Is the Kodak Step Instant Smartphone Photo Printer Worth It?
Worth it, if you want physical keepsakes, not a home photo lab
Picture the camera roll on your phone: thousands of photos, a whole year of birthdays, road trips, and one really good sunset, all trapped behind glass. You scroll past them constantly, but none of it ever becomes something you can stick to a fridge, slide into a card, or hand to your grandmother. That's the itch the Kodak Step Instant Smartphone Photo Printer wants to scratch, and the real question is whether a phone-sized printer can turn a screen memory into something worth holding.
Here's the clever part: there's no ink cartridge to buy, dry out, or run out of at the worst moment. Kodak uses ZINK paper, short for zero ink, where the color crystals are already baked into the paper itself. The printer's heating element activates those crystals in different patterns and temperatures to build the image directly on the sheet, which is why there's nothing to refill and nothing to jam. You connect over Bluetooth or NFC, tap a photo in the companion app to add a filter, border, or sticker, and send it over. Because the paper is self-adhesive on the back, what comes out isn't just a print, it's a sticker you can peel and place on a laptop, a wall, a card, anywhere. The tradeoff is battery and paper: a full charge gets you around 25 prints, so this lives more as an occasional-treat device than an everyday photo lab.
So you're not really buying a printer, you're buying a five-second bridge between a photo you took and a physical object you can hand someone. The zero-ink part is what makes that bridge maintenance-free, no cartridges to hunt down, just paper that already has the color baked in.
Worth it if
- You want instant physical keepsakes from your phone photos
- You like the idea of peel-and-stick photo stickers for cards, walls, or gifts
- You're okay with an occasional-use device rather than a daily printer
Skip it if
- You need large or high-resolution prints
- You want to print dozens of photos in one sitting without recharging
- You're looking for professional photo quality
Not for anyone wanting large, sharp, or archival-quality prints from their phone.
If you're the kind of person who wants party favors, gift toppers, or scrapbook pages made from real phone photos, this is a quiet yes. If you're chasing sharp, large, or archival-quality prints, this small format won't get you there, so look elsewhere. Either way, you know exactly what it's for now.
Amazon shoppers rate it 4 out of 5 across 20,506 ratings. That is their number, not ours.
Before you go
Does the Kodak Step printer need ink?
No, it uses ZINK paper with color crystals already embedded in it, so there's no cartridge to buy or replace.
How do I connect my Kodak Step printer to my phone?
You pair it over Bluetooth or tap it via NFC, then send photos through the free Kodak companion app.
What paper is compatible with the Kodak Step instant smartphone photo printer?
It only works with Kodak's 2x3 inch ZINK sticky-back photo paper, which is what enables the zero-ink printing.
By the numbers
earn an unconditional yes at full priceOut of 148 electronics products we have reviewed. This one is a yes with a condition attached.
Verdict datasetQuestion indexCC BY 4.0
Full spec sheet
| Brand | KODAK |
|---|---|
| Connectivity Technology | Bluetooth, NFC |
| Printing Technology | Zink Technology |
| Special Feature | Compact, Lightweight, Portable |
| Color | White |
| Model Name | Kodak Step Instant Photo Printer |
| Printer Output | Color |
| Maximum Print Speed (Color) | 1 pages_per_minute |
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