TSP100III, is a fast and effective receipt printer. Printing at a speed of 250mm per second (or 43 receipts per minute), the Star TSP143III is one of the quicker printers on our list.

Where it really excels, though, is with graphics. The TSP143III is great for effective for adding logos and other graphics to receipts via its futurePRNT Windows software. It also comes with a de-curl function for receipts too!

Key Specifications

  • Price: £355
  • Speed: 250mm/sec
  • Paper Width: 58mm (with paper guide), 80mm standard
  • Supported OS: iOS, Android and Windows
  • Print Method: Thermal line printing

 

 

Star TSP654II

The Star TSP654II is a super-fast thermal printer with an impressive print speed of 300mm per second (or 60 receipts per minute). The TSP654II is all about speed and features an integrated guillotine auto-cutter and "drop-in & print" paper loading style.

Being Apple MFi certified, the Star TSP654II connects with iPad, iPod Touch, and iPhone devices via Apple's AirPrint protocol. The Star TSP654II also supports wireless printing over Bluetooth.

Key Specifications

  • Price: £430
  • Speed: 300mm/sec
  • Paper Width: 58mm (with paper guide), 80mm standard
  • Supported OS: iOS, Android and Windows
  • Print Method: Thermal line printing

 

 

Star TSP743II

The Star TSP743II is a good thermal printer and a top choice for high-volume businesses. The TSP743II prints at 250mm per second and supports a paper width of up to 80mm. It can also be mounted vertically, which is a nice feature.

Key Specifications

  • Price: £244
  • Speed: 250mm/sec
  • Paper Width: 58mm and 82.5mm (with paper guide), 80mm standard
  • Supported OS: iOS, Android and Windows
  • Print Method: Thermal line printing

 

 

Star TSP847II

When it comes to printing at high speeds with clean graphics, the Star TSP847II is pretty much the only printer that stands up to the task. With a print speed of 180mm per second and support for paper width of up to 112mm, the Star TSP847II is of no doubt one of the best printers around.

Like other printer models featured in this section, the Star TSP847II is also compatible with iOS, Andriod, and Windows operating systems. It also supports wireless printing via Bluetooth and Apple's AirPrint.

Key Specifications

  • Price: £496
  • Speed: 180mm/sec
  • Paper Width: 58mm, 80mm, and 82.5mm (with paper guide), 112mm standard
  • Supported OS: iOS, Android and Windows
  • Print Method: Thermal line printing

 

Mobile Receipt Printers

Small, mobile receipt printers are ideal for both indoor and outdoor businesses as they are powerful, portable and easy to handle. Star Micronics trumps in this category with market-leading POS printers. Below are a few mobile receipt printers to choose from.

 

Star Micronics SM-L200

If you're looking for a small and lightweight mobile printer, the SM-L200 is a great choice. As one of Micronics' flagship printers, the SM-L200 ticks all the boxes: speed, weight, build quality, battery life and print quality!

The SM-L200 is a two-inch mobile printer that connects conveniently with iPhone 4s (and newer), iPod Touch (5th generation), and 3rd (and newer) generation iPads via low energy Bluetooth technology. The SM-L200 is also compatible with Bluetooth 4.0 (and 3.0) enabled Andriod and Windows.

With a print speed of 35mm per second, maximum print width of 58mm, and long-lasting battery life (of up to 12 hours), the 220 grams printer remains an affordable (yet effective) choice for several businesses.

Key Specifications

  • Price: £214
  • Weight: 220g
  • Speed: 35mm/sec
  • Paper Width: 80mm
  • Supported OS: iOS, Android and Windows
  • Battery Duration: 13 hours
  • Print Method: Thermal line printing

 

Star Micronics SM-S230i

The SM-S230i is a portable, lightweight printer suitable for busy retail environments. With its auto-detection Bluetooth feature, the SM-S230i can easily connect with devices running on Andriod, iOS, and Windows operating systems.

When it comes to battery life, the SM-S230i performs pretty well too. On a full charge, the SM-S230i will last up to 13 hours, which is good enough for most businesses.

The SM-S230i prints at a speed of 80mm per second and also supports both 1D and 2D graphics/barcodes. Oh and it supports browser-based printing applications, too!

