Tuesday Review - Canon Selphy Square QX10

I had been eyeing a portable printer for the last year or so... something to bring with me on my travels so that I can document on the go and actually be up-to-date with my travel journal instead of being years behind! Plus, I really needed to free up the space on my mobile phone (I keep all photos on it till I scrapbook them).

There were several contenders including the Fuji Instax Share (really expensive and I own a Fuji Instax Camera), the HP Sprocket Printer (been around for a while but no significant price drop) and the Canon Inspic Mini Photo Printer (not sure about the print quality) ....and finally decided on the Canon Selphy Square QX10. (Also because my sister bought it as my birthday pressie..otherwise I might wait for a price drop instead of buying it at launch...*winks*).

One of the biggest draws for this printer for me is that it prints square photos! Perfect for those Instagram shots that I want to scrapbook and document too!

Another plus point is that it is wireless! Once the battery is fully charged, you can print up to 20 photos before you need to charge it again. Of course, you can still use your printer while charging it. You simply download the Canon App, connect it via Bluetooth and just print. Which means you can use any existing photo-editing apps on your phone to edit your photos first before you send them to print.:)

There are some fun borders and overlays you can add to your photos before you print them.

You can also combine photos to create a photo collage which might be great for incorporating photos that you want to include but maybe don't hold up that well to close scrutiny? *hehehe* Bear in mind that the photos are small...the maximum printable range is 68x68mm.

I also enjoy the fact that it prints on sticker labels...which makes it easy to stick it on scrapbook pages (no need to use tape glue!)

The small form factor makes it great for smaller-scale scrapbooking..like a travel journal or a recipe planner.

The photos are printed in a "polaroid-style" and you can choose to have the broad white strip on the top, bottom, left or right of the photo. Which is great for adding your sticker embellishments or maybe do a little journaling.

It is easy to create a grid-style format with the photos. I mean, you can do it with a regular printer too...but this is so much faster and way more fun!

The printer prints out the vibrant colours quite nicely so if you have decent quality photos to begin with, your photos will turn out quite lovely too.

While I enjoy the convenience of printing directly from my mobile phone without the need to turn on my computer and plug in my regular printer, this can be be a pricey endeavour. Each print works out to be about S$0.95 (US$0.69) if you buy the labels at regular price. The 5 labels that come with the printer are used up very quickly (well, if you are a scrapbooker like me that is...*LOL*). Mine came in a bundle deal with 2 packs of 20....so I've been rationing until I can get to a store or find a great online deal.

It comes in three colours - a white, a black and a pink. My sister was very surprised that I chose pink but I thought it might look nice with washi tape all over it...hehehe.

So...final thoughts...definitely a want and not a need. I will still be using my regular printer to print 5x7 and bigger photos and heading to the photo store to print the 4x6 ones to get more bang for my buck. I love my Canon Selphy Square QX10 though...and will treasure it since it was a pressie from my fave sister. :)