This Handheld Printer Lets You Print Your Selfies on the Go
Just when you thought printing anything was so 2004, you start seeing things pop up on the market like a printer that can fit in your pocket and the LifePrint wireless photo printers. Here’s the truth. While we will never stop Instagramming and Facebooking our photos, the fact still remains: Old school Polaroid cameras are still basically the coolest things out there. Having a photo to put on your desk is just something that Instagram can never replace. And that’s why Fuji went and released their Instax Share printer, which let’s you wirelessly print images straight from your smartphone.
The printer is something so easy to use, even your grandma could tackle it… okay, maybe not your grandma, but your mom, yes, definitely moms can handle it. In fact, you already know how to work this sucker. You take a photo with your Android or iOS device, apply your favorite filter, then, via the accompanying app, you wirelessly send the image to the battery-powered printer. Don’t have WiFi at your disposal? No sweat, the printer actually creates its own hotspot. Incredible, right? We think so, and really it’s what sets it apart from other smartphone printers.
The app comes packing an arsenal of templates so your photos are more than just photos. The Real Time Template includes the date, place, weather, temperature and humidity of where the image was snapped up (for those who cannot ever have enough information). Then there’s the SNS, which let’s you print the number of likes the image has received on Facebook or Instagram. The Square let’s you add color blocking and some text if you feel so inclined, and finally there are loads of seasonal templates for birthdays, mom’s day, weddings, etc. (This collection will continue to grow, because Fujifillm is big on finding new ways to celebrate EVERYTHING.)
There are a couple of “filters” included, we say “filters” because right now there are only sepia and black and white. But what the app does have that is cool is the Intelligence Filter, which let’s you see in real time what your photo would look like after brightening or changing the temperature. You can also most definitely print anything that was previously posted on Instagram using any of their filters. So you won’t be totally lost.
Things we’re not keen on? If you’re worried about those batteries dying half way through your party, you have to buy the AC power adapter. It’s not included in the initial package. On top of that, photo capacity is only 10 prints at a time. For the amount of selfies we plan on taking in our photo booth, that’s hardly enough. Plus, prints are spendy, costing you $1.10 each. But hey, instant gratification doesn’t come for free, folks.
If you remember, we recently told you about another wireless printer called LifePrint. So what’s the difference between that and the Instax Share? 44 seconds, exactly. Instax Share’s print time is 16 seconds for a credit card-sized picture while LifePrint churns out 3×4 prints in 60 seconds. Then there’s the battery. Instax Share’s two lithium batteries are good for 100 prints while LifePrint’s lasts for 30. Price-wise they’re pretty on par, with Instax Share coming in $10 cheaper. But what LifePrint has that Instax didn’t tap into is its own contained social network. Then again, Fuji’s model is available now, and if you want to get in LifePrint’s you’ll have to wait April 2015.
Which smartphone printer are you siding with? Let us know in the comments below!
(Photos: The Awesomer)
