Lifestyle || HP Sprocket Review

I have always had a love for photography, infact my very first blogpost was a review of the Fugifilm Instax camera, so it was probably about time that this smart little device made it's way into my life and then onto this blog too! I had been dreaming of owning the Sprocket for such a long time but never got around to purchasing it myself, so when I opened it on Christmas day last year I was over the moon! 

If you have never heard of this nifty little pocket printer before and are into photography, crafts or generally printing out your photographs then this is the device for you. The sprocket is honestly the pocket printer that you never knew you needed, but are kind of glad you own! I won't lie, the prints aren't always the best, but it works perfectly for my needs and I enjoy the simplicity of setting it up to connect with a mobile device! 

The Sprocket that I was lucky to receive was the rose gold gift set. As well as receiving the white and rose sprocket printer, the gift set also included a cute little photo album, rose gold Sprocket case and a pack of photo paper. I love the sleek, smooth design of the Sprocket and the rose gold features on my printer add a really pretty and delicate touch. (This is the gift set that I received, but there are many other ways that you can purchase the Sprocket on it's own too! - https://www.amazon.co.uk/HP-Sprocket-Photo-Printer-Limited/dp/B076FTRGV4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520669960&sr=8-1&keywords=sprocket+rose+gold) 

One of the best features about the Sprocket, and probably a reason why I am now favouring this over my Instax camera, is the ability to edit and decide what images you want to print. Gone are the days where you have to use up all 10 films to capture one image. Using the Sprocket is so easy which makes the whole process quite enjoyable! After downloading the Sprocket app, and connecting your phone to the Sprocket's bluetooth network, the Sprocket is ready to go! The app itself has been designed really well too. As you open the app you are greeted with your phones camera roll. You select the image you want to 'edit' and begin the printing process.  

Editing the images is one of the best parts of the whole process. You can, obviously, print the image as it is straight from the phone making it more of a natural shot. Alternatively you can edit the colours, add a pretty filter or pop on some stickers before clicking the printer icon to have it sent to your sprocket device via bluetooth. Sprocket update the stickers that you can select quite often so if your for example celebrating Christmas, you can add lots of borders and stickers to reflect this in your images - honestly, it's much cooler than I am making it out to be! 

As you can see from the image above the printer quality isn't always the best, but it isn't rubbish and it does a great job of making the print as true to your edit as possible. 

I am sure that there are other printers on the market which would work better than the Sprocket, but for me it's just the device I wanted. One of the main downsides of owning the Sprocket, and probably the same downside of owning any device of this kind, is the price it takes to refill the paper. Although the paper is on offer a lot of the time on Amazon, it is still quite pricey for only 10/20/50 images. With that being said though, it makes you really decide on the photos that you want to have printed which can only be a good thing! 

So what can you use the Sprocket for I hear you ask? Well... there are many many uses for your prints thanks to the sticky back paper. For me, I wanted to use the Sprocket to document and journal. Instead of keeping all of my images in the little photo album all the time, I have purchased a small sketchbook from Paperchase that I have been using to put the prints in at the end of each month. Perhaps at some point I will share that on here too! 

Hope you've enjoyed today's post! 

Until next time,