Best Portable Photo Printers – Almost everyone these days walks around with a powerful digital camera, but the majority of our snapshots never make it past the social media platform Instagram.
This is something that portable or quick printers want to alter. With this little gadget in your back pocket, you can print your favorite smartphone photos anywhere, anytime.
Or, if you’re in the mood for something a bit more throwback, you can always get a camera like the Polaroid that prints your pictures instantly. Look through our list of the top instant cameras to see if any of them suit your needs.
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The Best Portable Photo Printers 2022
1. HP Sprocket Select – Best for Larger Zink Prints
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HP’s Sprocket Select is the successor of the Sprocket 200. It has Bluetooth 5.0, so you can connect numerous devices at once using the Sprocket app (free on Android and iOS).
More importantly, the picture printed by Select is bigger than before, measuring in at 2.3 × 3.4 inches as opposed to 2 x 3 inches (or the size of a credit card).
The Sprocket Select, like its predecessor, prints on Zink paper, sometimes known as “zero ink,” which is less expensive than film but results in somewhat muted colors.
If you’re expecting the usual lack of excitement in Zink photos, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the Sprocket Select’s rather high level of clarity and contrast. Compared to other Zink printers we’ve tried, this one produces colors with greater vibrancy, particularly red, even if they still appear a touch washed out.
2. Instax Share SP-3 – Best for Square Printing
There are cheaper instant printers than the Instax Share SP-3. What we like most, however, is that the SP-3 is the only specialized portable printer available today that prints in a square format.
To print from your mobile device using an Instax Share printer, just download the free app from Google Play or the Apple App Store, choose a picture from your photo library or social media, add a template, alter the image as desired, and then press print.
You may also find designs that allow you to include text with holiday greetings (such “Happy Birthday”), the current date and time, the day’s forecast, or even your Instagram or Facebook status.
The Instax Share’s bigger print doesn’t make it any less portable; it weighs in at 312 grams, and its rechargeable battery is good for around 160 photos on a full charge, which you can extend using the Micro-USB cord. The front-mounted LED clearly indicates when power or paper are low.
Full Review of Fujifilm Instax Share SP-3: More Sophisticated
If you prefer the classic mini format, the Instax Share SP-2 offers similar functionality, but prints in the smaller Instax Mini format – although the newer Instax Mini Link may be a better choice.
3. Kodak Smile Instant – Best for Portable Printer
Printer Portability The Kodak Smile kit may be basic, but it does what it’s supposed to. It’s sized similarly to the HP Sprocket 200 and has a similar style, but it comes in a wider range of colors, including blue, red, white, green, and black. It has rounded sides and a rectangular design like the Sprocket, making it a stylish gadget.
It employs a Zink print, similar to the Sprocket, which isn’t the best but is a fun way to transform your phone’s images into unique prints or stickers. Kodak offers decent print quality and reasonably vibrant colors, but it lacks finer details. It is effective for both landscape and portrait photography.
The Smile app (iOS and Android) allows you to snap images directly from the app or from your social network accounts, and it includes a fair collection of editing tools, including exposure tweaks, frames, and stickers. The tool enables users to embed movies onto paper, which can then be scanned with a mobile device and viewed again.
More Review Kodak Smile Instant
You may have noticed that Kodak also makes the Smile Instant Camera, which is both a camera and a printer for the same price. That might make the camera model seem like a better deal, but keep in mind that it can only print photos transferred via MicroSD, not wirelessly, and has fewer editing options. If all you want to do is print from your phone, you should get a Smile printer.
Portable Photo Printers 2022
4. Polaroid Mint – Best for Simplicity
Similar in price to the HP Sprocket, the Polaroid Mint Pocket Printer also prints on Zink paper.
You may also alter Mint to your liking. Cropping, zooming, and adjusting color and contrast are just a few of the picture editing options available before you add effects like filters, borders, text, and stickers.
The Mint weighs just 204g and is 25x76x130mm, making it lighter and more portable than its competitors. It can produce 50 prints before requiring ink or paper to be replaced.
