Fujifilm Instax Mini Link 3

The $99.95 Fujifilm Instax Mini Link 3 is a pocketable photo printer that seamlessly turns digital images from your mobile device's camera roll into shareable, wallet-sized instant photos. We like its companion app, which provides image templates for creating collages and adding borders, along with fun (if gimmicky) augmented reality-based scene effects. The print size is small, though the rich color tones and detail of photos ultimately give them appeal for casually sharing with friends and family. We continue to recommend the $139.99 Canon Selphy CP1500 as our Editors' Choice winner for portable printers overall, however, thanks to its larger, dye sublimation prints and lower operating costs.

Design: A Wallet-Sized Printer for Wallet-Sized Prints

The Instax Mini Link 3 lives up to its moniker. It's impressively small and light at just 4.9 by 3.5 by 1.3 inches (HWD) and 7.4 ounces. I can't help but describe the printer as wallet-sized, which is fitting since the Instax Mini film format it uses produces wallet-sized prints with a 1.8-by-2.4-inch picture area and plastic border.

(Credit: Jim Fisher)

The Link has a pretty basic design. Its plastic, ridged exterior is evocative of corduroy, and you can choose between three colors: Clay White, Rose Pink, and Sage Green. I received the Sage Green edition for review.

The printer includes a power button and an unmarked function button that you can configure to handle some of the app-based features. A trio of lights behind an Instax logo glow and blink when the Link is on or charging and double as a battery gauge. The companion app shows the remaining battery life as a percentage.

(Credit: Jim Fisher)

It's pretty easy to load film—simply open the rear door to access an insert that holds an Instax Mini cartridge. A yellow mark matches the one visible on film packs so you don't try to load it upside down. Each Instax Mini pack holds 10 exposures. Although you can buy Monochrome film for the printer, it's more cost-effective to get color film and digitally desaturate photos for black-and-white prints.

The Link 3 makes a few welcome improvements over the outgoing Link 2. Fuji drops the silly LED, for example, which I don't count as a loss. It felt like a gimmick the last time around, and the printer's augmented reality (AR) Instax AiR feature still works. The Mini Link 3 also finally sheds the legacy micro USB port in favor of USB-C. The box includes a USB-A-to-USB-C cable for charging, though you need to provide an AC adapter.

(Credit: Jim Fisher)

A built-in battery provides up to 100 prints (10 packs) per charge. I didn't have a chance to stress-test the battery, however, since Fuji sent over just two packs of film. It takes between 90 and 120 minutes to fully charge the Link 3 from empty. The battery is not replaceable.

Competition: Plenty of Alternatives

The Instax Mini Link 3 joins a crowded market. Fujifilm sells two other versions of it—the Instax Link Square and Link Wide—that use larger film formats. Instax Square film is 2.4 inches on each side, while Wide is about twice the size of Mini at 3.6-by-2.4 inches. Otherwise, the three printers provide the same glossy, colorful prints using photochemical film. Film tends to cost more than alternative materials, however, so budget around $1.05 per print for Mini, $1.25 for Square, and $1.58 for Wide.

(Credit: Jim Fisher)

Many other small photo printers use Zink paper instead of film. They use a thermal method to print color pictures onto sticker paper without the need for ink cartridges. Zink is more economical—Canon 2-by-3-inch paper costs around $0.60 per print—but doesn't provide the same level of color fidelity or clarity as Instax film. Zink does a poor job of reproducing some hues (notably in the magenta range) and shows streaky, dithered output. Printers that work with Zink include the HP Sprocket Select and Kodak Mini 3 Retro.

(Credit: Jim Fisher)

A dye sublimation printer might be a good match if you prefer prints that are large enough to place in an album or tack to a bulletin board. This type of printer uses a three-pass process to apply color to prints with a glossy finish for results consistent with those from a photo lab. Expect to pay about $0.35 per 4-by-6-inch print with the Canon Selphy CP1500.

