Searching for a smartphone-companion photograph printer and do not wish to be caught with simply rectangular business-card dimension or sq. Instagram-style prints? The Canon Selphy QX20 ($149.99) is what you are on the lookout for. Not like most competing fashions, which supply only one format or the opposite, the QX20 can deal with both one. And it provides loads of different causes to select it. On the prime of the record is its high-quality, long-lasting output, because of its dye-sub expertise, together with Canon’s notably easy-to-use print and enhancing app. It is our latest Editors’ Alternative decide for small-format photograph printers, becoming a member of the inexpensive, Zink-based HP Sprocket Choose and Kodak Step Immediate Cell Photograph Printer.Design: One Printer, Two Photograph SizesThe QX20 is the successor to the Selphy Sq. QX10, which prints solely 2.7-by-2.7-inch images. As a result of the QX20 is designed to carry two completely different paper sizes plus a dye roll, it is a bit bigger and a contact heavier than its closest competitors, at 1.3 by 4.0 by 5.7 inches and a full pound. But it surely’s nonetheless a straightforward match for a bag, a backpack, or a big pocket, so you possibly can carry it alongside with out a lot effort.
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Out there in white (the model we reviewed) or darkish grey, the QX20 comes with a USB-C-to-USB-C cable for charging the inner battery however no charger block to plug into. It additionally comes with none provides for printing, so you’ll want to order a number of units of paper and dye roll cartridges together with the printer. (Extra on the provides shortly.)
(Credit score: M. David Stone)
The entrance of the printer has a slot the place the images emerge, whereas the again hosts the USB-C port for charging and a spring-loaded slide launch for the paper compartment on the underside. The snap-open cowl for the cartridge is on the left facet, whereas the facility button sits on the highest, together with two standing lights. The complete record of standing codes is within the on-line Superior Handbook, however the one time I noticed the purple error gentle, I did not need to puzzle out what it was for. The printer had run out of paper, and a pop-up message on my telephone instructed me so.
Though the QX20 comes out of the field partially charged, it is all the time a good suggestion to totally cost the battery as a primary step. I did not have a charger with a USB-C port helpful, so I dug out a USB-C-to-USB-A cable and related to my laptop as a substitute. Canon says it takes about 80 minutes for the QX20 to totally cost and that the printer needs to be good for about 20 images earlier than needing recharging.
(Credit score: M. David Stone)
Bodily setup is customary for the printers that use dye-sub expertise (which is technically thermal dye switch, regardless of everyone calling it dye sub). Load 10 sheets of photograph paper into the paper tray, slide the 20-photo ribbon cartridge into the facet panel, shut the quilt, and also you’re able to print. One slight distinction from most fashions is that relying on which dimension of paper you are utilizing, you could have to snap two paper guides within the tray up or right down to match the paper width. However with the potential exception of the very first set of paper, that is solely wanted when you’re altering to the opposite paper dimension.I discovered the entire course of, together with adjusting the paper guides, apparent sufficient that I did not search for setup directions (although, admittedly, that is removed from the primary dye-sub printer I’ve arrange). After efficiently printing my first photograph, I checked the net guide and confirmed the directions had been there for many who may want them.
The paper tray set for wider paper (left) and the thinner paper (proper) (Credit score: M. David Stone)
Along with the bodily setup, you additionally should obtain and set up the Canon Selphy Format app, which is offered for Android and iOS cell gadgets solely. I downloaded the Android model and adopted the app’s on-screen directions. The one drawback I encountered was discovering the QR code and serial quantity on the printer for registering it with my telephone. (It is on the within of the ribbon cartridge cowl, a lot smaller than most QR codes, and in my case wound up hidden within the printer’s shadow from my desk lamp.)As soon as put in, the app is as simple to work with as any I’ve seen. Along with letting you print, it provides fundamental photograph enhancing and a handful of manipulations and results. These embody letting you rotate, crop, and resize pictures, together with adjusting brightness, distinction, and saturation. You too can set the photograph for bordered, bordered with rounded corners, or borderless printing on three sides. You additionally get the choice so as to add a colour filter, together with decisions for sepia and black and white, and add frames, stamps, and freehand drawings. You may even create collages of two to 6 images, in your selection of six layouts.
