Polaroid instant cameras were really a trend in the 90s when smartphones were a dream. It lets most of us spend quality time with friends and family while trying to capture fun moments and instantly print. The instant print was quite fun and satisfying and even in our digital world today most of us still crave that instant gratification of holding a hard copy of the picture we’ve just taken. Hence the craving for instant print cameras.
There are lots of instant cameras out there and we have written extensive reviews on most of them especially the best and popular ones like the Fujifilm Instax mini-series. You might want to check those out. For this review, we are going to be focusing mainly on the features and performance of the Polaroid Snap Touch and polarized z2300 – both cameras from the popular Polaroid in the 90s!
We’ll be comparing and contrasting both cameras bringing out their similarities and differences, so if you are having a hard time deciding which is the best for you then you can now relax and read this review to the end as we’ll point out all the differences so that the choice best for your needs will be made clear for you.
Overview Of The Polaroid Snap Touch And Polaroid Z2300
To kick off this review of the Polaroid Snap and z2300, we’ll be giving you a brief description of how each of the cameras is designed – well since they both have basically the same features in similar layouts. So let’s get started.
The Polaroid Snap Touch z2300 is actually a bit of a rectangular brick. Although they can fit perfectly into your pocket, they are still chunky and heavier than most traditional instant cameras. One reason that may explain this unreasonable size is probably because they store the paper that is used for the printout. The camera is all plastic and lacks good grips – well save for the hand grip lanyards that come with the camera.
It has a strip of rainbow colors at the front and is drawn at length from the top to the lens like your traditional Instagram app icon and it’s quite interesting to note that both cameras offer some photo editing features like Instagram and Snapchat! The rainbow logo and the lens are pretty much all that you can find on the sleek front of the camera and now here’s a big difference in the design of the Snap Touch and z2300 – the flash – on the Snap Touch the flash is located on the top of the camera and contains a small selfie mirror.
Besides acting as the flash it also serves as the activation button – just tripping it activates the camera. Besides this flash is a big red button at the top of the snap touch for shooting while on the z2300 the flash is placed at the front beside the lens and at the top is a big power button and the same red shooting button.
Another difference between both cameras in the design is the placement of the DC power slot and USB. Both are placed at the bottom of the snap touch while on the z2300 both are placed at the side. There’s a slot on the other side of the camera where the Prints comes out.
The screen of the camera is the loading dock for the films. By flipping the LCD screen, you’ll unlock the paper compartment which you can load your film into. That’s basically all there is to the design and physical appearance of the Polaroid Snap Touch and the z2300. Now let’s move on to actually comparing and contrasting both cameras to show you their little differences.
Build Quality and Durability
Both cameras are plastic and quite smooth. Because of the smooth body, they both lack good grips- a great disadvantage for a plastic electronic product. A slip onto a hard surface might cause great harm as both contain tiny electronic parts. However, the wrist strap that comes with the z2300 is great to counter this. As it can easily prevent an accidental fall.
Ease of use
Both cameras are quite easy to use. But the Polaroid snap is quite easier than the z2300 as a result of the easy means of activation – by simply pressing the flash at the top of the camera, it gets activated. This is a huge plus but at the same time a nice way for you to easily waste your battery. The flash can easily be activated if the camera is toted in your bag or pressed in your pocket, this can keep the camera on, unknown to you causing the battery to discharge. Aside from this, the snap touch is quite easy to use.
Video
Both cameras offer you the choice to record full 720p HD videos. This is great for those who love having video memories as well as instant pictures at the same time. The snap touch even made this better by offering you a larger video resolution: 1920×1080 Pixels (1080p HD) for better quality.
Colors
The Polaroid Snap Touch comes in 6 color varieties – white, black, blue, pink, purple, and red. The z2300 comes in five different colors – red, blue, purple, black, or white.
Connectivity
Both cameras offer USB options for connectivity but the Snap Touch took it a step further by offering you the ability to connect the camera to your smartphone through Bluetooth. Through this, you can actually turn it into a printer for your smartphone.
Image quality
Both cameras offer the same image quality using a heat wave print on Zink films. The quality is quite great and you probably won’t notice many defects except when you view the image on a larger resolution screen like your smartphone or desktop.
Overview Of Polaroid Snap Touch And Polaroid Z2300 Features
| Features | Snap touch | Z2300 |
|---|---|---|
| Lens type | Prime | Zoom |
| Battery type | Li-ion, rechargeable | Li-ion, rechargeable |
| Connectivity | USB, Bluetooth | USB |
| Color | Black, Blue, Pink, Purple, Red, White | Black, Blue, Purple, Red, White |
| Scene mode | Self portrait | None |
| Microphone | Yes | No |
| In-camera editing | Pictures, Black & White/ Sepia Tone, Color Mode: Black & White Color, Vintage Sepia; Selfie, Self-Portrait, Self-timer | None |
| Sensor | CMOS sensor | CMOS sensor |
| Effective resolution | 13 MP | 10 MP |
| Display type | LCD | LCD |
| Display size | 3.5inch | 3inch |
| Touch screen | Yes | No |
| Warranty | 1 year | 1 year |
| White balance type | Auto | No |
| Memory card type | MicroSD | SD, SDHC |
| Accessories | Snap Touch Camera by Polaroid, micro USB cable, Zink photo paper 10-pack, wrist strap, User guide, Classic Polaroid convenience with a modern twist | Polaroid Z2300 Instant Digital Camera, 10 x Premium ZINK Photo Paper Sheets, Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery AC Adapter/ Charger (100-240 VAC), International Outlet Adapters, USB Cable |
| File formats | JPEG | JPEG, AVI, MJPEG |
| Aspect ratio | 3:2 | 4:3 |
| Built-in memory | None | 32MB |
Conclusion:
Both cameras are meant for fun and creating fun memories that you can hold in your hands. High Quality is not much of a consideration with most instant cameras and the same is true of the Polaroid camera. Having this in mind you can safely purchase either the Polaroid snap touch or z2300 in your favorite color and create long-lasting memories that won’t fade away easily what’s more? You get to hold the memories in your hands – that’s worth more than all the high-quality digital cameras can offer.
