Best Portable Printer: Documents, Photos & More

Canon Pixma TR150 Wireless Mobile Printer

The TR150 from Canon is one of the best portable printers you can get. It is reliable, high quality, and very versatile. But it’s also one of the priciest printers out there, so it’s definitely not the best option if you’re looking for great value. There is a good reason for that though; Canon printers have always been top of the line and if you want the best quality, you’ll have to put up the cash.

This portable printer has a 1.44” OLED display, so you can always double-check what you’re printing. It uses a USB type C to connect to your travel laptop and you can also connect to it wirelessly with Bluetooth. The printer works with phones, tablets, and computers, so you can use it with pretty much any device you want.

The main downside of this portable printer is that the battery pack is not included in the purchase. You can get it separately for fully wireless and mobile printing, and you can get about 330 shots from a single charge.

But the battery is a pricey addition at $99, so unless you really need the option of printing when you don’t have access to a power outlet, I’m not sure it’s worth it.

The other downside is the pricy ink. It’s about $40 for a pack of color and black ink cartridges, which isn’t cheap at all. If you’re printing just text, you can get about 80-100 pages from a cartridge and maybe about two dozen photos from the color ink.

That’s good value only if you don’t actually print too much stuff, but if you plan to use the Canon portable printer a lot, you’ll wind up spending a lot of money just on the ink.

HP OfficeJet 250 All-in-One Portable Printer

When in doubt you can always pick up an HP printer and know that you’re going to get the quality prints that you deserve. They’re known for making some of the best printers on the market, and the same can be said about the OfficeJet 250 portable printer.

It is not the most portable option out there if you’re strictly looking at the size and weight, but the print quality and overall performance definitely make it one of the best portable printers out there.

It has a battery life of some 225 prints for a single charge, which is pretty good. And it takes only about 90 minutes to charge up the battery and make it ready for use on the go.

One of the best things about this portable printer is that it uses WiFi Direct for wireless printing. It works with Apple, Android, and Windows devices seamlessly, so printing on the go is going to be effortless.

Additionally, this printer has a 2.65” touchscreen for easy controls. You can even see the ink levels of the cartridges on the display, so you will know exactly when it’s time to change them.

This printer uses standard HP 62 Ink cartridges and there are quite a lot of options in the range. The basic black ink can get you some 200 pages for less than $20 and an XL tri-color cartridge can get you up to 415 pages for some $40. That’s excellent value, and I would recommend this printer to everyone who plans to use it quite a lot.

Kodak Mini 2 HD Wireless Portable Mobile Instant Photo Printer

If you just want a tiny printer to print out Instagram photos immediately, the Kodak Mini is a great option. It is small, lightweight, and will fit into any backpack easily. This printer connects wirelessly to Android and iOS devices so you can easily print photos from your smartphone.

That’s also the downside – this can only print photos in a small format, so you can forget about printing pages and documents. If you were hoping for something more versatile and useful, this is definitely not the printer for you.

The upside is that Kodak doesn’t charge you the full printer price for their mini portable printer. It is only around $80, which is a fair price for its limited functionality. The cartridges are also pretty cheap – there are three options to choose from that range in price from $6 to $20. The cheapest cartridge will get you 20 points, while the priciest one can get you up to 50 prints.

The Kodak Mini printer basically has the same functionality as the Instax mini camera. Except with this you still get to take awesome shots with your phone, and they’re actually cheaper to print. But if you want something that lets you instantly print moments to share with friends, this is an excellent option.

And I haven’t even talked about the portability of the Kodak printer yet! It weighs just a little over 8 ounces and it’s only a little bigger than your smartphone for ultimate portability. Perhaps the main downside of this printer is the battery life – you can only get about 20 prints per charge, which means you will have to remember to charge this printer quite often.

The way I see it, it’s best to only buy the smallest cartridges that can get you 20 prints – that way you will run out of cartridge and battery at the same time, so it’s kind of convenient.

Canon Pixma iP110 Wireless Mobile Printer

The best thing about this Canon portable printer is that it’s compatible with almost everything. It will work with computers that are running anything from Windows XP all the way to Windows 10. The printer also works with Macs, as well as Android and iOS phones for ultimate versatility.

