New gear: Fujifilm Instax Mini Link 2 smartphone printer
Fujifilm's latest pocket-friendly printer costs just $100 and offers plenty of fun, creative features, including the ability to doodle on prints.
Meet the new Fujifilm Instax Mini Link 2, a portable printer that users can pair with their smartphone to turn any image in their camera roll into an Instax Mini print. The second-generation printer offers a number of fun new features including customizable frames, color modes (filters), INSTAXAiR (which lets users “draw” on prints “in the air”), and a mode that even lets you use their smartphones like an Instax camera.
Fujifilm Instax Mini Link 2 key features
The new INSTAXAiR feature allows users to add custom graphics to images by pressing the feature button on top of the printer and pointing the LED light at their smartphone screen. Doing so will allow you to draw on the print, or add effects including bubbles, petals, or glitter to an image. (You can watch a demonstration of the feature in the video above.) Users can also record videos of their unique drawings, which will be saved through printable QR codes.
The Instax Mini Link 2 also contains a number of pre-designed frames that can be overlaid on images—you can add stickers to an image too. Images can be printed in Instax-Rich Mode for enhanced colors or Instax-Natural Mode for standard-looking tones. Users can also adjust brightness, contrast, and saturation before printing their images. Images transfer from the smartphone to the Mini Link 2 printer in approximately 15 seconds. It supports continuous printing and is capable of printing about 100 INSTAX prints per charge—the unit charges via micro-USB.
The Instax Mini Link 2 is also compatible with the Fujifilm X-S10 mirrorless camera— no word yet on whether other X-mount camera models will be supported in the future.
First Impressions
We had a chance to check out the new Fujifilm Instax Mini Link 2 prior to launch and were impressed by what this little smartphone printer has to offer.
Inside the app, there are three different print modes: Simple Print, Video Print, and Instax Camera. Simple Print lets you choose any frame from your camera roll and turn it into Instax Mini print. Video Print lets you print out any moment from a video, live photo, or Boomerang.
Instax Camera mode turns your smartphone’s camera into an “Instax camera” and lets you compose images to fit the Instax format. When in this mode, the printer can be used to zoom in and out and the printer’s power button can be used to fire the shutter. While this is certainly cute, we think that it’s probably more realistic that people will use the Instax Mini Link 2 mainly to print frames off of their camera rolls (i.e. it’s awkward to use). We are, however fond of the ability to print stills from videos.
The customizable stickers and ability to draw on your prints with the INSTAXAiR feature add a level of interactivity to the process of making Instax prints that’s similar to the filters found in TikTok or Instagram Stories. That said, some aspects of this feature seem more useful than others.
Price & availability
We’ve long been fans of Instax products and the new Mini Link 2 Printer doesn’t disappoint. Ultimately, we think it’s an excellent tool for turning favorite images—the ones lurking in your phone’s camera roll—into tangible prints to be shared with your loved ones.
The Fujifilm Instax Mini Link 2 will be available on June 22, 2022, in Soft Pink, Clay White, and Space Blue for $99.95.
