NIIMBOT B21 Pro Label Printer Review

I’ve been fortunate enough to be provided many NIIMBOT label printers over the last year or two.  My absolute favorite one was the B21.  It is the epitome of style and function.  The retro look is amazing.   I was really excited to see that NIIMBOT upped the game on the B21 and made it better.  The NIIMBOT B21 Pro Label Printer ($69.99) has arrived.

Same great styling and some beefed up stats compared to the OG B21.  The key stat is that the print resolution has been bumped up to 300 dpi.  That allows it to be a photo label printer as well.  The print speed remains at 60 mm/second.

Label sizes are from 20 to 50 mm and NIIMBOT provided me with 4 extra label rolls not including the one that comes with the printer.  Also the battery size remains the same at 1200 mAh.

So it appears the key upgrade is the thermal print head which gives you 300 dpi.  Here we can clearly see that the print heads are different.  The upgraded one is the beige printer.

Comparison to B21

My B21 Pro is beige and my B21 original is green.  Both look identical, sound identical and act identically.

As mentioned before the key difference is in the print head which gives us that remarkable 300 dpi.

I am not a pixel peeper and I don’t count them either.  The original B21 had 203 dpi.  That’s nothing to sneeze at and I printed photos on labels even though it wasn’t touted as being made to do that.  Sure the results were a bit pixelated but the improvements in the B21 Pro print head make for some fun images.  Here’s the same picture as just above:

[kad_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/rHCMdUuGnBc?si=l972Z7A6vorrUh0p” ]

Here are some presents I made with the B21 Pro for our 2 year old niece.  I’ve turned the labels with her photos on them over for privacy reasons.  But let me tell you that they were a big hit.

Gotchas

Are there any gotchas?  Yeah, I found one.  This is a bit of a stretch but you see the coil of labels above?  They are multi-colored rectangular labels and I cannot ID them because there is a sticker over the sticker on the box.

Anyway, these are labels they sent me with their M2 printer.  When I put them in the B21 Pro they were identified as a round sticker.   Having said that I hit “print” and when I did the text landed exactly where I wanted it to.

So I WAS NOT using the labels they sent me which were known compatible with the B21 Pro.  I’m sure they’ll reach out for more details because they are super attentive to anything I discover.  I’d provide these details right here and now but I am writing this while I’m away from home.  A tree decided to fall on our house the other day and I’m not near the labels in question.

Should You Buy The B21 Pro

I love the B21 and the pro is just that much better.  Here are my recommendations.  If you need a label maker that looks at home on your desk or work bench then get either one.

If you know that you will only print text for file folders, shelves, or pantry items you are good to go with the original B21.

Additionally, if you are a crafter, a maker, a scrapbooker………you are going to want the 300 dpi print head on the B21 Pro.

I cannot recommend NIIMBOT label makers enough.  Not just because they send them to me to review but because they are awesome Home and Small Office label makers.   You might see some chatter on the internet about negative experiences, but know this.  I have around 8 or more NIIMBOT printers and I have never had one choke on me at all.  In fact the gotcha I mentioned above is maybe the first thing I’ve really found to be a tiny issue.  And we can’t rule out that I AM THE ISSUE using a label not compatible with the printer.  I dunno.   We will see.

JOHN’S TECH BLOG LOVES THE NIIMBOT B21 LABEL MAKER!