{"id":11453,"date":"2019-03-09T12:00:58","date_gmt":"2019-03-09T12:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/?p=11453"},"modified":"2019-03-07T21:26:48","modified_gmt":"2019-03-07T21:26:48","slug":"best-portable-photo-printer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/best-portable-photo-printer\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Portable Photo Printer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bestDepending on how you look at it, anyone in the market for the best portable photo printer today is either spoiled for choice or instead faces a fruitless search for castles in the air. Which of these two opposing points of view you adhere to will largely depend on your expectations as to the kind of tasks a portable photo printer should be capable of performing. <\/span><\/p>\n

To be sure, there are many different models of portable photo printer on the market right now, most of them offering quite similar features. And if portability, speed, and attractive design are your main priorities, the majority of them will deliver quite superbly. This can certainly make it difficult to choose between one model and another. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, if you\u2019ve come into this quest with the idea that the best portable printer might offer something more than this, namely that it might produce <\/span>good quality<\/span><\/i> prints, you\u2019re probably in for a disappointment. Let\u2019s be upfront: even top-of-the-range portable photo printers fall far short of producing results similar to mid-range home desktop printers. And once again, the differences between competing brands and models are notably slim in this area too. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is not to say that portable photo printers don\u2019t have their uses. Certainly, a fast, cheap, and portable printing device that your friends can quickly connect to from their smartphones has considerable appeal as a fun party toy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps you are a photographer who spends a lot of time on the road in far-off locales, and you\u2019re on the lookout for a novel way of interacting with (and thanking) the people you photograph during your trips? Here a pocketable printer can be a great purchase, allowing you to give away a small memento of each encounter. <\/span><\/p>\n

Just don\u2019t expect particularly detailed prints; nor impressive image sharpness; nor color reproduction that is even remotely faithful to the original; not to mention any consistency between one print and another in any of these departments.<\/span><\/p>\n

With that said though, while the portable photo printers currently on the market are mostly very similar, they\u2019re not entirely identical. Indeed, there are often some subtle differences in results, or a product\u2019s performance and usability. A few printers even offer clever little interactive features (or merely gimmicks, depending on your point of view) that make zero difference to print quality but which may nonetheless prove entertaining for some users.<\/span><\/p>\n

As minor as these differences may be, when deciding upon the best portable photo printer for your purposes it\u2019s important to be aware of what these features are and how they may influence your experience as a user. Let\u2019s take a look at these points one by one.<\/span><\/p>\n

What to Consider When Choosing a Portable Photo Printer<\/b><\/h2>\n

Cost<\/b><\/h3>\n

For most photographic gear, the greatest customer satisfaction usually comes not to people who purchase the first attractive looking \u201cbargain\u201d they come across, but rather to those willing to put in the time to research precisely which item they need, and then scrimp and save until they can afford that item if necessary. In short, if you want to be sure of ending up with something you will make good use of, it usually pays to check the spec first and worry about the price second.<\/span><\/p>\n

Portable printers are a little different though. In fact, given the incredible similarity of products in this market – with often very few differences between makes and models in either print-quality or features – the initial purchase price becomes a much more salient consideration. And bearing in mind that prices in this sector can vary from well below $100 to over $200, clearly, you\u2019ll want to avoid paying more for what is effectively just the same product. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, in cases where there\u2019s such an extreme jump in price, there will likely also be a few notable differences in features too. But rarely are the actual prints superior in quality – even on considerably more expensive models. Perhaps they\u2019ll be slightly <\/span>bigger<\/span><\/i>, but they\u2019ll mostly not be any better.<\/span><\/p>\n

Keep in mind, though, that the initial cost of the printer itself is by no means the only expense to worry about. If you use the printer regularly, the cost of paper and ink could soon outstrip the purchase price in a matter of mere months – if not even weeks. In this respect, a cheaper model may turn out to be a false economy if proprietary paper or inks are much higher priced than those offered by a competitor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Output<\/b><\/h3>\n

As we\u2019ve already mentioned, if you come into this expecting results to rival even a basic consumer-level home photo printer, you will be disappointed. Perhaps one of these days a manufacturer will come out with a product that fills this gap in the market. <\/span><\/p>\n

For now, even the best portable photo printer is little more than a toy in terms of print quality. In effect, this means that prints will often appear flat, washed out, and lacking in both contrast and saturation when compared with their originals on screen.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, we also need to be realistic here. If a desktop printer will produce far superior results to a portable one, this is precisely because it has more room in which to pack all its useful extra features. <\/span><\/p>\n

Like, you know, ink and stuff. <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, that\u2019s right, many portable photo printers don\u2019t print with ink at all. Instead, they use a brand of paper called Zink (for zero-ink). The paper itself contains color crystals that are heated by the printer in such a way as to produce an image. <\/span><\/p>\n

