Review: Lifeprint's 'Hyperphoto' Printer Lets You Instantly Print Your iPhone Photos and Videos

[MacRumors]

Lifeprint, a company known for its iPhone-compatible ZINK photo printer, recently introduced a new, larger photo printer that's able to print images that are 3 by 4.5 inches instead of 2 by 3 inches, the normal standard size for mini printers designed for the iPhone.

The new Lifeprint 3x4.5 Hyperphoto Printer for iPhone, priced at $150, is an Apple exclusive that's designed to give customers a quick and easy way to instantly print their iPhone photos. Lifeprint asked me to check out the new 3x4.5 printer, and while I loved the larger image size, there are some drawbacks to be aware of before deciding to purchase one.

Design

The new Lifeprint printer is similar to a large hard drive or an iPad mini, and it's a little over an inch thick, so not quite as portable as the original version, but also not a space hog like a traditional printer. I can easily fit it into my backpack for use while on the go, but it's not pocketable like the ZIP.

It's constructed from plastic, with a silver plastic at the bottom and a glossy white plastic at the top, which matches the aesthetic of the iPhone. It's lightweight, but it doesn't feel like a cheap product.

The Lifeprint printer has a top that slides off, which is where the printer paper and the printing internals are located. When you need to add more printer paper, you'll need to slide the top off, put the paper in facedown, and then slide the top back on. It's a simple process.

At one side, there's a slot where the printed photos come out, and at the other side, there's a microUSB charging port, which is how the Lifeprint charges. The battery is rechargeable, so this printer is fully portable and does not need a constant power connection.


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Article Link: Review: Lifeprint's 'Hyperphoto' Printer Lets You Instantly Print Your iPhone Photos and Videos

 

[cl516]

Bought this for a Christmas gift over the holidays, and in my experience, it did not work at all. The app crashed, or it required login, or when everything was finally set up, it said the servers were busy before we could print. We managed to get 1 photo printed, but the colors were very saturated and looked off. Having said that, when the box arrived, the circular seal tape wasn't on properly, so maybe our unit was a dud. So we finally decided to return it, and right before I did, I thought oh let's look at the live photo one more time, and then THAT didn't even work... When I went in to Apple Store for the refund though, the staff member told me they'd been using it for a long time flawlessly.

 

[hlfway2anywhere]

Is this a thing that people wanted?

 

[Rychiar]

I've always wanted to print a video...

 

[vicviper789]

Did they just invent the polaroid?

 

[Apple_Robert]

Nice review, @[URL='https://www.macrumors.com/author/juli-clover/']Juli Clover[/URL]

 

[oneMadRssn]

I was almost on board until I read the cost of the paper. $1.25/print. Nope on a rope!

 

[MDF314159265]

Since the late 90s, companies have tried to push “tiny convienent photo printers” to market. Every one of them has failed.
I’m glad to see the optimism, that one “might” be the one to take off, but until it has an  on it, they’re never gonna be a hit.
But seriously, no one wants these things.

 

[PimpDaddy]

Since the late 90s, companies have tried to push “tiny convienent photo printers” to market. Every one of them has failed.
I’m glad to see the optimism, that one “might” be the one to take off, but until it has an  on it, they’re never gonna be a hit.
But seriously, no one wants these things.

Speak for yourself . If the price per print was more like say 75c I’d buy one in a heartbeat. With the current cost per print I’d like to see the prints in person before buying.

 

[4jasontv]

It's not instant. It slowly comes out of one side like every other printer. I thought, because of its small size it shot ink on the whole paper at once allowing you to print a series of photos rapidly.

An easy way to make a flip book by printing a video. Nope.

 

[now i see it]

Printing photos is so 90s. Why on earth would anyone want to print a little photo?

 

[4jasontv]

Speak for yourself . If the price per print was more like say 75c I’d buy one in a heartbeat. With the current cost per print I’d like to see the prints in person before buying.

That's fair, and as someone who says they want one, I have some other questions.
1. Why do you want a printer?
2. Why do you want a travel printer?
3. Why do you want to print 4 inches?
4. What do you do with a printed photo?
5. Why not just use a service such as those offered by walmart and pay 9 cents a photo?

 

[MDF314159265]

Speak for yourself . If the price per print was more like say 75c I’d buy one in a heartbeat. With the current cost per print I’d like to see the prints in person before buying.

I didn’t say tens of them wouldn’t sell - just that they never take off. And there’s a new one every other year. That means if you buy into it, you have to replace your media (paper, cartridges) just as often. And every one I’ve seen works as the first post mentions.
Buy a regular printer - you can print documents AND photos. They last longer, cost less, and paper works across platforms.
Plus, when have you have taken a photo and thought “I have to have this in paper form, NOW!”?

 

[M-5]

Printing photos is so 90s. Why on earth would anyone want to print a little photo?

I know 4 of my friends who like and use instant cameras like the Fujifilm for instance. It’s mostly for the nostalgia and the feeling of holding a physical photo. Those however tend to be around 75 cents to $1 per photo.

 

[zorinlynx]

Bought this for a Christmas gift over the holidays, and in my experience, it did not work at all. The app crashed, or it required login, or when everything was finally set up, it said the servers were busy before we could print. We managed to get 1 photo printed, but the colors were very saturated and looked off. Having said that, when the box arrived, the circular seal tape wasn't on properly, so maybe our unit was a dud. So we finally decided to return it, and right before I did, I thought oh let's look at the live photo one more time, and then THAT didn't even work... When I went in to Apple Store for the refund though, the staff member told me they'd been using it for a long time flawlessly.

