Fujifilm Instax Mini LiPlay+ Review: A Camera and Printer in One

When I initially reviewed the original Mini LiPlay in 2019, I was a little dismissive of the sound recordings, but I came to really love these little snippets of ambient sound. I have about two dozen that I’ve downloaded over the years, and even though I’ve mostly lost the Instax prints that came with them, I still remember the photo just by listening to the sound. The Sound Album feature hasn’t appealed to me so far, but I’ll withhold judgment for a few years to see how I get on with it. I’d still like to see Fujifilm expand the QR capabilities to be able to embed links, allowing me, for example, to take a person’s portrait and then print them a link (on their portrait) to a gallery where they could find higher resolution images. Alas, to my knowledge there is no way to do this.

Dream features aside, the LiPlay+ is a solid upgrade, and I particularly like the layered pictures mode. This is Instax at its best, without taking itself too seriously, offering fun and creative options that let you play with images and experiment in ways you might not otherwise.

Mini LiPlay+ vs. Mini Evo

If you want both a camera and an Instax mini printer, there are two options: the Mini LiPlay+ and the older, but still very capable Mini Evo.

The Mini Evo has a retro design inspired by film cameras, with features such as a rotating lens ring for changing lens effects and an ISO-style control dial for film effects. To print, you pull out the film reel. It’s all very clever and fun, but also functional. Like the LiPlay+, the Evo has an f/2 lens, can store around 45 images (expandable to 1GB with a microSD card), and offers lots of fun borders and effects.

Ultimately, I’d say the choice comes down to whether you want the rear selfie camera and layered photos of the LiPlay+ or the retro look of the Evo.