In a very short time the Instax Link Wide has become my favorite smartphone printer. In this article I am going to tell you about the characteristics of this amazing invention, its main advantages, its price and I am going to show you some creative ways to use it.
WHAT IS THE INSTAX LINK WIDE?
Link Wide is the new generation of Instax photo printers(which belongs to Fujifilm ). It is an instant printer that allows us to connect it to our mobile phone via Bluetooth, access our photo roll or gallery on the mobile itself, choose the photo we like, and launch printing from our smartphone.
In the past, Fujifilm had launched the Instant Mini Link, with correct but modest performance. The new Link Wide takes the “ instant printer ” concept to another level, thanks to much more advanced features and… (drum roll), a much, much larger paper size.
Hence the "Wide" (in English, wide).
LINK WIDE FEATURES
Here are the features of the Link Wide:
| Dimensions: | 139 x 127.5 x 33.7mm |
| Weight: | 340 gr. |
| Resolution: | 12.5 dots/mm (318 dpi, 80 ?m ) |
| Printing level: | 256 levels per color (RGB) |
| Supported Image Formats: | JPEG, PNG, HEIF, DNG |
| Printing time: | about 12 seconds |
| Battery: | Internal Lithium Ion |
| Battery duration: | 100 photos approx. |
| Loading time: | 120 minutes |
| Mobile connection by: | bluetooth |
| printing paper: | Fujifilm Instax Wide (size 62 x 99mm) |
ADVANTAGES OF THE INSTAX LINK WIDE PRINTER
Fuji are not the inventors of this concept. There are many brands of instant printers on the market. However, the Link Wide combines a set of advantages that are difficult to find together in such a printer.
For starters, most instant printers these days compromise on photo size, giving us small photos, practically the size of a child's trading card ?. The Link Wide directly multiplies the size of the printed photo by 2, with a photo size similar to that of a traditional instant camera.
On a personal level, it annoys me a lot having to collect postage-sized photos, which, to enjoy them, require the use of a magnifying glass (I'm exaggerating, but you know what I mean ?).
So, the size of the paper that this printer uses for me is wonderful. Yes, the paper can be a bit expensive, so if necessary I will print fewer photos. But the few that I print will fill me with happiness.
The second advantage, from my point of view, is the portability of the Link Wide. It is not the smallest photo printer, there are smaller ones on the market, but for that you have to be content with small photos as we have just mentioned.
If you want a printer that prints big, you already have to move to larger printers.
The Link Wide strikes a nice balance between the size of the printer itself (content), and the size of the final photo (big enough).
More advantages: To use this printer, we need to install the Link Wide app on our mobile phone (available for iOSand Android).
This app itself is packed with features: in addition to the typical basic adjustments to improve the photo before printing it (brightness, saturation, contrast, etc.); sepia, black and white, and auto filters; cropping and formatting aspects; The app allows us to add elements such as text, stickers (emojis and other illustrations) to the photo or even draw what we want on a piece of paper, scan it, and the app magically converts it into an element that we can superimpose on top of our image. photo before launching the print.
Finally, another important advantage of the new Link Wide is that it allows us to add a unique QR code to the photo before printing it . In this QR code we can "encrypt" geographic coordinates, a link to a web page, a written message, or even an audio recording. A very creative way to send someone a message in a different medium, simply by giving them a photo in hand with a QR code.
The app takes care of creating the QR code and all the logistical/IT mess. You only decide what content you want behind the QR code, and the app takes care of everything.
INSTAX LINK WIDE PRICE
The Link Wide has a retail price of 149 EUR. Within the range of instant mobile printers, I think it is in the medium-high range. It is not the cheapest printer on the market, but there are even more expensive ones.
In addition, I think that its benefits and advantages justify the almost 150 euros it is worth.
IS THIS JUST ANOTHER "LITTLE TOY"?
For someone like me, who is fond of technology, it is easy to end up with "gadgets" that actually provide little or no use on a day-to-day basis.
The Instax Link Wide printer is an exception.
There are many situations and contexts, in daily life, in which the Link Wide is extremely useful for me.
Here some examples:
PHOTOS OF FLESH AND BLOOD. OOPS, I MEAN INK AND PAPER!
On my iPhone alone, right now I have a whopping 9308 photos. This is not counting the photos I have on my computer, on my hard drives, etc.
The concept of "digital album" has led us to a situation in which we accumulate photos here and there, but everything stays in a digital, hypothetical and virtual world (Mr. Zuckerberg's Metaverse roll ?).
Having an instant printer like the Link Wide on hand allows me to regularly take a selection of photos from my iPhone roll and print them out to keep in my office, living room or car.
Finally, my photos accompany me in the real world. If a blackout comes and we run out of light, I'll have to learn to live without a cell phone, but nobody's going to take the photos from me, hey.
EASY TO IMMORTALIZE AND SHARE MOMENTS
When guests, friends of ours, etc. come to the house, at the end of the evening we always take a group selfie with the mobile phone, and I print it with x number of copies so that everyone goes home with a copy of the photo , memory of the evening.
It is a tradition that we have been doing at home for years, with the Instax 300 instant photo camera, but now we do it with the smartphone, which is much more comfortable and practical, being able to print the photos at the moment with the Link Wide.
LEARNING FOR THE LITTLE ONES IN THE HOUSE
I have two children, ages 4 and 7, who are part of this new generation that they now call "digital natives." I love seeing how they learn to take photos, and from the mobile they participate with me in the process of "sending to print" that digital file, giving it a physical shape and body. Then they grab the photo, already printed, and rush to their room, happy with that piece of paper.
Indirectly, they are sticking in their little heads with the message that photos are not complete until they are out in the open. That a digital file is a handful of pixels that only acquires value when it is captured on paper as a photograph that we can touch.
PERSONAL ASSESSMENT
I had always liked instant photo cameras (Polaroid type, the Instax Wide 300 that we have had at home for a few years, etc.). But with a mobile printer like the Link Wide, honestly who wants to walk around with a bulky instant camera on them?
The beauty of having an instant camera was that you could take a photo and take it at the moment, but have the facility to go through our photo album on our mobile phone, choose the photo we want, apply adjustments if we see it necessary, and print it on the spot, I think it has no equal.
The Link Wide allows you to enjoy the instant pleasure of having a photo printed at the moment, combined with the flexibility and freedom that shooting photos with our smartphone's camera gives us.
If you plan to purchase one of these printers, the Link Wide can be a good option whether it is for yourself or as a gift to a loved one .
Tell me in the comments below about your experience with instant cameras. Do you usually print/develop your photos, either at home or in a laboratory? Or do you prefer to have them exclusively on your mobile?
