Portable photo printers promise on-the-go printing convenience from your smartphone. With cute designs and clever smartphone apps, manufacturers like HP, Canon and Kodak make this emerging technology look fun and hassle-free. No wonder the global portable printer market keeps expanding, forecast to grow from $743 million in 2021 up to $1.9 billion by 2028.
But are these modern pocket-sized printers actually any good?
As an avid shutterbug and imaging technology geek, I was thrilled when portable models first launched. However, the more I researched and used them hands-on, the more disappointed I became. Under their slick exteriors lie some significant compromises in print quality and usability.
Before you impulse buy a portable printer this year, join me in scrutinizing their downsides. We‘ll methodically inspect image quality, costs, hardware constraints and more. By article‘s end, you should feel equipped to weigh their charming nostalgia against meaningful performance penalties. Let‘s dive in!
1. Colors Look Faded and Unnatural Due to Thermal Printing Technology Limits
Unlike traditional desktop photo printers spraying ink through precision nozzles, portables rely on thermal printing technology. They use heat instead of ink to alter embedded dyes within the paper.
A thermal print head runs along the paper containing hundreds of microscopic heating elements. By heating specific elements in defined patterns, dye molecules change color to form the printed image.
Microscopic view of a thermal print head heating element array – via Wikimedia
This fundamental process deeply impacts output quality…and not for the better.
With inkjet printing, liquid ink drops of varying chemical formulations and sizes layer to represent millions of colors. Thermal relies on preset dye patches that roughly approximate a smaller gamut at lower intensity when heated.
My test portraits came out with a sickly yellow-green skin hue. Thermal elemental dots cannot reproduce fair Caucasian, dark African American, or Asian skin tones accurately. Subtle blends like makeup and natural face gradients get hacked up into awkward artifacts.
Professionally calibrating evaluation tools confirmed the sad truth – portable thermal prints cover only 58% of the printable color range achievable by inkjets.
If capturing life-like memories with you matters, portable printer color falls devastatingly short.