Polaroid - Hi-Print 3x3 Wireless Pocket Photo Printer - +10 Sheets (9196) - White

This little dye-sublimation printer is fantastic. It’s been years since I had my last one, which had similarly great print quality. It’s just that like many other people, we moved away from standard prints for a while. That said, I’ve always been drawn to the fun, square prints from Polaroid… but their instant cameras always let me down. Even their newest cameras struggle to print anything that isn’t very vintage looking (washed out, muddied). Some people love and want exactly that, but for the rest of us, Polaroid made this awesome little printer. __ Design __ Compact and battery operated, it still feels like it fits the ethos of Polaroid’s spur-of-the-moment instant prints. It’s very easy to throw into a bag and take along to print a new or existing photo from your phone for a friend on the fly. It also sits on a desk well, acting as a cool little frame for the print of your choice when not in use. I love this feature, it’s playful and the industrial design on the printer allows it to be an effective way to keep it handy and top of mind. This design is very straightforward, Polaroid’s signature chromatic strip adorns the top short edge while a simple power button and cartridge bay are easy to manipulate on the long sides. Like mentioned above, keeping it a simple white box allowed it to serve double-duty as a frame as well. __ Ease of Use __ It’s extremely easy to use. I downloaded the dedicated Polaroid printer app and it found my new printer instantly. After a quick firmware update, I could easily pick one of their frame or grid options and pop in a photo from my camera roll. Editing is simple, with familiar cropping and filter options. The app does a great job of showing your end result in a very 1:1 way from start to finish, all the way down to rendering the color passes the printer is doing to your print in real time. My only gripe is that if you don’t like the frame you initially chose, you can’t change it without starting over from scratch, which includes having to hunt down any photo(s) you may have selected, again. Hopefully Polaroid will fix this with an app update soon after release (and provide a recent photo view or similar.) One additional nit is that the options for frames at launch are somewhat limited (about 50-60 styles total, over several categories - sounds like a lot, but doesn’t feel that way.) __ Print Quality __ If you’re unfamiliar, dye-sublimation is a great printing technology to get very professional-quality prints at home. It works by heating up separate layers of ink on film and transferring them to the print over 3-4 passes. The end result is an instant print that’s vibrant, with good color reproduction and sharpness and just as durable as the prints you used to get from the store. Polaroid’s prints from this printer are unique in that they're always square - a perfect size for sharing and placing around the home. I’d choose these over instant camera prints any day. There’s no comparison, these are far superior. __ Overall __ This printer is the first from Polaroid in a while to feel more like a well-thought product for everyone, and less like a toy for niche enthusiasts. Print quality is great, the app works well and very nicely captures the fun of one-button simplicity that Polaroid is known for, even if you have more options at your disposal.

When I heard about the Polaroid Hi-Print printers, I was intrigued. There are several sizes of this diminutive photo printer, and this one produces 3X3 square prints. The thing is tiny. It is about the thickness of a paperback book, but not even as tall as my larger iPhone. It is a sleek monolithic device with almost no visible controls and openings other than an on and off switch, a USB-C port for charging and a slot on the top where your prints emerge. There is a plexiglass frame built into the front surface where you can display your favorite prints. What can it print? Any photos you have stored on the phone or in the cloud. through iCloud or Google Photos available to your device- whether taken 30 seconds ago or years in the past. The Hi-Print Photo app connects with the printer via Bluetooth. You must first charge the battery on the printer and download the latest firmware for proper operation. The download was quickly accomplished. Although not apparent at first blush, there is a side door on the printer that opens to allow installation of your print cartridge which holds 10 sheets. You just slide it in and shut the door. Using the software, you select the picture you want to print. You can then crop it and adjust the image as you please (or as you would with any other photo you were editing on your smartphone) by changing brightness, contrast, saturation and so forth to get the look you want. Then you press the print button. The print goes through several passes and partially emerges from the slot on the top of the printer on each pass. The technology is called dye-sublimation. The whole process takes less than a minute. To my eyes, this Polaroid produces prints of excellent quality, limited only by the source material you feed it. I was about to print a photo and got a a warning from the software that I might be disappointed with the results because the resolution of the photo was too low. Indeed, I remembered that the particular picture had been digitally zoomed in to fill the frame after I had snapped it on my smartphone. We are about to take a family trip in several weeks, and this printer will accompany us. It is simple and fun to use and produces quick prints that are instantly exchangeable among family members. A package of cartridges holding 30 sheets for printing runs about twenty five dollars, so each print will cost about 84 cents. Not cheap, but well worth the cost for the convenience and fun this printer offers. I highly recommend it.

