The Polaroid Insta-Share Printer ($199.99) is another in the Moto Mod lineup, a series of accessories that snap onto your phone to add functionality it isn't able of on its own. But, though the innovation factor, it's not one of the better Mods existing. Print quality is so-so, with bad color accuracy and limited saturation, and the app that drives the printer has some pain points. If you want a photo printer for your phone, get the Fujifilm Instax Share SP-2 or SP-3instead.
Design
Like all Moto Mods, the Insta Share Printer snaps onto the back of your Moto Z series phone magnetically. It's finished in white plastic, so it creates a clashing two tone look when paired with a compatible phone current models are only available with a black finish. It also adds a bit of bulk.
The printer size 6.1 by 2.9 by 0.8 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.6 ounces, and you certainly feel it when you're holding the phone. The size also makes it a bit much to fit into tighter bag. It's not a complete brick, as the top portion is narrower, and includes a circular cutout so you can use your phone's camera with the printer attached. The slot from which prints eject is right underneath the cutout.
The Insta Share uses heat sensitive paper to make prints without the need for ink or chemicals. The first time you attach the printer it gives you some on screen instructions on loading paper, a plus if you haven't used this type of printer before. The 3-by-2-inch (HW) prints are borderless, with a glossy, water resistant finish and a peel away back turns them into stickers. Paper is sold by Polaroid under the Zink brand, and can be had in a 20-pack for about $7.50—$0.38 per print.
The printer has its own battery and charging port. But the USB-C port is covered when it's attached to the phone, so you will need to take it off and charge it separately. Pass through charging from phone to printer is not supported. Battery life is also a attention. The printer is only rated to stay charged long enough to make 20 prints that's more than you will perhaps make in one sitting, but it does mean you will have to be aware to keep it charged when you want to use it. The square-format Fuji SP-3, which works with phones via a Wi-Fi connection, can make 160 prints on a single charge.
The printer has its own app that downloads automatically from the Google Play store when you first attach it to your phone. The app is pretty straightforward you will need to give it access to your camera and photo library, and if you want to pull photos from Facebook, Google Drive, or Instagram, you will need to log into those services via the app as well.
Printing an image without editing should be a simple task. But it's not. I downloaded a few test images to the phone and was surprised to see that, when loaded to print, the images were automatically zoomed in. This happened not only on photos where I'd expect the app to do so images in a ratio other than 3:2, where zooming is important to fill the print, for example but also when images were the proper aspect ratio for borderless printing to Zink paper.
No problem, just need to pinch and zoom out a bit, right? Unfortunately, no. Pinching does indeed zoom out, but it also acts as a free rotation tool. The two actions are tied together, so I had to do some digital gymnastics in order to pull out far enough to print all of my photo, while at the same time keeping things as straight as they were in the original shot. There were a few other issues with the app. I made six test prints, but even with that low volume I dealt with two app crashes when setting them up. I also noticed that images in my Instagram feed appeared twice in a row as I scrolled through, when I knew that I had not double posted photos.
Once you get past the cropping interface and crashes, you will find the app has some very basic image editing tools. You can apply filters, add stickers or text, and add borders to photos. But you don't get any sort of advanced layout tools like you do with Fuji's app for its Instax Share printers. That means no large scale collages made up of dozens of smaller prints, and no way in the app to include more than one photo on a single print.
And then there's the print quality. I've never been impressed with Zink, and the Insta-Share does nothing to change my opinion. Prints don't show the same color saturation as a photo contains, colors aren't always accurate, and streaky dithering is visible, especially so in areas where color is uniform, like defocused backgrounds or bright, open skies. Instax film, which is used by competing Fujifilm printers, delivers much truer results, although it does come at a higher cost the Mini format, about the same size as Zink, is around $0.70 per image, and the larger Instax Square format is about $1.50 per image. But I'd rather pay more for a quality print than spend anything on a disappointing one.
Conclusions
At $200, the Insta Share doesn't offer any sort of up front cost advantage when compared with competing wireless instant film printers from Fujifilm. You can get the SP-2 for less than its $179.95 asking price and consume a little bit more money per print. Quality is better, and the 1.8-by-2.4 inch images are not far off from the Zink format in size. If you don't mind consuming a bit more on prints, the $200 Fuji SP-3 uses the 2.4 inch Instax Square format, and can work with any Android or iOS phone you won't be forced to abandon it if you opt for something other than a Moto Z handset when it's time to upgrade. If the Zink paper format delivered better results we'd recommend the printer to Moto Z users, but it doesn't. You're better off skipping this Mod and looking elsewhere for on the go photo printing, or just going old-school and getting an instant camera.
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