Canon Selphy CP900

Bottom Line

The Canon Selphy CP900 is lightweight and wireless, making it an ideal travel photo printer. It also adds a new feature to the Selphy line: direct printing from your Apple or Android device. Reviewers say it's a good deal, but warn that printing times can be slow and the cost of ink and paper is somewhat high.

Ease Of Use

Inexpensive, at first. While the CP900 is cheap compared to other portable photo printers, its consumables -- thermal-dye ribbon and paper -- are rather high at 32.4 cents per print, according to ComputerShopper.com. It's small enough to travel with, and an optional battery and charger (*Est. $80 each) means you don't even have to be near an outlet to print. The printer accepts most memory card formats and can link to devices via PictBridge. Setup is standard, reviewers say.

Design

Really portable. Weighing just 2 pounds and measuring 2.7 inches by 5.3 inches by 7 inches, the CP900 is a cinch to carry. A 2.5-inch, tilting LCD makes it easy to preview photo prints.

Performance

Good shots, not so fast. The Canon Selphy CP900 uses a thermal-dye process called dye sublimation rather than liquid inkjet technology. ComputerShopper.com's David English says print quality is better than in previous generations, and is "very close to what we've come to expect from the best inkjet photo printers." Photos are water-resistant, and can last 100 years if kept away from direct light, Canon says. However, the thermal-dye process is a bit slower than inkjet printing.

While Canon's previous model had only optional Bluetooth, Wi-Fi is built into the CP900. This means you can print directly from any Wi-Fi-compatible device including computers, smartphones and tablets.