I love tech gadgets.
I especially love tech gadgets that have something to do with photography.
I just bought myself an early Christmas present and it is SO cool – I had to share this with you!
I wanted to have a mobile photo printer for our family Thanksgiving dinner this year. Taking photos with your phone is fun, but having old-school photos you can hold in your hand is even better!
I did some research and read about all the mobile photo printers on the market right now. I decided the Polaroid ZIP Mobile Photo Printer would be perfect for my needs – and I was right. I really like this printer!
I only write about things I love or personally own. I was not paid or compensated in any way to write this article. The links in this post contain affiliate links. At no cost to you, I’ll receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on my link.
How It Works
The printer connects to your phone through Bluetooth, and you need to have the Polaroid ZIP app installed on your phone.
To Print a Photo For The First Time:
- Make sure your phone has Bluetooth turned on.
- Turn on the Polaroid ZIP printer.
- From your phone’s Bluetooth screen, tap on the Polaroid ZIP printer to connect to it.
- You will be prompted to download the Polaroid ZIP app, and will need that app in order to print.
NOTE: The app will prompt you to create an account, but you can skip that if you want. - Once the app has downloaded, open the app and choose a photo from your phone that you want to print.
This loads the photo into the app, where you can made adjustments if needed. - Use the app to make any changes to the photo – things such as cropping, filters, stickers, collages, text, etc. – be creative!
- Tap the PRINT button when you are ready to print your photo.
- Remove your photo from the printer and enjoy!
After you have the app installed on your phone, printing photos in the future is easy! Just pair your phone with the printer through Bluetooth and tap the PRINT button. You’ll have your photo in about 30 seconds – quick and easy!
The Details:
Size – The printer is just slightly larger than a deck of cards. A handy size that allows you to easily bring the printer with you when traveling.
The Paper – This printer uses something called ZINK zero ink printing technology. The ZINK paper is embedded with cyan, yellow, and magenta dye crystals. When printing, heat activates the crystals and they turn into the appropriate colors. How cool is that?!?! The ZINK paper means you don’t have to worry about ink cartridges or toners. You just load the ZINK paper into the printer and it’s ready to go. The paper is very thick, water-resistant, smudge proof, dry to the touch, and won’t tear easily. The paper has an adhesive on the back if you choose to use that – just peel back the paper and stick the photo to whatever you want to mount it to.
Photo Quality – The 2″ x 3″ photos are quite detailed and are really nice quality. Sure, they aren’t as high quality as prints you get from a professional print service, but they are definitely high enough quality for quick photos on the go.
Your Photos – I like that you can print photos from your camera roll, take a new photo, or print photos from your social media accounts.
Cost – The printer came with a pack of 10 photo sheets. I bought the bundled printer and 50-pack of photo paper, so 60 photos total for my purchase. A 50-pack of photo paper is $24.99, so each photo is 50-cents a print. The printer typically sells for $99.99, but I paid $113.98 for the printer AND the 50-pack of paper (so $88.99 for the printer).
Powered By – The printer can be used while it’s plugged in to a USB port, or use it with the built-in battery. You can print up to 25 photos per charge, and it takes about 1-1/2 hours to fully charge the printer.
User Manual – The user manual is included and shows you how to set up your printer.
Carry Case – I didn’t buy a case for this printer – thinking I’d just keep it in the box when travelling – but I’m considering buying the Polaroid Eva Case as well (it’s $12.99).
My Tips
Here are some additional tips I have for you, for using this photo printer.
- Take It To Parties – I’m going to take this printer to our family Thanksgiving dinner. It will be fun for everyone to take photos of each other and then print them right away – sort of like the old Polaroid instant cameras I had as a kid. Knowing my family, I’m sure there will be lots of crazy photos and lots of laughter, too. Everyone will be able to save their photos as a memento, and add them to their Thanksgiving Gift Bags I made for them.
- Friends Don’t Have to Have the App – You need the Polaroid ZIP app on your phone in order to print your photos. Maybe your friends and family won’t mind installing the app on their phone to use during your get-together, but they don’t really have to install the app to have fun with this. Have your guests message their photos to your phone, and you can print the photos for everyone. If you and your guests have an iPhone, they could use AirDrop to transfer photos to your phone for printing.
