In a time of instant gratification, it’s pretty satisfying and exciting to print photos on the go, and right now, when you want to. As an aside, it’s also very exciting for a toddler to see pictures on my cellphone come to life in mini prints!

We had so much fun trying out the INSTAX Mini lInk Smartphone Printer from Fujifilm, much like we did with the Instax Mini Camera.

What is it?

The Mini Link is a sleek and light printer from which you can print pics on your phone via an app. You’ll need to download the app (easy!), pop some instant film in the camera, and print what you like. You can print as is, or you can add fun frames, create collages and split prints, and even print photos from videos.

The app also has two modes – Print Mode and Fun Mode. Fun Mode lets users connect up to five smartphones to the INSTAX Mini Link and print a photo collage with Party Print. There’s Motion Sensor functionality which lets users zoom in or out to take a photo with the app by tilting the printer, and photos can be reprinted by turning the printer upside down and pressing the INSTAX button – cool for parties or when you have guests over and want to give them some pics as they leave (cool for kids’ parties too!).

It’s easy to use and very portable, and something I could easily keep (I got my unit on loan for review). I do have an older version of the instant camera that I bought a few years ago, and love it, but with the printer, you have more functionality, you can print from a library of pics, and you can print out better pics.

I found that pics taken on a DSLR printed much nicer pics than those taken on a phone with a decent camera. Even so, don’t expect the quality to be the same as that from a print shop, which is totally fine – this is instant, and you’re using instant film.

For those of us who don’t usually get prints made, or make photobooks, this is a brilliant and fairly affordable way to get those memories in print. You can stick them on your fridge, put them in albums or create collages in a frame (easy to do yourself too).

The printer retails for R1 999, but I often see great deals on Superbalist and BrandHubb. A box of 10 sheets of film costs around R199, but I often buy mine on sale – again, look out for these on Superbalist.

Here are some pics I had printed… gosh I loved printing these out with the kids.