Canon Launches Pocket-Sized ‘Selphy Square’ Photo Printer

Canon surprised everyone tonight by releasing… a portable printer? Tucked between the release of an affordable RF Mount lens and a new Canon Rebel DSLR, was the launch of the Selphy Square: a pocket-sized photo printer that’ll take on Fuji’s Instax Share SP-3.

When it comes to portable printers, the standard these days is Fuji. Other options like Canon’s own IVY printer are fine, but the ZINK photo paper/printing process they use leaves you with low-quality shots that fade easily. That should not be the case with the new Selphy Square.

The Selphy Square uses dye-sublimation thermal transfer to generate high-quality 287 × 287-dpi prints at up to 2.7 x 2.7 inches (68 x 68 mm) on a new type of square-format “sticker-type paper” called XS-20L. Photos are prepared and sent to the printer using an updated version of the Selphy Photo Layout app—which allows you to add stickers, borders, and text—and the printer can spit out an image in about 43 seconds.

The printer uses a built-in rechargeable battery to print 20 photos per charge, and the prints themselves allegedly last for a very long time thanks to “a special coating” that “protects against splashes, spills, and fading for up to 100 years when stored in an album.”

Here’s a closer look at the new printer and the paper you’ll need to use it with:

This new Selphy is a promising new addition to the portable, smartphone printer market, though it might lead Canon into some legal trouble with either Fuji or Polaroid… or both. We’ll just have to wait and see.

The Canon Selphy Square printer is available now in black, pink, green and white for an SRP of $150, and every 20-pack of paper and ink will cost you $15. To learn more, head over to the Canon website.