36 AUGUST 2019|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE 378
HP’SSPROCKETNEWEdition is afun, highly
portable photoprinter aimed at students,
backpackers and anyone who can’t bear to be
awayfrom aprinter.About the size of two
smartphones stacked on topofeach other,it
prints only on special 2x3in ink-free paper,
which you can buy in packs of 10, 20 or 50
sheets. Peel off the backing paper,and prints
will stick to your laptop lid or the student
fridge.Their quality is fine forkeepsakes, but
not on apar with agood inkjet print.
Nobody seemssurewhattocall this
updated version of the original Sprocket
(Shopper357): HP itself refers to it as both
the Sprocket New Edition and Sprocket 2nd
Edition, while online stores have mostly gone
forSprocket 200. Visually,the printer has
moved from aslick, glossy lozenge to an
odd, speckled matt block. With the useful
addition of afabric hanging tag, our grey
sample looked like an unused bar of soap
from a1980s Christmas.
Thenew modelisslightlyfaster,
completing an image every 53 seconds,
HP Sprocket
NewEdition
★★★★★
£107•From http://www.amazon.co.uk
PORTABLE PHOTO PRINTER
rather than every minute. It gets warmer
than we remember when plugged intoany
available USB port or charger,and the lid’s
magnetic clasps don’t seem firm enough. We
recommend buying an (optional) travel case.
SPROCKETANDSEE
Thereare no PC or Macdrivers,but HP has
managednot to drop the soap with its
updated iOS and Android Sprocket apps.
Visually appealing, theywalk you through
pairing the printer and phone,then
encourage you to agree to location and
other data sharing. While we usually opt
out, here your data powers the new Reveal
feature: take aphotowith the Sprocket
app’s camera, print it out, then Reveal can
use the phone camera to recognise it and
‘augment’ it with related information.
In the context of backpacking or other
memorable experiences, Reveal is an
interesting idea. It works foranyone with the
Sprocket app who’s opted in, so you could
take agroup selfie and print everyone acopy
to serve as akind of enhanced keepsake.In
our tests, however,the Reveal information
was limited just to other photos taken on that
dateorlocation, together with Wikipedia
content describing the nearest landmark –
potentially fun, but not as useful as, say, a
waytokeep in touch with others in the
photo. Also,ifyou forget to use the Sprocket
camera app,the only thing that’s revealed is
other photos taken on the same date.
INWITHTHE OLD
Formany,the Sprocket New Edition will be an
expensive indulgence in the age of Instagram
and Facebook, but forafew it could be afun
waytoprint and share memories, much in the
spirit of the Polaroid camera. It could be a
great gift to abackpacker,provided theycan
afford the 45p or so each print costs.
TheSprocketNew Editionfaces new
competition from Canon’s Zoemini range,and
its dull-as-dishwater makeover won’t help.
It’s agreat toyfor those who see the appeal,
but we’d rather have HP’s prettier,original
Sprocket, and spend the £10 saving on acase.
SimonHandby
SPECIFICATIONS
Monospeed
Mixedcolour
speed
Monopagecost
Colourpagecost
0% -50 Reference + 50 + 100
Seepage110forperformancedetails
TECHNOLOGYThermalpaper•MAXPRINTRESOLUTION
313x400dpi•DIMENSIONS25x80x118mm•WEIGHT172g
- MAXPAPERSIZE2x3in•WARRANTYOneyearRTB•
DETAILSwww.hp.co.uk•PARTCODE1AS85A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
⬆The Sprocket app can recognise aphotoand
augment it with other information
VERDICT
Despitethename,there’snotmuchnewin
HP’stravel-friendlySprocketprinter
