Canon Selphy QX20 review: The best of both worlds

Best Prices Today: Canon SELPHY QX20

$149

One of the biggest factors when choosing a portable printer is the size of the images you get – but Canon has created a device that gives you the option of two formats. 

The Canon Selphy QX20 (not the catchiest name in the world, admittedly) supports both credit card-sized prints and square-format ones, so you can pick and choose what you’d prefer.  

While the flexibility is great, there are a few things to keep in mind with this portable printer. Here’s my experience testing it, and how it compares to competing products from Instax, Kodak and more. 

Design & Build 

• Three colours
• 455g
• Guard rails for changing image formats

The Canon Selphy QX20 has an unobtrusive rectangular finish. It’s not as striking as the panel outer shell on Instax printers, but it’s still a nice piece of tech that won’t look out of place on your desk or around the home.

One big downside of the QX20 is how heavy it is. It weighs 455g (without the cartridge and paper), much heftier than the Polaroid Hi-Print and the Instax Square Link which weigh 255g and 236g respectively. Its dimensions of 102.2 x 145.8 x 32.9mm mean it can still fit in a small bag, but the portability factor isn’t as strong.

You can get the printer in three different colours in the UK: Sand White, Dark Grey and Terracotta Red. The latter is the one I tested and is a unique shade that’s not common on rival builds, though sadly it doesn’t seem to be available in the US at the time of writing.  

Hannah Cowton-Barnes / Foundry

On the front you have a discreet Canon logo, and then the power button. Beneath this are the charge and status lights, which will change colours and flash depending on what’s happening with the printer. 

On the top is the quick-release trigger for loading film and a USB-C port for charging. Prints are loaded at the back and have instructions on the packaging for how to do it. Ink cartridges are the same, though they’re loaded at the side.  

Prints then eject out of the bottom, so you’ll need to lay the printer down flat. In addition, you’ll need to switch over the ink cartridges every time you change between the smaller prints and square ones. 

It’s advised that you snap up the paper guard rails when switching between the different prints, which is easy to do. 

Hannah Cowton-Barnes / Foundry

App & Features 

• Bulk printing available
• Collages and editing optional
• Some key status indicators missing

You can print images from your smartphone via the Selphy app, which is available on iOS and Android. Once you’ve downloaded it, you can connect the printer using the QR code inside the cover for the ink cassette.  

When connected, you’ll need to select whatever prints are loaded in the QX20. You’ll get the choice between simple prints and collage ones. Unlike some other rivals, you can queue up multiple images and edit them in one section, so they’re all produced one after another without you having to manually print multiple times. 

Hannah Cowton-Barnes / Foundry

There’s the option to change the orientation, shape and size of the border. You’ll always have a strip where you can write things, but this doesn’t have to be at the bottom. However, you can’t get a fully borderless print as you can with Zink images.  

To edit an image size or add a filter, you must click on it – something not completely obvious in the app. If you want further customisation such as stickers, text and the ability to draw digital paint on a print, I suggest using the collage mode. While yes, you can add multiple images to one frame, you don’t have to.  

Simple prints also have the option to add a date, which appears in retro orange lettering. You can adjust the order that the days, months and years appear – though this date add-on isn’t an option in collage mode. You could however add this manually as text, if you wish.  

There’s also the option to quickly reprint photos from previous jobs – this list resets each time you change over to a different print size.  

Hannah Cowton-Barnes / Foundry

The app syncs with your phone’s camera folders, with quick access to images you’ve downloaded from social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram. There’s also a calendar, which gives you the option to quickly navigate to photos taken from a certain date rather than scrolling all the way back through.  

Like some other rivals, the app has some wasted areas on the homepage, with the manual and battery levels tucked away in drop-down menus at the top. It would be a much better use of space if these things were easily viewable on the main screen.  

Otherwise, the app is easy to set up and straightforward – just a few layout tweaks would make it even better.  

