Fact: There's something magical about having a print of a photo. Sure, your photos look fine on Instagram and Facebook, but when you want to display one on your desk or give one as a gift, real photos still rule. That's why I love Fujifilm's Instax Share printers—they enable the pictures trapped inside your phone to escape into the real world.
The Instax Share SP-2 lets you quickly and easily print photos from a smartphone (via Wi-Fi, natch) onto Fujifilm's vivid, colorful Instax instant film. There's no ink involved—this tiny printer uses an internal array of OLEDs to expose your image onto the film. Then, the magic of chemistry turns a white blob into a beautiful image.
This itty-bitty printer lets you set up a photo booth anywhere, and I've heard that these Instax printers are a sure-fire hit at weddings and family gatherings. Personally, I've whipped up photos to mail to pals, and the mini-size of the pics means you can slip one or two into a greeting card without adding extra postage.
This is the second Instax Share printer from Fujifilm. The first iteration was pretty solid, but the SP-2 is better in every way. It's faster, more convenient, and prints sharper images than its predecessor. The natural look of analog film smooths out pixelization nicely, and I find the photos look vibrant and gorgeous, but you can edit to taste. Pictures take around 10 seconds to print and then a few extra minutes to fully develop on the film.
The SP-2 has a modern, clean design. In either silver or gold, it looks more like a fashion accessory than a gadget. Small indicator lights along the top give you an at-a-glance idea of how much film and battery life you have remaining. There's a rechargeable battery now instead of the hard-to-find CR2 cells I had to use in the original; USB charging is mandatory, so you should have no problem juicing up.