Wait, it requires using THEIR servers to print? What kind of stupid requirement is that?

 

[jhwalker]

I've always thought one of these would be "fun" - but the cost is WAY too much.

The few times I've needed to print over the past few years, I've simply output to the nearest Walgreen's (or equivalent) - you can even print to a Walgreen's in another town if you want to "send" prints to, say, your parents or friends. Very convenient for me, and quality is MUCH better.

 

[TwoBytes]

i've seen some similar free apps that lifeprint does which makes it appealing if you can print large pictures and there are no very expensive paper cost

 

[Piggie]

I see there is a lot of negativity here, and I totally understand why this type of viewpoint would come from someone young/middle aged etc.

You wait till you are perhaps visiting a very elderly friend/parent in a care home, the ability to give them a real physical picture to treasure can be worth the world to them.
Handing someone very elderly who can not use gadgets photos of their loved one, it worth more than anything else.

It's a amazing product for those you need it.

 

[TwoBytes]

I see there is a lot of negativity here, and I totally understand why this type of viewpoint would come from someone young/middle aged etc.

You wait till you are perhaps visiting a very elderly friend/parent in a care home, the ability to give them a real physical picture to treasure can be worth the world to them.
Handing someone very elderly who can not use gadgets photos of their loved one, it worth more than anything else.

It's a amazing product for those you need it.

I didn't want to come across as negative but this next comment seems so. If you hand an old person a lifeprint photo, you still need an iPhone to view the animation

I guess the next generation of 'old people' will be different. I will miss the current generation. Anything to make old people happy

 

[cl516]

Wait, it requires using THEIR servers to print? What kind of stupid requirement is that?

I can only tell you based on what I actually experienced... but yeah, on that last day, we said oh let’s give it one more try... and the app just kept saying “our servers are busy”. Rebooted printer, rebooted phone, rebooted app. SO fail.

 

[Leguna24]

I see there is a lot of negativity here, and I totally understand why this type of viewpoint would come from someone young/middle aged etc.

You wait till you are perhaps visiting a very elderly friend/parent in a care home, the ability to give them a real physical picture to treasure can be worth the world to them.
Handing someone very elderly who can not use gadgets photos of their loved one, it worth more than anything else.

It's a amazing product for those you need it.

It doesn’t require a dedicated photo printer to be able to give grandma a hard copy of a pic. I think that’s more the point. As someone who likes to usually be more critical about certain products you should understand that .

(It would be hilarious to see your reaction had this been an Apple product , but that’s all just theory and there’s no requirement for you to comment on this, thx)

 

[theluggage]

You wait till you are perhaps visiting a very elderly friend/parent in a care home, the ability to give them a real physical picture to treasure can be worth the world to them.

...or log on to your web services of choice and have the photo turned into a personalised greetings card, printed at higher quality for a fraction of the cost. Even a whole set of your family photos, printed in better quality, made up into a little custom photo album/calendar/set of drink coasters etc. and you still haven't spent the cost of this printer.

...or, you could get a better quality print off a regular desktop inkjet printer (available for a similar amount of money - plus you can print documents on it) up to A4/Letter size, big enough to fame and hang on the wall.

...heck, even a colour laser printer will produce OK-ish prints of photos (not that you'd misuse your employer's resources by running one off at work, of course...

Trouble is, this product messes up both ways: the $150 cost is too steep for something you only use occasionally - c/f the 101 other ways of getting hold of a better print - and the running cost is too steep for something you'll use regularly.

Then there's the gratuitous, intrusive and unnecessary integration of cloud services by this product... you don't need another photo sharing app and you definitely don't need to be forced to sign up in order to print your own photos. Is granny going to load the App on here iPhone, create an account so she can use augmented reality, do you think?

No, the only reason this exists is that the makers hope they can get it to "trend" with kids who will go through $500 worth of paper & persuade their friends to do likewise in the three weeks before they get bored and shove the thing into the graveyard under the bed.

 

[Piggie]

I'm aware of all alternatives.

I could just imagine a scenario where you and your children go to visit Granny at her home, or care home.

Granny is over the moon to see you and her grandchildren.

How nice it would be to capture a shot of your gran, with perhaps her grandchild next to her at a photo, and be able to print it out on the spot, and hand it to gran as a keepsake, after you have left and gran is alone again.

Just one scenario, but whilst there are 100 scenarios one would never need such a thing.
They are situations, where the ability to physically hand someone a photo, then and there, could be useful.

I don't want one, but I'm glad such a product exists for those who have a use.

 

[mattopotamus]

I’ll stick to using the Walgreens photo app. Way cheaper and ready in an hour if I need physical photos.

 

[theluggage]

How nice it would be to capture a shot of your gran, with perhaps her grandchild next to her at a photo, and be able to print it out on the spot, and hand it to gran as a keepsake, after you have left and gran is alone again.

Well, I suppose fiddling about with the printer would give you something to do rather than being forced to talk to the ITCOR*. Unless they were in the 1% transition group between those who couldn't give a fig about the technology and those who already follow their grandkids on Twitter.

Personally, I'd take the shot and later send a nice framed print later - or a personalised greeting card for the time when you couldn't visit. You're right about one thing - you can't go wrong with photos of the grandkids - but I also know what the half life would be of a scratty little 4x3 bit of paper (with a peel-off backing that is going to start peeling off by itself soon) in the typical care-home environment.

(* Infirm & Technologically Challenged Older Relative - lets not troll women who's kids have had kids!)

"Oh I remember having something like that - they were called Polar-something. I think they were a bit faster, though, and didn't have so many wires...."