Two printers here look almost identically priced and one of them arrives with no paper. The Canon costs about what the Liene costs and ships as a bare machine; the Liene comes with a hundred sheets and three cartridges. The HP undercuts the bare Canon and includes a hundred and eighteen sheets. In a category where the consumable is the whole cost, the number on the box is barely half the story.
Dye-sublimation is why these prints feel different from an inkjet’s. The printer lays three color layers as heat turns dye straight to vapor, then seals the lot under a clear coat. That final layer is what makes the print dry the instant it appears and shrug off water and fingerprints. It also means paper and ribbon come matched, in a set, and always will.
At a glance
| Printer | Standout feature | Price tier | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| KODAK Mini 2 Retro | Cheapest here; pocket size, and 2×3 not 4×6 | Budget | |
| KODAK Dock Plus | Explains what dye-sublimation actually does | Mid-range | |
| HP Sprocket Studio Plus | 118 sheets and 3 cartridges included | Mid-range | |
| Canon Selphy CP1500 | The only memory card slot here | Mid-range | |
| Liene M100 | Best seller; hotspot for five phones at once | Mid-range | |
| Liene Amber M110 | Two paper trays: 4×6 and 3×3 | Premium | |
| Canon Selphy Bundle | Same printer, with 108 sheets and ink | Premium | |
How to choose a dye-sublimation photo printer
Count the sheets before you compare the prices
This is the arithmetic that reorders the whole page. The bare Canon Selphy ships as a printer and nothing to print on. The Liene M100 costs about the same and includes 100 sheets and 3 cartridges. HP’s Sprocket Studio Plus costs less than the bare Canon and includes 118 sheets and 3 cartridges, the most paper on this page. Canon’s own bundle adds KP-108 paper, 108 sheets, and three cartridges, and costs a great deal more than the printer alone. Work out the price per print you actually get in the box, because that is the real number.
Check the print size in the title
Everything here is dye-sublimation and not everything here is 4×6. Kodak’s Mini 2 Retro is a 2×3 printer, which is a credit card rather than a photograph, and it says so plainly. Liene’s Amber M110 goes the other way and gives you two trays, 4×6 and 3×3, so one machine covers a proper print and a sticker-sized one. If the point is 4×6 photos for an album or a frame, that word in the title is the first filter.
The clear layer is what makes it waterproof
Kodak is the only brand here that explains the process rather than just naming it: each photo is produced in three color layers and finished with a clear protective layer. That fourth pass is where the durability comes from, and it is why Canon can say its prints are instantly dry and water resistant, and why HP can call its paper smudge-proof and waterproof. Note that Canon says water resistant where others say waterproof, which is the more careful phrase and probably the more accurate one.
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or a card slot
How the photo gets to the printer decides who can use it. Canon is alone here in taking a memory card as well as Wi-Fi and USB, which means printing straight from a camera without a phone in the loop at all. Liene’s M100 makes its own hotspot and takes five simultaneous connections, which is the party answer: everyone prints from their own phone without joining your network. Kodak’s Mini 2 and Dock Plus use Bluetooth, which is simple and slower. Match it to who will be pressing the button.
Portable or a station
Two different products wear the same label. Kodak’s Dock Plus is designed for stable desktop use and plugs into a wall for consistent power, which is a printing station that lives in a room. The Mini 2 Retro fits in a hand, a bag or a pocket. Canon’s Selphy has a small footprint and takes an optional battery pack, which is the real middle: it lives on a shelf and travels when you want it to. Decide whether this thing has an address or comes with you.
Paper and ink are matched, and that is a feature
Canon puts it best: pre-matched paper and ink means no compatibility issues, just load and print. That is worth understanding as the deal you are making. Dye-sub cartridges carry exactly enough ribbon for the sheets they ship with, so you buy them as a set forever and you cannot shop around for cheaper third-party ink the way you can with an inkjet. The upside is that a print never comes out wrong. The downside is that the running cost is fixed by the manufacturer for the life of the machine.
KODAK Mini 2 Retro
The cheapest printer here and the second best-selling, and it is fair in the title about the thing that matters: this is a 2×3 printer, not a 4×6 one, which is a credit-card-sized print rather than a photograph for a frame. Within that, it does everything properly. Genuine 4PASS dye sublimation lays three color layers and seals them under a clear protective coat, so a tiny print is still dry, tough and waterproof. It fits in a hand, a bag or a pocket, connects over Bluetooth, and needs no setup beyond powering it on.
