Six Best Smartphone Photo Printers for Instant Printing
Photographs offer the best way to quickly go through past special moments with family members, friends, or even colleges. With the latest technological advancement in smartphone cameras; most people who take pictures for fun have forgotten about digital cameras. In fact, only professional photographers use digital cameras today for photo shooting.
Whether you are a professional standard DSLR photo shooter, or just a smartphone capture-happy user, our storage memory space gets full over a time, and worst of all, we delete some old important photos to give room for new pictures: This is particularly very common with smartphones snap-happy individuals. However, we don’t need to delete old photos to give room for new pictures we take, the older a photo is the more emotional our memory becomes.
Ideally, there a number of portable photo printers specifically designed to immediately print photos taken from smartphones whether Windows or iPhones, so that you may save your smartphone's storage space for something else. Moreover, there is no shortage of options and whether you need just a prosumer model or a fully professional model, there is a photo printer to suit everyone’s need.
1. Polaroid Zip
Polaroid Zip is a small instant photo printer with no camera on it, but pairs with your smartphone over Bluetooth and gives your opportunity to edit photos taken from your smartphone, and print the photos out. The photos printed using Polaroid zip are tinny and measures 2 by 3 inches, however, the photo printing process using polaroid zip is fast and within a very few second, you will have your photos on your hands.
Polaroid Zip offers very simple features compared to its predecessors, which have a camera feature on them and that is why Polaroid zip costs less than half the price of its predecessors. Polaroid zip uses Zink paper and it does not require ink for it print out a photo like other models, making it even simpler but effective in photo printing.
How to Use Polaroid Zip
Using polaroid zip is very simple, and if you have ever connected any wireless device with your smartphone via Bluetooth, this should be a similar experience. If you just bought the polaroid zip, the very first thing you will need to do is to open the box, take out the printer and charge it using the USB code it comes with, and the only thing that you will need to connect just in case you are a techno-phobia:)
Next step, go to your smartphone and download Polaroid’s App, then go to Bluetooth settings and initiate the connection, and you are done. To load the Zink printing papers, pop open the top of the printer and place the papers with blue sides facing down, then close the top of the printer. And you are so done, ready to print instant photos a matter of seconds.
Print Quality of Polaroid Zip
The Polaroid zip photo printer free App offers a number of options to produce quality photo output in no minute. The photo printer gives you an option to print photos in their original ratio with white borders around the edge, or have the photos fit in the frame.
Moreover, you can select the Edit Print icon from the App, which allows you take an immediate new photo with smartphone and uploads it for editing before printing, or you can just upload an old photo stored in your smartphone’s memory.
The Edit print icon allows you do a little more things to enhance the final print quality of photos like rotating the photo, flip photos, crop photos, adjust brightness, adjust contrast, chose photo effects, make a drawing on the picture, adding words to the picture, add a frame, and a sticker type object. There is even an option to order Zink printing papers from the App whenever you feel you are running short of printing papers.
To make a photo print, press the printer icon at the bottom of the screen in the App, and if your printer is connected the smartphone via Bluetooth, the photo will be sent to the polaroid zip for instant printing, and you will have your quality photo within less than 10 seconds. Fancy?
Pros of Polaroid Zip Instant Photo Printer:
.Very easy to use and does not need any technical know-how
.Very affordable and anyone can have it
.Very fast in photo printing
.Easily portable and can be carried around in the pockets
.Comes with a flawless design
.The App offers lots of printing options
Cons of Polaroid Zip Instant Photo Printer:
.Comes with no camera feature and must have smartphone with camera to have a photo print
.Produces tiny photos
Conclusion:
Polaroid Zip instant photo printer designed for easy portability and to produced instant clear and high-quality photographs within a very short time, making it the best option for a photo printer you want to have when on a special occasion and you need to share printed photos with friends. On the other hand, the zip is very affordable, with less ongoing cost and therefore preferred for enthusiast photo-sharing individuals who wants to do it at an affordable cost.
2. Prynt Case
Ideally, iPhone smartphones are always designed with custom features and they will not work well with most hardware or software that work well with Windows or Android-based smartphones: The same is true when it comes to smartphone printer compatibility.
There are a number of smartphone printers out there, however, finding ones that are compatible with iPhones is not very easy; and if you are an iPhone user and you need a printer that will work with your cell phone, you need to know which ones are compatible with iPhones so that you don’t end up buying the wrong one that will not work with your iPhone.
