Canon - IVY Mini Photo Printer - Rose Gold

I was excited for this Canon Ivy printer, as I've been looking at getting a mini photo printer for my wife to print out our family photos of trips we take and general, everyday stuff. It's a good little printer for what it does, but the whole "Zink" technology is over-advertised and overrated. Setup was super simple. It uses a standard USB cable to charge. I didn't even use the one included in the box. I just turned on my PS4 system and used the controller charging cable to charge it up, which took about 3 hours out-of-the box. Setup was super simple. You connect the Ivy via Bluetooth. There is a Canon mini-print app that you have to download in order to use it. It does have iPhone X support, as well, so it looks nice on an OLED screen. Once connected to Bluetooth, you go into the app, click the button in the upper right corner and "add" the printer. Once added, you are ready to to print. If it's not on already, you power it on, take or select a photo, add any overlays/filters/fun stuff (text, stickers, etc) that you want and then print it. We have encountered an annoying issue where after choosing the photo and editing it, the printer just decides to shut off or is undetectable. She has to power cycle the printer to get it to work (or just turn it back on). It seems completely random. Maybe it's a battery saving feature? I haven't noticed a way to update the firmware of it. Anyway, when it bugs out like this, it will add multiple of the same picture to the print queue. If not careful, it will print all of them, thus wasting expensive paper. Which is my biggest complaint on this. I about had a stroke when I went to Best Buy to buy the Zink paper this requires so that I could further test it - the printer only comes with 10 sheets... Yes, I realized after purchasing that the cost of the ink is absorbed into the price of the paper. But for the low-quality (muddy, sometimes blurry) pictures it prints, it's very expensive. A 50-pack ran $24.99 before taxes. Eeek. So, we will be using this device very sparingly instead of the "fun" it's advertised for. Definitely not letting the younger one get hold of this (especially since the back peels off so the photos can be stuck to things, lol). Adult use only! Giving this one a 3-star due to the power off issues when using it and when powering it back on, it bugs out the app, as well as the print quality of the photos and price of the Zink paper.

This is by far the best pocket photo printer yet! I’ve tried other comparable products, but prefer the Ivy. The prints obviously can’t compare to the prints of the Canon Selphy, but they come close.

We had our daughters 2nd bday party and everyone went home with the pictures of their choice It was a big hit

---SETUP--- The setup of this inkless, wireless photo printer is quick. It takes about one hour to charge out of the box, but can be used while it’s charging. After turning it on once, it sends a bluetooth signal that your mobile device will recognize, much like pairing a new set of bluetooth headphones. Select the printer and your phone is now paired to it. You are required to download the Canon Mini Print App to interact with the printer. I had a little bit of trouble opening the lid to insert the paper but the app itself does a better explanation as to how to open it and get that paper installed. ---FEATURES--- Some key feature of this photo printer is that it doesn’t use ink, it’s highly portable, doesn’t require to be plugged in thanks to it’s included internal rechargeable battery, and it’s completely wireless to print photos. ---PERFORMANCE--- The printer works as intended. In about 40 seconds, you can print a picture that you have already taken prior to the purchase of this printer or one that you take from within the Canon Mini Print App itself. Taking pictures from within the app guarantees that the image will fit perfectly on the paper. Using my own pictures, I discovered that the image will be too large and be cropped out to fill the white space of the paper. You can add borders that can be downloaded to fix that for free within the app, as well as other neat digital stickers. The app allows you to add text and even has masks, akin to SnapChat. All of these optional features aren’t pre-downloaded with your app. This is good for people who may not have too much memory on their phone and instead only download the stickers they plan to use at the time. ---EXPECTATIONS--- The printer mildly meets my expectations. The prints that come out look faded compared to how you see them on your mobile device. Though you can color correct within the app before printing, the color doesn’t quite come out the way you want it to, but it’s still satisfactory enough for a fun little gift. Additionally, the back of the photos can be removed and the photos then become stickers. If you don’t want to use it as a sticker, the photos make great wallet pictures, as they are 2 by 3 inches. The printer did loose connection to my phone multiple times, but it found it after waiting a few seconds. ---VALUE--- The price for the printer in terms of value is good only if you plan on using it often. You have to add the price of buying this specialty paper, as it is currently 9.99 for a 20 sheet pack or 24.99 for a 50 sheet pack. There’s no benefit to buying larger quantities as the pricing is comparatively the same quantity vs. price. Buying the printer does come with a 10 sheet pack. Doing the math at current prices, it’s a little over .55 cents per printed sheet, factoring in taxes. ---APPROVAL--- I highly recommend this product for people who enjoy scrapbooking, decorating their technology with stickers, or have lockers or other flat surfaces of their choice to decorate. This wouldn’t be a good printer for everyday use for most users. It feels more like a novelty item than a useful tool, but I can see people setting up photo booths using these printers. Add some props, customize your images within the app, print, and have fun!

