Customer Ratings & Reviews

This product is pretty simple to use and comes with detailed instructions and a user manual making it easy to adjust to. Theres also videos online that walk you through how to use it if you still struggle. Polaroid definitely pieced this product together in such a wonderful way. Makes it easy to take a memory on your phone and makes it come to life into a polaroid photo that you can treasure forever. Kinda nostalgic in the way digital becomes a polaroid photo, just by simply downloading the polaroid app from the app store or google play. Film isn't included in this one so you'll have to buy your own it takes both I-type film and 600 film which is mentioned on the box. I could explain more but your best bet is to just try it out for yourself.

It's a great product to have, easy and simple to use. I have a Polaroid camera but this product allows me to choose the pictures I want to have in film paper. That way the pictures come out looking great. The usage of the printer is easy just download the Polaroid App on a smartphone and from the app choose the picture then just place the phone on top on the printer and click the red bottom when ready.

Forget about carrying around a bulky polaroid everywhere. Go out and enjoy your adventures with your smart phone, capture the perfect moments, selfies, activities and then simple choose your best shots to print! Polaroid film can be costly but thanks to Polaroid Lab I get to be more "picky" about what I print. I get perfect memories every time!

This would be such a perfect item if the pictures wouldn’t come out as dark!! I played around with the settings but the images were so dark. I wanted to keep this product but I only bought it to print out images of my newborn. I had to return it because the item itself is pricy.

This unit can be a diversion along the digital photography path or open up a whole new exciting world of experimenting with analog Polaroid film. The lab and iPhone app were easy to set up. Results so far are as expected, typical Polaroid prints. Enjoying my third box of film.

Worth it if you like creativity, I would recommend taking your time and enjoying the process it Will be extremely rewarding. This gadget is mainly for art purposes as well as sentimental memories. This is not a portable printer.

Great idea. Poor execution. Product I couldn't even return do to getting the runaround from Polaroid. This is not Best Buy's fault. What the Polaroid brand does not disclose is, you have to have a brand new or most current phone to operate this system. After numerous emails going back and forth with custom service all I can get out of them was...."it might work". I have a phone that is listed as compatible to use with this product. Well, the app to operate kept crashing. Or images would be half exposed. Ultimately wasting, yes WASTING money on exposures that aren't visible or even layered. Not to mention tgis unit being over $100. I gave it the benefit of the doubt because I believe in customer service. Not once did they offer to replace the product (film packs lost) If you have a brand new phone, best of luck because you will be disappointed with the Polaroid film packs. If you have money to burn....then go for it!

Polaroid is known for its vintage cameras and classy looking pictures. I have never personally owned a Polaroid camera so, I decided to try this one out for a change. The unboxing experience was nice. The product does not come with a power brick, only a USB cable to charge this device. This can be a problem for an older person who doesn't own a computer or a power brick from a different device. The manual was a huge help in trying to figure how to use this! I would recommend reading it before you do anything. Pros: The device is simple to use, there is not much to it. The device has a nice clean look to it. The printed pictures do have that classy Polaroid look most of their cameras have. So if you are looking for that, this product is perfect for you! Cons: For my first time using a Polaroid device, I was expecting a little bit more. I was expecting a more clean picture look. The pictures do come out a little darker and "fuzzier" than the actual picture. Please note I used a 4k picture and had my brightness all the way up. Also, a power brick included would've been nice. Overall, this product is not that bad. I personally would recommend this to the individuals who are enthusiastic with taking those classy Polaroid pictures.

