Canon SELPHY CP910 compact photo printer review

Canon’s chic little SELPHY CP910 is an upgrade of the CP900 photo printer they released in 2012 and has been issued in attractive glossy black or white editions. It’s extremely lightweight (810g without the ink cartridge) and can easily be slipped into a ruck sack or overnight bag as it measures only 178 x 127 x 60.5mm. (See also: 12 best multifunction printers; best printer, scanner, copiers.)

Preparing to use the Canon SELPHY CP910  printer is comparatively simple. Simply drop down the side panel and slot in the cartridge. Then fill up the supplied plastic paper cassette with the required media, lower the front panel and click it into place.

Canon SELPHY CP910: wireless connectivity

The first incarnation of this model – the Selphy CP800 – made the mistake of omitting Wi-Fi connectivity and while the SELPHY CP900 attempted to correct this by including Wi-Fi printing, you still couldn’t use Wi-Fi Direct. With the SELPHY CP910 Canon has finally got it right and you can now print from an iOS, Android or Windows RT device by downloading the Canon Easy-PhotoPrint app and scrolling through the menu on the 2.7in colour display to the Direct Connection option. Set your smartphone’s Wi-Fi settings to the revealed SSID and enter the password and you’re ready to rumble.

The USB port on the side will allow for PC or Mac connection or for flash drives and PictBridge printing and SD card photos can be accessed via the slot on the front. The control buttons and menus are extremely user-friendly and the LCD can be tilted to 45 degrees for better viewing. (See also: The 5 best budget printers.)

Canon SELPHY CP910 review: print times

Print times on the CP910 remain the same as before – in other words a slightly sluggish 47 seconds for a postcode size photo and just under 30 seconds for credit card images and mini stickers. This is mainly because you have to do several passes with the dye-sublimation thermal transfer printing system to arrive at the finished article.

The quality of the photos remains impressive, though, with sharp definition and true colours throughout. A certain amount of onboard editing allows you to achieve smooth skin, correct red-eye and even opt for sepia or monochrome prints, plus you can create ID photos of varying sizes.

The Canon 4 x 6″ ink and paper set KP-1081N will deliver 108 prints for £34 (or £25.34 on Amazon) and an optional battery unit will officially set you back £80 and will provide 36 prints per charge. (For more overall printer buying advice, see  what’s the best printer?)