Kodak Step Slim review: is this tiny printer what you need for social events?

The Kodak Step Slim is very small, runs on battery power, and prints photos from your phone. But is it any good?

Kodak Step Slim Printer
(Image: © Tom May)

Digital Camera World Verdict

If you want to print 2 x 3 inch photos from your smartphone, wherever you may be, then this small, light, battery-powered device makes it cheap and easy to do so. It uses Zink paper, which means you don't have to add ink, but on the downside this means the picture quality isn't the best. Still, if you just want to hand out mementos at a social event, it's still a good choice, and it would make a fun gift for kids too. Note that you can't use it to print from a laptop, Chromebook or USB stick, though.

Pros

  • +

    Affordable price

  • +

    Fun to use

  • +

    Truly portable

  • +

    No ink spillages

  • +

    Relatively cheap to run

Cons

  • -

    Only prints from phones

  • -

    Prints are tiny

  • -

    Print quality not amazing

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The Kodak Step Slim printer is a very specific device, for a very specific audience. It's not dissimilar in size to a mobile phone, albeit with a squarer shape. It runs off a rechargeable battery, so you can use it pretty much anywhere. It uses Zink (as in 'zero ink') paper, which is embedded with special color crystals, so you don't need to load it with a separate ink cartridge. And it allows you to generate small (2 x 3 inch) prints of the photos on your smartphone or social media accounts, via a free app. 

In other words, this is a pocket-sized portable printer you could bring to a wedding, party, festival or any other event, and use to print out pictures you've just taken, as a nice gift for others. A bit like the Polaroid cameras of old then, only it doesn't contain the camera bit, only the printer bit, and the prints are much smaller.

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Tom May

Tom May is a freelance writer and editor specializing in art, photography, design and travel. He has been editor of Professional Photography magazine, associate editor at Creative Bloq, and deputy editor at net magazine. He has also worked for a wide range of mainstream titles including The Sun, Radio Times, NME, T3, Heat, Company and Bella.