It supports both WiFi and USB connectivity, which is pretty cool. You can print photos directly from the cloud with the compatible app, but you can also use this when you have no WiFi access, thanks to the cable connection.

This Canon printer is small and lightweight enough that you can take it anywhere without feeling too weighed down by it. At only a little over 4 lbs, this is surprisingly light for such a good inkjet printer. That’s the weight without the battery though; if you end up springing for the rechargeable battery, that’s another 4.4 ounces.

Another great thing about the Pixma portable printer is that it has a separate mode for printing just photos. It’s easy to use and you can edit and adjust photos in a matter of minutes. This printer uses a special type of Canon’s ink, which gives you great quality prints. It is a bit pricey, but it’s completely worth it if you want nearly perfect prints.

Canon has a rechargeable battery for this printer, but it doesn’t include it in the purchase. And considering that the Pixma iP110 is well over $400, I think that’s just rude. You have to spend another $80 to get the battery and make this printer truly portable – I’m definitely not a fan of this, and it’s probably the only bad thing I have to say about this Canon portable printer.

HP Sprocket Portable Photo Printer

HP Sprocket is a cute portable printer with very limited functionality. It is absolutely tiny – if you want a printer that can practically fit into your pocket, this is the one to get.

But bear in mind that the photos it can print are even smaller than the device’s body. To be precise, the Sprocket can only print 2” x 3” format photos, so bear that in mind.

And there is a catch – this printer uses a special type of sticky back photo paper, so you can really get creative with the photos. If you’re looking to use them for decorating, the sticky back is extremely useful and can save you quite a lot of time.

Or if you want to create a sentimental album for someone – this printer can get the job done in minutes. But other than that, you can’t really use it for much else.

You can customize the photos in the companion app and add all sorts of stickers, borders, and text. Honestly, this is probably one of those gimmick features that you might use a couple of times when you first get the printer, and then completely forget about for the rest of the printer’s life.

Another upside of the Sprocket is that it is completely wireless and it doesn’t use any ink cartridges, just the special photo paper. A pack of 50 photo paper sheets will set you back about $20, which isn’t too bad. Especially since you don’t have to buy ink on top of that.

The battery life of this tiny printer is OK – you can get about 35 photos per charge. Additionally, it’s important to note that this uses Bluetooth 5.0 and it is only compatible with devices running Android 4.0 or iOS 10 – older devices are not supported, so make sure that your phone will work with this portable printer before you actually get it.

Epson Workforce WF-110 Wireless Mobile Printer

If you are looking for a good printer for business, the Epson Workforce WF-110 is an excellent portable option.  It is great for printing both documents and photographs, and it promises professional quality no matter what you are printing.

This printer features a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which allows you to use it on the go. However, it is worth noting that Epson did not specify the exact battery life of this printer, and most people who have had the chance to use it agree that it’s not great at all. Additionally, you do have the option of picking up an additional external battery for ultimate portability.

Another upside of this printer is that you can connect it to a device with a cable or wirelessly. It supports WiFi Direct and 5G WiFi Plus, for easy connectivity with a variety of different devices. It also supports voice command, which is pretty cool. And the Epson mobile printer boasts a 1.4” color LCD panel for easy controls.

The main downside of this printer is the price point. It is very expensive, so it’s certainly not the best option if you were hoping to pick up something affordable.

There’s also the cost of ink – Epson cartridges aren’t exactly cheap, but they are recommended for the best performance of this portable printer. When you add in the cost of those, the Workforce WF-110 starts looking more and more like a luxurious solution for portable printing.

Kodak Dock Plus Portable

If you just want to print photos, the Kodak Dock Plus printer is a good option. It’s not as portable as Kodak’s Mini printers, but it will get you photos of outstanding quality. The Dock Plus doesn’t use liquid ink; instead, it prints colors in ribbons and all photos are laminated during printing. Which means that they are resistant to water and smudges!

This is great because the printer gives you the option of printing full-sized borderless photos. And when you don’t have that border to hold onto, it’s too easy to ruin a new photo even if you’re really careful about touching just the edges. You can also print border photos with this printer, and they are of stellar quality as well.

This is a dock printer and it has a proper dock for your smartphone. It comes with lightning and USB C cables and it is compatible with all Android and iOS devices. There are apps for both platforms that make it really easy to use this printer, and which allows you to have any photo printed in less than a minute.

