Tomy KiiPix Instant Photo Printer Review
Reviewed by Debbie Talbot
My teenage daughter is a much bigger fan of technology than me and much more tech savvy (aren’t all kids these days?). She loves taking photos on her phone and her phone, like mine, must have hundreds, if not thousands, of photos. A lot of the photos could probably do with being deleted but there are also plenty that have great memories attached. And quite a few that she would like printed, but we never seem to get find time to do it.
So, there was a lot of excitement in our household in anticipation of receiving the Tomy KiiPix Instant Photo Printer from Firebox as it would make printing photos from her phone easy. I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up working in design as she has a real eye for it. Her room is stunning, lit with fairy and LED lights and pictures of her little brothers and dogs decorating it.
When I was a child, I had a Polaroid instant camera, which gave a printed photo right from the camera. These days no one wants to carry a small digital camera let alone a big bulky Polaroid, especially as everyone has a phone and it must cases, just as good or better than a dedicated camera.
The KiiPix is a fantastic little device that pretty much converts you phone into a Polaroid camera, and it doesn’t even need batteries, plugging into an electrical socket or a wireless connection.
The KiiPix arrived really quickly. We chose ours in Cherry Blossom Pink, but the printer is also available in Jet Black and Sky Blue. Whilst well packaged, there was not excessive packaging materials.
We could not wait to get started. Whilst the photographic film, Mini FujiFilm Instax film (RRP: £9 for a pack of 10), was not provided in the box, it was easy to source from Amazon or other online or high street retailers. Now to see what magic we could create.
I am a law student and seem to spend half my life at home putting cables into my printers because I do not manage to connect them properly up to my laptop. The KiiPix was a breath of fresh air with this regard. I couldn’t believe that it needs no app, wifi/Bluetooth or batteries or cables. We were literally set to start in minutes. All we had to do was insert the film then open both of the flaps, lay the frame style part on top of the flaps and place the camera face down on it with whichever picture we wanted to print. It didn’t matter if it took a few attempts adding the right look filter wise to our picture because the picture was taken manually by pressing the switch on the side of the printer once we were 100% happy with the picture. The process was so quick and simple for a tech novice such as myself. It was such a relief. We then folded the flap down on the front of the printer and turned the dial away from the front of the printer and the picture appeared. I am a teeny bit in love with this printer. The photos have a gorgeous retro look to them and remind me of the days when I had an instant camera. This is so much easier to use though and I love the fact that you can print pictures where modern filters have been used. Tomy came up with this wonderful gadget and it has the high-quality look and feel that you can expect from Tomy too.
A huge advantage of the KiiPix is that it takes up so little space in my daughter’s bedroom (it is really compact and fold flat when not in use), which is great as I am a fan of clutter free living space. It is also small and light enough for her to put in her bag when she goes around to a friends house. The pink colour is so funky and modern and it really reflects my daughter’s character.
At around £1 per print (cheaper if you buy the bigger packs of film) it isn’t the cheapest way of getting photos printed from your phone but is definitely the easiest. The photo paper is about the size of a credit card (54 (W) x 86 (H) mm) and the printed image measures around 46 (W) x 62 (H) mm.
This would make a fantastic Christmas gift for that hard to buy for teenager who seems to have everything or a wonderful treat for that special someone in your life. In a world where everything needs to be instant, this is perfect for the job.
I rate the KiiPix 5/5 and I would score it more if I could.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £39.99
Available to buy from www.firebox.com.
