Introduction
Launched in October 2021, the Instax Link Wide printer is Fujifilm's latest 'instant' printer.
It employs the Instax Wide format of instant film, which produces 99 x 62mm / 3.9 x 2.4in sized prints. This is the biggest Instax film size currently available.
The Fuji Link Wide features a range of different creative modes, including a regular printing mode, a QR print mode which links to a text message, audio recording, or location pin, collage print mode, several customizable templates, and the option to add stickers and drawings or text to photographs.
You can run the Link Wide using a free smartphone app for iOS or Android, with the printer connecting to your phone over Bluetooth 4.2.
At the time of writing, the Instax Link Wide is priced at roughly £130 / $150 in the UK and USA correspondingly. A stand and a wrist strap are included in the box.
You will also have to take in the expense of acquiring Instax Wide film. A range of alternative variations are available, such with white or black borders, monochrome film and so on.
Prices start at roughly £9.99 / $11.99 for a pack of 10 shots, but you can typically find lower bargains if you are prepared to buy in volume.
Ease of Use
Measuring 139 x 127.5 x 33.7mm and weighing 340g, the tiny size, shape and weight of the Instax Link Wide is meant to make it as portable as possible. Instax hopes that you would see fit to toss it in your hand or travel bag, to always have with you for producing spontaneous prints on the fly.
While it's mostly geared at the young / adolescent market, it might also possibly work for professional photographers wishing to produce fast contact prints to give away to customers and so on.
Available in two distinct hues, we've been using the fairly business 'Mocha Gray' version, but there's also a bit more exciting 'Ash White' shade available too. Hopefully Fujifilm will offer some more tempting shades in the future.
As with previous Instax devices, the Link Wide has a simplistic design. There is simply one primary button on the front of the printer, which is encircled by an LED ring.
This glows different colours depending on what the printer is doing - for example, it will cycle through the many colours available when it is printing a photo. You may really adjust these colours in the Settings portion of the Link Wide app.
To charge the printer's built-in lithium-ion battery, which you have to do when you first open the package, there's a Micro USB plug on the base of the printer - we wish Fuji had utilized USB-C for quicker charging and future-proofing.
Once it's charged, which takes a few of hours, you can use it entirely portably, but you can also print while it's connected in and charging, too. Note that there's no AC Power adaptor available for this product.
Once the battery has been recharged, you'll want to load the Instax Link Wide with film. As with all other Instax products, this is a fairly basic process that takes only a few seconds.
First of all, you'll need to release the rear of the printer using a switch, and it'll pop up. Then you need to line up the yellow line on the Instax film with the yellow line on the printer itself. Snap the door shut and the protective sheet of the Instax film will pop out of the film ejection hole - you're now ready to go.
The next thing to do is to download the Instax Link Wide app from the iOS or Android store. Once you have it, press down the button on the front of the printer for a couple of seconds to switch it on.
You'll need to set-up the Link Wide app to connect to your printer over Bluetooth, which should just take a few seconds to first connect. When you've done it once, you should discover that it automatically connects anytime the printer is switched on.
Like the Instax Link Wide printer itself, the software is quite basic to use and very self-explanatory. At the very top of the screen, you'll be able to see how many photos you have remaining in your film pack (out of 10), as well as how much battery life is available. The battery lasts fairly well, so long as you remember to shut the printer off once you've done your prints.
You've got a couple different printing modes to pick from. The 'Simple Print' setting is probably the one you'll use most often. This does exactly what you'd expect it to do - makes a plain and easy print. Once you press easy print, you'll be asked to choose an image which is kept on your phone.
You can print out anything you like so long as it's on your phone - so if you have a camera or computer that you'll want to print from, you'll need to transfer your images to your phone first. The significant exception here is the latest Fujifilm cameras, from which you may print directly.
Once you've picked an image, you may apply a Filter - monochrome, sepia, or 'auto', which adds a colour correction - or you can alter the brightness, contrast and saturation under the Correction area.
You may zoom in and out and rotate the photo, add text to the image and adjust its size, colour, font and alignment, and overlay a Sticker over the image with a large range of emoticons and other patterns.
Finally, you can even put a venerable QR code anywhere on the image. When inserted, the code may be designed to link to a website, record and then playback a sound, display a location pin or reveal a secret text message, all of which are triggered when the QR code is read by a smartphone. It's a terrific feature that truly helps a shot "come alive".
In addition to the Simple Print option, there are three alternative formats available - Editable Template Print, Collage Print and Sketch, Edit & Print. The first choice opens up a range of elegant. celebratory and modern themes, all of which may be picked as a starting point and then customized as you like. The collage print option includes 15 alternative blank collage layouts, with the last one functioning nicely as a contact sheet.
Read Also: Review of the Leica D-Lux 8
Print Quality
It's generally fair to assume that nobody buys an Instax printer searching for the greatest quality prints. Instead the prints are supposed to be enjoyable, portable and a lovely remembrance, particularly from a party or a gathering, and the Link Wide certainly delivers on that in spades.
As such, you shouldn't anticipate flawless hues and lots of detail. On the average, hues are typically very brilliant, with some colours being shown a bit better than others. The Link Wide is set to instax-Rich Mode by default and we'd advise staying with it for the bulk of your photographs.
What's really enjoyable is being able to add adorable borders, stickers and frames, as well as other effects to your prints - that should make it particularly appealing to the youthful / adolescent population that the Link Wide is intended for.
Unlike Instax Mini, there aren't so many various coloured fun border options available, such as rainbow or mermaid - instead you just have a choice of white or black.
There is also a Monochrome film option which we haven't tried yet but almost probably gives better results than printing black and white photographs on the colour film, which lends them a distinct sepia hue - not ugly, but also not true to life.