Purchased this mini photo printer for my niece on her birthday. Best photo printer she’s had she loves it. Prints great photos. the rose gold color of printer is just fabulous!

As our world becomes more and more digital, I find myself really enjoying paper products even more. They are becoming more rare with each year — each month that passes. One of the most precious pieces of paper is a photograph and it’s probably also one of the most rare these days. We typically just open up a photo on our phone and pass it around to family and friends but it’s really hard to compare to a printed photo to hang on your wall or place in a frame. Fortunately, some camera companies like Canon have started creating personal photo printers that allow you to print directly from your mobile phone. The Canon Ivy Printer comes packaged in a simple but nicely branded box. It’s very easy to unbox and it comes with a short (about 6 inches) Micro USB cable, a visual quick start card, and some paperwork about safety and warranty regulations. The complete manual is available within the mobile app and that is, in fact, the first step in the set-up process — downloading the app. It’s a free app and is available for both iOS and Android devices. Once the printer is charged, you can connect to it via Bluetooth. At this point, the user experience is highly involved with the mobile app. You can either take photos and print them immediately or select photos that are already stored on your phone. When you select a photo, the app will adjust it so that it fits the photo size of the printer. This is a simple photo editing program built into the app and with it you can easily add text and/or stickers to the photo before you print it. This feature is a little like editing photos in Snapchat before you send it to friend.s. It’s a nice feature to have but not something you have to use if you don’t like it. In addition to the markup options, you can also brighten your photos, change their tint, and adjust their contrast. Because the editing details are all described by icons, it’s a little difficult to determine which control is which. As a test, I pulled a photo from my Camera Roll on my iPhone of a pair of bookends. The photo shows a colorful, detailed desk accessory and I wanted to have it printed out to see if the detail of the photo remained. I’ve actually had the opportunity to use a different pocket printer by a different company and the colors weren’t very vibrant and details weren’t very prominent once the image was printed. The same is not true of the Canon Ivy printer. The photo was bright, colorful and you could see all the fine details the same way you would if you were looking at it on the phone screen. The printer does make quite a bit of mechanical/roller noise as it prints. I was surprised about this considering how small the device is. It wasn’t loud per se but it wasn’t quiet either. The first time you print a photo from the printer, the blue information sheet will feed out of the printer first. This will happen every time you print using a new package of ZINKTM photo sheets. Once the blue sheet fed through the printer, it took about one minute for the photo to print out. The Ivy photo printer from Canon is the perfect option for someone who takes frequent photos with their phone but would like to have a printed keepsake. The Ivy printer is small and very easy to take with you from place to place. I would recommend this to all types of users and think that people who like adding embellishments to photos would really get a kick out of the photo editing options.

Party? Whaaat? And by party I also include any celebration, reunion, anniversary and get together. Think about it. This Canon Ivy printer easily slips into a jacket or larger purse, reliably connects to your phone, and invites you to share photos of an event right then, right there. Pull together a group, take a picture with your phone, and send it to your mini-printer so you can share the memories right now. It really is this easy. Point: The pictures are only 2x3”, so why do I want this? Answer: The printer can be a very portable at 4.7“ x 3.2“ x 0.7” and . . this is a great tool for social engagement. Point: It would be nice to grab photos from my camera roll, but also from Instagram, or Drop Box or Facebook. Answer: Any or all of the above are accessible and managed from within the App. Point: With no printer ink and just thermal printing it’ll look weird, right? Answer: Shockingly nice looking photos spit out of this thing in under 30 seconds and NO need for ink supplies, ‘cause there is no ink to replenish! The resulting prints resist smudges, don’t tear, and peel-and-stick. And they are pretty. Point: I’d prefer the opportunity to get creative using my computer’s photo software and the Canon Ivy is only for Android or iOS mobile phones. Answer:The Canon print App lets you do some edits, add effects, filters, make collages or larger tiled prints using the Android or iOS App. Point: I’m guessing my grandparents are going to pass on this new gadget. Answer: Eh . . . well it’s all icon based and most of them can be figured out by a child, but that’s the rub. You can certainly charge ahead and get nice results. But, easy to read (not gray on white, mini-type) would be really nice. Point: It’s going to need power while I’m on the go. Answer: It’s rechargeable (takes 75 minutes) and doesn’t require a power supply at the party. Point: I’m going to need a bunch of prints at my parties so what’s needed? Answer: The printer accepts packs of 10 prints at one time and they are really easy to load and carry. Summary: These are going to be popular at parties.

The Canon mini photo printer is quite fun, prints excellent quality photos, and is so portable. While the prints are only 2"x 3", I was surprised by the photo detail and how practical they are for printing on the fly for friends or for work. It takes about 45 seconds to print. The portability and novelty of the photos makes this a very fun printer. It comes with a USB charging cord that is a little short but at least universal. The instructions were not clear about whether the blue paper should be used more than once. I have been printing without it being in the paper tray so I assume it's just for occasional calibration. Overall, a very impressive little printer with excellent print quality. I am using it with a Google Pixel phone.