They print in one of three different ways. One is using Zink (short for zero ink) photo paper. This is the cheapest type of iPhone printer, although the quality isn't usually the best. An alternative approach is called dye-sublimation, aka 'dye-sub'. This process uses heat to transfer dye to the printing material, and your photos will look better than if they were printed on a Zink printer.

The Mini LiPlay prints photos in 12 seconds, and you can print 100 photos on a single charge. Note that they're the same tiny size (1.8 x 2.4in) as the Fujifilm Instax Mini Link, number 5 on our list. In addition to its wireless connection options, the Mint actually supports MicroSD cards up to 256GB. That leaps over the 128GB limit still widely used by most comparable devices, and it means you’re not totally at the mercy of your Bluetooth connection.

iPhone printers connect up to your phone wirelessly and allow you to print either photos you've just taken or otherwise stored on your phone. These printers are portable and run on batteries, so you don't require a charger to use them. There’s no charging the Kiipix Portable Mini Printer, nor any need to plug it in. Simply load it with Instax Mini film, place your phone face down on the scanner (with the brightness cranked all the way up – trust us), use the reflective mirror to ensure it’s properly aligned, and then you can manually crank out the prints yourself. If you want something easy to use, the Kodak Mini 2 is a good choice. Its accompanying iOS app makes it super simple to print out pictures from your iPhone, plus it's compatible with all iPhones running iOS 8.0 and above. We have to say, if you are looking for a small portable printer to carry anywhere, the practical choice is the Polaroid Zip, as it performed well in every category. But if you want the best print quality possible, sacrificing slightly in size and cost per photo, then the clear winner is the Canon SELPHY Square QX10. Images from your iPhone can be moved, rotated, and zoomed in/out before printing, although you don't get any other editing features. Meanwhile, the camera itself sports a 28mm f/2, has a 4.9MP sensor, and lets you store up to 45 images internally, or more if you add a microSD card. There's a built-in flash, and a self-timer, and you can shoot as close as 10cm from your subject.

Even the best iPhone printers generally need to be charged. But with the Kiipix Portable Mini Printer, you don't have to. You just have to crank it manually to get prints out, so no batteries or electricity are needed. The Mint’s battery is recharged with a standard USB charging cable and USB port, and the Mint is built around a sizeable 900mAh lithium-polymer battery. It’s supposed to be able to print all about 40 sheets from a single charge, which is very nearly the entire film capacity of the device. Few people should find 40-prints to be limiting, especially given the slightly prohibitive cost of the photo paper. Think about why you want to print pictures on the move. Do you want the absolute best image quality? Choose a dye-sublimation printer. Do you want the cheapest prints, regardless of quality? Go for a Zink printer. Do you want the coolest prints? You'll probably want an Instax-based printer. Instant cameras have seen a resurgence over the past couple of years (in the same vein as record players), with photographers and casual snappers alike remembering the fun of physical photos. However, although we love instant cameras, it can be a drag to bring them everywhere and remember to use them (instead of your phone). Here’s where the portable photo printers come in. Some of these printers allow you to edit and add filters before printing. Some can even attach to your phone and print automatically. Consider if you want any extra features with your printer when choosing one. How We Selected

No, these portable printers are designed to work with smart devices such as your phone –and, in the case of the Instax Mini LiPlay, to print directly from its integrated camera as well. Do I need a physical cable to connect to the printer? Finally there are Zink printers that use zero-ink paper, embedded with color crystals, that offers the cheapest printing option –with often middling quality that's neither as good as a dye sub print, nor as intentionally lo-fi as an Instax print. Do portable printers need ink? From a hardware perspective, the majority of the heavy lifting behind these print-tasks is being done by the print paper. Though when it comes to the hardware necessary to deliver quality color prints, Polaroid does not disappoint. In fact, color is almost synonymous with their brand.

The Instax Mini LiPlay is not marketed specifically as a portable printer, so this one may be easy to miss. Instead, it's one of a new breed of hybrid digital instant cameras that offer the functionality of an instant camera, a digital camera, and a portable printer in the same device. Finally, there are instant film cameras, which use the same film that you find inside instant cameras. This can be pretty costly though. For more details, see our article. what type of instant film do I need? When it comes to software support, you’ll find the Polaroid Mint app is compatible with both iOS and Android operating systems. In other words, you don’t have to worry about Polaroid having compatibility conflicts with your smartphones, tablets, laptops, and so forth. Though you won’t find specific compatibility for Windows phones, work-around solutions are possible for more advanced users. It uses Zink paper, which means you don't have to add ink, but on the downside this means the picture quality isn't the best," says Tom May in our review. "Still, if you just want to hand out mementos at a social event, it's still a good choice, and it would make a fun gift for kids too."Of course, in practice, we all know that these things don't always work perfectly, for all manner of reasons. So it's great that this printer also has three other ways to connect to your iPhone, via Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, or Bluetooth. With this range of options, you're sure to get it working with the minimum of fuss. Since the technology is basically the same across all of these devices, you'd think the results would be similar, but we found a surprising amount of variation when we tested different cameras and printers. Below are our top recommendations for Zink-based cameras and printers. Dye sublimation is similar to Zink printing, but can produce a clearer and more vibrate picture because more passes are made on the print. Fun Features These printers all come with special kinds of paper, so you’ll want to consider what kind of pictures you want to print out. The standard size picture is 2x3, but some can print bigger.