Additionally, this printer also supports Bluetooth connectivity so you don’t have to actually use the docking feature. This is particularly useful if your smartphone still has a micro USB port since such a docking cable is not included with the Dock Plus.

Apart from the actual printer, you will also get a cartridge and photo paper to get you started. But you will have to repurchase those eventually, so the cost of the printer adds up over time.

It’s also worth noting that the Dock Plus doesn’t have a battery, so it’s not really suitable for use on the go. There’s also the matter of the weight – at more than 3 lbs, this isn’t exactly the most portable printer out of the bunch. But it is by far the best printer for photographs, judging solely by the quality.

Fujifilm Instax Mini Link Smartphone Printer

Fujifilm Instax Mini Link is an awesome option if you want an affordable printer to use with your phone. It is extremely small and compact, so it’s certainly one of the most portable options out of the bunch. It does have limited functionality since this prints polaroids. But if you’re into that vintage photo style, it’s an awesome little printer to have.

Especially since this has lots of unique features. First of all, there is a motion sensor in the printer that reacts to the position of the device. Place it down vertically to put it in standard print mode, but place it horizontally to get access to all the features of the fun mode.

This lets you create collages, connect to friends on the device and print out several images at a time, or just merge multiple photos into one. There are some really cool features and if you’re all about capturing moments with your friends and sharing them, the Instax Mini Link is an awesome little gadget to have.

Additionally, you can also turn this printer upside down to reprint the previous photo. Overall, if you usually enjoy playing with new gadgets and discovering new features, I’m pretty sure you’re going to enjoy this portable printer.

At least for the first month or so – after that, you’re pretty much just stuck printing polaroid photos. The upside is that you can make things interesting by getting films with colorful frames – Fujifilm actually has a pack of a bunch of films with different frames, so your photos will still look unique.

And it doesn’t use any cartridges; the laser technology makes things cheaper over time, especially if you just keep buying the best value of film packs.

Zink Wireless Mini Printer

The Zink portable printer is one of the most affordable options for printing photos. It is available in two sizes – a smaller 2” x 3” printer and a slightly bigger 3” x 4” option. Both are suitable just for printing photos and there aren’t that many differences, apart from the size and price.

The smaller 2” x 3” printer retails for only some $80, which makes it the cheapest option out of the bunch. And you’re not sacrificing too much in terms of image quality; the Zink portable printer is capable of printing some beautiful photographs. It uses sticky photo paper, which is pretty cool if you’re trying to create an album or decorate a wall with photos.

Also, this printer is compatible with Bluetooth and NFC devices so you can easily use it with your smartphone and tablet.

It’s also very small and lightweight at only 6.6 ounces, so you can comfortably take it everywhere with you. And it comes with an app compatible with iOS and Android smartphones, which will let you print any photo in less than a minute.

The app for this printer features a decent photo editor, which is always a nice bonus. You can do a lot more than just crop and rotate photos, but you still don’t get the full functionality of a proper photo editing app like Lightroom. Nonetheless, it’s a nice inclusion, especially since you get the app for free.

Canon Selphy CP1300 Wireless Compact Photo Printer

Canon Selphy is a good option if you are looking for a small printer that’s great for printing photos of different sizes. This is much more versatile than the pocket printers for smartphones since you get several options for printing size. The smallest one is 2.1” x 2.1”, while the largest size you can print in is a postcard at 3.9” x 5.8”.

But you still can’t use the Selphy for printing documents, so bear that in mind. Also, this is one of the largest and heaviest printers that are meant just for printing photos. The other options are much more portable, but they are not as versatile as this one.

Another thing worth noting about the portability is that the Selphy doesn’t come with a battery pack. That’s an optional item you should purchase separately if you want the ability to use this printer on the go. Otherwise, you will have to plug it into an outlet in order to print.

The upside this printer has over the more compact solutions is print quality. It uses standard ink cartridges, which will get you better-looking photos than the tiny pocket printers. It’s up to you to decide what’s your priority – portability or print quality?

The Canon printer connects wirelessly to your phone and tablet, for super easy printing. And it also has ports for an SD card and a USB, so you can print directly from those. There is an LCD display that makes it really easy to print from USBs, and you can even edit the photos!