10 Best Portable Printers of 2026, Battery A4, Thermal and Pocket Photo Printers Ranked

Spec sheets aside, the TR150 is the most complete document printer I found for someone who works away from a desk. It's an A4 colour inkjet with Wi-Fi, the Canon PRINT app, AirPrint and Mopria, plus Wireless Direct for places with no router you can join. Pigment black keeps text sharp, dye colours handle charts, and it lists 9 ipm mono and 5.5 ipm colour. One international roundup includes it. It isn't flawless, though: the battery pack is optional, so this link may be mains-only until you add one, and at 32.2 cm wide it would swallow most of the laptop rucksack I take on the train.

If the printer is for people rather than paperwork, this is the one I'd hand over. The mini Link 3 prints onto real instax mini film, so you get glossy 54 x 86 mm prints (a 46 x 62 mm image) in about 15 seconds, with no ink to fiddle with. It pairs over Bluetooth with the instax app on iOS or Android, charges over USB-C and manages about 100 prints per charge. Film is sold separately, and every print uses a sheet, so running costs are what to budget for. At 210 g, it's the sort of thing I'd actually take to a family do, where an A4 inkjet would stay in the car.

Battery built in, not bolted on: that's the main reason this HP earns its place. The OfficeJet 200 is an A4 colour inkjet with an internal lithium-ion battery, and HP Fast Charge tops it up within 90 minutes while it's switched off. It prints over Wi-Fi Direct or USB, with or without a router, and lists up to 10 ppm mono and 7 ppm colour from a 50-sheet tray. One international roundup includes it. It's chunky, though. At around 2.1 kg it sits in the same weight class as the Canon PIXMA TR150, so think car boot or wheeled case rather than a slim laptop sleeve.

Epson calls the WF-110W its smallest and lightest wireless A4 inkjet, and the figures back that up: 309 x 154 x 61 mm and 1.6 kg, the lightest A4 inkjet on this list. A built-in battery prints around 50 pages and recharges over USB, and every colour is a pigment ink, so prints resist smudging. It connects over Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi Direct, with a small 3.7 cm LCD for setup. Speeds are modest, though, at 7 ipm mono and 4 ipm colour, and the 20-sheet tray means topping up often. For a hot-desk day in town, I'd rather carry this than the HP.

Stickers, not photo albums, are what the Kodak Step is built for. It's a Zink printer, so the colour sits in the paper and there's no ink, toner or ribbon to replace, and each 5 x 7.6 cm print peels off as a sticker. Pairing is over Bluetooth or NFC with iOS and Android phones, and the built-in battery is good for about 25 prints per charge. Kodak's Step line turns up in one UK roundup as a Zink pick. It's an older model that's still on sale, and the prints are small, so they suit planners and fridge doors more than frames. The link is the white version.

Let's start with the wait: each print takes up to 50 seconds, which feels long at a party when the Instax mini Link 3 finishes in about 15. What you get for that patience is dye-sublimation, where colour comes from a cartridge rather than from colour-filled Zink paper, on sticky-backed, business-card-sized prints. The Hi-Print app connects over Bluetooth and adds frames, filters and text. A rechargeable lithium-ion battery covers about 20 prints per charge. One UK roundup picks it as its dye-sub choice. You'll be buying Polaroid's own cartridges, so check refills are easy to get before you commit.

Here's a printer with no ink at all. The M832D is a direct thermal printer, so heat darkens special thermal paper and nothing else gets used up; it won't print on the plain office paper in your desk drawer. In return you get 300 dpi mono output, a status touchscreen, and both Bluetooth (through the Phomemo app) and USB for Mac, Windows and Chromebook. It measures 26.4 x 7.8 x 4.5 cm, and the box includes one roll of A4 thermal paper. I couldn't find editorial coverage, so this ranks on its listing. Next to the Brother PJ-822, it gives up speed for wireless printing.

So this is the odd one out: more business tool than gadget. The PJ-822 is Brother's mobile A4 direct thermal printer, rated at 13.5 ppm with 203 dpi output, and at 255 x 30 x 55 mm it's slim enough for a door pocket or a kit bag. The title lists a USB-C interface and nothing else, so treat it as a cabled printer for a laptop or tablet; I wouldn't assume any wireless. Like the Phomemo, it needs thermal paper and prints in black only. The listing also notes it's an international product sold from abroad, so labelling and terms may differ from a UK unit.

Think of this as the Kodak Step's practical cousin. It's a Zink printer too, but the link includes 50 adhesive sheets, and it prints in colour or black-and-white mono, which suits planners and journals. It pairs over Bluetooth 5.0, and its 500 mAh battery is rated for roughly 20 prints between charges. The app even has a print-head cleaning tool for white lines. It's the pink version on this link, though, and I found no editorial coverage. At 183 g, it's the one I'd drop into a pencil case.

Budget pick, with a couple of question marks. The PP01 link comes with 100 sheets, which is generous, and the app adds frames for journals and planners. Nelko describes the prints as full colour on sticky-backed photo paper that resists smudges, water and tearing. What the listing doesn't do is explain the consumable clearly; it calls the method ink imaging in one place and inkjet in another, so check what replacement packs contain before relying on it. It's slow, too, at 1 ppm. And there's no editorial coverage yet.