When Lexmark introduced its first small-format dedicated photo printer, the P315, last year, my reaction was unenthusiastic. But its replacement, the P350 ($129.99 direct) makes it clear that the P315 was the hardware equivalent of a 1.0 software release. This year’s model is fully ready for prime time.

The P350 is faster than the P315, has the ability to print from a computer, and prints photos that are essentially waterproof. The P315’s photos were so lacking in water resistance that even after ample drying time, they would still smudge when touched with moist hands. But I held a freshly printed photo from the P350 under running water and rubbed it, with no visible effect.

Output quality is certainly good enough for snapshots to hand out to family and friends. Every photo I printed displayed true photo quality, with subjects ranging from landscapes to snowscapes to portraits. That said, a few flaws prevent it from being ideal. In our test photos that include people, for example, skin tones looked a touch yellow. In most cases, the color shift simply made people look tanned, but in one case, the face looked jaundiced.

A more global issue, though, is that most of the P350’s photos show a slight case of differential gloss, with some areas reflecting light better than others. You can see this effect only from some angles, but at those angles it gives the photos an odd look. You also have to be careful about how you handle photos you care about, because they’re relatively easy to scratch. After I finished evaluating photo quality, I noticed several subtle scratches that were caused just by shuffling through the stack and sliding the back of one photo over the front of another.

Print speed is a little on the slow side, but well within the typical range for small-format photo printers. The P350 was slightly faster than the A516 when printing from a computer, at 1 minute 30 seconds per photo (the A516 took 1:47), and just a bit slower when printing from a Canon PowerShot S60 camera or CompactFlash card, ranging from 2:04 to 2:38 compared with 1:43 to 2:06 for the A516.

Lexmark claims photos will cost 29 cents each, based on a $29 (street) print pack with enough ink and paper for 100 photos. Ink cartridges and paper are also available separately, but if you buy them that way, you’ll wind up with a higher cost per photo.

The P350’s one serious disadvantage over the A516 is its higher price, which leaves the A516 safely in place as the Editors’ Choice for low-cost dedicated photo printers. But if you do spend the extra cash on the P350, you’ll get a larger LCD screen for better previewing, editing features that the A516 lacks, and a reasonably good value for the price.

Read full review on pcmag.