While this three-color system offers users the advantage of not having to buy ink cartridges, it\u2019s precisely the ink in a desktop printer that results in superior quality prints. Most modern consumer printers use five, six, or more ink cartridges to provide much greater depth, saturation, and density of color. A few cyan, magenta, and yellow crystals alone cannot hope to compete with the extra cartridges commonly used inside a desktop inkjet printer (typically two kinds of black, and some stronger specialized pigments such as magenta or yellow).<\/span><\/p>\n

However, while Zink is undoubtedly the most popular system used by portable printers today, it\u2019s not the only one. Another fairly common method is dye-sublimation: this tends to produce slightly superior results than Zink but requires the printer to run the print through the machine several times, adding an extra layer of color on each pass. The disadvantage here is that the print may become damaged by the user as it moves in and out of the printer on subsequent passes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some printers even employ old-school photochemistry, effectively using the same process as Polaroid instant film. The results may not be objectively \u201csuperior\u201d in quality to the Zink or dye-sub methods, but they certainly offer some retro charm. Additionally, prints of this type tend to suffer less from the lack of chromatic depth seen with prints made using the black-free Zink process.<\/span><\/p>\n

Given the overall similarity of printing results – particularly when it comes to the all-but-identical Zink printers – perhaps the main thing to consider here is not so much print quality, but print <\/span>size<\/span><\/i>. Most portable photo printers produce tiny, wallet-sized prints. Some are capable of producing bigger prints, but unsurprisingly these printers will often be physically bigger too – and thus somewhat less portable. <\/span><\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t always the case though, so even if you\u2019re looking for a genuinely pocketable printer, don\u2019t automatically rule out those machines offering bigger print dimensions. Sometimes you <\/span>can<\/span><\/i> have the best of both worlds. <\/span><\/p>\n

Battery<\/b><\/h3>\n

Being portable devices, these printers run on rechargeable batteries, like in your smartphone. Usually they can be plugged into the mains with a regular smartphone charger and adapter, or charged via USB from a desktop or laptop computer. Check out the connection ports on any model of printer you are considering purchasing though, as not all offer the same charging methods.<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the battery itself to consider. Most manufacturers claim similar charge times for portable printers: typically in the region of 90 minutes. Be sure to check a printer\u2019s charge time, but don\u2019t expect to find any massive variations between one model and another.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, where you <\/span>are<\/span><\/i> likely to discover greater variation is in the print capacity of a battery once fully charged. While very few of these printers offer particularly impressive specs in this department, there can nonetheless be large differences between models in terms of battery performance: around twenty prints per charge is fairly common, but some are capable of thirty prints or more before you\u2019ll need to plug the printer into the mains again. <\/span><\/p>\n

Clearly, if you plan on using your printer out on the road, battery performance can be a real dealbreaker.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speed<\/b><\/h3>\n

For desktop printers, the printing speed is often a serious consideration when assessing which will be the best printer to purchase. This will be even more the case if you regularly need to print multiple copies of several files: a difference of even just a few seconds in printing time per sheet can add up to hours more work overall when doing a bulk printing job.<\/span><\/p>\n

There <\/span>is<\/span><\/i> notable variation in print times between many of these portable photo printers, with some being quicker than their competitors by as much as 30 percent or more per print. However, we\u2019ve just noted that a single battery will likely power no more than about 30 prints per session before needing to be recharged. <\/span><\/p>\n

This means that a portable printer is unlikely to ever be called upon to churn out photo after photo in quick succession: simply because it\u2019s not capable of being used in this way for any amount of time. This renders a portable printer\u2019s print speed much less significant than it would be with other types of printer.<\/span><\/p>\n

In any case, print speed doesn\u2019t entirely depend on the printer itself, but will also be somewhat dictated by the processing power of the smartphone or tablet you use to control the printer; or even the WiFi connection used to send images to the printer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Connectivity<\/b><\/h3>\n

Most of these little printers function wire-free. That means you won\u2019t be able to connect your DSLR directly to the printer, nor download images from an SD card. Instead, they are designed to print over either WiFi, Bluetooth or NFC networks using a dedicated app. <\/span><\/p>\n

In practice, the necessity to use the manufacturer\u2019s proprietary app excludes the possibility of printing from any device other than either a smartphone or (in some cases) a tablet. Even printing from a desktop computer or WiFi-equipped DSLR is ruled out.<\/span><\/p>\n

Virtually all portable photo printers offer printing via Bluetooth. However, the inclusion of WiFi and other technologies are less certain. <\/span><\/p>\n