First off, I own two other phone mini-printers and it isn't fair to judge the resolution or sharpness you get from the sheets to how the pictures appear on a smartphone. Or if you do, the smartphone wins every time. While the Polaroid Lab is a touch softer than other printers in terms of sharpness, aliasing is less pronounced. That means less jagged edges. Gradual changes in a blue sky look more natural in the Polaroid for example. Yet because of this some details in a face are lost, even at portrait distance. The majority of the prints I would say, do capture all the charm, nostalgia, and look of old Polaroid photos. While it does avoid the hassle of having to connect via Bluetooth one must set their phone face down in order for the Lab to transfer the image to the photo sheet. It feels like making copies on a Xerox machine. And just like making a copy, any mistake on the original then gets transferred to the copy (a dirty screen, slightly crooked placement). You do get some warnings and reminder screens before it scans the phone to try and remedy any mistakes from happening. When everything is good to go the rainbow light on the front is lit and a nice little jingle plays, that's when you hit the red button and in seconds the Polaroid pops out. Fine tuning requires trial and error, which will ends up costing you a few sheets and a bit of time. While other printers pop out fully finished photos in a few seconds, The Lab gives you legit Polaroids, which take about fifteen minutes to fully develop (monochrome claims to develop in five minutes). This can be time consuming when first tinkering with the settings and how they are expressed to your liking. There are only two adjustments, exposure for brightness and color saturation and neither is shown on the screen before you print. And since I believe they were going for the classic Polaroid feel, you don't get any ability to add stickers, emojis, or drawings through the app. But i guess if you want that, you could add that from another app and print the newly modified photo. Photo ratio can't be changed from what I can tell. You can zoom in and scroll to fit your photo in the square ration but you can't zoom out to fit the entire photo of a 4:3 or a 19:9 ratio. Leaving dead space on a Polaroid is a no go Although there is one work around. Collage mode works of you have a panoramic type photo that you want printed. you can choose anywhere from 1-9 photos to print. Although the process isn't automatic. It requires you to manually readjust the phone for every picture in the collage as they are scanned which can take a bit of time. One feature that is fun is the ability to add videos to your photo. Not literally of course but through the phone app you can add a bar code to any photo and when looking at the photo through the app, it will play the video you designated to the bar code in the square of the Polaroid. I ended up liking this more than i thought I would. I was able to create photos of a concert I attended and then with adding the video, I could see the band perform the song. In another photo I could add a video of us singing happy birthday to my nephew and print out a photo for anyone who wants to take home and hear it as well (provided they download the app as well). To sum it up, I like the look and feel of the prints even if facial details are lost. I think pictures of architecture come out better than portraits. I can tolerate a softer looking photo if it means less aliasing and jagged edges. If you aren't partial to the look of these types of photos, the process of aligning your phone to the scan surface every time and long development time will probably frustrate you. I personally prefer this over my other two mini printers. the pros are: classic Polaroid feel. ability to add videos, larger than most print, no fussing with Bluetooth syncing, minimal artifacts and jagged looking edges, Architecture looks great. The cons are: minimal settings for adjustments, trial and error can waste sheets, long time to develop, facial detail is soft.

