By this stage, we are comfortable calling ourselves experts at Fujifilm’s nostalgia-infused range of instant cameras – Instax. We have reviewed several over the past few years, from the regular Instax mini, the Square, the print-only LINK, and many more. The latest to land on our review desk is the Instax WIDE Evo, which Fujfilm debuted globally only a couple of months ago.

The WIDE Evo is classed as a hybrid instant camera, capable of both snapping images to print right there and then, as well as printing images from a smartphone via a dedicated app.

In our opinion, the hybrid camera systems offer the best of both worlds.

They serve up the hipster-esque experience of taking instant images in the moment, along with the ability to leverage the capabilities of a smartphone, not to mention the ability to give modern images that retro feel by printing them at will, or more accurately at R20 a pop (yes, the wide instant film is indeed that expensive).

So how does the WIDE Evo compare to other hybrid instant cameras we have reviewed? We spent the past week testing it out to find out.

Here’s what we learned.

Modern nostalgia

Fujifilm has gotten extremely good at designing and manufacturing instant cameras that lean into the retro aesthetic, and the WIDE Evo is perhaps the finest example of that to date. The blocky components lean nicely into the square film format, and Fujifilm has done an expert job of adding physical elements to the design that entice users to interact with them.

Sure, many of the functions can be performed by navigating through the 3.5″ TFT colour screen on the rear, but the fact that there are tactile components to the camera that you can interact with too, certainly helps to differentiate the WIDE Evo from other Instax devices.

As such, the balance of digital and physical interface does indeed offer the best of both.

The primary lens, for example, which houses a 1/3″ CMOS image sensor, features a rotating dial to cycle through the degree to which a film effect is applied before snapping a picture. There is a nice mechanical feel to this, which, when paired with the dials (one for film and one for style) on either side of the frame, create a feeling of being in greater control of the outcome of the print.

It also encourages you to play around a bit more with the different settings in order to yield interesting results and makes the WIDE Evo feel more engaging than the point-and-shoot of earlier Instax models.

Is this something you could also achieve in the dedicated Instax mobile app (iOS and Android)? Perhaps, but there is something unique to tinkering with settings, exposure (ISO100 to 1 600), and more on the device itself that is lost when doing so via the app, despite both achieving the same result.

Ultimately, it boils down to whether you want a more analogue experience to pair with your digital one. It also means that the WIDE Evo is not for every fan of Instax, and may likely only appeal to those who have a true love for the medium.

Best of both?

As for our experience with the prints, we must admit the wider format (99mm x 62mm) is our preferred one. This is a personal preference, and it really boils down to whether you take a lot of portrait or landscape photography, but there are some tools in the UI of Wide EVO (both on-device and in-app) to toggle with the orientation before printing.

In our experience, we leaned more towards our phone’s camera roll over snapping on the WIDE Evo. This again is about preference, with the simplicity of a smartphone camera and the consistency of the result being better in our opinion than the instant camera.

We are not knocking the quality of the images the WIDE Evo yields, as the pictures of a Pink Motorla RAZR below illustrate, it’s simply that the varying quality it can produce may not be to everyone’s liking.

Also, the ability to experiment in-app is easier than the pressure doing so in real-time on-device affords.

Looking at the images we printed, we are extremely happy with the outcome, and that ability to share a print with another person and see them light up when they receive it never gets old.

Looking at the rest of the WIDE Evo, Fujifilm has it decked out with everything else you would need, including a port for an SD card and a USB Type-C port for charging.

The former may prove necessary as the Wide EVO only has internal capacity for 45 images (up to 4608×3456 pixels), with 85 images taking up 1GB of space on an SD card.

There’s a camera strap included in the box, too, alongside the charging cable, should you wish to attach it and complete the hipster look.

Final verdict

At ~R6 000 (depending on the retailer), the Instax WIDE Evo is an expensive piece of kit.

It does several things well, not to mention featuring an appealing retro design with plenty of physical tools to mirror the digital ones, but that price is difficult to justify, let alone recommend to anyone who is not obsessed with instant film cameras.

Should you want the nostalgia, but not be willing to part with upwards of R6k to get it, Fujifilm has a number of options that are more affordable in the Instax lineup.

As good as the WIDE Evo is, the price tag does not make it as viable as other models in the range.

FINAL SCORE: 7 OUT OF 10.