Compact cameras are going viral – and none are more compact than the equally trending keychain camera. The Fujifilm Instax Pal meshes both those trends, packing a low-fi 4.5MP camera into a body that’s around the size of a golf ball.
The Fujifilm Instax Pal is less impressive than the brand’s higher-end options – for starters, it doesn’t actually print out Instax photos unless you also purchase one of Instax’s printers. I’m not sold on the quirky little camera at the $117 list price – but at under $60, I think the Pal is enticing both as a screen-free camera and keychain camera.
At this highly-reduced price, the Pal is giving me Kodak Charmera vibes – the $35 tiny keychain camera that Kodak launched last year that sold out on its first day. For starters, the Pal’s “viewfinder” is a plastic frame that also doubles as a clip, so the Pal can also double as a keychain.
That's another trend the Pal hits: it’s also a screen-free camera for cutting back on screen time. It does require a smartphone for viewing the images, but I can see the Pal being a hit among teens and preteens for those places like school and summer camp where a smartphone may not exactly be welcomed. Pair it with a microSD card to take more than 50 images possible using internal storage.
The Pal has a few more features than the Charmera, including the 4.5MP compared to the Charmera’s 1.6MP and Bluetooth, which connects the camera to a smartphone app to download images for sharing or accessing different settings.
The image quality coming from the 4.5MP Pal isn’t going to impress anyone – but that’s sort of the point. It’s a cutesy compact camera designed to get the lo-fi look of early digital cameras.
Honestly, I wouldn’t get the Pal at the $100+ list price – I’d opt to save a bit more and get the Li Play that can also spit out physical prints, or the pricier but retro Instax Mini Evo.
But $58 for a camera the size of a golf ball? I can see this as a popular option for fans of that lo-fi look, compact camera lovers, and digital minimalists.
Editor's note: This article was updated with a new price.
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