While testing out this product, I attempted a scientific approach as to how I was going to print my pictures. I selected four pictures from my personal pictures on my smartphone, and picked them for specific reasons. The first picture was a stock picture that I saved from a search, that was rich and vibrant in colors. The picture was that of a nearly translucent butterfly, with purples, blues, reds and white colors in its wings. In the background is the picture of a plant, with orange, yellows, purples and greens, which show up a little blurry through the nearly translucent wings. After checking my settings to make sure everything was turned off that needed to be off, I followed the directions to print the first exposure. I set my phone’s timer to 15 minutes and waited as the picture developed. After the allotted time, I noticed that the colors seemed muted, with the vibrant purples looking very light and almost pinkish (I uploaded the stock picture of the butterfly and the cupcake picture). Then I chose the second picture. It was a selfie that I took on an old Android phone (my current phone is an iPhone 7 Plus). After the allotted 15 minutes, I noticed that the picture was also muted, but in this exposure, I noticed white horizontal bars in the exposure. The bars may have appeared because of the differences between the Android camera and the iPhone camera. The third picture was of some mini cupcakes that I had made one Easter, with pink and light blue tinted buttercream that I piped onto the cupcakes. This exposure was taken with the current iPhone 7 Plus. After the allotted time, I also noticed that the picture was muted as well. With this exposure, I adjusted the settings on the app. I turned the “Exposure” setting to -1/3, and the “Color” setting to 85 (darkening the exposure slightly and adding color). The fourth exposure that I printed was of a cloisonné vase that I own, also taken with the iPhone. This time, I put the “Exposure” setting back to 0, and adjusted down the “Color” setting to 70. The picture was also muted and I noticed a white horizontal band just below the neck of the vase. I began to wonder if I had done something wrong in the process of choosing the picture and placing it onto the printer. I went to the Best Buy website and read a couple reviews to find hints in taking better exposures. One review stated that that person pushed down slightly on the phone and waited for the lights to blink three times. I didn’t notice the blinking for three times in any of the exposures I printed, nor did I press down slightly on my phone, so I decided to take a fifth picture. I selected a stock photo of a person that I saved to my pictures. I also took the advice of the reviewer on the website and pressed down slightly on my phone. This time, I did notice the lights blink three times. It may have also occurred previously, but I failed to notice whether or not it happened because I didn’t know that’s what I was supposed to watch out for. On this fifth exposure, the colors were less muted and a small band appeared on the sleeve of the person in the stock picture. Also, with the first two exposures, I had a very bright lamp with no shade near the printer and when I turned the picture over to prevent light from affecting the print, I turned the exposure over on the underside of the printer’s cover, so light from the lamp may have affected the exposures (there is approximately a 3/16” lip on the underside of the printer cover). For the third, fourth and fifth exposures, I made sure to turn the exposures over on the flat, top part of the printer cover. Also, as more time passed by, all five exposures developed even more, and the prints looked even better than they looked after the first 15 minute development allotment. The white bands were still present, but not as prominent in the selfie and cloisonné vase exposures. The best exposure to turnout was the fifth stock photo, because I turned off the lamp in addition to pressing down slightly on my phone and waiting until I saw the lights blink 3 times. Of course, the colors are still slightly muted, but as more time passed by, the print quality of the exposures improved significantly. The muting also gives the exposures a retro look reminiscent of the old Polaroid camera that I owned many years ago. So if you follow the directions exactly, and press down on the phone and wait for the lights to blink 3 times, then the prints made are exactly the way they should be. Taking another look at the cupcake exposure, that picture developed even more nicely as more time passed by. I purposely waited 15 minutes to print each picture so that I could make adjustments to the next exposure in reference to the previous exposure. Also, in the vase exposure, I believe the band appeared on the neck of the vase due to lighting in the room when I took the picture. you’re looking for DSLR quality prints, you’re not going to get that with this printer. If you’re wanting the convenience of instant prints with a retro look reminiscent of the old Polaroid cameras of the past, then this printer is exactly what you want. Allowing the exposures to develop even further makes me appreciate this printer much more than when I looked at the exposures after only 15 minutes, and I would definitely be interested in this product because of the instant prints it allows you to have.

This is one of the strangest concepts I think I have ever seen. I have used those small insta-print cameras and miniature printer’s that make credit card size images like Polaroids. This is kind of like those, but instead of using it as a camera or connecting to it, you set your phone on top of it and it takes a picture of the image on your phone. So, this takes a digital image, using your digital phone screen and captures it through an analog camera and processes it on original Polaroid film. The end result is that you now have a retro picture of something from the digital age. The images are fuzzy and mostly have a yellow hue to them like the original Polaroids. However, there are many things that can influence the quality of your printed images. For one, it is completely depending on a large enough touch screen phone in the first place. If you have a smaller screen (pre-2015), you will not be able to use it. The fact that it is taking a photo of your screen also means that if you have and flaws, like a crack or smudge, that will be added to the printed image. Large cases that have the built in screen protector can also have an impact. Though I like the novel concept, there are just so many things that have put me against using this. One is cost per picture, since the Polaroid Lab can use the original 600 or i-Type film and there are only 8 per cartridge, you can look them up and do the math. Out of the two cartridges I have used, 5 of the photos came out damaged (See photo). Another is something I had long forgotten and that is the time for them to fully develop. I know back in the day you could at best get a standard photo in an hour from the local drug store, so Polaroids were the fastest way to get a physical photo. Though there are several other ways to get a physical photo quicker, this is the only one that I have seen that is an actual Polaroid. This also isn’t very portable. It is battery operated and on a full charge has printed all 16 pictures I tried without even dropping one dot. However, this is bulky and the dust cover only rests on top of it. Any movement and the cover comes right off, so kind of hard to carry around without the chance of collecting stuff inside of it. To use the printer at all, you must have the Polaroid Originals app installed on your device. The app provides brief tutorials on how to setup the Polaroid Lab and how to get your photos printed. It is fairly simple and straightforward. When you select the photo you can pinch and slide the photo to get the position of the image you want. On the next screen you can create a single image or a collage from two to nine images in various patterns. On the next step you set the phone on top of the Lab and the touch and light sensors detect the angle and position of the phone. This means you don’t have to sit it perfectly on top every time. You will then hear a tone from your phone, the lights on the front of the LAb stop blinking, you press the red button and in a matter of seconds you have a grey Polaroid image. Now you let it sit and wait for 15 minutes or so for it to develop. Another feature with the Polaroid Originals app is the ability to add augmented reality, such as another picture or 10 second video clip. You can keep it private, meaning only your phone that holds the additional media can view it, or public so that anyone that scans the picture with the app can see it. When made public a bar code will be added to the picture. On a Samsung Note 10+ and a Note 9 I had a difficult time trying to view an AR picture, but on an iPhone XS it picked it up every time, even at a distance. Novel concept, if you don’t mind the bar code. Bottom line is that this is a novel concept and will turn your digital photos into physical retro Polaroids. However, at the price per photo and the fact that 1 in 4 of the photos were damaged on print I can’t recommend this.

