Polaroid is following last year's Now instant camera with a Bluetooth-connected model, fittingly called the Now+ ($149.99). For an extra $50, the Now+ includes features artistic photographers will love, including app-based manual control and a set of creative filters. Polaroid is also back to making interesting film stocks, beyond the basic color and black-and-white options, adding some appeal for out-of-the-box photographers working in the instant medium. It remains more of a niche choice for artists, and is pricier to buy and feed compared with our Editors' Choice winner, the Fujifilm Instax SQ1. But if you're in that niche, be happy to know that the Now+ lives up to the Polaroid name.

Retro Looks, in Three Colors

The Now+ uses the same film packs as vintage cameras from 1980s. Because of this, its form factor isn't too far off—the system used to expose and eject the film dictates the camera's general shape and size. Polaroid's designers are taking aesthetic cues from days of yore, as well—you can get the Now+ in black or white, each with the iconic Polaroid rainbow stripe logo.

We received the third color option, Blue Gray, one that is only sold directly through Polaroid's site. It's a little more understated, without the bold rainbow. The shutter button pops visually—its glossy red sheen stands out against the matte blue body.

The camera is light, just shy of a pound, even though it's a little bulky, about 3.7 by 4.2 by 5.6 inches (HWD). Everything is plastic, so the lack of heft isn't surprising. Film loads in the front and the lens is centered just above. The flash and shutter release are at the left, and the optical viewfinder and plus button are opposite.

Polaroid skips putting a selfie mirror on the camera, something we see on some other instants, including the tiny Polaroid Go. It's not a big deal—if you want to frame a self portrait, you just have to center the lens in your direction. The 35mm angle of view makes it best for single-person selfies; if you're taking a photo with a friend, get really close and have the person with the longer arms hold the camera.

The power button is on the rear, along with an LED indicator to tell you how many photos are left in your film pack. There's also a button to turn the flash on or off. The battery is internal—it charges via a micro USB port, the same type used by many smartphones and other portable devices. A USB cable is included in the box.

You also get a set of filters. They slip on to the lens—no need to screw in threads like with an interchangeable lens camera. You get yellow, green, and blue color filters, useful for darkening and brightening different parts of your photo when working with black-and-white film, or for adding a creative color cast to color shots.

You also get a red filter with clear center—I tried it with some color film to add a red vignette to images. And there's a starburst filter—it makes highlights pop with a star effect, and softens focus a bit overall for portraits. A zippered soft pouch is included to hold them all, as well as the slip-on lens cap.

Polaroid App

The Now+ includes a standard tripod socket, something you don't get with every instant camera. It makes long-exposure photography, light painting, and studio work a bit more practical.

The Polaroid app is a free download for Android and iOS devices; I tried the latter. It uses a quick Bluetooth connection, so you don't have to fiddle with Wi-Fi settings to get things working. The app breaks down its function into pages, and it just takes a swipe to tab through them.

The app works as a basic remote shutter release, and also supports double exposure, aperture priority, long exposures, and full manual control. It includes a light painting setting, one that keeps the shutter open and turns on your camera's flashlight so you can use it to draw shapes with light. There's a portrait assistant too, a tool that helps you get the camera close enough to your subject to get shots with some background blur.

Using the app is completely optional—the camera works fine without it. But adding it to your phone's library opens the doors to creative avenues you don't get with pure point-and-shoot instant cameras.

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I-Type and 600 Film Support

The Now+ supports two types of instant film packs, I-Type and 600. The cartridges and film materials are identical, but the I-Type costs a few dollars less on average. It's because the I-Type film doesn't include a battery in the pack—since the introduction of the Impossible I-1, Polaroid cameras have had their own internal batteries.

It's the largest consumer instant film you can buy today—its 3.1-inch square format easily eclipses Fujifilm's 2.4-inch Instax Square format. But you pay for it—an eight-shot pack of I-Type Polaroid film costs $16, versus $20 for a twenty-pack of Instax Square.

Polaroid always offers color and black-and-white films, and cycles special edition stocks in and out of its catalog. I shot a pack of Duochrome Black & Blue Edition ($19.99), and there's a Black & Yellow Duochrome available now, too. Other special run films change the frame shape or finish—you can get round frame, or standard square shots with fancier borders.

The Duochrome film is based on Polaroid's black-and-white chemistry. It shows strong contrast, with deep blacks and bright whites (or blues or yellows, if you go the Duochrome route). It develops quickly, fully finishing in around ten minutes, and you don't have to take extra care to shield it from light as the image emerges.

The color film is a little more tricky to use. It takes longer to fully develop, around 15 minutes, and you need to shield it from light for the first couple minutes to get the best results. The Now+ includes a long "frog tongue," an opaque sheet of black film, that covers the photo as it ejects.

Still, you need to take some time between photos, and take care to stash images in the dark for the entirety of their development for the best results. I keep an empty film box in my camera bag for the task.

Color shots have a decidedly vintage look. Colors aren't quite as saturated as you'd expect, lacking the vivid punch we see from Fujifilm's color Instax film. Polaroid's color reminds me of color negative stocks from the '80s, while colors snapped with Instax film are closer to positive slides.

The look of your color shots also varies based on temperature. Images show a green shift in winter weather and a yellowish-red tint on very hot days.

One for the Art School Crowd

There's some real retro charm to picking up a Polaroid. Gen-X and millennials grew up with OneStep cameras, and many cherished memories are preserved on white-bordered, square film.

The Polaroid Now+ hits the right nostalgic notes, and includes some extra features you don't get with the basic version, the $99 Now. We think it's worth spending extra—you'll enjoy more creative control with manual exposure, a tripod socket, and more reliable autofocus for $50 more.

It's an instant film format we recommend for photographers who are serious about the craft. The big 3.1-inch image size and access to special edition film stocks come at a premium, and this is the modern camera to get if you're willing to pay.

Cameras that use Fujifilm Instax Square are the most obvious rival. Fujifilm's film format is smaller, but you get more consistent, true-to-life color, as well as a black-and-white option. We recommend the funky, folding Lomo'Instant Square to shutterbugs, and the fully automatic Instax Square SQ1 to snapshooters looking for a fun, easy-to-use instant camera.