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.

lifeprintpaper

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.

lifeprintmaindesign
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.

lifeprintsize
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.

lifeprintinside
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.

lifeprintprinting2
Aside from the slot for the paper and the charging port, there's a slot where you can plug in a locking cable and a power button on the left side to turn it on.

Setup

Setting up the Lifeprint was simple aside from the account creation process, which required everything from my phone number to my birth date. Pairing essentially consisted of charging the printer via micro-USB cable, turning it on, downloading the app, and connecting it to my phone using the traditional Bluetooth interface in the Settings app.

As mentioned above, when setting the printer up, you'll need to slip the top off and add in the paper. It's a simple process, though, and you really just need to slide the lid down at the arrow and then slide it back on.

ZINK Paper

Lifeprint is a ZINK photo printer, like many of the smaller iPhone photo printers on the market, which means it uses ZINK paper. ZINK stands for zero ink, because there's no ink involved, and thus there are no expensive color cartridges to buy. ZINK is thermal paper that works when heat is applied via the Lifeprint printer.

lifeprintaddingpaper
ZINK paper is nice because there's no ink involved, it's fast, there's no smearing or fading, and it's sticky on the back so you can turn all of your photos into stickers.

lifeprintphotoexample
On the downside, though, ZINK paper is expensive, and that's the one major thing to be aware of when purchasing the new Lifeprint printer or a similar device. It's $50 for a 40 pack of the new larger photo paper, which translates to more than $1 per picture. That's not terrible if you're used to polaroids or developing film, both of which are also expensive, but it's a shock for those of us who are used to digital-only formats.

App

To print photos on the Lifeprint printer, you have to use the Lifeprint app. The app is also used for setting up the printer and pairing it to your iPhone. The Lifeprint app is okay but could stand to be improved. It's a little bit slow, buggy, and sometimes prone to crashing.

When opening the Lifeprint app, it pulls in all of your Camera roll photos, which you can then select to print. You can also take a photo directly in the app, and there are built in editing tools you can use before printing to spruce up the quality of your photo or add stickers, labels, meme text, artful blur, and other effects.

lifeprinteditingtools
The editing tools are fine and will work for simple editing jobs, but they're limited in scope and you'll probably be better off editing your photos with a third-party photo editing app before porting them into the Lifeprint app. If you don't want to hassle with that, the Lifeprint app is fine on its own.

You can also import photos from popular social networking apps like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Once you've selected a photo to print, sending it to the printer is as simple as tapping the print icon in the upper right hand side of the app.

lifeprintprintingui
I had some specific frustrations with the Lifeprint app. When I went to print a Live Photo, for example, the Lifeprint app would pull it in as a video clip with the focus set to the beginning of the clip, which is not typically the clear part of the Live Photo.

It ignored the main photo part of the Live Photo, so each and every Live Photo required me to look for and select the ideal clip, a process I wish was better optimized.

Another source of annoyance was the app's built in social networking features. The Lifeprint app creates a profile for you and adds each photo you print to that profile, and if you don't uncheck "share with friends" each time you print, the photos you print are uploaded to that profile.

lifeprintsocialnetwork
I don't want to join a social network for my printer, I don't want all my printed photos uploaded to a profile, and I don't want to see other people's printed photos in the "Inbox" and "Explore" feeds that are also available in the app.

I'm sure these features are useful to some people, but there should be an opt-out option for people who just want a printer, not a slow-to-load social network filled with photos from strangers.

Augmented Reality Features

Lifeprint bills its printer as an augmented reality printer because you can print a still photo of a video or a Live Photo and then scan the print with the Lifeprint app to see the original source material, something that Lifeprint calls a "Hyperphoto."

So, for example, you can print a video featuring your cat, give that photo to your friend, and then your friend can scan it with the Lifeprint app to see the original video overlaid on top of the photo.

lifeprintarphotos
Lifeprint claims that this is like the magical animated photos in the Harry Potter movies, and that's not an inaccurate claim, but I have a hard time believing people are using this feature on a regular basis.

To watch the video, the person on the receiving end of the photo has to go to the App Store, download the Lifeprint app, open the app, allow permission for it to access the camera, and then scan the photo. That's a lot of hassle when I could just send the video directly to someone.


I wouldn't buy the Lifeprint printer for this feature, nor would I give someone a photo with the express purpose of watching a video, but I suppose being able to scan a photo to watch a video is a neat little bonus.

Photo Quality

There are some caveats to using thermal paper compared to traditional ink, and convenience does come at the cost of quality. You're not going to get super crisp, color accurate prints with the Lifeprint printer or any other printer that uses ZINK paper, just due to the nature of thermal paper.

lifeprintphotocomparison1
It's best to think of Lifeprint photos as similar to Polaroid pictures. They can be a little bit fuzzy, and the colors aren't always quite right, but they have a certain charm to them, especially with filters and edits applied.

lifeprintphotocomparison2
For the record, I think the Lifeprint 4x3.5 Photo printer has some of the best ZINK prints that I've seen. They're definitely much better than the prints I get from my Polaroid printer, and while they're not as color accurate as professionally done prints, they're good enough to hand out to friends and family.

Bottom Line

Having the ability to print and share your iPhone photos at anytime is undeniably useful, especially if you're someone who values physical photos over digital. The larger Lifeprint printer is great for travel, perfect for parties, and ideal for journaling or scrapbooking.