First the Polaroid Lab was packaged nicely. It was minimal packaging that made the experience quick and easy to unpack, looked great, and was environmentally sound with no Styrofoam. Second, the device looked nice and was easy to set up and charge. The cover over the lens was nice, but failed to clip on so it fell off if the device was turned over. The printed instructions were clear and simple. The App was easily downloaded to my IPhone XR. Instructions on how to load the film were adequate but could have been a little better as how to handle the plastic film that came out with the first black cover that protected the film pack and each subsequent picture thereafter. The app was great. Simple, step by step instructions to walk you through the process of picking your picture, making sure color enhancements were turned off on the phone, and other choices. After the app displays your chosen picture on the screen of your phone in a smaller version of the original, you then turn your phone over so the device can take a picture of your phone's screen. That is the awkward part. The device will help you get it all centered and in the right position, then you can push the Red button and snap a picture of your phone's screen to get it to transfer to the Polaroid film. But, having to remove your phone's case before you lay your phone over the lens to take a picture of your phone is a deal breaker. It's because they want a light tight seal between the phone's screen and the lens assembly. I understand why, just a pain to do each time. The Polaroid picture zips out quickly, but you need to turn it over on your table and let it rest for 15 minutes while it "develops" out of direct light. During the wait, you can pick more pictures on your phone and snap those quickly waiting for each to "develop" in their own 15 minutes time frame. The finished pictures are VERY reminiscent of the original Polaroid Land pictures from the past. Small rectangular pictures that are not sharp, not color friendly, and are basically a disappointment. At a cost of almost $2 each for the film, I can't understand why anyone would really want to use this device other than for the novelty. Even Ink jet printing is cheaper than this and you will most certainly get a better picture. If I were to design this thing around Polaroid film, for the ease and simplicity of printing, I would incorporate a wireless connection between my phone and the device. Skip the removal of your Phone's case, skip the lens taking a picture of your screen and hopefully get a clearer picture right from your phone. Just my suggestion. I have included some pictures side by side of the actual picture on my phone and the Polaroid shot that was printed. As you can see, it's not great. Kids might love this thing for the novelty, but at almost $2 a picture the parents will go broke. Because of the poor picture quality, I can't get more excited or recommend this technology.

