I’ve used some great portable printers, and I can’t say enough good things about how they’ve helped me out in different situations. These little gems have made my life easier, whether I’m on a business trip, having a relaxing day at the beach, or just working from home.
These small printers are amazing because they can turn any space into a printing station. Let’s say you’re on a business trip and all of a sudden you need to print out some important photos or documents. You can do that from your hotel room if you have a portable printer. The best part? It’s small enough to fit in your backpack or laptop bag, so you can always get to it.
A good portable printer is smaller than an office printer and should be small enough to fit in your briefcase or small bag without weighing you down. It should be able to plug into the wall if there is a power outlet, and run on battery power if there isn’t one. You probably won’t use it often, but when you do, you’ll be very grateful. Below we have listed some of the best portable printers.
Best Portable Printers
HP OfficeJet 250
This HP printer maximizes what you can do on the go. It offers fast copy, scan and print speeds all while maintaining high image quality. This portable printer is a bit more expensive, but it offers a lot of features and power in a compact package. The biggest advantage is the large 2.6-inch color touchscreen that makes it easy to use.
This marvel of miniaturization manages to combine a document scanner and a full-color inkjet printer in one device that fits in a travel bag. It also has a small display, an automatic document feeder (ADF), Wi-Fi and a rechargeable battery. Its extra-small ink cartridges are surprisingly productive, and print quality and speed are on par with the average office inkjet. In short: A decent all-round desktop device that happens to have shrunk to the size of a laundry bag.
Canon Pixma TR150
The Pixma TR150 measures a compact 12.7 x 7.3 x 2.6 inches when closed and weighs just 4.5 pounds – as little as 5.1 pounds with an optional battery. When open, it has room for a 50-page paper tray, a simple control panel, and plenty of connectivity options unless you need a card slot.
In addition to being more portable, the Pixma TR150 takes high-quality photos faster than other competing portable printers and offers excellent color and detail. It is also capable of making larger photo prints, but unlike some of our favorite printers, it does not have copy or scan functions. It is a solidly built portable printer with optional battery and even support for the Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice control, but we love it for the great photos and low ink costs it offers.
Epson WorkForce WF-110
Epson has managed to pack all the elements of a color inkjet printer into a device small enough to fit in a briefcase or even a handbag. It uses four smaller ink cartridges than usual to produce A4-sized prints at a very sharp and colorful 5,760 x 1,440 dpi resolution. The plastic casing is textured for easy grip and, when opened, becomes a paper feeder that can hold up to twenty sheets of plain paper.
The lithium-ion battery can be replaced quickly with the included charger or by connecting the included USB cables to any powered USB port. Printing is not fast and it is not surprising that there is no automatic duplex mode, but for mobile printing the quality is excellent. Standard connectivity interfaces of the WF-110 include wireless (802.11 b/g/n), connection to a single PC via USB 2.0, and Wi-Fi Direct.
HP OfficeJet 200 Mobile Printer
HP has managed to reduce the inkjet printer to the size of a cigar box while adding a battery compartment. The result is a highly portable device capable of producing crisp color documents at a speed of 10 per minute in monochrome and 7 in color. There is no duplex mode, as a matter of course, but it can handle envelopes, photo paper, and photo paper of any size up to A4. With the availability of Wi-Fi Direct and a USB port, this nifty device makes it possible to print anywhere.
Print photographs and documents anywhere using the HP OfficeJet 200 Mobile Printer. Because this mobile printer runs on a battery, there’s no need for a socket. The printer weighs just 2.1kg, making it easy to carry with you. Send your print jobs without the need of a router using WiFi direct and print at a speed of 10 pages per minute. Print your notes at double speed using draft mode.
Brother PocketJet 773
The Brother PocketJet 773 offers an affordable way to print documents in a very compact package. It is the smallest and lightest printer in this collection. Because it is a direct thermal printer, it prints only in black and white and uses special thermal reaction paper instead of ordinary printer paper. It does not print on photo paper. Since it does not use ink cartridges, you will not have to worry about running out of ink.
