An Introduction to Roller Banners

Print Android takes you through the minefield of buying a roller banner… which one to choose… which one matches your needs…what’s the difference?

There are so many roller banners on the market today, making it difficult to decide which model is best for you! They are even described differently, from roller banners, banner stands, roll ups, cassette banners…. the list goes on, but we will refer to any device which can hold a banner graphic as a roller banner!

So how do you decide on which roller banner to use? Well, to make things easier, we’ve reduced the whole array of roller banners down to the four best on the market. Others are available from us, but only these four are available to design and order online from Print Android and here’s why we chose them…

4 Most Popular Roller Banners

• The Barracuda Roller Banner (from £145)
• The Orient Roller Banner (from £99)
• The Budget (Eco) Roller Banner (from £75)
• The Cobra Roller Banner (from £49)

The Barracuda Roller Banner 

• Telescopic pole
• Photographic quality graphic
• Ratchet graphic tensioner
• Fast & easy graphic change
• Laminated with scuff-resistant laminate
• Very durable
• Foam padded bag

The Barracuda is one of the most popular roller banners on the market and is a very reliable and durable stand. It is suitable for regular use and ideal for small and simple exhibitions and displays.

It has a very stylish base design and has an easy-to-use telescopic pole. The telescopic pole means you can adjust the height of your banner display in height-restricted areas (remember this when designing; you need to put all your information at the top of the graphic). Like most roller banners, it extends to a maximum 2.2 metres in height and is 800mm wide.

One of the problems with roller banners is that after a certain amount of use they lose tension, disabling the roller banners ability to retract into the base of the stand. This renders most useless, particularly the cheaper roller banners. The Barracuda, however, has something to remedy this! It has a graphic ratchet positioned on the side of the base which allows you to easily tighten the graphic tension whenever it is necessary to do so. This would not be possible with cheaper roller banners. Some allow this adjustment using a screwdriver (see the Orient). The Barracuda comes with a quality foam padded bag with straps for easy transit.

To further enhance the Barracuda’s durability, we add a scuff-resistant laminate, giving the graphic a longer life.

Instant Barracuda Roller Banner Printing Quote  Artwork Templates  Technical Spec

The Orient Roller Banner 

• High-resolution printed graphic
• Easy graphic change if needed
• Lightweight
• Durable
• Great value for money

Print Android recommends the Orient for small exhibition or POS display – great value for money.

Designed in the same style as the Barracuda, the Orient has a robust, silver annodised look.

Perhaps the Orient isn’t finished quite as well as the Barracuda, but it offers excellent value for money. It has a fixed height bungee pole at 2.2 metres and is 800mm in width

Suitable for small exhibition displays and point of sale displays, the Orient comes with Print Android’s usual high-resolution printed graphic on laminated Lightblock PVC.

You will also be supplied with a high-quality foam padded bag.

Although this is our mid-range banner, we’re able to offer a superb price due to the large number we produce.

Instant Orient Roller Banner Printing Quote  Artwork Templates  Technical Spec

The Budget Roller Banner 

• Very lightweight
• High-resolution printed graphic
• Padded bag
• Excellent value for money

Our Budget roller banner is our lowest priced banner where the graphic retracts into the base. Described by many as a good economy banner or in some cases a mid-range banner, Print Android decided that this would be the lowest quality banner we would sell. Many other cheaper roller banners are not guaranteed to work for very long , if at all!

Certainly, it is not as durable as the Orient or the Barracuda, but if you need a reliable economy roller banner, this is the one.

The Budget roller banner comes with a twist-out foot to give it a little more stability, and a fixed height bungee pole, fixed at 2 metres by 800mm. It also comes with Print Android’s usual high- resolution printed graphics, printed on laminated lightblock pvc, and comes with a padded bag.

Here at Print Android, we are not scared of telling you what other suppliers may not admit; I perhaps wouldn’t buy this roller banner if it is going to be used excessively – the tension may last over a year if it is only used a couple of times a month. However, when the tension does go, there is no way of winding the graphic back into the base.

Instant Budget Roller Banner Printing Quote  Artwork Templates  Technical Spec

The Cobra Roller Banner 

• High-resolution printed graphic
• Very lightweight
• Useful telescopic pole
• Great value

The Cobra is strictly classed as a static banner stand, simply because the graphic doesn’t retract into the base of the stand. Instead, the weighted base and the high-resolution graphic are independent of each other but join together with a telescopic pole at the back. This has the advantage that there is less mechanism to go wrong and, so long as the the rolled graphic is stored correctly, it will out-last many cheap budget roller banners.

The graphic is printed in high-resolution onto laminated Lightblock pvc and is stored in a carrybox with the other components.

This style of banner stand makes it very easy to have a number of different graphics available for different events as the graphics can be interchanged quickly and easily.

The telescopic pole, as with the Barracuda, allows you to alter the height of the presentation up to 2.1 metres and can even be used as a desktop application

Of course, the biggest advantage of the Cobra is its price, this being Print Android’s lowest-priced roller banner. It isn’t quite as simple to erect as our other roller banners but it’s not difficult either, so a quick practise before you use it would be advisable!

Instant Cobra Roller Banner Printing Quote  Artwork Templates  Technical Spec

Roller Banner Conclusion

So those are Banner Printing Android’s four most popular roller banners.

There are many more roller banners on the market and there is one roller banner for every application, double sided, or roller banners that can be turned into an exhibition stand so if you need more information on other types of roller banners, please don’t hesitate to call us on 01625 435130.

For printing quotes for other products please call us on:
01625 435 130 (Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm)

Other Types of Banners