Canon recently refreshes the Selphy Photo Printer series with CP1300. Selphy is dye-sublimation printers unlike inkjet printers, where the colour dye is transferred through a ribbon, one colour at a time, to the paper.
The internal printing hardware of the CP1300 appears to be unchanged from the CP900 that I owned, 4 generations apart. It sounded the same, prints the same, even supports the same paper and ink cartridge, same paper tray and identical AC adapter.
Canon SELPHY CP1300 compares to CP900
On closer observation, the positioning of the buttons and ports are also largely unchanged. I am surprised that the CP1300 still supports the mini-USB port, which I believe none of the products built this year has it.
Some feature enhancements are certainly appreciated, like the larger display, the revamped UI. The CP1300 is a minor refresh from the previous model, CP1200, with the same overall shell, plus minor enhancements like larger screen, improved UI, shuffle printing from multiple devices into a single photo, 2×6 photo booth print.
I scrutinized the prints from both CP900 and CP1300 and I could not tell a difference. Even if there were, it is probably because the CP900 was well-used over the years. If that was being the case, then I’d have to say my CP900 did not deteriorate much.
When compared to inkjet printers like the latest PIXMA TS9170, the SELPHY CP1300 loses in the shadow details, which is the consistent characteristics even for previous models. The advantage of SELPHY is the lower cost of print and less hassle: every replacement box comes with photo paper and the cartridge and costs less than S$0.40 including cost of ink. PIXMA printers require purchase of independent ink cartridges of higher quality variants to achieve similar photo quality.
Like the previous SELPHY models, the CP1300 supports optional battery pack so that you can print photos conveniently on the go.
Verdict
The new SELPHY CP1300 offers small functional upgrade from older models. The print quality does not differ much from the 4-year-old CP900 model. If your existing SELPHY printer is still working fine, there is no reason to upgrade. If you are looking for a new compact photo printer to print 4R photos, you can still go for CP1200, unless you seek to benefit from the newer features on the CP1300. If you already have an existing PIXMA printer, you might want to stick to it unless you intend to print a lot of 4R photos and love the benefit of a smaller printer with less fuss on replacement materials.
Retailing at S$199, get yours from Canon Online Store, Lazada, and most electronic stores.
