Zebra ZE511

The ZE511 is Zebra's 4-inch print engine, the compact half of the ZE511/ZE521 pair that replaces the earlier ZE500 line. It is not a standalone desktop printer: it is built to be dropped into a print-and-apply system or an OEM machine, with an Applicator Interface wired in alongside the usual USB 2.0, RS-232 Serial, 10/100 Ethernet, dual USB Host and Bluetooth 4.1 ports. The 4.3-inch colour touch screen can be unbolted from the engine and mounted up to two metres away, rotated to fit whatever panel space the integration allows.

Print speed tops out at 18 ips (457 mm/s) in direct thermal mode at 203 dpi, dropping to 14 ips in thermal-transfer mode, 14 ips at 300 dpi and 6 ips if the optional 600 dpi head is fitted — the 600 dpi option and the high-speed printhead are both ZE511-exclusive; the wider ZE521 doesn't get either. Standard resolution is 203 dpi with 300 dpi as a factory option. Media runs 16-114 mm wide, ribbon 25.4-107 mm on a 25.4 mm core, 600 m to a roll. The all-metal, fan-less cabinet is sealed against dust and splashed water, and the printhead is socketed with a quick-release tab so the platen, pinch and peel rollers come out from the front in minutes, without pulling the engine out of the applicator it's mounted in.

A UHF RFID encoding kit is field-installable on the same 4-inch chassis, turning the engine into a ZE511R without a different base unit. Zebra's Print DNA software stack — Link-OS, Printer Profile Manager Enterprise for remote fleet management, and PrintSecure for locking down network access — comes standard, alongside ZPL/ZPL II and the optional ZBI 2.0 scripting language.