As a thermal printer, the Brother PocketJet 7 PJ763MFi-WK doesn’t house ink cartridges, making it about half the size of traditional inkjet mobile printers. Brother has touted the PJ-773 as the most advanced A4 portable thermal printer on the market. It only prints in black and white and one of the things you have to keep in mind is that you can’t just feed it standard A4 paper.
HP Tango X
The HP Tango X is a small printer designed for home use and portability. Compared to most desktop models, it is lightweight: at just 7.5 pounds, the Tango X weighs less than a pound more than the HP OfficeJet 250. This printer does not have a USB port, only a wireless connection. Unlike other portable printers, however, the Tango X does not offer a battery option.
The top plastic cover can be folded back and serves as a paper tray that can hold up to 50 A4 sheets. Underneath is a light gray reflective plastic cover that protects the printing mechanism. It is a spring-loaded cover that opens with a slight press and is held in place by two mechanical supports.
Fujifilm Instax Share SP-3
This (almost) pocket-sized printer is probably the easiest way to turn photos on your smartphone, or your Instax camera, into physical prints. Using an evolution of the technology used in Kodak’s instant cameras, Fijifilm’s inkless system sears the image onto square format photo paper. Neither the printer, nor the paper are cheap and the printer itself has few features other than Wi-Fi. Nonetheless, the photos it produces are colorful and accurate, if a little soft and pale.
It’s arguably the most rewarding way to turn a better photo into a physical keepsake you can share and stick on your wall. Print larger INSTAX photos from your smartphone with the new Fujifilm Instax Square Share SP-3 printer. With this wireless INSTAX mobile printer, you can print SQUARE photos from your smartphone and social media feeds, add text to your images, or print a collage directly from a video.
Polaroid Mint
Polaroid’s Zinc (zero ink) technology is used to great effect in this highly portable and well-designed printer. It is thin enough to slip into a shoulder bag and weighs only 162 g, most of which is the 900 mAh battery. Polaroid photo paper is rather expensive and limits prints to 2×3 inches, but the results always look colorful, detailed and charmingly retro. And no, shaking the camera does not result in faster image development.
It has to be mint! Classic instant print cameras used to be all the range now, you can experience the same on-the-spot convenience-with a contemporary twist-thanks to the brand new Polaroid mint 2-in-1 camera & printer. Featuring twice the charm and double the fun, this pocket-sized wonder turns the traditional camera on its head, literally! Mint is designed to operate vertically, so you can snap photos in the same manner as a smartphone, tablets or similar device.
HP Sprocket Studio
The latest in HP’s line of portable instant photo printers ditches the ZINK for an inkjet system and prints on a slightly larger 10×15 cm format. This makes the Studio, the Sprocket that won’t fit in your pocket, but also the one with the best image quality. The proprietary ink and paper packages are quite expensive, but the system produces vivid results and is a lot of fun to use. Up to three users can connect via Bluetooth and use the excellent companion app to print.
The app offers many templates and stock images with which to spice up your photos. Create more memories with your personal photo lab: the compact HP Sprocket Studio turns every fun moment into beautiful, frame-worthy color prints that last.
Brother PocketJet 763MFi
This portable printer could almost fit in a jacket pocket, yet it can print on A4 size sheets. Using thermal printing instead of impact printing that requires ink and many other moving parts, this battery-powered device requires no consumables other than special thermal paper.
What differentiates this model from most portable printers is the addition of MFi (Made For iPhone) which facilitates synchronization with Macs and iOS devices via Bluetooth. Brother mobile, PJ7 300DPI DT printer with MFi Bluetooth and USB (includes printer only, requires power supply, Bluetooth connectivity for iPad/iPhone, USB cable and printing materials). PJ7 300DPI DT printer with MFi.
Final Words
The most important criterion in our search for the best portable printers was to make sure that the user can actually take them with him or her when needed. We limited the size and weight of the printers to no more than 14 inches wide and no more than two pounds in weight. After narrowing down the scope based on these measurement requirements, we looked at the key usability features of a portable printer.