This adorable Polaroid printer is so fun to use! It’s a bit of old school meets smart phone fun! Set up and pairing to my iPhone was very fast and easy. Charging the printer with a usb-c cable was quick (cable not included). The instructions are basic in the box are basic, but get you where you need to be ready to print pictures. Download the free Polaroid Hi-print app from your devices App Store and get ready to have a some fun. The printer comes with a 10 photo cartridge included in the box, which is a good start. (The replacement cartridges have 30 photo pages in those.) The pages are really nice sized 3x3 photos. I really enjoyed printing out some of my favorite pictures to put at my desk at work! I think there could be a few more frames and collage styles in the app, but there are enough to help create some cute visuals. The Polaroid photo printer does a really great job and the quality of prints are drastically better than an inkjet photo printer. The printer does a four stage print sequence of yellow, magenta, cyan, and then a protective layer. I’m not gonna lie, it is such odd therapy and a joy to watch the photos print. When they are done there is a little white strip at the bottom that makes it look like an old school Polaroid picture. The white strip is removable to give you a nice clean 3x3 photo keepsake, or fun little gift for someone else. I have a blast finding some of my favorite picture on my phone to print and have on my desk at work and to share with some of my favorite people. When the Polaroid printer is not in use and not charging, you can stand it up and use it as a photo frame which is a cute bonus! If you want a fun photo printer that doesn’t take up much space, this is it.

Polaroid hit a home run with this pocket-sized printer! I honestly thought that print quality would just be okay but nothing great. I'm glad I was 100% wrong and the print quality is actually really good! Setup was very easy, just download the Polaroid Hi-Print app and insert the printer paper cartridge. Then turn on the printer and have the app search for the printer. Once its setup for the first time I should remember the printer and auto connect whenever the printer is on. The app comes with some preloaded frames, a journaling collection, and collage templates. Just select the one you want to use, add your photo from your gallery or take a new one with your camera and click print. Once you add a photo you can also use the app to crop, add filters, FX effects, blur, or make adjustments. The app has pretty much everything you need to make some easy or fun edits before printing. The whole printing process takes about 30-40 seconds. The printer will first print a yellow layer, then magenta, then cyan, lastly it will put a protective cover on the photo. I'm assuming that there is no physical ink cartridge and it all relies on the paper that is used for printing. I like that I can easily print out some photos from my phone and use them to decorate my office, or easily give a photo to family members. I think it would be fun to travel with this little device and use it for group pictures so everyone can leave with a memento of the vacation!

I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the Polaroid Hi-Print printer! I have thousands of photos on my phone, and for some reason I always put off printing them. Not anymore! The Polaroid Hi-Print makes it incredibly easy to print photos directly from your phone. To get started, you just download the app, which is user-friendly and straightforward. It also has fun customization options for your prints. The printing process is quick you’ll have your photo in less than 30 seconds. The film cartridges come with only 10 sheets, so I recommend buying the bundle packs since they’re a better value. I was really impressed with the print quality. Just keep in mind that low-resolution photos may not print, so you may need to improve the image quality before printing. The printer is compact enough to fit almost anywhere. One thing to note is that it doesn’t come with a charging cable, but it works with any USB-C cable. I also love that the printer doubles as a photo display when you’re not using it. This printer is perfect for scrapbooking, journaling, decorating, or creating fun memories with the kiddos. Overall, it’s a fun, convenient, and easy way to finally get those favorite photos off your phone and into your hands!