If you’d like prints but don’t have access to a printer, you may use Polaroid’s remote printing service, Super Snaps; just upload your picture, and the firm will ship you a Polaroid-style print.
5. Polaroid Hi-Print – Best Portable Printer The
The portable Polaroid Hi-Print is a no-frills digital printer that, despite its high initial cost, offers better print quality to its rivals. The only downside is that its pricey paper will add up over time.
The printer takes around 50 seconds longer to print than its competitors, but that’s because it’s a dye sublimation printer, which means the print has to go in and out at least four times to add each layer of color, plus the protective film.
In the end, you’ll be glad you waited, since the print quality is far better than that of quick digital printers.
The companion app is intuitive and user-friendly, allowing users to personalize their photographs with a variety of tools including frames, filters, aspect ratio adjustments, text, and stickers, but it also includes a few more features that aren’t essential.
Images from WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and other services may also be synced.
The only significant negative is that paper is more costly than the Zink prints used in most competing products, which means that running expenses will pile up over time; nevertheless, we believe the trade-off is worthwhile given the far improved print quality.
6. Instax Link Wide – The Best Instax Printer
Easily creating huge, glossy prints with no effort, the Instax Link Wide is Fujifilm’s greatest instant printer. It’s stylish and functional, making it equally at home in the living room or the car.
Pictures taken with an Instax Link Wide are twice as big as those taken with a Mini or regular printer, yet they can be printed in only 12 seconds and developed in just 90 seconds.
The printouts, like those from other Instax products, are vibrant and full of color. When compared to the Polaroid Hi-Print, however, the quality falls short. The price of Instax Wide film adds up over time, making this printer expensive to use.
Despite some layout issues, the accompanying app offers a number of ways to personalize your creations, such as filters, collages, and the ability to add a QR code.
There is a little price difference between the Instax Link Wide and the Mini Link, which provide almost identical functionality. However, this is the Instax printer to choose if you’re looking for larger prints.
7. Instax Mini Link – Best for Small Prints The
Fujifilm’s Instax Mini film may be used in the Instax Mini Link. The Mini Link is stylish and modern looking, with a variety of unique color possibilities.
Compatible with the Fujifilm X Series of cameras and the Mini Link app through Bluetooth connection to your mobile device. The only thing you can do with the gadget is print images; you can’t upload them elsewhere.
The software lets you access your picture collection and choose from a variety of frames and customization choices, such as split prints (which divide a photo into two reproductions) and collages.
The app’s picture editor lets you apply effects and adjust exposure settings on the fly.
This printer can print a single picture in roughly 12 seconds, can print in a continuous stream, and can print up to 100 photographs on a single battery.
Images produced on Mini film are crisp, detailed, and full of life, and a duplicate can be quickly and easily made with the push of a button.
For some lightheartedness, users may take advantage of the “fit test” feature, which prints images with a compatibility score between two individuals, or the “party print” mode, which enables users to combine photos from up to five phones into a single Instax print.
If you have a smartphone with a camera, you can use the printer as a remote control to zoom in and out by tilting the printer back and forth, albeit this feature is slow and doesn’t always function.
Simple Portable Photo Printers
8. Instant Kodak Step Printer – Best for Zink The
When it comes to Zink prints, the Kodak Step is one of the most reasonably priced printers available. Zink’s image isn’t nearly as striking as that of companies like Instax and Polaroid, but it’s more cheaper to operate and doesn’t need any developing time, so it’s a good compromise.
The Kodak Step is available in a number of different colors, and its design is kept minimal with a small rectangular form. Very straightforward, even for novices. One charge may keep it going for up to 25 photos.
Full Review Kodak Step Instant Printer review
In terms of size, the print is on the tiny side at 2×3 inches, so you’ll want to hope that your images fit in a wallet. The picture may be used as a sticker thanks to the adhesive on the reverse; it comes in a rainbow of hues, however, some of the original’s finer details are blurred.
There are a number of editing features in the program, but it also contains a number of glitches and other problems. But the Kodak Step’s low cost makes it a respectable portable printer for the money, Kodak.