What Prynt Case is and what it does
Prynt Case is an iPhone case that is specifically designed to work with iPhones to print photos. With Prynt Case, you can instantly print your iPhone photos on the go and share them with your loved ones wherever you go.
The most fun part of Prynt case is that you don’t need to carry an extra load like a separate printer, it is one thing with your iPhone. It snaps onto your phone and connects via a lighting connector, simply like that.
Like most smartphone printers, Prynt uses an App to produce a photo print while it is connected to your iPhone. The most fun part of Prynt case is that apart from printing photos from your phone’s memory, it allows you to print photos and images from your Facebook and Instagram profiles.
Moreover, the Prynt case is capable of producing an augmented reality videos within the printed photo, this can be done by taking a 5 to 10 seconds video before snapping the photo. To be able to view the video, print the photo, and then scan it with the Prynt App.
The Look and Feel of Prynt Case
Prynt Case has smart look and design and comes in different colors that give a cool feeling once you get hold of the Pryny. It is a sizeable case that looks almost similar to a portable dock and it charges through a USB port when a special cable is connected to it.
Moreover, you need not worry about the iPhone’s battery drain: This is because Prynt comes with its own in-built battery that charges through a USB cable.
The Prynt case is fairly slim, and you should not be worried about its size and portability issues. It can easily fit into your pockets, or alternatively, you can just hold it on your wrist as it comes with a wrist strap to make it more portable and easy to carry around.
Compatibility
Talking of compatibility, Prynt case comes in three different models: the three models are well compatible with the following iPhone models; iPhone 6/6s/7/7 plus, and iPhone 5s/SE models.
You need to be careful when buying one for your iPhone since the compatibility of Prynt is all about how well the shutter release aligns with your iPhone’s volume button but connects to a phone via lighting, which then makes it possible to print photos on the go.
As such, you don’t need to use or have a Bluetooth connection, or Wi-Fi connection so that you can print photos with Prynt case: This is because it uses a unique connection technology of lighting via inbuilt plug that hooks up to your phone.
Print Quality
About the photo printing quality, Prynt produces small size photo, just like Polaroid Zip: The measurement of the output print is 3 by 2 inches, and this means it is more of a fun experience when using the Prynt.
The special photo printing papers come with stickers, and you can decide to remove the stickers and place the photos in a scrapbook if you are a scrapbooker.
Of cause, you can’t compare the print quality of Prynt case with an inkjet dye photo printers, but the quality is good enough for the photo fun-sharing purpose that it was made for.
Pros of Prynt Case
-Suitable for instant photo printing and sharing
-Very portable
-Easy to set up use
-Allows for production of augmented reality videos
Cons of Prynt Case
-Small size photo output
-Not suitable fo large photos to be framed
-A little costly
Conclusion:
Prynt case plays a very important role of instant photo production, which is a very important thing when it comes memorable fun moments with our loved ones. Prynt also allows you to record a short video to the printed photo, which gives a good feeling somehow little details of a picture. It is also very portable and you can easily carry it around with you to instantly print those fun times with your friends and family and share your photos with them.
3. Fujifilm Instax Share SP-2
What Fujifilm is and what it does
Fujifilm Instax Share SP is an instant film camera that is analog since you get only one print for every shot that you take. With this smartphone photo printer, there is no digital backup of the photos that you shoot, and the printed photo is the only version of your photo.
However, the Instax Share SP allows you to edit photos on your smartphone and make an instant photo print on the spot.
Print Quality
Fujifilm Instax Share SP instant photo printer produces small prints, which are 3.4 by 2.1 inches, approximately 86 by 54 mm: However, the actual image size is about 2.4 by 1.8 inches, which is 62 by 46 mm. The smartphone printer does not use ink or paper, and it only uses special films that are replaceable.
Pros of Fujifilm Instax Share SP-2
-It is faster
-It is compact and stylish
-Uses updated mobile App for flexible and customized photo printing
-Easy to use
-Uses just film and not ink and paper
Cons of Fujifilm Instax Share SP-2
-The prints are small
-A little more expensive
-A higher cost per print
Conclusion
The Fujifilm Instax Share smartphone is specifically designed for those who love to share instant photos anywhere and anytime with lots of ease. It is also very portable and can easily be carried around for instant photo shooting and printing. Moreover, it allows for photo editing through the mobile App to give a better-looking print out without using ink or a paper.
4. Canon Selphy CP1200
The Canon Selphy Cp1200 photo printer is a brand of Canon company, which is compact and is capable of printing up to postcard sized prints of 6 by 4 inches. Selphy CP1200 is a wireless smartphone photo printer, which means you can print photos directly from your smartphones, computers, or cameras as long as they are connected via Wi-Fi network.
