Phomemo M02 Thermal Sticker Printer Review

I love journaling. I find it’s really good for my mental health and helps me to focus on the positive things that happen in life. I’ve gone through every type of journal style over the years, like bullet journaling, junk journaling, and being super neat and tidy with my journaling. However this year I have finally settled on a style that suits me; chaotic, but oozing with gratitude and fun. That’s where my Phomemo M02 Thermal Sticker Printer comes in handy and I can’t wait to tell you all about it!

I picked up this bad boy way back sometime last year. It was part of an Amazon sale event, possibly Amazon Prime Day. At the time, I’d been looking for a way to add more of my day to day memories into my journaling. Ideally, I’d love a printer that can just hook up to your mobile and print colourful prints straight from your phone that you can stick into your journal, however, I just don’t have the budget for that sort of technology at the moment. That’s when I came across the Phomemo Thermal Printer* and it immediately grabbed my attention.

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Today, after using this printer for nearly half a year, it’s time to put my Phomemo M02 Thermal Sticker Printer Review out into the world! I’m going to be chatting about the things I love, the things I dislike, and the key features. I’ll be going over the following topics to make sure that you get a well-rounded review of the Phomemo Thermal Printer:

What To Expect When The Phomemo M02 Thermal Sticker Printer Arrives
How Easy Is The Phomemo M02 Thermal Printer To Use?
What The Phomemo M02 Thermal Printer Can And Cannot Do
The Phomemo M02 Thermal Printer App
Who Can Use The M02 Printer?
My overall opinion of the Phomemo M02 Thermal Printer – Do I recommend it?

So stay tuned, grab a cuppa and let’s take a look at what makes the Phomemo M02 Thermal Printer such a good little gadget to have in your journaling or studying arsenal.

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What To Expect When The Phomemo M02 Thermal Sticker Printer Arrives

As mentioned, I bought the Phomemo Thermal Printer* on sale during the Amazon Prime Event. I’ve checked my Amazon account and I can’t see what I bought it for, but I think it was around £20 – it currently retails at £31.90 (as of Jan ‘24). It came with one reel of test paper, which is, as it sounds, a reel of paper that is much smaller than a replacement reel that you’d buy for this printer.

This little tester reel was plain white and, surprisingly, I managed to get quite a few prints out of it. Much more than I anticipated. It is worth noting that if you want to do some serious printing as soon as you purchase the Phomemo Thermal Sticker Printer, you’re going to want to pick up some additional paper reels. The additional printing paper comes in a variety of colours, including gold/silver sparkles*, transparent*, white*, and pastel*, which definitely appealed to me as I love a bit of colour.

How Easy Is The Phomemo M02 Thermal Printer To Use?

Honestly, I found it difficult at first. In fact, I got so frustrated that I contacted Amazon and desperately tried to sort out a refund or an exchange. Unfortunately for me, the M02 sticker printer was sold by a 3rd party user and there was nothing that could be done. I was fuming. However, I let myself chill out for a bit and looked at things more logically.

Eventually, I got things working, and I learnt a few things along the way. This isn’t something that arrives and will immediately work, the Phomemo Thermal Printer* needs to charge before you can do anything. Don’t get excited like me and try to use your new toy straight away because you will either get half a print or nothing at all.

If you have difficulties with the printer, try searching for the issue online as you may find that other customers from the website you bought it from also had the same issue and offered a solution, or you’ll find a solution on the Phomemo website.

Here’s the main takeaway when it comes to troubleshooting issues with the Phomemo M02 Thermal Printer:

Make sure the printer is fully charged before you try to use it. Even if you’ve charged it and used it a few weeks ago, it’s worth putting it on charge for a little while to make sure it’s got enough power to do its thing.
Read the instructions because it’s likely you will get a red light on the side of your printer and you will most likely need to refer to the instructions in order to fix this.
A common issue people have is putting the paper reels in upside down, so make sure you check that you haven’t done this before trying to print anything out.
There are videos and FAQs on the Phomemo website and these are incredibly helpful.

I eventually got the hang of using the Phomemo M02 Thermal Printer and now I absolutely blooming love it.

Despite my initial issues with the printer, I took a step back and patiently worked my way through the FAQs and did a spot of Googling until finally, I was able to use my printer successfully. And boy was I excited!

I’m actually so glad that I wasn’t able to return this little gadget because I use it several times a week now and I wouldn’t be without it. It took a little bit of getting used to, but if you follow the tips I mentioned above, you should get on just fine with it.

What The Phomemo M02 Thermal Sticker Printer Can And Cannot Do

So I’ve seen a lot of questions about what the Phomemo M02 Thermal Sticker Printer is capable of, in particular, many prospective buyers want to know if the Phomemo Thermal Printer is capable of printing shipping labels. Unfortunately, although the printer CAN print labels (as it is simply an image or some text), the width of the printer restricts the sizing of the labels, making barcodes and QR codes too difficult to read. Therefore, I do not recommend using it for this purpose, instead, opt for a shipping label printer like the JADENS Bluetooth Thermal Shipping Label Printer*, as it’s compatible with EVRI, Amazon, Shopify, Royal Mail and other major courier and postal services.

What The Phomemo M02 Can Do

Connect to your phone via Bluetooth
Print diagrams, images and text from your phone – no ink needed!
Offers font, filter effects and themes to make your images stand out
Connect to the Phomemo app, giving you access to lots of templates including to-do lists, cute stickers, and much more
Print on a variety of compatible paper colours, including sparkly, pastel, transparent, and plain white

What The Phomemo M02 Cannot Do

Print in colour
Print on normal paper
Print shipping labels that can be read properly by QR/Barcode scanners

Using The Phomemo M02 Accompanying App

The app is so easy to use and offers a huge variety of templates for you to use with your printer! Connecting your printer to your app is a very easy process and can be done by simply scanning the QR code on the box that your printer arrived in. Once you have connected your app to your printer, you can enjoy all the features that the Phomemo app offers, including:

Printing images from your phone
Printing from the template gallery
Printing documents
Printing from the web
Micro printing text
Printing banners and rulers from the toolbox category
Access to early education materials to print
Printing from a large collection of graphics, including major holiday graphics, study materials, calendars and much more
Access to the Phomemo Inspiration Community

Who Can Use The Phomemo M02 Thermal Sticker Printer?

This little portable printer has so many great uses, and it will definitely make your life so much easier if you’re in need of diagrams and images whilst you’re on the go, or in a hurry. This printer is ideal for:

Students looking to print diagrams (there’s a large selection of these already uploaded to the app)
Mums or early years educators
People looking for journaling additions
Scrapbookers
Anyone looking for a portable, quality thermal sticker printer

Phomemo M02 Thermal Sticker Printer Review: Do I Recommend It?

Yes, absolutely! This little portable sticker printer* is affordable, easy to use, and prints to a great quality. It was tricky for me to get my head around at first, but I get the feeling that it was more my own haste and frustration getting in the way of things. I love that you can print on a variety of different sticker papers (there are over 40 to choose from), and I love that it’s small and portable, making it easy to store away with the rest of my journaling bits. I’ve used it lots in journaling, but I have also used it to make stickers for the children that they can colour in and stick to their art pieces. Overall, this is a great thermal sticker printer which is very reasonably priced, so if you’re after something to make journaling or studying more fun, this is for you!