HPRT MT53 mini Photo Printer - First Impressions
HPRT MT53 mini Photo Printer Review
Instant printers always looked fun to me. Old Polaroid cameras looked like magic to me because i seen them on the shelf as part of the history and then when they become popular again paper cartages had a price like gold :)
Some years ago instant cameras became a thing again. And then portable photo printers. After the last year HiveFest Instagram thought i was in Croatia for months and was for some reason bombarded with this photo printer. But it was not available in my country.
When @louis88 published his first Leica Sofort 2 Polaroid HiveFest post i decided to check Temu again, because i will not be buying Leica :D, and yes marketing works, even indirect marketing :) . HPRT MT53 with 50 sheets of photo paper for 56.00 EUR? YES :D
HPRT MT53 is a mini (11.4cm x 7.8cm) Zink (Zero Ink) paper photo printer. Printer uses special paper with layers of micro-crystals. Printer applies heat to micro-crystals in the paper and with different amount of heat gets different colors.
Yes, the paper packages are upside down but i just put them there and they magically made this perfect shape so i didn't want to touch them :)
Size of the paper is 5 x 7.6 cm. The one i got are packed in 5 per bag with a blue "control" paper. I thought the blue paper is just to know how to insert the paper but it has a bigger role. The blue paper has a bar code with information about that batch of photo paper and is used to calibrate the printer for that specific batch.
Inserting the paper is really easy, just push the top of the printer, open it, put the paper in with the blue paper on the bottom and that is it.
Using the MT53 is also really easy. It has 1 button (power on/off), one light (blue/red) blue fine, red something bad. It also flashes blue while charging. It can print around 20 photos in one charge. Not sure about charging time, probably a bit more then 3 hours to full charge.
To pick the photos you use an "HeyPhoto" app (available on App Store and Google Play). It connects with the printer via Bluetooth and it was really easy. The app is simple to use. You open the photo you want to print, get a preview how it will look, there is an edit option if you want to change something, click print and that is it.
HeyPhoto app has some other options, like adding frames, making collages, adding text... All looks pretty simple and easy.
The photo paper is also sticky. So you just peal the back off and you can stick it anywhere. The paper is not chap but i found packs of 50 for around 20$.
One thing you can say is that it is really portable. The phone in the photo is Pixel 6A, so not really a big phone.
I had 0 expectations for the quality of the print. If you are a photographer and you did prints, you will not be WOW-ed for sure. But to be honest it is not made for glory, it is made for fun. The first batch of 5 papers had a bit of an magenta tint. But my edits do have a bit of blue/magenta in the blacks so that could have added to it.
It is hard to actually show the quality of photos through photos. They are already small and photographing them does not do it justice. It does look better live.
One idea for the test i got was to try to print a QR code and smaller text. I seen that Zink has problems with small details so i thought a doted QR code (with reversed color, seen warnings that black background, white dots is harder to read) could be a good test. Zero problems with the phone reading the QR code. I am surprised i even managed to read the code from the photos uploaded to this blog.
The offer for mini portable printers in my country is limited (managed to find 2-3 models) and HPRT MT53 the cheapest i found. From what i managed to find printers using Dye-Sublimation tech for printing usually have a bit better prints than Zink, but it is also a bit more complicated to use (it has rolls of "plastic" to imprint on paper and depending on the printer it has different ways of changing the rolls). It is probably leaving more waste as you are throwing away those rolls of plastic after use.
Overall my first impression is that HPRT MT53 is pretty decent for what it is meant for. It works fine, easy to use, has decent photos for what they are meant for. You can even print a quick QR code sticker on a go if you need to :D
Now i only printed 8 photos with it at the moment, so we will see how long will it work, and how good will it be.
Well looking at results and price is probably good for any average person who wants to print some photos, cheaper than shop for sure
i do think it is fine for most people wanting small prints. you will get it cheaper in a print lab but not instant and more hassle :D
Right now the cheapest way I found is use some online service but with that device at least you don't need to upload your pictures of the internet
This little printer sounds really fun to use. I like that it’s easy to set up and you can print photos anytime.
That sounds like a really handy little printer, I like how it’s small and easy to use , perfect for quick photo prints or QR codes. It may not be top quality, but it seems great for everyday use and fun projects.
I think @louis88 would like to know about this.