The CP1200 photo printer offers an option to use a rechargeable battery so that you can use it portably without necessarily having to connect it to any power source.
The Design
The Canon Selphy CP1200 smartphone photo printer comes with a small and stylish design, making a portable brand that anyone can envy having it. It uses Wi-Fi network to be able to print from a smartphone, making it very easy to use and anyone can do it on the go. CP1200 comes with rechargeable battery, making it usable even when there is no power or when you need to carry it to places with no power.
Set up
The Canon Selphy CP1200 photo printer is very simple to set up. The very first thing to do when setting it up is to fill ink and load paper packs. The paper cassette of CP1200 carries a maximum of 18 printing papers and you need to be very careful not to overload it.
After filling in the ink and loading printing papers to the cassette, plug it in the power source and switch it on, then set up your wireless connection via Wi-Fi, and you are ready to do your photo printing.
Apart from the wireless connection via Wi-Fi, there is also a USB port, which can be used to print photos from smartphones, tablets, and computers without using the wireless connection.
Speed and Print Quality
The printing speed of the Canon Selphy CP1200 is a little bit reasonable, and it takes about 90 seconds to produce a photo from the time it is sent to the printer via Wi-Fi and the time that the photograph will be produced.
Pros of Canon Selphy CP1200
-Can produce photo prints wirelessly
-Can be used without power
-Very portable
-Alternative USB printing method
Cons of Canon Selphy CP1200
-Slow in producing prints and
-Relative small prints
5. Epson PictureMate Charm
Epson Charm smartphone photo printer comes with attractive features that make it a unique brand for instant photo printing. The Epson Charm features a medium LCD screen of 2.5 inches for previewing photos before making a print out. The Epson Charm is capable of printing directly from computers, PictBridge cameras, and memory cards.
The Design
The Epson Charm comes with reasonably large size of 5.7 by 9.1 by 6.7 inches. The Charm has a weight of 4.9 pounds, which makes a little too hard to carry with you around. However, it comes with a handle that helps make it a little bit portable if you may want to carry it with you.
Moreover, it supports the use of rechargeable battery so that you can use it without having to connect the power code to a source of power. To add on top, the Epson photo printer allows you to use a Bluetooth adapter that lets you print wirelessly from your smartphone and other Bluetooth enabled devices.
Speed and Printing Quality
The Epson Charm comes with impressive printing speed of around 40 seconds per photo of 4 by 6 inches, which makes a little faster than other previous models of Epson photo printers.
About the print quality, Epson Charm produces a small but high quality and long-lasting photos than the previous versions.
Pros of Epson Charm
-Fast photo printing speed
-Low printing price per photo
-High quality 4*6” photos
-Long-lasting photos
Cons
-Does not print from USB
-Relatively larger and heavy
Conclusion
If you need a smartphone photo printer that delivers fast photo printing speed at a very low cost per photo, the Epson Charm is your favourite brand. It also come with high quality photo print out ability that the older models.
6. HP Sprocket Portable Photo Printer
The HP Sprocket portable photo printer is a small, attractive, and convenient smartphone photo printer, which connects to iOS and Android devices through Bluetooth. With HP Sprocket, you can also print photos from social media accounts such as Facebook and Instagram easily.
The Design
The HP sprocket comes with a sleek design that includes a rounded corner, measurement of 0.9 by 3 by 4. 5 inches, and a weight of 6 ounces. Moreover, the HP Sprocket comes with a rechargeable battery, which can last up to 30 clean shots without going off. However, the connectivity feature is limited to Bluetooth and you don’t have lots of printing options.
Speed and Print Quality
The HP Sprocket comes with an impressive speed of 42 seconds when a 2 by 3-inch paper is used, which is not very bad indeed. However, the print quality of HP Sprocket is not very good as you may expect and is similar to the print quality of Polaroid Zip.
Pros of HP Sprocket
-Fast instant photo printing
-Very portable
-Easy photo print from smartphone and tablets
-Prints from social media accounts including Facebook, Instagram, and Flickr
Cons of HP Sprocket
-Produces small prints, 2*3”
-Only prints via Bluetooth
Conclusion
HP Sprocket is designed specifically for those who need to print small sized photos from their smartphones and tablets. This printer comes with impressive speed that most of the smartphone photo printers don't have. Hp Sprocket is a handy smartphone photo printer suitable for faster Bluetooth printing on the go, and immediately share your printed photos with your loved ones.