I use my smartphone to take a lot of photos as many other people do. I enjoy my photos by including them in my (analog) journal, and I’ve used tiny photo printers to create 2 x 3-inch photo stickers for this purpose.
Using dye-sublimation technology, the Polaroid Hi-Print 2×3 is a portable photo printer that produces peel-and-stick pictures. It’s a Bluetooth photo printer that works well as a smartphone companion.
We’re going to review this product in depth today for your information. Let’s start.
Table of Contents
What’s In The Box?
- Polaroid Hi Print
- 2 printer cartridges (total of 20 photos)
- micro USB cable
- Quick start guide
Specifications Of Polaroid Hi-print 2×3
Print type: Dye-sublimation
Inks: Cyan, magenta, yellow
Max print size: 2×3-inch
Max resolution: 291x291dpi
Power source: Internal rechargeable battery
Display screen: None
Interfaces: Bluetooth
Dimensions (WxDxH): 80x150x27mm
Weight: 255g
Pros And Cons Of Polaroid Hi-print 2×3
Pros
- Vibrant sharp pictures
- Thin stickers don’t make your journal bulky
- Photos will not fade over time
- Easily pairs with a smartphone
- Simple but effective companion app
- Nice and compact
Cons
- Paper cartridges are expensive
- No Wi-Fi Direct or USB connection options
- Prints are on the small side
Design And Features Of Polaroid Hi-print 2×3
The Polaroid Hi-Print printer measures just 6.88 x 3.97 x 1.81 in (17.50 x 10.10 x 4.60 cm), making it small enough to fit in a bag or backpack.
The body of the printer is made of bright white plastic with a rainbow on the end where the prints are produced. The power button and Bluetooth and power status LEDs are on one side.
For recharging the internal lithium-ion battery, there is a micro USB connector on the back. Near that port, there is also a reset switch.
The door that provides access to the printer cartridge slot is located on the opposite side of the Hi-Print printer. Zink thermal paper is not used by the Polaroid Hi-Print printer, in contrast to the Polaroid Zip and HP Sprocket. Using a four-pass dye diffusion thermal transfer process, the Hi-Print prints.
A special cartridge that can hold 10 sheets of paper and the ink (or “ink”) is required for this printing process. One box containing two cartridges totaling 20 sheets of photo paper for the Polaroid Hi-Print printer has been included. The cartridges can be put in easily. Simply open the door, remove the old cartridge, insert the new one, and shut the door when you’re finished.
Performance Of Polaroid Hi-print 2×3
Although not particularly quick for a dye-sub printer, the Polaroid is still quite capable. Creating a print from beginning to end takes, as we’ve already mentioned, about 60 seconds. For comparison, the larger Canon SELPHY CP1300(opens in new tab) takes 47 seconds to produce a 4×6-inch postcard-sized print, while the smaller Canon SELHY SQUARE QX10(opens in new tab) takes 43 seconds.
With accurate yet vibrant color rendition and good tonal range, image quality is very appealing and closely resembles that of the rival Canon dye-sub printers. The only real complaint is that especially when compared to 4×6-inch postcard prints, the size of the prints can seem a little on the small side.
Print Quality Of Polaroid Hi-print 2×3
Before inkjet printers became so adept at printing photos, dye-sublimation printers were the imaging technology of choice for many professional photographers. For small-scale garment printing runs, they are also used in place of silk screening. Over the years, I’ve seen dye-sub output that ranges from barely matching consumer inkjets to highly detailed and vividly colored images that are almost on par with the output from professional-grade inkjet photo printers with nine or more inks.
The output from the Hi-Print is among the best I’ve seen from a 2-by-3-inch pocket photo printer, and it is noticeably more vibrant than most ZINK prints. However, there is a disadvantage in that the cartridge packs are significantly larger than ZINK paper competitors, making extra media slightly heavier to transport with your printer. The Hi-Print cartridge packages, which measure 1.5 by 3.5 by 6 inches, are more difficult to carry than a few packs of ZINK paper.
Quick Look At Polaroid Hi-print App
For the most part, these pocket photo printers’ apps and user interfaces are quite similar and straightforward. For phones and tablets running iOS and Android, the Hi-Print app can be downloaded. The app immediately locates the printer after you pair it with your mobile device. You only need to choose a few configuration options to get started.
You can add, edit, and format text, frames, or hundreds of stickers. Editing and enhancement options abound and include brightness, contrast, saturation, clarity, and filters. The application itself runs smoothly and behaves nicely (or, at least, it did on my Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Android phone).
The Hi-Print app has a much larger selection of filters than I’ve seen in most other tools for pocket photo printers, and the pictures I used them on looked good. Unfortunately, there is no app for Windows or Mac OS laptops or desktops despite the Bluetooth connectivity, which is typical for these portable photo printers. They are only for printing from mobile devices.
How To Beat The Cost Of Printing?
Packs of 20 sheets of Hi-Print paper from Polaroid cost $16.99 each. Bulk purchases can be made at a slight discount: three packs for $16 each, or five packs for $14 each. This equals 85, 80, and 70 cents for each print, respectively. Obviously, the five-pack offer is the best value, provided you don’t mind spending $70 all at once on photo paper. 85 cents is a lot of money in comparison.
The HP Sprocket Plus costs 65 cents per print, while prints from the Lifeprint 2×3 and Canon IVY Mini cost about 50 cents each. While the Sprocket Studio’s 4-by-6-inch sheets cost about 44 cents and the Canon Selphy CP1300’s 4-by-6-inch dye-sub prints are a much more affordable 35 cents each, Kodak’s two portable dye-sub printers, the Photo Printer Mini and Mini 2, charge 50 and 70 cents per print, respectively. (These prices are based on the costs and yields of the largest paper packs available for each printer, such as the $37.99 108-sheet, three-cartridge pack for the Canon Selphy.)
As you can see, the Hi-Print is one of the more expensive printers to use, even at 70 cents per print. Keep in mind, however, that this cost is for 2-by-3-inch sheets, not 4-by-6-inch ones.
Final Thoughts
The Polaroid Hi-Print is unquestionably an improvement over the HP Sprocket Zink printer. The Polaroid does a good job of producing high-quality output for small-format photo prints in an easy and reasonably quick manner. Borderless printing is possible thanks to the tear-off strip along one edge, and stick-on versatility is provided by the peelable back.
However, the prints don’t look as good as those from the Hi-Print, so there’s that. I really hope that Polaroid will be able to offer some discounts on the Hi-Print ink cartridges because I adore this tiny pocket photo printer. I hope this article can aid in your decision to purchase it. Please post a comment below if you have any questions.
Other Posts You Might Like: Gelato Print On Demand Reviews