(Credit score: M. David Stone)
Canon provides three decisions of paper and dye roll units: 20-photo and 60-photo units for two.1-by-3.3-inch images and a 20-photo set for two.7-by-2.7-inch prints. Each 20-photo units are the identical worth, which works out to 75 cents per photograph. The per-photo worth for the 60-photo units is a bit decrease, at 68.3 cents every. For comparability, and utilizing record costs in all circumstances, the per-photo price works out to 50 cents for the HP Sprocket Choose, and 60 cents for the Kodak Step Immediate Cell Photograph.The paper for the QX20 is available in packs of 10 sheets every, which is the utmost capability for the printer. Every dye roll holds 20 repeating units of 4 panels: cyan, yellow, and magenta main colours, plus a transparent protecting layer. Testing the Selphy QX20: High High quality for Small PhotosOne of the important thing benefits of dye-sub expertise is that it could possibly print output that is basically indistinguishable from film-based images, with wealthy colour, refined gradations, and no dithering—a declare that Zink expertise merely cannot make. In my checks the QX20 met all expectations on this rating and likewise held shadow element properly. One other robust level for dye-sub output that features a clear protecting coat is that the prints are onerous to wreck. To show the purpose, I dealt with one clumsily, making an attempt to go away fingerprints, then poured espresso over it and wiped it off utilizing a heavy hand, all with out leaving a mark. Canon’s 100-year longevity declare is a sign of fade resistance, however the prints are additionally klutz-resistant.Print time for small-format dye-sub printers is determined by how lengthy it takes to maneuver the paper backwards and forwards 4 instances—as soon as for every panel on the ribbon—because the ribbon unrolls, and the printer makes use of a heated printhead to switch the dye and clear coating to the paper. Canon claims a 40-second print time for both of the 2 supported photograph sizes, which is 10 seconds for every cross. Nonetheless, I timed it at a constant 48 seconds per print, which continues to be a more-than-acceptable pace for this class. For comparability, the Kodak Step Immediate Cell Photograph Printer took only a contact lower than 60 seconds per print in our checks, whereas the HP Sprocket Choose averaged 76 seconds per print, with each printing similar-size images because the QX20.
The QX20 lays down one colour at a time in three seperate passes. (Credit score: M. David Stone)
One probably irritating situation: I discovered it fairly troublesome to take away the backing from the images to disclose the sticky again, and so did my spouse after I requested her to strive, considering she may do higher with longer fingernails. I lastly got here up with the trick of first choosing at one small spot on an edge with a fingernail, then fastidiously inserting the sharp level of a knife at that spot between the backing and the photograph so I may seize the backing and pull it off. This tactic labored more often than not as soon as I got here up with it, however it’s kind of of a ability you must develop earlier than you possibly can take away the backing shortly.Verdict: Exhausting to Beat, Regardless of the PriceA key situation for selecting any snapshot photograph printer is that it has to have the ability to print within the dimension and format you need. All three fashions talked about right here will cross that check for images the scale of enterprise playing cards, however solely the QX20 will cross it for sq. images as properly. It additionally delivers good high quality and scores properly on pace and price per photograph, making it a straightforward decide as our new Editors’ Alternative for smartphone-companion photograph printers. That stated, the QX20 is considerably dearer than the Kodak and HP fashions. At this writing, the Kodak printer lists for lower than half the QX20’s worth, whereas the HP printer is a bit more costly than that, however nearer in worth to the Kodak printer than the QX20. Each the Kodak and HP fashions use Zink expertise, which implies they do not provide the identical degree of photograph high quality because the QX20. However they ship high quality you could properly take into account ok for small images. Both one is an effective selection, and every is our prime decide for its worth vary.Nonetheless, when you want the QX20’s two print sizes, it is just about the one decide. And—so long as you do not thoughts paying a bit extra for it—even when you want just one dimension, it is most likely the transportable photograph printer you need.
Professionals
Dye-sub expertise delivers high-quality, long-lasting prints
Helps borders, rounded borders, and three-sided borderless printing
Prints on each sq. (2.7-by-2.7-inch) and card-size (2.1-by-3.3-inch) media
Prints from Android and iOS gadgets through Wi-Fi
Simple-to-use app
View
Extra
The Backside Line
Canon’s Selphy QX20 spits out high-quality wallet-size prints, delivering nearly all you would ask for in a compact photograph printer.
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About M. David Stone
Contributing Editor
Most of my present work for PCMag is about printers and projectors, however I’ve coated all kinds of different topics—in additional than 4,000 items, over greater than 40 years—together with each computer-related areas and others starting from ape language experiments, to politics, to cosmology, to area colonies. I’ve written for PCMag.com from its begin, and for PC Journal earlier than that, as a Contributor, then a Contributing Editor, then because the Lead Analyst for Printers, Scanners, and Projectors, and now, after a brief hiatus, again to Contributing Editor.
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