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Best Portable Photo Printers

Tony Hoffman
 & Tony Hoffman Senior Writer, Hardware

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

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    Buying Guide: Best Portable Photo Printers

    Best Portable Photo Printers

    Spring is almost here, with the promise of outdoor gatherings as the weather warms up. If you take your camera with you to picnics or parties, why not bring along a portable photo printer as well? There's no better way to share snapshots with friends than to do so on the spot.

    An ever-growing number of portable printers are on the market, the majority of them dedicated photo printers that usually print at sizes up to 4-by-6. Our favorite recent model is the Editors' Choice Epson PictureMate Charm, part of a long lineage of top-notch PictureMates. The more expensive—and somewhat more bulky—Epson PictureMate Show has a 7-inch LCD, letting it double as a digital picture frame.

    Two of the printers listed here use ZINK (zero-ink) technology, which employs a special photo paper in which dye crystals are embedded, changing color when heated to form the image. The Pandigital Portable Photo Printer is the first of its kind to print 4-by-6 photos; previous-generation ZINK printers such as the Dell Wasabi PZ310 were limited to 2-by-3s. That said, ZINK technology still has a way to go before it can compete with either inkjet or thermal dye, a big reason why the Pandigital only received a fair (2 stars) rating in our review. The photo quality was, however, improved over the previous generation, and we have high hopes that ZINK technology will continue to improve over time.


    FEATURED IN THIS ROUNDUP

    Canon Selphy CP780 Compact Photo Printer

    Price: $99.99 direct
    Although the Canon Selphy CP780 Compact Photo Printer is a step below the top tier of dedicated photo printers for photo quality, it's good enough for most casual photographers. Read the full review ››


    Canon Selphy ES40

    Price: $149.99 direct
    The Canon Selphy ES40 is one of the best small-format printers available, despite problems printing diagonal lines (as with spokes in a wheel) when printing from a computer. Read the full review ››


    Dell Wasabi PZ310 Mobile Photo Printer

    Price: $149.99 direct
    Only the second printer in the U.S. to use ZINK technology, the Dell Wasabi PZ310 Mobile Photo Printer is small enough to carry with you everywhere. Read the full review ››

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    Epson PictureMate Charm

    Price: $149.99 direct
    Like earlier PictureMates, the Epson PictureMate Charm delivers fast speed and a low cost per photo, but with even higher-quality output than the previous generation. Read the full review ››


    Epson PictureMate Show

    Price: $299.99 direct
    The Epson PictureMate Show tests the waters for a combination dedicated photo printer and digital photo frame. Read the full review ››


    HP Photosmart A646 Compact Printer

    Price: $149.99 direct
    The HP Photosmart A646 Compact Printer is a worthy successor to the Editors' Choice A636 in many ways, but it falters badly on ease of use. Read the full review ››


    Pandigital Portable Photo Printer

    Price: $130 street
    The Pandigital Portable Photo Printer offers higher-quality photos than the first-generation ZINK printers, but it's still not a match for inkjets or thermal dye printers. Read the full review ››


    About Our Expert

    Tony Hoffman

    Tony Hoffman

    Senior Writer, Hardware

    Since 2004, I have worked on PCMag’s hardware team, covering at various times printers, scanners, projectors, storage, and monitors. I currently focus my efforts on 3D printers, pro and productivity displays, and drives and SSDs of all sorts.

    Over the years, I have reviewed smart telescopes, iPad and iPhone science apps, plus the occasional camera, laptop, keyboard, and mouse. I've also written a host of articles about astronomy, space science, travel photography, and astrophotography for PCMag and its past and present sibling publications (among them, Mashable and ExtremeTech), as well as for the former PCMag Digital Edition.

    The Technology I Use

    I have a Lenovo ThinkPad T14 laptop that's my work daily driver, an HP Pavilion Aero 13 as my primary personal laptop, and an Asus ProArt P16 for detailed photo work. (I also have an older Dell XPS 13, which now stays at home full-time.) For storage testing, I rely on our three custom-built Windows testbeds in PC Labs, as well as a 2024 MacBook Pro.

    My primary home monitor is a BenQ EX2780Q, a gaming monitor with a great sound system and excellent image quality. I use that panel for writing, watching videos, and working with photos. I also have an HP 27 Curved Display—one of the first general-purpose curved monitors—which I have paired with an Acer Aspire desktop computer. My multifunction printer is an Epson Expression Premium XP-7100 Small-in-One. I also own an Epson Perfection V39 flatbed scanner, which I use for photos and short documents, and a Canon Selphy CP1300 small-format photo printer for turning out snapshots.

    My first cell phone, in 2006, was a Motorola Razr; since then, it’s been all iPhones—I currently have an iPhone 15 Pro. I use my iPhone a lot for casual photography, though I also use a Sony DSC-RX100 VII and a Canon G5 X Mark II for everyday shooting. For much of my travel photography and astrophotography, I use either a Sony A7r II or A7 III, paired with a variety of lenses ranging from a Sony 14mm f/1.8 prime to a Sony FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS zoom lens. I also pair the A7r with a RedCat 51 for deep-sky star shooting. For astrophotography, I also use the Seestar S30 and S50 and the Unistellar Odyssey smart telescopes, which are essentially astronomical cameras controlled through one’s mobile device.

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