HP Sprocket Studio Instant Photo Printer - 4x6” Pictures from Smartphone & Social Media w/ HP App. UK Plug

Product Information

Collin is the B2B Hardware Editor for TechRadar Pro. He has been in journalism for years, with experience in small and large markets, including Gearadical, DailyBeast, FutureNet, and more. Portable photo printers offer convenience and portability so that photos can be printed on the go. They are ideal for busy photographers who don’t have time to wait for prints to be shipped. You’ll notice that this is a smaller device than the rest on this list right off the bat. It’s true – this printer is only about one and a half mobile phones in length and weighs only 3 lbs (1.3 kg). Fortunately, this compactness doesn’t come at the cost of performance. While there are a few subtle differences here and there between the 4×6 photo printers, they mostly share the same basic functionality of taking good-quality and long-lasting photos.

This premium A3 printer that boasts a refined, low-profile design delivers superior six-ink photo print quality while staying cost-effective. There are quite a wide range of printing technologies across all photo printers, which each have their own advantages and disadvantages regarding speed, image quality and durability.The best photo printers create great colour and mono photo prints at home, but which one should you go for? Claimed photo lifetimes also vary, with longer lifetimes obviously preferred. Traditional silver halide color prints last about 20 years when exposed to air; many of today's snapshot printers rate their output for a century of storage in a photo album. The scanner is only A4-size, but it makes very high-resolution scans, and combined with the high print resolution, you can make nearly identical color copies. There is no fax, and print speeds are slow, but in all other respects, the Epson Expression Photo XP-970 is hard to beat.

Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewer – and has tested more primes and zooms than most people have had hot dinners! There’s a lot to love about this new Epson printer, although it’s incredibly similar to the previous XP-960 model. It works very well as a standalone printer and photocopier, with intuitive touchscreen controls. Going large to A3/wide format printing makes your photos look much more imposing, and the print quality itself is very good. As this portable 4X6 photography printer uses the dye sublimation technique to print, the printing speeds are not that great. However, you cannot complain as the dye sublimation technique requires you to pass your paper four times (yellow, magenta, cyan, and the finishing coat) to get the colors right. In our testing, a single print takes less than a minute. This is usually considered a decent speed for dye sublimation. Connectivity Tony Hoffman is a tech expert with over 10 years of experience in the printer and scanner industries. He has developed a keen eye for the latest innovations and trends in printing technology making him a go-to resource for consumers and professionals alike. The built-in colour screen makes for more intuitive operation and again, as with the pigment-based PRO-300, you can create panoramic prints of up to 990cm in length. Colour output on glossy paper is simply spectacular, easing ahead of Epson’s larger-format 6-ink photo printers, and the Canon also delivers very convincing output for both colour and mono photo prints on matte and fine art media.The printed photos are of good enough quality. They’re not the best, but they’re good. And the printer uses dye sublimation as well to give you a beautiful, long-lasting photo.

We've divided this guide into two sections. First, we run through regular A4 printers, and then we look at larger A3+ (13-inch) printers. As you might expect, the smaller printers tend to be more affordable, while A3+ printers usually produce prints of higher quality (and bigger size). Furthermore, Kodak has an app for the printer which they force you to use to send images to the printer, effectively restricting connection to mobile phones only. But apart from connection, the print design itself is very good. The printers use dye sublimation techniques and a laminating process to provide high-quality material photos that can last 100 years. Also, the photo quality itself is good, but not the best, considering we’re talking about Kodak here. Pros: Whereas Canon’s smaller SELPHY Square QX10 only creates 2.7-inch square prints, the CP1300 outputs 4x6-inch postcard sized prints. As well as being considerably larger, the prints have the correct aspect ratio for most digital cameras. However, whereas the QX10 has a built-in paper input tray, the CP1300 has a clip-in ‘Card Size Paper Cassette PCC-CP400’, which acts as an input and output tray and adds to the overall size of the printer while you’re actually printing.

How to Get the Best Output Quality From Your Photo Printer

Not all photo printers are the same, and which will be your best option depends on what you’ll be printing, and where you’re likely to do it.

Of course, the most noticeable detail (especially when it’s absent) in a picture is the quality. Naturally, you want your memories to look good and last long. These printers come with features like Bluetooth connectivity and Wi-Fi capabilities, adding even more convenience to photo-editing and printing. Also, you want a camera with three color inks, ideally cyan, magenta, and yellow, each with 256 levels.

Epson SureColor P900 17-Inch Photo Printer

As an off-brand photo printer, Liene can’t compete with Kodak and HP on name recognition, but they do deliver a product that produces comparable, or even better, image quality. One of these printers goes way beyond letting you fill your photo albums and frames with happy memories though. They can also help you to print thank you cards or bright and colourful flashcards for the kids. Meanwhile, the arts and craftsopportunities are endless.