What's the difference between the Zebra ZD420 and ZD620

Upgradable Design

Both printers have a upgradable design, meaning any changes to connectivity, cutters and other improvements can be installed by you, on site, future proofing your investment.

Optional Higher Capacity Ribbon

Zebra realised a 74m ribbon capacity was an inconvenience for you. Both the ZD420 and ZD620 can be loaded with either 74m or higher capacity 300m ribbons. The higher capacity ribbon reduces the number of ribbon changes – making using these printers easier to use.

Wireless Connectivity Options

Both the ZD420 and ZD620 have been brought up to date and enjoy a choice of wired and wireless options: USB, Serial (remember good old RS232?) or 10/100 Ethernet and 802.11ac WLAN and Bluetooth 4.1.

Compatible with Other Makes & Models of Printer

The ZD420 and ZD620 can be used interchangeably with older printers and a wide range of other printer brands.

That’s because it has EPL (an efficient printer language used in a previous generation of printers) and ZPL printer languages and can be set up to use non-Zebra printer languages.

Zebra’s Link OS

Both the ZD420 and the ZD620 run Link-OS – Zebra’s printer operating system.

Link OS is a suite of Applications, Utilities and Developer Tools that give Zebra printers better performance, simplified remote management and easier integration with host systems.

Improved Ease of Use with Mobile Devices

Using the built-in Print Touch tag (NFC), you can pair a compatible mobile device in a split second, as well as monitor and manage all ZD420 and ZD620 printers from the Cloud, for really simple printer management.

Differences between the ZD420 and ZD620

There are two key differences between the ZD420 and the ZD620: speed and buttons.

Speed

The ZD420 prints at up to 152mm per second the ZD620 can print at 203mm per second.

Buttons

With the ZD620s 10-button interface (with a colour LCD display) you can identify and fix any print problems or adjust settings without accessing a computer or using your phone.

My personal opinion is that the ZD420 is adequate for most people.

With setup tools you can run from your PC or mobile phone – the big difference between the printers – the 10 button control panel – is redundant.

The speed is nice to have on the ZD620, but it’s not like you can make a cup of tea in the 0.25 of a second extra that you are waiting for your label to print.

Perhaps if you regularly print batches of several hundred labels then the speed would be beneficial – but the savings aren’t that great. With my ‘back of a napkin calculation’ – you might save 1 minute 30 seconds if you printed 500 labels. How long does a kettle take to boil?

Both the Zebra ZD420 and the ZD620 are excellent printers – but for most people the ZD420 is excellent enough.