Two or three years in the past, the market was awash with new transportable photograph printers. HP alone now makes 5 transportable (or, in some circumstances, “pocket”) photograph printers, together with the Sprocket Studio, the mannequin closest in design and performance to the $129.99 Liene 4×6″ On the spot Picture Printer (Amber Collection). An in depth competitor to the Editors’ Alternative–successful Canon Selphy CP1300 Wireless Compact Photo Printer, Liene’s On the spot Picture Printer is a dye-sublimation gadget that prints terrific-looking photographs at an affordable value per print, making it a viable various to the Selphy, the Sprocket Studio, and several other different snapshot and wallet-size photo printers.
Moveable Design
Measuring 3.4 by 8.1 by 4.9 inches and weighing 4.2 kilos, the On the spot Picture Printer is considerably bigger and heavier than most of its opponents, which, amongst many others, consists of the aforementioned HP Sprocket Studio and Canon Selphy CP1300, in addition to the HP Sprocket Choose, the Kodak Photo Printer Dock, and the Lifeprint 3×4.5. Amongst these gadgets, the Selphy, the Sprocket Studio, and the Picture Printer Dock are probably the most related. All three are dye-sub printers and retailer photograph paper in removable trays that reach out from the chassis, quite than inside the machine.
The waxy, dry dye-sub ink is available in cartridges that switch to paper at particular (sizzling) temperatures. (I’ll get into consumables, paper, and the overall economics of utilizing this printer a bit additional down.) Smaller “pocket” machines, such because the Sprocket Select, the Canon Ivy Mini, and Lifeprint’s photograph printers, are primarily based on an inkless expertise referred to as Zero Ink (Zink), which embeds little deposits of shade into the paper.
Zink photographs are inclined to run smaller than the 4-by-6-inch format utilized by the On the spot Picture Printer and different dye-sub gadgets. The Sprocket Choose, as an illustration, prints on 2.3-by-3.4-inch Zink media, and each Lifeprint fashions, the 2×3 Hyperphoto Printer and 3×4.5 Hyperphoto Printer, announce their supported media sizes of their names.
When the On the spot Picture Printer is out of service and packed up prepared for journey in your backpack or pc bag, its 20-sheet paper tray resides in a recessed space on high of the printer’s chassis. A magnet on the underside of the tray holds it in place.
The ink cartridge slides right into a hatch that opens on the best aspect of the printer. Every cartridge is sweet for 40 4-by-6-inch prints. You’ve got restricted operation choices from a sparse management panel on the entrance of the gadget, the place you’ll discover solely a Energy button and three standing LEDs (Energy, Service, and Wi-Fi). The machine is optimized for working from handheld cellular gadgets and Liene’s cellular app.
On the again of the printer, you’ll discover (from left to proper) a paper exit slot that facilitates the four-pass printing course of, by which the photograph travels forwards and backwards over the printhead to choose up three layers of shade (cyan, magenta, and yellow, or CMY) and a transparent coat that protects the picture and helps colours pop on shiny paper. To the best of the slot is a USB 3.0 Kind-C port for connecting to a PC, smartphone, or pill, and subsequent to that may be a barrel-style energy port. You may energy the printer from AC energy with the bundled adapter or over USB.
On the best aspect is the hatch that homes the ink cartridge. This photograph additionally reveals the paper tray resting snugly on high of the printer.
Making It Go
The On the spot Picture Printer helps each USB and Wi-Fi connections. You may join as much as 5 computing gadgets (Android, iOS, macOS, or Home windows) on to the printer itself, or a mess over a Wi-Fi community.
The Liene Picture Printer app, obtainable for each Android and iOS, enables you to edit and improve your photographs, add textual content and borders, and apply easy filters. You may as well print instantly out of your cellphone’s photograph gallery, or from any app in your pc.
Efficiency and Picture High quality
For these little photograph printers, print pace in all probability shouldn’t high your record of standards; that four-pass course of takes some time. For testing, I linked the On the spot Picture Printer to the USB Kind-C port on our Intel Core i5 testbed PC operating Home windows Skilled. (I additionally ran some exams over a wi-fi connection and acquired related outcomes.)
For probably the most half, the On the spot Picture Printer averaged round one 4-by-6-inch print per minute, as did the Canon Selphy. The HP Sprocket Studio averaged 2 minutes 5 seconds. The Zink machines, regardless that their prints are notably smaller than 4-by-6-inches, sometimes take longer than their dye-sub counterparts. The HP Sprocket Choose, for instance, prints 2.3-by-3.4-inch photos in 1 minute 16 seconds, and the Lifeprint fashions took 1 minute 16 seconds (for two by 3 inches) and 1 minute 30 seconds (for 3 by 4.5 inches) to print.
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Not solely are the larger-format dye-sub fashions sooner than their Zink counterparts, however print high quality can also be notably higher. On prints from the On the spot Picture Printer, colours are vibrant and element is evident. The premium shiny paper feels and appears a lot nicer than the thinner and fewer substantial Zink media. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that these photographs are as much as the standard you’d get from five- and six-ink consumer-grade photograph printers from Epson or Canon, however for a comparatively quick, no-hassle, moderately priced compact photograph printer, print high quality is healthier than acceptable.
Price Per Picture
As for operating prices, among the many dye-sub gadgets mentioned right here, the On the spot Picture Printer’s 42 cents per print sits between the Canon Selphy’s 35 cents per and the HP Sprocket Studio’s 44 cents. The excellent news is that these numbers embody each ink and photograph paper.
The smaller Zink fashions, the HP Sprocket Choose and Lifeprint 3×4.5, require solely paper, but their paper packs promote for $0.65 and $1.25 per sheet, respectively. At one time, dye-sub printers have been costly to purchase and costly to make use of; in comparison with mainstream inkjet photograph printers, that is nonetheless true, however amongst transportable photograph printers, dye-sub is the lower-cost possibility. In any case, $0.42 per photograph isn’t dangerous in any respect.
No-Frills High quality Photographs
The Liene 6×4” On the spot Picture Printer is a type of no-nonsense gadgets that’s straightforward to suggest, if not a standout. It is easy to arrange and use, and it has versatile connectivity choices and good print high quality. That is lots to warrant its place amongst our present favourite 4-by-6-inch transportable photograph printers. Alternatively, it isn’t notably higher than related and equally priced opponents, and the Canon Selphy CP1300’s built-in display provides it the sting to stay our Editors’ Alternative.