This Polaroid Lab is pretty neat if you want to print pictures that you took on your smartphone. The quality of the picture will look like a Polaroid picture. The film is the same shape as the Polaroid of earlier times (3.5"x 4.25"). It is pretty simple to use and comes with decent instructions. You must download the Polaroid Originals app on your smartphone, available on the Apple app store, and the Google Play app store. To print a picture, first have the Polaroid Lab charged, it comes with a micro USB cable to do so. Then you need the film, which is not included. That is Polaroid 600 film. There is color, B & W film, and some other frame color options available. In a single pack of film you get 8 pictures, and that retails around $19. Once you have your film in the Lab, you would turn it on, open the app and find the picture (s) that you want to print, and go through the prompts on the app. The app will let you know when to put your smartphone on the Lab and push the red button to take a picture of your phone's picture. Once the picture is taken, it takes about 15 minutes for it t fully develop. You would place it upside down, and not disturb it for the developing time. Some things that make this an iffy proposition are that the instructions state that you should take off your phone case and not have a screen protector on. I took off my phone case, but I'm not taking the screen protector off. Instructions also say to make sure your night mode and auto correct are set to off if you have that. For the quality of the picture, I won't be using this very much. Also the cost per picture is a lot, so not sure what application I would have to use it frequently. Here is a sample of two different pictures I took off of my iPhone Xs. One picture is of a patch of cactus, that looks fine. The other is the ceiling of the hall of maps in the Vatican Museum, and it does not look very good. I just took that picture this summer, and the photo looks like it's from the 1970s.

Using the photo lab is a true delight. Setup with the app is easy, the function is straightforward, and getting small real life pictures of images you've taken with your phone is rewarding in a way that scrolling through a phone just can't match. The app is easy to set up and straightforward to use, it has fun options for splitting up your pictures into larger "groups" of prints. It doesn't need any strange permissions like so many apps do. There's no"filters" built into the app, as the lab basically prints the picture from your screen, so if you want a fun filter on your picture you need to have saved it that way. If you have a screen protector on your phone or a dirty screen it will transfer on to the picture - if your screen protector is high quality (IE: glass) and clean, it wont matter as we left our screen protector installed and made sure it was clean and the pictures look great. The manual leaves something to be desired as it took a while to figure out how to load the film and turn off the lab, and for the audience that this is aimed at, they will likely have never used a 'classic' polaroid camera before. A couple of minor gripes: It uses MicroUSB to charge, in this world of USB Type-C I dont know why anything has micro USB anymore Turning off the lab was not straight forward (you have to push down on the whole top unit, the power button in turn pops the top upward for use) The film is a little on the pricey side The lab has a way to split your picture into 9 parts for artistic purposes, however the film packs come in packs of 8, so you'd need to reload film while printing pictures If taken for what it is, it is really fun, but that's what it is, this is purely for fun and not a photographer's piece. It's great for the right audience.

Your photos will not be in HD like on your phone, computer or camera...but, they’re not supposed to be! Your pics will look like photos used to look or slightly better, but that’s the point. The Polaroid Lab gives you the ability to take the perfect photo with your phone, edit it the way you want and then print it to have something to hold on to or give. The Polaroid Lab gives you the ability to add AR to your photo which is something that I’ve never seen from others. This completely changes the possibilities and adds the modern to a “vintage “ photo. The AR feature gives you the ability to add a video overlay to the photo thru the Polaroid app. When you’re preparing the pic to be printed on the app you can add an AR video before you print it, you can either take one or choose an existing one. This adds so many more possibilities to a photo, a surprise message to a loved one, clues for a treasure hunt and so much more. This feature alone makes the Polaroid Lab worth its price and sets it apart from others. You also can print photos for a collage up to nine different photos of one pic. With Polaroid you have the option for color or black and white photos. But, they also have film with many different borders besides white, such as Stranger Things, Mickey Mouse, holiday, gold, black, yellow and more. The film isn’t cheap but none of these printers/cameras that print photos are. The possibilities are endless and the fun that can be had with Polaroid Lab are too.

