The Instax Mini LiPlay is the strangest camera in Fujifilm’s instant range, and the one most likely to make somebody cry at a wedding.
The trick
It records up to ten seconds of sound and prints a QR code on the photograph. Scan the code and the audio plays back. Put like that it sounds like a gimmick — until you print a picture of a grandparent with their voice attached, or a first birthday with the room singing in the background. Physical photographs are already sentimental objects; this makes them more so.
A hybrid, so film is not wasted
Like the Mini Evo, the LiPlay captures digitally and prints only when you tell it to. You review the shot on screen first, which eliminates the most annoying part of instant photography: paying for prints of pictures nobody wanted. It also prints images sent from your phone, which is often where the best photo of the evening already lives.
What to expect from the pictures
Modest quality, honestly. The sensor is small and any recent phone will out-resolve it comfortably. Prints look like Instax prints — soft, warm, characterful — and that is the aesthetic people buy the format for. If you want technically excellent photographs, this is not the purchase; if you want charming physical objects, it is.
Who should buy it
People buying for occasions: weddings, christenings, milestone birthdays, care homes. Also anyone who wants a pocket photo printer that happens to take pictures too. If the audio feature does not appeal, the Mini Evo is the better hybrid, and a plain Mini 13 is the cheaper way to hand out prints all night.
