Fujifilm has a wide range of instant printers and cameras available, but most of them support the ‘mini’ photo format, where the prints are basically the size of a credit card. That being said, many want the portable photo experience but also want larger pictures – this is where the Instax Link Wide comes in. This mobile printer uses film that is twice the size of the more common mini devices, and gives users some more features and customisation options. In our in-depth review of the Instax Link Wide we take a look at the larger format’s picture quality and how it compares.
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Fujifilm is of course not the only player in this market. Its main competition is Polaroid, of course, but Instax has made a huge splash in recent years.
Design and Build
The Instax Link Wide is a rectangular plastic box, with a matte plastic exterior with a diagonal pattern textured finish that certainly lets the device stand out. The biggest difference we noticed with this nifty little printer compared to previous Fujifilm products is the build quality. Many previous models look and feel like cheap plastic toys compared to the Link Wide.
The textured shell looks and feels a lot better than previous products – it is still easy to hold and carry but also exhumes quality. It is more portable than we would’ve thought, and includes a wrist strap to use when on the go. Even when wrapped around the wrist, it is simple enough to carry. It weighs only 340g and is about 3.5cm thick, so can easily be carried around in a small carry bag.
At the back of the device is the switch opening the cover, where the printer cartridges are loaded into. It is easy to click and open and feel solid when reloading prints. The power button is front and centre and lights up in RGB colours when switching on, and will display different colours when the printer is connected to your mobile device, charging or printing.
One downside is the charging port, which is a micro-USB port – unfortunately no USB-C to be found yet – with a cable included in the box. This lends to its slow charging time, which takes about two hours from flat to full – a bit slower than we would like. Fujifilm says that a charge can last for up to 100 prints, or 10 cartridges, but it would depend on how long you leave it on and connected between prints.
Connection and App Features
Unlike some other Fujifilm products, the Instax Link Wide has a dedicated app that gives you some interesting features and tools to improve the quality of your prints. It can also help you to create collages, add custom clip art, or print photos with QR code links. The app has the same features on both the iOS and Android versions of the app.
For those not wanting to mess around with their original pictures, there is a simple, basic print capability. It quickly loads photos from your camera roll (or any other folder with images, for that matter). The app’s Simple Print functionality shows a preview of the print and offers some basic filters to improve output. For example, the Auto option tunes colours and brightness. One-click Sepia and Monochrome looks are available, too. Crop, rotation, and manual exposure adjustment tools round out the app’s capabilities.
There are also a set of premade templates, perfect for birthday cards, save-the-dates, and other homespun keepsakes. There are collage templates too, a great way to highlight a few favourite images in one print. The Wide format is more useful for collages than the Instax Mini or Square film formats.
It even has features that I’m too old to truly appreciate – you can add stickers, emoji and clip art, or you can create your own using the app’s Sketch, Edit, and Print functions. The Sketch function uses your phone’s camera to snap a photo, and converts it into a vector art sticker.
Photo Quality
Prints from the Instax Link Wide review are large, bright and glossy, whilst still retaining that vintage feel that you would not get from a standard photograph. Details of the printed image are crisp and true to the original digital image, while still maintaining the retro feel such a product promises. There are definitely similar products with better image quality, like the Polaroid Hi-Print, but these products are much more expensive.
The photos have small borders around the edge with a larger chin, allowing you to write captions beneath the image.
For experimental purposes we copied some pictures from the Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo taken digitally and printed on the Link Wide. Interestingly, we were able to produce better image quality by playing around with the editing features on the Link Wide than a simple printout on the Mini Evo (review to follow soon).
Conclusion
There are several options on the market for an instant photo printer, but none like the Instax Link Wide. The prints it produces are a lot larger than most of the options and you’re able to print out better quality pictures since they can be taken on a much superior camera setup like your flagship smartphone instead of a simple instant digital camera.
The features and editing options on the app makes it more enjoyable to use, and scrapbooking and simple decorative displays will benefit from it greatly. The well-built, sleek design means it can easily sit on your desk or rest in your bag to go anywhere.
The Instax Link Wide is the best, highest-quality, easiest to use all-round instant printer available on the market. It costs R2,599, but we have seen it around R2,100 on various online sites ever since launch.
Do you agree with our Instax Link Wide Review? Let us know in the comments below.
