A phone photo printer rescues the thousands of pictures trapped on your phone and turns them into real prints you can stick on the fridge, tuck in a wallet or pop in a frame. These pocketable little machines connect over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi and push out a finished photo in under a minute, straight from an app. An extensive test of phone photo printers sorted the best, and these are the top picks, checked against current UK prices.
What to Look For
Print technology. This is the big decision. ZINK (zero-ink) printers use special heat-sensitive paper and are cheap and simple, but the results can look a little flat. Dye-sublimation (also called thermal sublimation) printers, as used by the winners here, lay down colour in passes and seal each print, giving richer, more accurate photos that resist water and smudging. For quality, dye-sub wins.
Print size and format. Match the output to what you want. Pocket printers turn out small photos of about 7.6 by 5 cm; square printers produce trendy Polaroid-style prints of 6.2 by 6.2 cm (6.2 by 4.6 cm without the frame), often with an adhesive back; and postcard printers deliver larger 15 by 10 cm photos for framing. Bigger prints need a bigger, less pocketable machine.
Print quality and running costs. Look beyond the printer price to the cost per photo, which varies enormously. Dye-sublimation refills are often cheaper per print than you would expect, and the best model on test also had the lowest running costs, so a slightly pricier printer can work out cheaper over a few hundred photos. Check how many sheets a pack contains — anything from 15 sheets to 50 sheets — and the price of refills before you buy.
Portability and battery. Decide where it will live. A true pocket printer with a built-in battery — some pack around a 620 mAh cell — goes anywhere, while a mains-powered postcard printer is happier on a desk. Weight and size climb quickly with print size, so be honest about whether you need something for the trouser pocket, the jacket pocket or the shelf.
Connectivity and app. All of these print wirelessly from a phone, but the app makes the experience. A good one adds filters, frames, collage layouts and simple editing, and prints reliably over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi in around 15 seconds to a minute per photo. Check the app supports both iPhone and Android before you commit.
The Winner: Kodak Mini 2 Retro
The Kodak Mini 2 Retro P210R (around £74.99) is the best phone photo printer for most people. It delivers genuinely very good image quality yet prints relatively large photos and still slips easily into a trouser pocket — a rare combination. It uses a dye-sublimation process (the maker calls it 4PASS) for durable, good-looking prints, and it took the top spot by beating the previous ZINK-based champion on both photo quality and running costs. As an affordable, pocketable all-rounder, it leads the field. Check the price on Amazon
Best Quality: Canon Selphy CP1500
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If you want the best possible prints and larger photos, the Canon Selphy CP1500 (around £131.63) is the one. It produced the best print quality in the test and, impressively, also had the lowest running costs, making those bigger postcard-sized photos surprisingly affordable per print. It is very versatile, with dedicated buttons, a large 8.9 cm colour display and a choice of surface finishes. It is bigger and mains-minded rather than pocketable, but for frame-worthy results it is unbeaten. Check the price on Amazon
Best for Square Prints: Canon Selphy QX20
The Canon Selphy QX20 (around £106.56) is the pick for trendy square photos. It prints roughly Polaroid-style square images with a peel-off adhesive back and an optional retro frame, at a print quality that comes close to Canon's larger backpack-style printers. It slips into a jacket pocket, prints wirelessly, and is a great deal of fun for scrapbooks, fridges and gifts. If the square format appeals, it is a lovely thing to own. Check the price on Amazon
Also Tested
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Two other names are worth knowing. The Fujifilm Instax Link Wide prints large instant-film photos with that unmistakable Instax look, but current UK listings for it are inconsistent, so check the price and seller carefully. The HP Sprocket Select was a former test winner and a tidy ZINK pocket printer, but it was overtaken here on both photo quality and cost per print, which is why the dye-sublimation models above now lead.
How to Choose
Start with the size of print you want. For a do-anything pocket printer with excellent quality for the money, the Kodak Mini 2 Retro is the one to buy. If you want the finest, framed-worthy photos at the lowest cost per print, step up to the Canon Selphy CP1500. And if you love the square, stick-anywhere format, the Canon Selphy QX20 is made for it. Whichever you choose, favour dye-sublimation over ZINK for better, longer-lasting photos, and always factor in the cost of the paper and cartridges, not just the printer.
Verdict
The Kodak Mini 2 Retro P210R is the phone photo printer to buy for most people at around £74.99: pocketable, affordable and genuinely good-looking prints. For the best quality and cheapest photos, the Canon Selphy CP1500 (around £131.63) is worth the extra, while the Canon Selphy QX20 (around £106.56) nails the fun square format. Whichever you pick, you will finally get those phone photos off the screen and into the real world.
