Kodak Photo Printer Dock: photos that will make noise

Ergonomics

The Photo Printer Dock from Kodak is available in several versions, for Android or iPhone. Here we are testing the Android model with Wi-Fi module, along with a Lightning adapter. It is a small printer that is limited to the 10 x 15 cm format and prints using the thermal sublimation process.

Like a Selphy, it can be easily stored in a drawer and is even more compact than the Canon models, with dimensions of 166 x 100 x 68 mm and a weight of 760 g. As with the competition, it is also necessary to take into account the small external power supply which will have to be squeezed in a corner.

Main ergonomic difference with Selphy, the Photo Printer Dock does not include any advanced control panel and even less screen. Indeed, in addition to the power-on button, it puts on a single button “1 Touch App & Print” which allows you to start printing with ease. As the name suggests, this printer is a dock in which a smartphone is plugged in, and it is therefore the telephone that takes care of everything thanks to the dedicated application (by loading in the process).

A priori, this is not a bad thing (we had been fairly critical of the limited possibilities of the Canon application for Selphy and the ergonomics of the menus integrated into the CP1200). However, here again, the software part sins. If you can easily select your photos and give them some basic touch-ups and filters before printing, the Kodak Photo Printer application clearly lacks simplicity and is neither very comprehensive nor very understandable. In other words, we grope a bit at the beginning before finding our brands for the simple printing function, and, like at Canon, we end up favoring more efficient third-party applications to deal with touch-ups (at random, something like Photoshop Express).

On the other hand, where Canon Selphies are easily used as standard Windows printers when connected via USB, this is not the case with the Photo Printer Dock. The best solution is therefore here to touch up your photos on PC before recovering them on your smartphone (by simply sending them by email, or via a Dropbox-type service). The Kodak Photo Printer application can easily connect to an Instagram, Facebook or Google Photo account.

As for the Selphy, the printing process, which is done in several passes, uses a cassette which clips onto the front of the product and takes up a certain amount of space on the desk (knowing that you also have to be careful leave a good fifteen centimeters free on the back, so that the paper can go back and forth). Beyond that, the installation of cartridges and cassettes is really not rocket science and takes place in a flash.

Regarding power consumption, the Kodak Photo Printer Dock is a little less sober in standby than a Selphy CP1200: it draws 3.1 W permanently. On the other hand, it consumes less during printing: from 8 to 40 W.

If we had found the CP1200 noisy enough in printing, we are going here and our colleagues in open space were quick to curse us as soon as the tests started. This is confirmed by the sound level meter: positioned a few tens of centimeters from the printer, it displays between 59 and 61 dB during printing. It is a lot and, above all, the sounds emitted, rather strident, are not very pleasant to the ear. A real negative point.

As with Canon, we buy “views” here, namely packs integrating both the cartridge (s) and the paper refills. Is it cheaper to print a photo on Selphy or the Photo Printer Dock? At Canon, the cost price of a photo is slightly less than 30 euro cents. Here, it varies between 44 and 50 euro cents depending on the capacity of the chosen recharge pack (40, 80 or 120 photos).

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Photo

Good surprise, the probe reveals a less significant colorimetric drift than on the Selphy CP1200. The small Canon saw its average delta E reaching 9.7, while it peaks here at 7. This remains less good than what the best inkjet photo printers are capable of (delta E around 5), but it is correct considering the use of the product and its technology.

Where this point had lost a photo star to the Selphy CP1200, here, there are two other criteria that deprive the Photo Printer Dock of Kodak of the maximum score in this section. The printing time, first of all, with a first photo which can take up to 2 minutes and 15 seconds to come out (count between 55 and 76 seconds once the printer is initialized). The slight lack of sharpness of the images afterwards, which is revealed by the high-resolution scans of the photos and which tends to smooth the details slightly.

The paper supplied with the cartridges is of good quality, comparable to that used by photo laboratories. The prints are finished with an effective protective film, making them impossible to tear by hand, resistant to splashing water and scratches. What ensure their lifespan and promote their good conservation.

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Conclusion

The Kodak Photo Printer Dock may have many qualities and an interesting dock format, but it does not overshadow the Selphy CP1200, which remains our preference. More modern in its approach, it misses the check mark by little, because of some details which are not for everyone.

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