Polaroid in the world of photography is in a class of its own. In recent years Polaroid has been pretty successful in getting their fans interested in their products. The Polaroid Lab is something that I suppose would appeal to Polaroid fans. This gadget enables you to produce polaroid pictures in an instant right from your smartphone. I use Galaxy Note 10 Plus and the android app as my setup. Aside of the manual and quick start guide, the app would also guide you to the whole initial set up process. There’s even an introductory video that you can play from the app just so that you could begin to print pictures right away. Polaroid Lab runs on rechargeable battery and it takes a snap to print picture. The printer uses print cartridge that holds a capacity of 8 films so you don’t have to load the film everytime you want to print. The thing that I don’t really like is that Polaroid film takes about 10-15 minutes to develop. I was using the Color 600 film and initial print result was somewhat an overly exposed picture. This is not the printer’s fault. High end mobile phones have adaptive brightness feature and the app made the correct suggestion to turn off this feature. You may also want to fiddle with the exposure and color correction option from the app to tune the print result. If you are a fan of Polaroid product, this would be a great product for you to print any picture right from your phone without the hassle of transfering the file. The print result is Polaroid in all its color and glory of the format. As a matter of personal preference, I also do not really like the color of the prints coming from the Color 600 film, which I suppose would appeal more to Polaroid fans. The color that the printer produces with the Color 600 film is somewhat vintagely looking. If only that the photo would take a few minutes to develop. But hey, it’s Polaroid.

If you miss the old days of a “Polaroid picture” - then you might like this. Easy to use once you get the hang of it - be sure to read the instructions! You need to make some adjustments to your phone (turn off true tone, turn off night shift) and you NEED to gently press the phone down after you've set it in place until you see the lights blink 3 times. (I struggled with this at first and thought it was defective.) Printing is very quick, but the pictures take a few minutes to fully develop, so don't expect "instant" and you should also leave them face down right after printing so ambient light doesn't affect the exposure. You are also supposed to remove your phone case and any screen protector. I don't think anyone is going to do this - especially the phone screen protector (the adhesive screen protector would be ruined every time you removed it!?) Picture quality is just ok (maybe that's because of my screen protector) and you won't be winning any awards with this thing and the colors are pretty muted. But that's not what this camera is for – it's just to print some instant photos to share or put on your fridge. See pics for some side by side of iPhone X actual vs. printed Polaroids that I printed. All in all - if you are looking for a small, wireless, rechargeable, easy to use printer to print your phone pics in the kitchen in a few seconds and like the nostalgia of a Polaroid (and don't have a screen protector on your phone!) - then this is for you. If you do use adhesive screen protectors on your phone or are looking for high quality image prints, get a photo printer.

i am very impresssed by the technology of the lab. it's basically a black room in your living room or in your backpack. that's pretty amazing. it's a fun way of printing polaroid pictures if you are into that style. don't expect the pictures to be as sharp and precise as they are on your camera. the colors need some adjustment here and there and the exposure is also not always very accurate. but if you set your mind to it then you are good to go. The quality of an actual polaroid camera is for sure better but it is not si handy to carry around if you are out and about. so i have both, a camera and the lab and i think if you love polaroid pictures like i do, it's definitely worth checking it out.

I received the Polaroid Lab Printer and 2 packages of film at no charge for the purpose of this review. I never had a Polaroid camera so this was a new experience for me. It is an interesting design and it does function as promised but the photos that were produced did not meet my expectations. The product guide recommended that the phone case and screen protector on the phone be removed. THIS IS TOO CUMBERSOME! The procedure required placing your phone over the lens of the printer and the picture was developed from the image the printer produced from the phone screen. Alignment was a little tricky but the light indicator revealed when the phone was properly aligned. When the red button at the base of the printer was pressed, the picture was ejected from the printer almost instantly and the picture development would be complete in about 15 minutes. The photo cartridge holds 8 pictures and was easy to load. So far, so good. The procedure to print a picture required a fairly short learning curve. The pictures take about 15 minutes to develop. Acceptable Not experienced with owning a Polaroid camera, I have seen Polaroid pictures that have been taken and they never seemed to be as clear as those that go through normal channels of development. This is my experience with this printer. Unfortunately, the quality of the photos is just not there. That might have been acceptable decades ago but not so in this day and age. The printer seems pricy considering the quality and the cost cartridges make the overall cost too prohibitive. There are other means to develop or print pictures from a cell phone that would produce higher quality pictures at a fraction of the price of this product.

Have had this thing for a while now and it's great being able to pick your best shots from your phone and turning them into polaroids. The app is great but recently it got an update and some of my pictures stopped turning out how they used to, but the problem may have been fixed. This is definitely great for anyone that loves polaroids but sucks at getting a good picture with an actual polaroid camera.