Key Specifications

  • Price: £259
  • Weight: 217g
  • Speed: 80mm/sec
  • Paper Width: 58mm
  • Supported OS: iOS, Android and Windows
  • Battery Duration: 13.5 Hours
  • Print Method: Thermal line printing

 

Star Micronics SM-L300

The SM-L300 is a compact and portable receipt and label printer with exceptionally long battery life — up to 43 hours! In addition to its compact design and impressive battery life, the SM-L300 supports a variety of paper widths between 40mm and 80mm.

The SM-L300 supports all BLE compatible Apple devices and can also work with most Android, iOS and Windows devices.

Key Specifications

  • Price: £331
  • Weight: 540g
  • Speed: 65mm/sec
  • Paper Width: 40mm to 80mm
  • Supported OS: iOS, Android and Windows
  • Battery Duration: 43 Hours
  • Print Method: Thermal line printing

 

 

Star Micronics SM-T300i

The SM-T300i is a rugged Bluetooth printer specially designed to survive rough handling and tough environments. It's splash-resistant, dust-proof and weighs just 422 grams, making it the perfect choice for merchants on the move.

The SM-T300i supports a paper with a printing width of 72mm, prints at a speed of 75 mm per second and has a long-lasting battery — up to 11 hours.

The portable printer can be paired, via Bluetooth, with devices operating on the Andriod, iOS, and Windows operating system. Packaged along with the SM-T300i mobile printer is a battery, sample roll, AC adapter, serial cable and setup sheet.

Key Specifications

  • Price: £346
  • Weight: 422g
  • Speed: 75mm/sec
  • Paper Width: 72mm
  • Supported OS: iOS, Android and Windows
  • Battery Duration: 11 Hours
  • Print Method: Thermal line printing

 

 

Star Micronics SM-T400i

The Star SM-T400i is a portable Bluetooth receipt printer and the largest iZettle receipt printer offered by StarMicronics. The four-inch mobile thermal receipt printer has an excellent battery life of up to 24 hours, a printing speed of 80mm per second, and supports a printing paper width of 104mm.

Like the Star SM-T300i, the SM-T400i is specially designed to withstand heavy usage and survive a harsh outdoor environment. With a splash-resistant and dust-proof compact design, the SM-T400i remains a perfect mPOS solution for challenging outdoor environments.

Being Apple MFI certified, merchants can use the SM-T400i printer with any compatible iOS devices. The printer also supports all major mobile operating systems and can be paired with most Android devices.

Key Specifications

  • Price: £630
  • Weight: 735g
  • Speed: 80mm/sec
  • Paper Width: 104mm
  • Supported OS: iOS, Android and Windows
  • Battery Duration: 24 Hours
  • Print Method: Thermal line printing

 

 

Epson TM-P60ii

The Epson TM-P60ii is one of the best portable wireless thermal printers in the market. With an impressive printing speed of 100mm per second, an excellent battery life of up to 46 hours (depending on your choice of connectivity), and an ability to print wirelessly over WiFi and Bluetooth, the TM-P60ii is a great choice for mobile merchants!

Key Specifications

  • Price: £340
  • Weight: 630g
  • Speed: 100 mm/sec
  • Paper Width: 58 mm
  • Supported OS: iOS, Android and Windows
  • Battery Duration: WiFi - 14 Hours (normal), 27 Hours (Energy-saving mode); Bluetooth - 46 Hours
  • Print Method: Thermal line printing

 

Conclusion

There's a wide range of fantastic bluetooth receipt printers to complete your POS set-up. If you haven't already selected one, you should check out our best card reader roundup. Or if you've already selected an iZettle model, take a look at our iZettle receipt printer comparison to make your search easier!

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Written by:
Stephen Hart

Stephen Hart

Founder - Cardswitcher

Former - Chief Financial Officer @ Worldpay

Stephen brings a wealth of experience honed through years in the financial sector, particularly in the card processing payments industry. His illustrious career spans key roles at PwC, Natwest, and the role of CFO at WorldPay, before going on to found card processing comparison site, CardSwitcher. He is passionate about helping growing businesses to understand the card processing landscape so they can make savvy financial decisions.