Polaroid Mint Printer vs Polaroid Zip: Which should you buy?

Both the Polaroid Zip and Polaroid Mint Printer are great options when it comes to wireless portable photo printers, especially when complementing an instant camera. The differences are fairly minor, but they are there, so let's go into more detail.

The Breakdown

On the surface, the Polaroid Zip and the Polaroid Mint are very similar to each other, with just a few minor differences.

Neither one is superior over the other in terms of printing quality since they both use ZINK "Zero-Ink" 2 by 3-inch paper and don't need ink, toner, or ribbons to print. They are both also fairly compact in size, so it's easy to take either of them anywhere, wherever you go. The best part is that both of them connect to your smartphone via the proper companion apps (Polaroid Zip or Polaroid Mint and Bluetooth.

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Header Cell - Column 0 Polaroid Zip Wireless Photo PrinterPolaroid Mint Pocket Printer
Price$99$130-$140
Dimensions0.9 x 2.9 x 4.7 inches3 x 0.5 x 1 inches
SizeCompactCompact
Rechargeable batteryYesYes
BluetoothYesYes
Companion appPolaroid Zip appPolaroid Mint app
Price of appFreeFree
Prints on single charge2550
Paper typeZINK 2x3 inchZINK 2x3 inch

The Polaroid Zip and Mint apps are also pretty similar to each other. These two apps are able to access the Camera Roll and Photo Library of your smartphone through Bluetooth. You'll be able to edit the photos with basic photo editing tools, add borders and frames, slap some fun stickers on, doodle on photos, or even make collages to your heart's content — all before you print.

The only real differences between these two portable photo printers are the size and how many photos they can print on a single charge. They're both compact and pocket-friendly, but their dimensions are slightly different. As you can see above, the Zip is compact, but is still bulkier than the Mint. And the Zip can only print 25 photos on a single charge, while the Mint can print out twice as many photos.

Honestly, we would go with the Polaroid Zip over the Mint Pocket Printer just based on price. They both use the same ZINK paper, connect to your phone via Bluetooth, and have free companion apps to give finishing touches to your photos before printing. We don't think most people would be printing out a ton of photos at once either, so the 25 picture limit on the Zip is fine. Sure it's bulkier, but it's still portable, and you'll save a good chunk of change.

Christine Chan

Christine Romero-Chan was formerly a Senior Editor for iMore. She has been writing about technology, specifically Apple, for over a decade at a variety of websites. She is currently part of the Digital Trends team, and has been using Apple’s smartphone since the original iPhone back in 2007. While her main speciality is the iPhone, she also covers Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac when needed. When she isn’t writing about Apple, Christine can often be found at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, as she is a passholder and obsessed with all things Disney, especially Star Wars. Christine also enjoys coffee, food, photography, mechanical keyboards, and spending as much time with her new daughter as possible.