HP Sprocket 200 Review

Key Specifications

• Review Price: £110
• Works with iOS and Android phones and tablets
• Charges via micro-USB
• Lightweight and pocketable
• Can store up to ten sheets.

What is the HP Sprocket 200?

One of the smallest printers you can buy, the HP Sprocket 200 is a diminutive lightweight printer that will fit in your pocket. It prints out cute little mini-photos on Zink paper, meaning that it doesn’t require any ink cartridges. How does it compare to the first HP Sprocket, which came to market last year?

HP Sprocket 200 design, features and app – How to set up and use the Sprocket

Measuring just 80 x 117.5 x 25mm, and weighing just over a gram (0.172kg), the Sprocket 200 is super-pocketable.

Loading paper is a cinch: simply pop off the top and drop the sheets in face up. Neatly, when the Sprocket 200 is off, you can use it as a temporary locker to store your prints.

Once printed, photos roll out of the front of the Sprocket and are dry to the touch – no shaking or waiting for them to develop required.

A lozenge-shaped LED sits above the printer cavity; it will flash whenever the Sprocket is in operation. The LED shines blue by default, but you can change the colour through the app – I set mine to flash purple.

Round the back is a power on/off switch and a micro-USB port for charging. It takes around three seconds for the Sprocket 200 to turn on or off. Whenever you turn it on, the printer will perform a short start-up operation, testing out the roller. The power LED will flash green when the Sprocket is fully charged; orange when it needs some more juice; and red when you’ve got it connected to a power supply to let you know that it’s charging up.

The Settings page of the app handily indicates the battery level, and you can also set it to “auto-off” after one hour, for example, so if you forget to turn it off then it will do that for you. If you are low on power, the good news is that you can use the Sprocket 200 when it’s plugged in to a power source – although doing so will obviously see levels drop.

The HP Sprocket 200 is very easy to set up. You need to download the Sprocket app from either the iTunes App Store or Google Play. It will work with phones and tablets running software as old as iOS 8.0 and Android 4.4.

The top of the Sprocket pops off easily and snaps back on securely. A spring-loaded arm helps to keep the Zink paper strips in place.

From there, it’s just a simple case of turning on Bluetooth on your phone, pairing with the Sprocket and opening the app.

Next you’ll be presented with an overview of the last 12 things on your phone’s camera roll. You’ve got the option to drill down into Facebook, Instagram and Google Photos, as well as the local gallery and image folders on your device.

Up to three people can connect to a Sprocket at once, which in my experience didn’t work quite so well. It was in fact far easier to have only one person connect, print something, disconnect, followed by the next person; rather than having everyone trying to throw stuff into the print queue at once.