The Polaroid Hi-Print Generation 2 is a portable photo printer that produces 2" x 3" pictures. It only works with Android and iOS smartphones and Chrome OS devices via a Bluetooth connection and its Hi-Print mobile app. It's compatible with Polaroid's proprietary Hi-Print Generation 2 cartridge, which contains photo paper and dye film. You can purchase this printer separately or as part of a bundle that includes packs of photo paper.
Our Verdict
The Polaroid Hi-Print is bad for home use, as it's a portable print-only unit that can only produce 2" x 3" photos, which means you'll need another unit if you want to print documents or scan. Also, you can only connect to the printer via Bluetooth using a smartphone, tablet, or Chrome OS device. As for photo printing, the print quality isn't terrible for small pictures that you keep in a wallet or stick on a fridge door, but be aware that the recurring costs are quite high.
- Produces detailed photos.
- Requires very little maintenance.
- Can't print documents.
- Only works with smartphones, tablets, and Chrome OS devices via Bluetooth.
- No scanner.
- High cost-per-print.
The Polaroid Hi-Print isn't designed for office use, as it's a portable print-only unit that can only produce 2" x 3" photos.
- Can't print documents.
- Only works with smartphones, tablets, and Chrome OS devices via Bluetooth.
- Slow printing speed.
- No scanner.
The Polaroid Hi-Print is a portable photo printer that can't print documents, so it's not well-suited for this use case. That said, since it's not an inkjet printer, it can't clog and will always be ready to print as long as you have paper and the dye-sub cartridges. The ink and paper are in a single cartridge that lasts for 20 prints.
- Requires very little maintenance.
- Can't print documents.
- No scanner.
The Polaroid Hi-Print is a niche portable photo printer. Although it produces nicely detailed photos, it still isn't nearly as good as most budget desktop inkjet models. Additionally, its usage is limited, as it can only print pictures measuring 2" x 3". It doesn't help that the proprietary photo paper is very expensive, making its cost per print extremely high.
- Produces detailed photos.
- Requires very little maintenance.
- Can only print on 2" x 3" proprietary photo paper.
- High cost-per-print.
- Narrow color range, mediocre accuracy.
The Polaroid Hi-Print utilizes dye-sublimation technology, which relies on dye-sublimation paper and a dye ribbon instead of traditional cartridges or toners, resulting in a non-standard page yield. The cartridges and paper sold together are good for up to 20 prints.
The Polaroid Hi-Print is slow, as it requires four passes to produce a photo, taking approximately 80 seconds.
- Slow printing speed.
The Polaroid Hi-Print can't print documents.
- Can't print documents.
The Polaroid Hi-Print doesn't have a scanner.
- No scanner.
Performance Usages
Changelog
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Updated Dec 16, 2025:
We've updated text throughout the review after converting to Test Bench 1.3.
- Updated Dec 16, 2025: We've updated the review to Test Bench 1.3, which adds a number of test boxes including Risk of Clogging and Ease of Unclogging. We also updated the Usage and Performance boxes at the top of the review to better integrate the new aspects covered. See the changelog.
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Updated May 29, 2025:
Added mention of the Canon PIXMA TR160 as an alternative for document printing in the Black & White Documents section.
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Updated Feb 28, 2025:
Added mention of the Canon SELPHY QX20 as an alternative with a better color gamut in the color gamut section.
Check Price
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the Polaroid Hi-Print Generation 2 in 'White'; it's also available in 'Black.' There are no other variants.
See our unit's label.
Popular Printer Comparisons
The Polaroid Hi-Print 2x3 Pocket Photo Printer is an okay portable printer. It can reproduce small details better than other portable printers, like the Canon IVY Mini Photo Printer and the Fujifilm instax Link WIDE, but its recurring cost is among the highest.
For more options, check out our recommendations for the best small printers, the best photo printers, and the best iPhone photo printers.
The Polaroid Hi-Print Generation 2 and the Canon IVY Mini Photo Printer are both portable photo printers that produce 2" x 3" pictures. The Polaroid has better print quality; it produces finer details and more vibrant, saturated colors, and the pictures have fewer visual artifacts. It also wins when it comes to convenience, as it charges faster via USB-C, whereas the Canon charges over Micro-USB.
The Canon SELPHY QX20 and the Polaroid Hi-Print Generation 2 are both portable photo printers that produce small, pocket-sized pictures. Performance-wise, the Canon has a slightly wider color range and better accuracy, producing photos that appear brighter and more true-to-life. However, the Polaroid is better at reproducing small details, resulting in sharper images.
While the Fujifilm instax mini Link 3 and the Polaroid Hi-Print Generation 2 are both portable photo printers, they produce very different photos. The Fujifilm produces slightly smaller prints that lean heavily into a retro aesthetic with soft edges, while the Polaroid produces prints that preserve significantly more fine details. Neither printer is particularly color-accurate, and both incur high recurring costs; therefore, the choice comes down to personal preference. Depending on your tastes, Fujifilm offers a wide variety of colors and patterns for its film, allowing you to personalize your prints.