It's portable, easy to use, and for an instant ZINK photo, the quality is decent. Not perfect, but passable and nice enough for sharing with friends, sticking in a journal, or hanging on the wall. You need to know what to expect with ZINK, though - these are not high quality crystal clear prints.

lifeprintdesign
Unfortunately, the entire Lifeprint system is cost prohibitive. I can stomach $150 for a fun little photo printer, but the paper is incredibly expensive on top of that. It's $30 for 20 prints or $50 for 40 prints, which works out to $1.25 to $1.50 per picture. That's more expensive than the smaller version, and a lot more expensive than using an online photo service.

You can walk into a Walmart and print a photo for something like 20 cents, or use a service like Shutterfly, which charges 15 cents. The Lifeprint printer is providing instant gratification, though, and it'll be up to consumers to decide whether that instant gratification is worth ~$1.25 per picture.

lifeprintprinting
I do want to point out that all of the ZINK photo printers that compete with the Lifeprint all use the same ZINK paper, so there's no real cheaper option. Lifeprint isn't ripping anyone off or anything. All ZINK paper is expensive. With the 2.3 x 3 inch ZINK printers, you can get slightly more affordable paper on Amazon, but the larger Lifeprint's unique size means the paper has to be purchased from Apple at full cost.

So, in a nutshell, the Lifeprint is convenient and a lot of fun, but be prepared to shell out a decent amount of money for the paper if you purchase the printer.

How to Buy

You can purchase the Lifeprint 3x4.5 Photo and Video Printer from the Apple online store for $149.95. Paper is also available, with a 20 pack priced at $30.

Note: Lifeprint provided MacRumors with a 3.5x4 Lifeprint printer for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.

Top Rated Comments

Rychiar Avatar
67 months ago
I've always wanted to print a video...
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
4jasontv Avatar
67 months ago
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?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
oneMadRssn Avatar
67 months ago
I was almost on board until I read the cost of the paper. $1.25/print. Nope on a rope!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zorinlynx Avatar
67 months ago
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?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vicviper789 Avatar
67 months ago
Did they just invent the polaroid?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Piggie Avatar
67 months ago
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.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 17 on Phone Feature

Gurman: iOS 17 to Provide Several 'Most Requested Features'

Sunday March 26, 2023 6:05 am PDT by
Apple changed the strategy for iOS 17 later in its development process to add several new features, suggesting that the update may be more significant than previously thought, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. In January, Gurman said that iOS 17 could be a less significant update than iPhone updates in previous years due to the company's intense focus on its long-awaited mixed-reality...
dynamic island

iPhone 15 Dynamic Island to Include New Integrated Proximity Sensor

Friday March 24, 2023 12:27 am PDT by
This year, all iPhone 15 models will include Apple's Dynamic Island that unifies the pill and hole cutouts at the top of the display, but there will also be a material change to the feature that wasn't included in the iPhone 14 Pro models. According to a new tweet by Apple industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the proximity sensor on the iPhone 15 series will be integrated inside the Dynamic Island ...
top stories 25mar2023

Top Stories: iPhone 15 Pro Design Leak, iOS 16.4 Coming Soon, and More

Saturday March 25, 2023 6:00 am PDT by
We're still almost six months away from the official unveiling of the iPhone 15 lineup, but it seems like every day we're learning more about what to expect from the next-generation models. Notably, this week gave us our clearest look yet at what appear to be some changes for the volume and mute control hardware. iOS 16.4 and associated releases are also right around the corner with some new ...
Hero0009

Best Apple Deals of the Week: Samsung's Smart Monitor M8 Gets Massive $250 Discount, Along With Year's Best AirPods Prices

Friday March 24, 2023 10:23 am PDT by
We saw a lot of great deals on Apple products and related accessories this week, including Samsung's iMac-like Smart Monitor M8 for $250 off, a 30 percent off spring sale at Anker, and the year's best prices on numerous AirPods models. All of these deals are still available to purchase right now, so we're recapping them and more below. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these ...
Steve Jobs Theater dusk

Apple Reportedly Demoed Mixed-Reality Headset to Executives in the Steve Jobs Theater Last Week

Sunday March 26, 2023 5:53 am PDT by
Apple showcased its mixed-reality headset to the company's top 100 executives in the Steve Jobs Theater last week, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained that the "momentous gathering" is a "key milestone" ahead of the headset's public announcement planned for June. The event was intended to rally Apple's top members of...
apple mixed reality headset concept by david lewis and marcus kane

Some Apple Employees Seriously Concerned About Mixed-Reality Headset as Announcement Draws Closer

Sunday March 26, 2023 8:25 am PDT by
Some Apple employees are concerned about the usefulness and price point of the company's upcoming mixed-reality headset, The New York Times reports. Apple headset concept by David Lewis and Marcus Kane Initial enthusiasm around the device at the company has apparently become skepticism, according to eight current and former Apple employees speaking to The New York Times. The change of tone...
iphone 14 pro max deep purple feature purple

iPhone 15 Pro Rumor Recap: 10 New Features and Changes to Expect

Thursday March 23, 2023 6:42 am PDT by
While the iPhone 15 series is still around six months away from launching, there have already been plenty of rumors about the devices. Many new features and changes have been rumored for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max in particular. Below, we have recapped 10 changes rumored for iPhone 15 Pro models that are not expected to be available on the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus:A1...
iOS 16

iOS 16.4 Will Add These 8 New Features to Your iPhone

Sunday March 26, 2023 8:06 am PDT by
Following nearly six weeks of beta testing, iOS 16.4 is expected to be released to the public as soon as this week. The software update includes a handful of new features and changes for the iPhone 8 and newer. To install an iOS update, open the Settings app on the iPhone, tap General → Software Update, and follow the on-screen instructions. Below, we have recapped eight new features and...