The advancement of technologies in the photographic section of our mobile phones has made them become the ideal pocket photo camera. This means that wherever we go and that in any unforeseen situation, we can immortalize a moment, landscape or anything else. However, with this great digitalization of photography, those albums full of paper memories have been largely lost.
Yes, there are people who take the trouble to make their own albums and print or occasionally take a photo on paper, but the vast majority stores all their photos on the mobile, the cloud or an external hard drive. If you are one of those who like to have your photos on paper, these are some of the best portable photo printers.
Perhaps someone is wondering the need to have a photo printer and what differences there are with respect to a conventional printer, therefore, we are going ahead what are the photo printers, how they work and what are some of the best printers to get in Paper photos taken from your mobile.
What are portable photo printers and how does it work?
As the name implies, they are printers specially designed to print digital photographs in high quality. These photographs can be sent from the mobile phone to the printer via Bluetooth, NFC or WiFi, stored on a computer, an external memory unit or a cloud storage service.
The most common type of printing is by inkjet, since it is a technology that offers high quality results, however, there are also other printing systems such as thermal method or sublimation. Now, when we refer to portable photo printers , which we can carry almost in any pocket, then the most popular printing is what we know as Zink printing.
The printing by injection what does to inject the ink in the paper where we are going to print from the cartridges that contain said ink. They are the most common and today they usually use four cartridges with the primary colors.
The thermal method is the one that carries out the ink output of the cartridges generating a temperature increase for a short time, while the sublimation printing, although it is also generated from heat to transfer the ink, it comes from a band that has the four primary colors instead of using cartridges.
While when we talk about photo printers to have at home the most common thing is that they are inkjet, when we look for one that is portable and we can take it anywhere, Zink printing is the most used as we have indicated previously. Now what does this mean?
Zink is the abbreviation for Zero Ink , or what comes to be the same as “zero ink”. Therefore, it is a method of printing without ink and therefore without cartridges. In this case, Zink prints contain layers of ink on the paper itself. During the printing process, the ink is mixed by using chemical components that react according to thermal pulses to reproduce the image.
This implies that the printers are small in size, that we do not have to refill the cartridges and that require the use of a specific paper for printing photographs.
To take into account when choosing a photo printer
There are several things that we should look at and take into account when choosing a photo printer according to our needs. In addition to the price, since our budget can be a great determinant, the first thing we must decide is whether we want a portable printer or to have in our house. With this defined, these are other important aspects to consider:
- Dimensions : If we are going to use it to take it anywhere, it is best that we make sure of the measurements beforehand. If it is to place at home, it is also important to know if it fits in the table or space where we want to put it.
- Print quality: better print quality will make our photos look much better when printed on paper. Needless to say, portable photo printers will offer a lower resolution.
- Connectivity that offers us : It is important to consider if the printer has Bluetooth technology, WiFi, or if it needs to be connected to the electric current, which will facilitate or not its use and the sending of photos.
- Print speed: this will make the waiting for the printing be done or not endless, especially if we want to make several prints.
- Paper Type : It is important to know the type of paper that the printer needs for proper operation.
- Type of cartridges : If the printer works with cartridges, it is also important to know what type of cartridges and how many you use.
- Price of the spare parts : it is important that we first look at the cost of the cartridges or paper, since this can be a great saving over time.
The best photo printers
Instax
Printer of small size to be able to take anywhere to print the photos we make with the mobile at the moment. This Instax allows us to print photos directly from our smartphone, social networks or from another compatible camera. It offers high speed printing, has a rechargeable battery and uses Zink paper. The price on Amazon is 119 euros .
HP Sprocket
This HP printer is a great alternative when we talk about photo printers to take anywhere. Its small dimensions and the great image quality it offers along with its price, makes it one of the best quality and price ratio. Simply by having our mobile and the printer connected by bluetooth and using the HP app, we can send and print photos from the mobile in a few moments. Its price on Amazon is 120.88 euros .
Polaroid Zip
Polaroid is one of the pioneers in instant photography, therefore, it could not be less and also has an interesting mobile or portable photo printer. This is a model that has bluetooth and nfc connectivity that uses Zink Zero Ink technology and that has a rechargeable battery. Its price on Amazon is 113.87 euros and offers the possibility of buying the printer together with packages of sheets.
Kodak
Kodak is another of the reference manufacturers in terms of photography and also has a small size photo printer in its product catalog. Kodak has its own printing technology that offers great print quality. Compatible with iOS and Android devices via Bluetooth and NFC respectively. From the Kodak P ^ hoto app it is possible to apply filters, make clippings, use templates, etc. Its price is 99.99 euros.
Canon Selphy
The Canon Selphy is another of the most popular photo printers. A model that uses a dye sublimation printing system with which it offers great image quality and very durable photos. Even so, it has a fairly compact design that allows us to take it with us or use it from home. Its official price is around 140 euros but it is with a 15% discount on Amazon, so we can buy it now for 118.15 euros .
Huawei
Although it is known as one of the most popular manufacturers of smartphones, tablets and other smart devices, Huawei also has in its product catalog with this small size photo printer, lithium battery and bluetooth connectivity so we can send the photos from the mobile comfortably and without wires. The printing technology is Zero Ink and is priced at 89.28 euros .
Xiaomi
How could it be otherwise, the Asian giant Xiaomi also offers us this printer model for photographs. It has Bluetooth connectivity to send the photos from the mobile to the printer and Zink printing technology. Its price is 82.99 euros and includes 20 sheets to print.
HP Envy 5030
This HP Envy 5030 is one of the photo printers that with a very reasonable price is able to offer a high quality print (1200ppp). It is a wireless ink printer with WiFi and bluetooth, compatible with instant ink and that we can buy right now at Amazon for 61.49 euros.
Epson Expression Photo XP-760
And if we look for something more advanced that allows us to print photographs in addition to all kinds of documents, then the Epson Expression Photo XP-760 may be our best choice. It is a multifunction ink printer that offers high quality photographic printing, Claria Photo HD inks for high quality photos and durability. It has two trays, one for paper and one for photographic paper. It has WiFi and Ethernet connectivity and is priced at 178.51 euros.