The Polaroid Hi-Print Generation 2 is better than the Fujifilm instax Link WIDE. The Polaroid produces significantly more fine details and can print borderless. However, the Fujifilm has a wider color range and superior accuracy, and it gets closer to that vintage look if that's what you prefer. The Fujifilm has a longer battery life, as it can print almost five times more photos before it runs out of charge, but it also takes much longer to charge to full and requires a Micros-USB cable, whereas the Polaroid uses USB-C.
Test Results
The Polaroid Hi-Print's build quality is good. Its plastic body doesn't feel particularly premium or overly cheap; the only parts that feel flimsy are the side door and its hinges. The side door gives easy access to the cartridge, though. The cartridge is well-designed to protect the paper from dust and debris, which can affect print quality if they come into contact with the paper before the printer applies the final protective coat. Unfortunately, dirt can still get into the device through the exposed output slit on the side, especially when carrying the device in a bag. Another downside of the design is the cassette's exposed ink ribbon, which could tear if not handled carefully.
The posted weight includes the photo paper cartridge.
This printer doesn't have a display. It only has three LEDs for Power, Bluetooth, and Charge (beside the charging port). The Quick Start Guide doesn't explain the LEDs' behavior or color, though the Charge LED's color is obvious; it turns red when the battery is low or charging and turns green when it's fully charged.
This printer utilizes Dye Diffusion Thermal Transfer technology to produce the image. The cartridge is a tray that includes the photo paper and a thin roll of film. The latter has four rectangles, with three containing a dye (cyan, magenta, and yellow) and the fourth containing a protective coating, each applied sequentially in four passes (see Printing Speed video). You can't buy the photo paper and film separately. Each cartridge holds 10 sheets of photo paper.
This printer requires minimal maintenance, as it utilizes Dye Diffusion Thermal Transfer technology to produce images. The only thing you need to do is change the cartridge, which contains the paper and film. You can do so through a side door; just be careful, as the exposed ribbon could rip, rendering the entire cartridge useless. In the case of a paper jam, simply turn the printer off and then on again, which will cause the paper to eject automatically. If the problem persists, Polaroid recommends contacting customer service.
See the Quick Start Guide on Polaroid's website.
This isn't an inkjet printer. As such, it poses no risk of clogging.
- Quick Start Guide
- 4x Hi-Print 2" x 3" Paper Cartridge Generation 2 (10 sheets each)
Note: You can purchase the printer separately or as part of a bundle with one or more photo paper cartridges. Polaroid's website only offers a bundle with 20 sheets of photo paper (two 10-sheet cartridges). The printer doesn't come with a USB-C charging cable.
This printer features an auto-sleep function, which turns it off after five minutes of inactivity.
This printer's cost per print is high, as the photo paper is expensive. We made the calculation based on a pack of 20 sheets, the bundled pack size that Polaroid offers on its website.
This printer cannot print documents. If you need a portable printer for this purpose, consider the Canon PIXMA TR160.
This printer can't print documents.
This printer doesn't have a scanner.
This printer has a poor color gamut. It can't reproduce bright, highly saturated tones, making pictures look noticeably darker than the originals. Its narrow color range also results in a loss of fine details and rough, blocky color transitions. Consider the Canon SELPHY QX20 if you're looking for a portable printer with a wider color gamut.
This printer has mediocre color accuracy. Many colors, like blues, greens, purples, and reds, are visibly off. That said, images still look decent for this type of small, Polaroid-like pictures.
This printer is excellent at reproducing small details. Fine elements are easily recognizable, and background objects aren't obscured by ink drops or halftones. There's some over-sharpening and dark-colored outlines (at the edges of objects) that affect the clarity of small details, although these issues are less visible in darker areas.
This printer can only print on Polaroid's Hi-Print Generation 2 photo paper sized 2.1" x 3.8" (54 mm x 97 mm). The picture measures 2.1" x 3.4" (54 mm x 86 mm) if you remove the white border on the right side of the picture. The border is a non-printable area designed to give you a place to grab the photo; you can easily remove it by tearing it. The Hi-Print Generation 2 photo paper is also a sticker with pre-applied adhesive on the back.
You can only connect to the printer via Bluetooth using an Android, iOS, or Chrome OS device. The USB-C port is for charging only.
The Polaroid Hi-Print mobile app is pretty basic. It allows you to access your photo library, take a picture with your smartphone, and print it, as well as apply image processing (adjust colors/size, and add a filter, text, sticker, or frame). You can also access the support page and buy more paper. Unfortunately, the support page has very little information and doesn't even provide a guide to the app itself. The app doesn't display the printer's status or the number of sheets remaining in the cartridge; this is a bit of a problem because the photo paper in the cartridge is inaccessible, making it impossible to remove the sheets to count them.
You can use this printer with Chrome OS devices, but only for .jpg files, not .tiff files. The latter appear as white images, even though they work fine on Android devices. Also, printing .tiff files causes the app to crash. These issues are likely due to the app being designed for Android devices.