Print Quality 

• Impressive prints
• Two formats
• 20 sheets can be loaded in one go

Like the Polaroid Hi-Print, the Canon Selphy QX20 uses the thermal dye process, which means it transfers dye through three passes of cyan, yellow and magenta, before adding a final overcoat to protect it. Canon says prints can last up to 100 years if stored in optimum conditions – things such as sunlight will cause them to fade over time.  

As a result, the prints take longer than rivals to eject at around 40 seconds. However, the results are bright, bold, detailed high-quality photos. They’re a notable improvement on images that use Zink paper and on par with glossy images found on real film prints by Instax. They also need no development time once they’re printed. 

Hannah Cowton-Barnes / Foundry

The results are more striking on the larger square prints, but the smaller card-sized ones have peelable adhesive backs, making them great for scrapbooking. Peeling is a bit fiddly, so you’ll probably need the help of someone with longer nails.  

Up to 20 sheets can be loaded in one go, one of the benefits of having a slightly chunkier build, as many printers only support up to ten. In addition, you can swap out sheets and ink cartridges without it ruining the rest of the paper – something you can’t do if you use a printer that supports real film, like Instax.  

However, be very careful handling the paper. Some of my test prints got noticeable fingerprint smudges on.

Battery Life & Charging 

• Slighty more than 20 prints on a single charge
• 80 minutes to charge
• Short USB-C cable included

According to other publications, the Canon Selphy QX20 lasts for around 20 prints before needing recharging. I found it to be a bit more generous, with around 10 depleting it by less than half. Nonetheless, this is a lot stingier than Instax printers, which allow users to print around 100 images before needing a charge.  

Charging is relatively quick, juicing from flat to full in 80 minutes according to Canon, which is in line with my testing. However, the included cable is very short and annoying if you’re charging from the back of a PC. This is USB-C to USB-C, so you may need an adaptor or use your own cable for charging if you don’t have a device with this port (such as an old Mac).  

You don’t get a specific percentage for the battery level, just that it has ‘sufficient charge’. The app also doesn’t tell you how many sheets are left, or whether the ink cartridge is close to running out. It can only notify you once you’re empty, which could be a pain if you don’t have any spare stock to hand.  

Hannah Cowton-Barnes / Foundry

Price & Availability 

The Canon Selphy QX20 costs £124.99/$149.99. You can buy it from Amazon and Canon in the UK, and Amazon, Canon and B&H in the US. 

That’s a lot pricier than its closest rival, the Polaroid Hi-Print, which retails for £89.99/$99.99. The Instax Square Link has the same RRP as the Canon, but many retailers have it available for around £94 at the time of writing, and this produces real film.  

Of course, neither of these brands offer a printer with dual printing sizes, so this is your only option if you want that flexibility. 

Besides the printer itself, you’ll also want to consider the cost of the film and ink cartridges. Both these are sold together, and one pack of twenty card prints (plus a cartridge) is £16.99 from Amazon, though you can buy in bulk to get more for your money. 

That’s around the same price as Instax and Polaroid film, but a lot more expensive than Zink – though the quality is not as good on these sorts of prints.  

Neither the Polaroid Hi-Print nor Instax will need the cartridges replacing, so just keep this in mind if you’re conscious about waste, though there are ink recycling programmes available.

Hannah Cowton-Barnes / Foundry

Should you buy the Canon Selphy QX20? 

The Canon Selphy QX20 is a unique option in the portable printer space because it gives you two print sizes in one device. The closest rival brands don’t offer anything directly comparable at the time of writing.  

The simple-to-use app also has some useful features, such as the option to print and edit in bulk, and a calendar to quickly find images from a certain date.  

However, the nature of the build means its bulkier and heavier, and the battery life is hardly impressive – nor is the accompanying short charging cable. Improvements could be made in the app to improve the experience, such as notifying users how many prints are left. And most importantly, it’s a costlier investment compared to other portable printers.  

That all aside, if you want high-quality prints in two different formats straight from your smartphone, then this is certainly a sensible and reliable option.