Star Micronics TSP143IIIBI2 Thermal Receipt Printer 250 mm/sec Bluetooth Auto Cutter Grey 39474710

Key Features

• Bluetooth is the data interface, so the printer needs no data cable at all.
• Paired and supported by Star across iOS, Android and Windows hosts.
• Prints direct thermal receipts at up to 250 mm per second at 203 dpi.
• Auto Connection ships enabled, which is the correct setting for an iOS till.
• A rear reset button reinitialises the Bluetooth settings without opening the printer.
• Rear USB port supplies 1.0 A to charge a tablet; it carries power only, never data.
• Star part 39474710 supersedes the earlier 39472110 within the same generation.
• Guillotine auto cutter rated for 2,000,000 cuts, with a 100 km print head life.
• The power supply is built into the printer, so only a mains cord leaves the unit.
• Drives a cash drawer or external buzzer from the built-in peripheral connector.
• Takes 80 mm and 58 mm receipt rolls, with the 58 mm paper guide supplied in the box.
• Energy Star certified, and backed in the United States by a 2-year Star warranty.

Key Specifications

• Model: TSP143IIIBI2 Grey, Star generation TSP100III
• Interfaces: Bluetooth only for data, plus a 1.0 A USB charging port
• Print method: Direct thermal line printing
• Print speed: Up to 250 mm per second
• Resolution: 203 dpi
• Media width: 80 mm and 58 mm rolls, up to 83 mm roll diameter
• Print width: 72 mm on 80 mm paper, 51 mm on 58 mm paper
• Auto cutter: Guillotine, rated 2,000,000 cuts, 100 km print head life
• Power: Internal supply, 100 to 240 V AC, 50/60 Hz
• Peripheral port: Cash drawer and external buzzer connector
• Warranty: 2 years in the United States
• Dimensions: 142 x 204 x 132 mm, approximately 1.68 kg

A cable-free counter

Bluetooth is the entire data story on this part number. There is no Ethernet, no Wi-Fi and no USB data connection, which sounds limiting until you are putting a printer on a market stall, a pop-up counter, a bar station or a customer-facing desk where a trailing data cable is the problem you are trying to solve. Star supports pairing from iOS, Android and Windows, so the same printer follows a tablet-based till system across all three. The only cord is the mains lead. That is a genuinely different installation from a wired printer, and it is the reason to choose this code over the USB or Ethernet builds of the same family.

About that USB port

There is a USB port on the back of this printer and it is not a data port. Star's own manual describes it as a 1.0 amp supply that can provide power to USB devices such as tablets, which in practice means the iPad or Android tablet running your till can charge from the printer instead of occupying a second mains socket. Several distributor listings describe this as built-in USB in a way that reads like connectivity, and buyers have been caught out by it. If you need a wired USB data connection, the part you want is the TSP143IIIU, 39472310, which is a different printer with two genuine USB ports.

Pairing and setup

Star ships this printer with Auto Connection enabled. That is the correct setting for an iOS host, where the printer needs to re-establish the link on its own after a device sleeps or moves out of range. For an Android host the documented guidance is the opposite: turn Auto Connection off, or the printer will hold a connection the Android device is trying to renegotiate. A recessed reset button on the rear panel reinitialises the Bluetooth settings if a pairing goes wrong, which saves opening the printer or reaching for a utility. Star does not publish a Bluetooth version or range figure for this model, so we do not quote one.

Speed and cutter life

Every TSP143 in this range prints at the same headline rate, up to 250 millimetres per second at 203 dpi, which clears a normal grocery or hospitality receipt in about a second. What separates a printer that lasts from one that does not is the cutter, and Star rates the guillotine here at two million cuts. The print head is rated for 100 kilometres of paper and the mechanism carries a 60 million line MCBF figure. For a till running two hundred transactions a day those numbers are the difference between a consumable and a fixture. Media handling is drop-in: lift the cover, drop the roll in, close it, and the printer feeds and cuts without threading.

Internal power supply

The power supply is inside the printer. That sounds like a footnote until you have wired a counter and discovered that the printer needs somewhere to hide a brick, and that the brick has to sit where a cleaner will not kick it. Star runs mains straight into the chassis at 100 to 240 volts, 50 or 60 hertz, so the only thing leaving the printer is a detachable mains cord. It makes the unit slightly deeper than a printer with an external adapter and considerably tidier once installed. It also means one fewer part to lose when a unit is moved between sites, and one fewer thing to specify when you order a replacement.

What is included

Star's accessory list for this printer covers the main unit, a mains power cable, the paper roll guide for 58 millimetre media, a wall mounting bracket with two screws, four rubber feet, a switch cover and the Easy Setup and Safety guides. There is no interface cable in the box, and correctly so: the interface is Bluetooth, so there is nothing to plug in. Star's own note is that included accessories vary by model, and its United States marketing copy mentions a starter paper roll that the factory accessory list does not itemise, so treat a first roll as something to order rather than something to expect.

Warranty and support

Star covers this printer in the United States with a 2-year warranty, and offers EXTEND-A-STAR and SWAP-A-STAR service plans that take the term to three or four years, with SWAP-A-STAR providing an advance replacement unit rather than a repair turnaround. Note that Star's European operation publishes a longer standard term; the figure that applies to a printer bought in the United States is the 2-year one, and that is what we quote. Drivers, manuals and configuration utilities remain available from Star's support site, and the unit is Energy Star certified.

For a mobile, pop-up or tablet-led counter where a data cable is the thing you are trying to get rid of, the Bluetooth Star TSP143IIIBI2 39474710 does the job with nothing but a mains lead. Contact us to learn more or secure this solution for your business today.