Polaroid Hi-Print nomadic printer reveals itself -

20 Minutes

  • The success of mobile printers for smartphones has pushed Polaroid to invest in this market.

  • With its Hi-Print sold for 100 euros, the emblematic instant photo brand is distinguished by the printing technology adopted.

  • Thanks to thermal sublimation, the device delivers beautifully crafted credit card-sized images, far superior to those from printers using competing Zink technology.

The story of Polaroid is a real novel, the new chapter of which could be the arrival of the Hi-Print nomadic printer launched for a 100 euro banknote.

With it, the brand wants to take its place in a market which, since 2017, has been surfing the renewed interest of the public - and young people in particular - for instant photos.

Battery operated, these printers connect to our smartphones via Bluetooth and can print any photo through an application.

The Polaroid Hi-Print printer launched at 100 euros.

- POLAROID

The clutter of three smartphones

The Hi-Print benefits from a rather original look, one of the translucent plastic ends of which takes up the brand's color codes (red, orange, yellow, green and blue).

The good idea would have been for an LED bulb to illuminate this elegant module from the inside when printing, that would have been nice.

But no.

Advertised as "pocket", the Hi-Print occupies the space that would take three smartphones stacked on top of each other: 17.50 x 10.10 x 4.60 cm for 255 grams (without cartridge).

It can therefore be transported in a bag with its charging cable and micro-USB socket.

Polaroid has used the emblematic colors of its logo on its printer.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

One side of the printer hides an opening for the print cartridge containing 10 credit card size sheets (54 x 86 mm).

Nothing but very classic.

69 filters to customize your views

Ready to use in two minutes after downloading the Polaroid Hi-Print application and pairing it via Bluetooth with your smartphone, the printer ejects its first imported prints from the user's photo library.

Beforehand, the application allows many retouching (brightness, contrast, saturation…), to apply filters classified in different categories, such as Vintage, Smooth, Cold… We have counted no less than 69!

Not less than 69 filters to apply to your photos before printing them.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

It is also possible to insert small texts in its photos in the form of logos (there are about fifteen of them), but also to affix virtual stickers (heart, glasses…), as well as frames.

We are enthusiastic about the whole, even if the Frames section is frankly skinny with only four models.

An application like Google's Snapseed offers almost endless possibilities in this area.

The moment comes when we start printing.

Sublime sublimation?

Oblique thermal sublimation printing, the sheet to be printed makes several passes under what may look like an ink roller in order to receive its different layers of color.

Each cartridge contains 10 sheets in 54 x 86 mm format.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

We therefore see it exit and reenter the printer four times.

We find here a little the spirit of Polaroid instant cameras whose images are revealed slowly after the shooting.

Between the transmission of the file from the phone to the printer and the printing, it takes a long minute to get it printed.

And there ... good surprise.

Photos in business card format are printed using the thermal sublimation process.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

If their format remains narrow, the views obtained are beautiful.

The colors are dense and homogeneous, even slightly saturated (beware of the brightness of your smartphone screen, the display of which can be misleading).

The details remain visible.

Protected against splashing water, the photos are self-adhesive.

We would appreciate a range of different papers to vary the pleasures.

The autonomy of the printer is 20 prints, which is not much, but in line with what competing products offer.

The best on the market?

A quality remains very much above that offered by Zink technology printers (see box).

Our tests of the Fujifilm Instax mini Link (119 euros), the HP Sprocket (currently sold off at 89 euros), the Canon Zoemini C (109 euros) which use Zink have always resulted in a little disappointed.

Photos with often washed out colors and often turning red are their common lot.

Thermal sublimation, on the other hand, offers much better results.

Photos in dense colors (here of a work by the artist Dourone) - CHRISTIOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

The Hi-Print printer would currently have only one real rival: the PhotoBee of the Korean CIAAT, which had opted for thermal sublimation in mid-2017.

But the device seems to have disappeared from the shelves.

Polaroid can therefore be proud today of offering the best portable printer on the market.

With an apparent cost price of 85 cents, the manufacturer remains in the nails compared to the "market" price of prints on nomadic printers.

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Thermal sublimation or Zink: two very different technologies

Unlike most competing nomadic printers, the Hi-Print uses the so-called "thermal sublimation" printing technology and not the Zink technology which was very popular for a long time.

Remember that the first uses ink, not the second.

The first is based on the successive passage of the sheet which is printed under a plastic film depositing the colors yellow, red and cyan (then a protective film).

The second requires the use of specific sheets that contain colored crystals that are revealed when exposed to a heat source.

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