Make sure to check out any printers that you\u2019ve shortlisted to ascertain that they offer your preferred connection method. It\u2019s worth bearing in mind that any device you might consider using to control your printer (smartphone, tablet) will, in any case, be Bluetooth-enabled, so a lack of WiFi doesn\u2019t seem like such a big deal in the end anyway.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, given that most of these printers come with virtually no physical controls of their own to speak of, you\u2019ll also want to take a good look at the printer\u2019s app to make sure that it is well-designed and user-friendly. As your only method of controlling the printer, the app absolutely must be convenient to use, or it effectively means that the printer isn\u2019t convenient to use. <\/span><\/p>\n

Portability <\/b><\/h3>\n

Considering that portable photo printers offer precious few advantages over desktop models beyond their portability, you should look for a \u201cportable\u201d printer that is <\/span>genuinely<\/span><\/i> portable. Let\u2019s just say that some portable printers are more portable than others. <\/span><\/p>\n

While it may not sound like much, even a difference of an inch in length can render one printer considerably more pocketable than another. Weight should be considered too so the printer doesn\u2019t end up feeling more like a ball and chain when carried around.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Six of the Best Portable Photo Printers<\/b><\/h2>\n

Lifeprint 3 x 4.5\u201d Hyperphoto Printer<\/b><\/h3>\n

\"Lifeprint<\/a><\/p>\n

Paper\/Ink Type:<\/b> Zink<\/span><\/p>\n

In any other category of a photo printer, a slight increase in print size and the addition of a second file-transfer method might be considered somewhat attractive features, but probably not dealbreakers. Certainly, these features alone wouldn\u2019t normally warrant placing the printer in question at the number one spot on a list like this. But in a category of printers that is more notable for the uniformity of products on offer than anything else, half an inch of extra photographic real-estate and the addition of WiFi is all that it takes to stand out above the competition. <\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s not the whole story, as the Lifeprint 3x4.5<\/a> has one other major strength going for it too: battery charge times are typically 30% faster than with competitors, around an hour from flat to full. <\/span><\/p>\n

Exciting stuff!<\/span><\/p>\n

Sarcasm aside, there is very little variation between makes and models in this category, and so even these few extra features mean that the Lifeprint 3×4.5 is fully deserving of the title \u201cbest portable photo printer\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s not all good news. And one significant area where the Lifeprint 3×4.5 lags behind other mini photo printers is in speed: with the Lifeprint, average print times are about one and a half minutes, compared to a minute or less with many competitors. <\/span><\/p>\n

As we\u2019ve already noted though, the chance that anybody will purchase one of these printers for the express purpose of churning out hundreds of photos in an all-day print-marathon is almost zero. And if you can\u2019t possibly bear to wait a few seconds more for a print (<\/span>a bigger than average print<\/span><\/i>, at that) then perhaps you\u2019d be better advised to skip printing altogether and go back to looking at photos on your phone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Measuring 1 x 4.5 x 6.3 inches (HWD) and weighing 12 ounces, the Lifeprint is also a little larger and heavier than many of its competitors. It\u2019s still quite portable and will squeeze into most pockets, so we\u2019re not going to grade the Lifeprint down too much for this.<\/span><\/p>\n

More troubling, however, are the running costs. Yes, the Lifeprint produces slightly bigger prints than average, but they also work out to be considerably more expensive per sheet than with most competitors. <\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to the previously mentioned WiFi control, Bluetooth is also an option. Despite this extra feature, there are few physical controls on the Lifeprint\u2019s silver and white casing: an on\/off switch; a USB charger port; a Kensington cable-lock slot; a reset button; and finally a light that indicates when the battery is charging.<\/span><\/p>\n

You may have noticed that this printer\u2019s full name is the Lifeprint 3×4.5\u201d Hyperphoto Printer. But what exactly is a Hyperhoto? Well, the idea is that prints made with the Lifeprint can act like \u201cliving photos\u201d: scan a print using the Lifephoto app, and it will suddenly come alive on your phone as a moving image.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, for this trick to work, the \u201cphoto\u201d in question needs to first start life as a video. You then select a still image from the video to print, and then when somebody points their phone at the printed photo, the app retrieves the original video from its memory and plays it back.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is, without a doubt, a textbook example of a gimmick. But as gimmicks go, it\u2019s pretty fun. At least for the first couple of times. <\/span><\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s fun enough to justify buying this printer over any others is entirely debatable. But when you consider that the Lifeprint 3x4.5<\/a> prints slightly larger than most of its competitors, and offers WiFi and improved battery life, there are few reasons <\/span>not<\/span><\/i> to go with the Lifeprint either.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\n\n Sale<\/span>\n
\n \n \"Lifeprint\n <\/a>\n\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n Lifeprint 3x4.5 Portable Photo AND Video Printer for iPhone and Android. Make Your Photos Come To Life w\/ Augmented Reality, White with Zero Ink Sticky Backed Film (40 pack) <\/a>\n
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