Review Instax Mini Evo: The 3-in-1 instant camera

Fujifilm’s Instax Mini Evo instant camera combines elegant design with retro elements to stimulate creativity. This hybrid model, housed in a vintage-style body, offers intuitive controls and lets you create up to 100 filter and color combinations.

The Instax Mini Evo adopts a vintage look, which sets it apart from the brand’s other instant cameras, such as the Instax SQ40, Wide 400 or Mini 12, which often have a more colorful, rounded design.

As its name suggests, the Mini Evo is part of the Instax Mini range and prints photos in Mini format.

This Instax camera combines the functions of an instant camera, a connected portable printer and a classic digital camera. That’s why it’s been so successful since Fujifilm launched it in 2021.

Find out in this article our review of the Instax Mini Evo: its advantages, disadvantages, and all available features!

1. A 3-in-1 instant camera

The Instax Mini Evo offers a different way of capturing and printing your photos. As well as being an instant camera, it behaves like a pocket printer and a “classic” digital camera.

Unlike all other Instax cameras, the Mini Evo has a rear screen for viewing the photos you take. Images are not printed immediately after capture; you choose which photos to print. Unlike other Instax instant models, this saves film and prevents wasted shots.

The Instax Mini Evo can be connected to your smartphone and print any image on it.

You also have the option to take a photo with the Mini Evo and not print it, but save it as a digital photo. A small hatch inside the body provides space for a micro-SD card, and there’s also an internal memory.

2. Film and lens effects

The Mini Evo also relies heavily on all the creative effects available directly in the instant camera. With 10 lens effects and 10 film effects.

The instant camera offers a total of 100 different combinations to personalize your photos. There’s a button that lets you memorize a combination of effects, so you can go straight to your favorite rendering.

3. Design and handling of the Instax Mini Evo

The Instax Mini Evo looks like a film camera from the 70’s, which is what makes it so original and sets it apart from other Instax cameras.

It has a very compact, lightweight format, measuring (8.7 x 12.3 x 3.6 cm) and weighing just 285g. Less bulky than other Instax models, notably the Square or Wide format cameras.

With its silver and black or brown color, it gives the impression of being made of aluminum with a leather covering. But no, to keep the camera light and compact, Fujifilm has created this all-plastic instant camera.

On the front of the Mini Evo, you’ll find an LED flash, a small mirror designed for selfies, and the shutter-release button. The location of the shutter release makes it easy to take photos in portrait mode.

The famous “Print” lever is located on the top. Once you’ve selected the photo you want to print, simply pull the lever to start printing. A nod to film cameras.

The dial for choosing film effects, and a small button that displays combinations of film and optical effects on the screen, are also located on the top of the camera, alongside the main shutter release.

4. Viewfinder replaced by a screen

The Instax Mini Evo doesn’t have an off-center viewfinder like conventional instant cameras.

Instead a large 3-inch LCD screen that lets you see directly what you’re shooting. You can compose your shots precisely, with effects rendered in real time on the screen.

This screen is one of the main advantages of the Instax Mini Evo over all other instant cameras.

The only small negative point is that the screen is not touch-sensitive.

To the right of the LCD screen, the camera offers a directional cross and three buttons: back, photo playback and the famous add-to-film effect combinations.

5. Mini Evo battery and storage

The Mini Evo is equipped with an internal rechargeable battery that takes around 2.5 hours to charge from scratch. Its battery life is quite good, and will last you a whole weekend with the occasional photo shoot. W

hat’s more disappointing is its Micro-USB port, in the age of USB-C.

As for storage, the internal memory can only hold 45 images.

6. A Mini Evo mobile application

Instax offers the Mini Evo app to establish the connection between your smartphone and the Instax Mini Evo. Bluetooth pairing between phone and camera is done directly from the app, in a simple and easy way.

On the app, you’ll find only the images printed by the instant camera, not those on the internal memory or microSD card.

You can export these photos to the phone, adding (or not) a styled effect to the image frame or a background image.

And a big highlight of the Instax Mini Evo is that you can, from the app, print any photo on your smartphone.

7. Price and availability

The Instax Mini Evo is priced at 199.99€. It uses Instax Mini format 10-film cartridges, sold in packs of 2 cartridges for 16.99€. It is available now from 50.8 Shop.

8. What do we think of the Instax Mini Evo?

Instax, with this instant camera, offers us an original and versatile “hybrid” camera.

By combining the functions of instant camera, portable printer and digital camera, it offers a versatile Instax for everyday use.

Although the photos taken with the Mini Evo are not of unsurpassed quality, they are more than enough to be printed on a 6.2 x 4.6 cm surface (the size of Instax Mini cameras).

Its strengths are numerous: a screen that lets you view your shots live, the option of printing or not, all the creative effects available and its hybrid format!