Pros:
- Cheapest printer here; the second best seller
- Genuine 4PASS dye sublimation with a clear protective layer
- Fits in a pocket; prints anywhere over Bluetooth
- 38 sheets included; no setup required
Cons:
- 2×3 prints, not 4×6; a credit card, not a photograph
- Bluetooth only; no Wi-Fi or card slot
- Small prints still cost a full sheet and ribbon each
Best for: pocket-sized prints handed out on the spot.
KODAK Dock Plus
The clearest listing on this page. Kodak is the only brand that tells you what dye-sublimation actually does: three color layers, finished with a clear protective layer, which is the explanation for every durability claim in the category and which everyone else leaves as a word. It is a proper 4×6 home printer built for stable desktop use, plugged into the wall for consistent power rather than fighting a battery, with a dock for your phone and Bluetooth for everything else. Fifty sheets in the box, which is the fewest here, so budget for more quickly.
Pros:
- Explains the 4PASS process instead of just naming it
- Proper 4×6 prints; built as a stable desktop station
- Docks your phone; Bluetooth for everything else
- Mains powered; no battery to manage
Cons:
- 50 sheets; the fewest included on this page
- No Wi-Fi or memory card; Bluetooth and dock only
- Not portable, by design
Best for: a printing station in one room, from the brand that explains itself.
HP Sprocket Studio Plus
The most paper for the least money on this page: 118 sheets and 3 cartridges, which is more than Canon’s dedicated bundle includes and comes in under the price of Canon’s bare printer. The prints are 4×6, dry to the touch as they appear, on tear-resistant, smudge-proof, waterproof paper, and HP is specific about all three rather than picking one adjective. Wi-Fi connects it to a phone through the Sprocket app, which also handles stickers, frames and filters if you want to decorate before printing. The arithmetic here is the argument.
Pros:
- 118 sheets and 3 cartridges; the most paper here
- Costs less than the bare Canon and includes all of that
- Tear-resistant, smudge-proof and waterproof paper, all stated
- Wi-Fi with an app for frames, filters and stickers
Cons:
- The worst-selling printer on this page
- No memory card slot; phone or nothing
- App-dependent for anything beyond a plain print
Best for: the lowest price per print you actually get in the box.
Canon Selphy CP1500
The only printer here you can use without a phone. Alongside Wi-Fi and USB there is a memory card slot, which means a camera’s card goes straight in and the photos print with no app, no account and no pairing, and for anybody who shoots on an actual camera that is the whole reason to choose it. The footprint is small and an optional battery pack makes it genuinely portable. Canon describes the prints as instantly dry and water resistant, which is the more careful phrase than waterproof. Note that this listing is the printer alone, with no paper.
Pros:
- The only memory card slot here; print with no phone involved
- Wi-Fi, USB and card; connects to almost anything
- Small footprint; optional battery makes it portable
- Says water resistant rather than waterproof, which is fairer
Cons:
- No paper or cartridges included at all
- Costs about the same as rivals that include a hundred sheets
- The battery pack is a separate purchase
Best for: printing from a camera card, if you already have paper.
Liene M100
The best-selling printer here, and the package explains it: a 4×6 thermal dye-sublimation printer with 100 sheets and 3 cartridges in the box, so it prints a hundred photographs the day it arrives rather than waiting on a second order. The clever part is the connection. It builds its own Wi-Fi hotspot and takes up to five simultaneous connections, so at a party or a wedding everyone prints from their own phone without you handing out a network password or an app tutorial. It works with iPhone, Android and PC. Portable, full color, and ready.
Pros:
- The best-selling printer on this page
- 100 sheets and 3 cartridges included
- Built-in hotspot; five phones printing at once
- Works with iPhone, Android and PC; genuinely portable
Cons:
- No memory card slot
- Costs about the same as the bare Canon, which is the point
- Hotspot means leaving your own network to print
Best for: a room full of people printing from their own phones.
