Polaroid has unveiled its new instant digital camera, the Polaroid Snap, at IFA 2015 in Berlin.
This new addition to the company's initial line of instant digital cameras has almost the same dimensions as the Polaroid Zip Instant Mobile Printer, which is about an inch thick, 3 inches wide and 5 inches in length. Unlike the Zip printer, however, the Snap has an on-board 10 MP camera that allows anyone to snap and print the images taken.
Note that the Polaroid Zip printer is just that, a photo printer that has mobile devices feed the images via Wi-Fi and prints them out into 3 x 5 inch hard copies. The Zip printer uses the ZINK Zero Ink paper that has colorless crystals embedded into them. When the printer heats up the paper, however, the crystals change in color to print out the digital image.
The same Zero Ink technology was ported to the Polaroid Snap. When a picture is taken, it prints out the images using the preloaded ZINK paper and produces the same 2 x 3 inch instant hard copy that the Zip produces. A maximum of 10 shots can be taken before it needs to be reloaded. Note that a hundred sheets of the ZINK paper is listed at less than $30 on Amazon. For digital storage, the Snap has a MicroSD card expansion slot.
"This, along with its small size, are things you won't get with Fujifilm's Instax Mini line (though the Instax prints are better quality than the Zink prints)," said Joshua Goldman in his review of the device.
According to another reviewer, Jake Swearingen, the device looks slick and easy to use.
The "slick looks and ease of use" just might "wean you off of your Instagram addiction," he wrote. The writer attributes the design to Polaroid's partnership with Ammunition, the same firm that brought about the Beats headphones and worked on the Polaroid Cube.
Polaroid Snap will be available later this year for $99 dollars, which, as most would consider, is a small price to pay for the nostalgia it brings. However, it does not come without any drawbacks. There's no zoom feature and it only comes with these presets: black and white, vintage, color and photo booth. Also, there's no Wi-Fi version out yet, limiting the transfer options.