(Credit: Jim Fisher)

App Experience: Useful Overall, With Gimmicky AR Features

As mentioned, the Instax Link Mini 3 is compatible only with Android and Apple smartphones and tablets. It connects over Bluetooth, using the Instax Mini Link app as the go-between. I tested the printer with an iPhone and a beta version of the app. Pairing the printer is quick and painless. Just load the app on your device, turn the printer on, and follow the on-screen connection steps. I got the Link 3 up and running in a matter of minutes with no hitches to report.

(Credit: Fujifilm/PCMag)

The app has a bunch of basic printing features that all work as expected. The Simple Print icon at the bottom right corner of the main screen is what you use to print individual images. The printing interface includes basic cropping and editing tools, filters to convert images to black-and-white or sepia, and the option to auto-tone color shots for the best results. An on-screen preview gives you an idea of what the print will look like; it proved to be pretty accurate in testing. You can also select between Rich (the default) and Natural color reproduction via the app's setup menu. The differences between the two are subtle, but Rich prints have slightly higher saturation and contrast.

The Link app also includes templates to add colorful borders to pictures (Frame Print) and to put multiple photos into one picture (Collage Print and Click to Collage), along with an Instax Camera mode that lets you take pictures from within the app. The latter isn't as useful as the regular iPhone camera app, however, since it doesn't let you use your wide or tele lenses, can't leverage portrait mode or other computational assists, and uses only a small portion of your phone's screen to preview your shot. Sure, it's cute to see a virtual Instax border surrounding the view from the lens while you're taking photos, but it comes with some cost to utility.

(Credit: Fujifilm/PCMag)

The app also has an AR mode, Instax AiR Studio, that adds animated filters and virtual objects to scenes. It's….interesting, though I can't say I found it all that useful. With it, you can add an animated background effect—options including floating hearts, sparkles, and confetti—that freezes in place as part of your image when you take a snapshot. You can also pull photos from your camera roll and integrate them into a scene. For instance, you can put your favorite meme into a snapshot as commentary or add a virtual background to an image. The feature might have some appeal to younger creators, but I just don't understand its appeal. That said, its inclusion doesn't detract from the Link 3's utility.

Print Quality: Glossy, Photochemical Prints

The Link 3's print quality is largely tied to its media. As mentioned, the Instax Mini film format has a 1.8-by-2.4-inch image area with a plastic border. The standard film uses a white plastic border that provides enough room to write a note with a sharpie, though you can get pricier versions with decorative borders. Fujifilm is releasing a new border style, Rainbow Sprinkles, alongside the Mini Link 3, for instance. It costs $15.75 for a single film pack (10 exposures), considerably more than standard film.

(Credit: Jim Fisher)

The film shows good detail (in part due to the small print size) and excellent color. I printed shots from a few different sources in testing, including the full-frame Sony a7R IV, the black-and-white digital Pentax K-3 III Monochrome, and a scanned Kodachrome 25 slide. I'm content with the results from each, though the Kodachrome print stands out. It's an image of a pig statue I took at a state fair many years ago, and the pink colors look great. When I've printed that photo on Zink materials in the past, I've seen poor results with a loss of saturation and some color shift.

Aside from providing better colors than Zinc, Instax film also allows you to watch the magic of a print develop. It takes about three minutes from hitting the print button on your phone to seeing a fully developed print, around 20 seconds for the print to eject, and another two minutes or so for the print to go from flat white to fully formed.

Verdict: A Portable Printer With Pleasing Film Quality

The Fujifilm Instax Link Mini 3 is a pretty modest update to the Link 2, but it's just as useful and charming as the earlier edition. We like the colors and clarity of the Instax Mini film format and can't discount the nostalgic appeal of watching instant film develop. Its companion app also works as expected, even if the AR-based effects aren't particularly compelling. The Link Mini 3 is an easy recommendation if you like the wallet-sized Mini film format, though we continue to recommend the dye sublimation Canon Selphy C1500 as our Editors' Choice winner for its less expensive material costs and more impactful film size.