A Canon Selphy CP1500 smartphone printer showcasing its compact design and user-friendly interface.
When it comes to printing photos directly from your smartphone, the Canon Selphy CP1500 stands out by producing larger, 4-by-6-inch prints with impressive color accuracy and sharpness, especially for a portable device. If you’re looking for a Smartphone Printer that delivers photo lab quality in the convenience of your home, this could be the perfect choice.
Canon Selphy CP1500: Top Pick for Larger Smartphone Prints
The Canon Selphy CP1500 is an excellent smartphone printer option if you prioritize print size and quality. It consistently delivers 4×6 inch photos with vibrant colors and sharp details, making it ideal for preserving your precious smartphone memories in a tangible format.
Purchase Options
- $139 from Amazon
- $137 from Walmart
- $140 from Best Buy
For users of the CP1500 smartphone printer, the Canon KP-108IN Color Ink/Paper Set is the recommended refill. This bundle provides both ink and paper, ensuring you can continue printing high-quality photos from your smartphone.
Canon KP-108IN Ink and Paper Set: Essential for CP1500 Smartphone Printer Owners
This Canon KP-108IN refill set is specifically designed for the CP1500 smartphone printer, containing enough ink and paper to produce 108 vibrant 4×6 prints from your smartphone or other devices.
Purchase Options
- $30 from Amazon
- $30 from Walmart
Unlike smaller, film-like prints from Fujifilm Instax printers, the Canon Selphy CP1500 smartphone printer utilizes dye-sublimation technology to create noticeably sharper images with more accurate and natural-looking colors. The 4-by-6-inch borderless glossy paper is similar in quality to prints you might receive from professional photo labs, making it a significant step up in print quality for smartphone users.
Superior, Sharp Prints from a Smartphone Printer. The CP1500 smartphone printer employs dye-sublimation printing, a process where colors are layered onto the paper in four passes, followed by a protective coating. This technology results in stunning, vivid images with rich, natural colors, avoiding the oversaturation sometimes seen in other portable printers. Both bright and shadowy areas in photos are rendered faithfully, and fine details are crisp and clear, showcasing the advanced print capabilities of this smartphone printer.
While printing with the CP1500 smartphone printer might not feel as instantaneous as with some instant film printers, the slightly longer print time is justified by the superior image quality. The printer carefully layers colors to produce a finished photo that is immediately ready to handle. In contrast, instant film printers may eject prints faster, but the image development process can take several minutes afterwards.
The paper tray of the Canon Selphy CP1500 smartphone printer being easily clicked into place, demonstrating its user-friendly design.
Economical Smartphone Printing in the Long Run. Although the initial investment for the CP1500 smartphone printer is higher than some Instax options, it provides better image quality and becomes more cost-effective over time. Canon’s ink and paper sets, priced around $30 for 108 prints (approximately 27¢ per print), make this smartphone printer a budget-friendly choice for regular photo printing from your phone.
Multiple Connectivity Options for Your Smartphone and Devices. Like Instax printers, the CP1500 smartphone printer allows wireless printing from your smartphone via a dedicated app. However, it also includes an SD card slot for direct printing from memory cards and a USB-C port for computer connectivity. This versatility makes it an excellent smartphone printer for users who store photos across various devices, not just their phones.
Sleek and Functional Design for a Portable Smartphone Printer. The CP1500 smartphone printer is available in black and white. The black model, tested and reviewed, offers a premium aesthetic with a sophisticated matte finish. The printer features mostly flush buttons, with a slightly raised OK button for easy operation. The paper tray attaches neatly to the front, and the SD card slot and USB-C port are conveniently located behind a front panel, ensuring all functions are easily accessible from the same area of this smartphone printer.
The paper tray of the Canon Selphy CP1500 smartphone printer being easily clicked into place, demonstrating its user-friendly design.
Reliable Wireless Printing from Your Smartphone. For wireless smartphone printing, the Canon Print app offers seamless connection via either an ad-hoc Wi-Fi signal from the printer or through your home Wi-Fi network. During testing, the CP1500 smartphone printer maintained stable connections without drops, a significant advantage over some other portable printers that experienced connectivity issues.
User-Friendly Screen and Controls for Smartphone Users. Unlike Fujifilm printers that depend heavily on smartphone apps, the Canon Selphy CP1500 smartphone printer includes a built-in 3.2-inch screen for previewing images and navigating menus directly on the device. Although the screen is not touch-sensitive, the physical buttons are well-designed and intuitive to use. While the menu system can occasionally feel a bit slow, and zooming to check image focus takes a few moments, the integrated screen enhances usability for smartphone users.
While the screen is adequate for basic previewing and menu navigation, its resolution is not high enough for critical focus assessment when browsing photos on an SD card. For most smartphone users, the screen is perfectly sufficient for everyday printing tasks.
The paper tray of the Canon Selphy CP1500 smartphone printer being easily clicked into place, demonstrating its user-friendly design.
Advanced Editing Options via Smartphone App. The Canon printing app provides smartphone users with greater control over their images compared to Fujifilm apps. You can easily crop, rotate, and adjust brightness, contrast, and color saturation directly from your smartphone before printing. The app also offers customization options like borders and time stamps, and unique layouts such as Bookmark Layout and ID Photo, enhancing the creative possibilities of this smartphone printer.
Portable Enough for Smartphone Printing on the Go. The Canon Selphy CP1500 smartphone printer is designed for portability, allowing you to print photos from your smartphone anywhere. Weighing 2.4 pounds (3.1 pounds with the power cable), it is heavier than the Fujifilm Instax Mini Link 3, but still reasonably portable for events or travel. It includes an AC power cable and also supports an optional rechargeable battery for true mobile smartphone printing. While battery testing was not conducted for this review, previous models with rechargeable batteries have performed reliably in field use, according to Wirecutter’s experts. Canon estimates approximately 54 prints per charge with the optional battery, making it a genuinely portable smartphone printing solution.
In conclusion, the Canon Selphy CP1500 is a top-tier smartphone printer that excels in print quality, print size, and cost-effectiveness over time. Its user-friendly design, versatile connectivity, and advanced app features make it an excellent choice for anyone looking to print high-quality 4×6 photos directly from their smartphone.