Liene Amber M110
The only printer here that does two sizes. Dual paper trays take 4×6 and 3×3, so the same machine produces a photograph for a frame and a small square for a scrapbook or a fridge without you buying a second printer or swapping anything awkward. Eighty sheets come in the box. It is thermal dye-sublimation like the rest, connecting over Bluetooth, which Liene describes as fast and which is certainly simple. It is one of the more expensive printers here, and the flexibility is what the money buys rather than better prints.
Pros:
- Dual trays: 4×6 and 3×3 from one machine
- 80 sheets included
- Thermal dye-sublimation; portable and phone-driven
- Handles multiple devices
Cons:
- Bluetooth only; no Wi-Fi hotspot like the M100
- 80 sheets, where the M100 gives 100 for less
- Sells poorly against Liene’s own M100
Best for: photographs and small squares, without owning two printers.
Canon Selphy Bundle
The same Selphy, sold the way it should be sold. KP-108 paper, 108 sheets, and three color cartridges arrive with the printer, pre-matched so there is no compatibility question and nothing to research: load, connect, print. That matters more in dye-sublimation than in any other kind of printing, because paper and ribbon are a set and always will be. The Selphy underneath is unchanged, which means the memory card slot is still there, Wi-Fi still works, and the prints are still lab-quality 4×6 that come out dry and water resistant. It is the most expensive thing here.
Pros:
- 108 sheets of KP-108 and 3 cartridges included
- Pre-matched paper and ink; nothing to work out
- Keeps the memory card slot and Wi-Fi
- Compact and portable; lab-quality 4×6
Cons:
- The most expensive item on this page by a wide margin
- Ten fewer sheets than the far cheaper HP
- Sells poorly against the bare printer
Best for: the Canon done properly, if you want the card slot too.
The verdict
Price these by what comes in the box. The bare Canon and the Liene M100 cost roughly the same, and one of them prints a hundred photographs on day one while the other prints none until you order paper.
Best overall: Liene M100. The best seller here and the package is why. A hundred sheets and three cartridges means it works the day it lands, at roughly the price of a printer with nothing in it. The built-in hotspot taking five simultaneous connections is the feature that turns a printer into a party: everyone prints from their own phone without joining your network or learning anything. Proper 4×6, and it works with iPhone, Android and PC.
Best value: HP Sprocket Studio Plus. The arithmetic is the argument: 118 sheets and 3 cartridges, which is more paper than Canon’s own bundle includes, at less than the price of Canon’s printer on its own. The 4×6 prints come out dry on paper HP states is tear-resistant, smudge-proof and waterproof, three claims rather than one adjective. It sells worse than anything here, which is about brand recognition rather than the box.
Best premium: Canon Selphy Bundle. The only printer on this page you can use without a phone, because the memory card slot takes a camera card directly, and this is the version that arrives with 108 sheets of pre-matched KP-108 and three cartridges so nothing needs researching. Wi-Fi and USB are there too, the footprint is small, and an optional battery makes it travel. It costs the most, and it is the complete answer.
FAQ
Why does one printer cost the same as another and include no paper?
Because the consumable is the real cost and the listings do not line up. The bare Canon Selphy includes nothing to print on; the Liene M100 costs about the same and includes 100 sheets and 3 cartridges; the HP costs less than the Canon and includes 118. Count what is in the box before comparing anything.
Are all of these 4×6?
No. Kodak’s Mini 2 Retro is a 2×3 printer, which is credit-card sized, and it says so in the title. Liene’s Amber M110 has two trays and does 4×6 and 3×3. Everything else here is 4×6. Read the size in the title first.
What makes dye-sublimation prints waterproof?
The clear layer. Kodak explains it where nobody else does: three color layers, then a clear protective coat over the top, which is why the print is dry the moment it appears and shrugs off water and fingerprints. Canon calls the result water resistant rather than waterproof, which is the more careful word.
Can I use cheaper third-party paper and ink?
No, and that is inherent to the technology. Paper and ribbon come matched as a set with exactly enough ribbon for the sheets, which Canon frames positively as no compatibility issues. The trade is that the manufacturer sets your running cost for the life of the printer.
Do I need a phone to print?
On every printer here except one. The Canon Selphy takes a memory card alongside Wi-Fi and USB, so a camera card goes straight in with no app or pairing. Liene’s M100 makes its own hotspot for five phones at once; the Kodaks use Bluetooth.
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