Over the holidays, we picked-up a “cheap” mini, thermal printer. There was a deal going for the Phomemo M03 so we made the jump.
This is a small, bluetooth portable printer that uses either 57mm or 80mm wide receipt paper. It has a built-in battery that charges via USB-C. You don’t have to keep it plugged in or buy expensive ink or toner to print and receipt paper can be found at just about any stationary supply store. The downsides are: the paper size (80mm is fun for todo lists, but not great for articles), it’s only black and white and to connect, you need to use the proprietary app 👎🏻 but it does allow you to print arbitrary files 👍🏻.
We’ve been experimenting with these types of receipt printers since 02013 when we were loaned a BERG London Little Printer for a hackday. This was an internet connected receipt printer. It was a great concept, but ahead of its time. We remember someone commenting that it’s the Web 2.0 equivalent of a Fax Machine!
We’ve come full circle and we’re back at receipt printers again. So far, we love this little toy, but it is just that a toy. The printer company Brother, offer several more advanced receipt printers, but they start around $300! We’re confident they are great for what they can do at that price, but it is certainly overkill for our niche experiments. The Phomemo M03 has no AirPrint. Instead it is tethered to the Phomemo app but that’s a consequence of the price.
The good news is that we can upload all our PDFs and images into the app, then print when needed.
The goal is to have access to a printer during long periods away from our desk. We are experimenting with different form factors than the “normal” A4 paper size. This includes calendars, puzzles, games and more can be printed during a flight, at a coffee shop, and away from the office.
We’re looking forward to experimenting with our small, mobile printer and see what happens.
Downloads
Here are a few PDFs formatted for 80mm paper to get started:
- 02025 Calendar (calendar-2025-80mm.pdf 48 KB)
- Adventure Mazes (adventure-mazes-80mm.pdf 87 KB)
- Dots and Boxes Game (dots-80mm.pdf 14 KB)
- Car Bingo (car-bingo-80mm.pdf 1.3 MB)
- BERG Little Printer Face (berg-little-printer.pdf 7 KB)
If you have any Ideas, suggestions or requests, let us know.