When the term ‘Polaroid’ is mentioned most people will jump right to thinking about the popular cameras that snap a picture and then print it out in a matter of seconds. Polaroid started out, in reality as the name for the material, a type of synthetic plastic sheet that could polarize light. The material was used in various devices including LCD screens, microscopes or sunglasses.




The Polaroid camera takes its name after the creating company, Polaroid. It has a self-developing film and is also known as an instant camera.  Polaroid as a company makes much more than cameras. They’ve long been top producers of sun glasses for example. Among other things, they are now also making printers. Back in the day when Polaroid cameras were popular it was extremely easy to shot a photo and ‘print’ it out.

Nowadays shooting the actual photo is much easier and you’ll get digital cameras with cutting edge features doing almost anything for you. But the actual printing is hard to do because sometimes it requires you to return home to your photo printer. In the previous years many manufacturers succeeded in coming up with a more viable option and released a series of portable photo printers to the market. Since Polaroid was renown on the market for offering photos in an instant, they too released such a device, called PoGo.

First thing to be said is that the Polaroid PoGo mobile color printer wasn’t designed to work very well with a PC. A better choice of words is that it doesn’t work with a PC at all and it comes with no software. Its purpose is to be a companion to a digital camera. It can connect to one via a port mounted on the side or through a Bluetooth connection (which also works with mobile phones, for example).

What makes this tiny printer remarkable is that it uses no ink. Being based on ZINK Imaging’s technology (ZINK meaning zero ink) the Pogo doesn’t use ink, ribbons or films but some special ZINK paper that comes coated with three layers of transparent crystals. With the help of a thermal print head, pulses are sent through the layers, the appropriate set of crystals is heated and the color print comes out.

This Polaroid printer is very easy to carry around. The shell of the device comes in black and silver (with a design that reminds you of a digital camera) and features a USB port on the side for connectivity. You’ll also find three indicator leds on the shell that inform the user regarding the power status or charging of the printer. Installing this printer can be considered easy as all you have to do is insert the 10 sheets of paper the device comes with in the designated slot. Then clip the lid shut and you’re ready to print. According to Polaroid the printer takes about a minute to print a photo. And they seem to be telling the truth as that is exactly the printing speed the PoGo offers.

As a conclusion, the Polaroid PoGo mobile color printer will limit you to 2 by 3 inch photos which can be too little for some, and the quality is still far from impressive. This is because the technology used is still being perfected. Because of its affordable price, however, it might be worth buying to play with until ZINK becomes better.

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