The digital age has been advancing in leaps and bounds and the photography industry is no different. Today almost anyone can pick up a digital camera and capture hundreds of photos in a very short amount of time. Photo albums have been replaced by photo folders on our computers and sharing these memories no longer involves flipping through pages but watching a slide show on the TV. That being said, an interesting “old school” movement has started to spread around the world. Most notably the return of vinyl music.
What of photography then? Well we think we might have the answer, introducing the PicKit Mobile Printer! A throwback to the Polaroid cameras of yesteryear the PicKit is a wallet sized mobile printer that pairs with any smart device via Wifi or NFC. Once again the awesome guys over at iToys has come through with a unique mobile accessory. You can now physically share memories with anyone at any time!
What does it do and how does it do it?
The PicKit mobile printer is small enough that it fits in the palm of your hand. The printer measures 15.5 x 7.5 x 2.5 mm and can technically fit in you pocket (if you have large pockets!). It also comes with a wrap around magnetic sleeve that will protect the device from bumps and scratches.
The PicKit prints credit card sized (54mm x 86mm) waterproof and scratch-proof images. The dye sublimation technology guarantees the best image quality even when compared to Polaroid or Zinc technologies. Dye sublimation doesn’t actually print on the paper but embeds the color into the photo paper creating a smudge-proof, water resistant, tear-resistant photograph. The little cartridge prints 16.7 million colors at 291 dpi and they look really good!
The PicKit has a 640 mAh built in battery which is more than enough to last you a few days on standby and a print now and again. The device charges via USB and it takes just a couple of hours to fill up the tank.
The PicKit is really user friendly as well. You simply download the free PicKit app from the iOS App store or Google Play Store, turn on the device by holding the white power button for 2-3 seconds (Wifi automatically enables), you connect to the device’s wifi, select your photo and print! Easy as that. The PicKit app comes with a host of different features as well, including editing software, filters and frames. You can even write text on your photo before printing. The printing itself takes about 45 seconds, the little printer prints 3 different color levels before the photo is complete.
What’s the catch?
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about maintaining printers? Yup, ink cartridges and paper! The PicKit comes with 8 photo papers in the box as well as enough color-dye in the cartridge to print them. That’s right, just 8 photos… The PicKit retails for R 1899 on the iToys site, which in itself isn’t a bad price if you don’t take into account you can only print 8 photos with you first cartridge.
The good news however is that replacement cartridges (combo of 2 cartridges that can print 10 photos each) will only set you back R 229 and is also available on the iToys site. Ok that’s not too bad, for just over R 2100 you can get this awesome mobile printer with the capability to print 28 high-res, water resistant, smudge-resistant photos. It is also very easy to replace the cartridge – open up the cartridge flap, pull out the empty cartridge, slide in in the new one and your done!
Do we like it?
Of course we do! This awesome little go-anywhere printer delivers high-quality images at a very reasonable price. It allows you to instantly share memories and keeps you away from those dodgy photo booths at home affairs (I actually used the PicKit to print passport photos for a colleague). If you have more of an old school (I dare not say hipster) style you will love this little device. Sure, if you print a lot of photos the PicKit might become a bit of an expensive toy, but trying printing photos of this quality at any photography shop and I am sure you will find the PicKit very economical.
Do you still like sharing physical photos? Then the PicKit is a match made in heaven. Head over to the iToys site and get yours now! Let us know your thoughts on the PicKit in the comment section below…
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Cover photo credit: iToys