VuPoint Photo Cube

Mobile phone photography has come of age; consider that the iPhone 4 has become the most popular camera represented on Flickr (based on the number of photos uploaded per day). The VuPoint Photo Cube ($99.99 list), a portable thermal-dye printer, capitalizes on this trend by letting you print directly from a docked iPhone or iPod touch, or an iPad or Android device connected to the printer via a USB cable. The Photo Cube, which produces 4-by-6 prints, operates independently of a computer?in fact, you can't use the Photo Cube to print from any source other than a mobile device. In this day and age, that may be enough for many consumers.

The Photo Cube isn't literally a cube, but is rather a small white rectangular box with rounded corners, measuring 4.0 by 7.0 by 6.0 inches (HWD); it weighs 3.3 pounds, 4.2 pounds including the power adapter. On top is an indented dock with a 30-pin connecter to fit an iPhone or iPod touch; for an iPad or an Android-based smart phone you'll need to supply an adapter to connect the device to the Photo Cube's USB port.

An advantage of the single cartridge is that it makes setup easier than with traditional thermal dye printers, with only one thing to load. Another is that it enhances the printer's portability, since you don't have to carry paper and a paper tray separately. Even better, if you need to bring additional supplies, you need only one package for both ink and paper, with a single cartridge able to print as many as 36 photos.

To use Photo Cube, you must first download an app called Photo Cube! from the iTunes or Android app store. (Before downloading the app for Android, you must enable USB debugging on your Android device, a simple procedure explained in the printer's user manual.)

The Photo Cube comes pre-loaded with a trial cartridge good for 16 photos, and setup couldn't be easier; you just plug in the adapter and power supply. When the blue status light goes on, you dock your device or tether it, open the app, and you're ready to go.

Using the Photo Cube! app is the essence of simplicity. From the home screen, you're given the choice to shoot a photo from within the app, or choose one from your albums. Once you've selected an image, you can choose the number of prints you want (up to 4). You can also partition your prints to create "mosaics", including either 4 or 10 miniature images on a single print. A partition of 4 consists of 4 images of equal size, each in a corner, while a partition of 10 has two larger images in the center, one above the other, with a set of 4 images running down each side.

When you select the partition option, whether 4 or 10, at first all the mini images will be the same; you have to touch each partition in turn and select a new image to create the mosaic you want. One caveat is that once inserted into the partitions, the images are stuck in their original orientation. If you shoot in both landscape and portrait style, some of the images may be tilted 90 degrees, so it may take some extra work to find enough images pointing in the right direction.

Speed and Output Quality
The Photo Cube's average speed for a 4-by-6 print, whether printing from an iPhone or iPad, was 1 minute flat. In fact, all of my test prints on both devices finished within 2 seconds of the minute mark. This speed is typical of small-format photo printers other than Epsons, which tend to be unusually fast; we clocked the Editors' Choice Epson PictureMate Charm at an average of 41 seconds per print.

Running Costs
Each Photo Cube cartridge is good for 36 prints. Based on a minimum advertised price (MAP) of $19.99, the cost per print is 55.5 cents, typical of a thermal-dye printer but about twice the running cost of a portable inkjet photo printer. The PictureMate Charm came in at an unusually low 25.3 cents per glossy 4-by-6 print, with most similar inkjets running 28-32 cents per print. The Polaroid Grey Label GL-10 Instant Mobile Printer, based on ZINK zero-ink dye technology, prints exclusively 3- by 4-inch photos at about 66 cents per print.

The VuPoint Solutions Photo Cube's specialization as a printer for "iThings" and Android phones is both its drawing point and its main shortcoming. You can't use it to print from a computer, USB thumb drive, PictBridge Camera, or memory card. But if iPhone photography is your thing, the Photo Cube may be just the product you're looking for: it is compact, modestly priced, capable of outputting decent quality prints, and it will even charge your device while it's docked or tethered.

Compare the VuPoint Photo Cube with several other Photo Printers side by side.

More Photo Printer Reviews:
??? VuPoint Photo Cube
??? Polaroid Grey Label GL10 Instant Mobile Printer
??? Epson Stylus Pro 3880
??? HP Photosmart Premium Fax e-All-in-One
??? Epson Stylus Photo R3000
?? more

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