Polaroid Now Generation 3 review

1. Verdict: the Polaroid worth buying

Polaroid Now Generation 3

The iconic print, with autofocus that picks the right lens — and a film bill to match.

Buy it for

Anyone who wants the classic Polaroid photograph and has seen the per-shot figure.

Skip it if

Volume shooting, a tight budget, or a pocket. $2.37 a shot, eight exposures a pack, and 448 g.

• •A **4.2 x 3.5 inch** print with a 79 x 77 mm image area — the photograph everyone pictures.
• •**Two-lens autofocus** with zones at 0.40-1.3 m and 1.0 m to infinity, against fixed focus on the Go.
• •Six usable apertures from f/11 to f/64, and a 40 x 41 degree field of view.
• •A built-in tripod mount, filter compatibility, self-timer and double exposure.
• •Takes **both i-Type and older 600 film**, so vintage packs are not wasted. USB-C charging, 40% recycled materials.

Running cost: Polaroid i-Type works out at $2.37 a shot, so a hundred photographs in the first year puts the real total at about $366.86 including the camera. See every format’s cost.

How it scores7.9/10 overall

• Print size10
• Focus accuracy8
• Build and feel9
• Ease of use8
• Running cost2

Our editorial scoring, built from published specifications and reviews by outlets that test hardware — see how we pick. We have not handled these products, so these are not test results.

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Read the full review

What it is

The Now is Polaroid's mainstream camera: the full-size print, in a body designed to be used rather than collected. Generation 3, launched in March 2025, is the version worth buying, and the reason is focus.

Instant film has no latitude and no second chance, so a soft photograph at $2.37 a frame is an expensive disappointment. The Gen 3's twin-lens system selects between two lenses depending on subject distance, with zones at 0.40 to 1.3 meters and 1.0 meter to infinity. Polaroid also repositioned the light meter and improved the ranging sensor for this generation.

Specifications

What it costs to own

This is the part to be clear-eyed about. Polaroid i-Type film was $18.99 for eight photographs on 13 October 2026 — about $2.37 a shot, the most expensive mainstream instant film sold.

At a hundred photographs a year, the film costs about $237 — roughly twice the camera. At two hundred, about $475. Multipacks take some of the edge off: Polaroid's own five-pack works out at about $2.12 a shot rather than $2.37, an 11% saving.

None of that is an argument against the camera. It is the number to decide with rather than discover. There is more in why Polaroid film is so expensive.

What it is good at

• •The photograph. A 4.2 x 3.5 inch print is an object: it frames, it goes on a shelf, it reads as a photograph rather than a token. Nothing in the instax range matches it.
• •Autofocus that works. Two zones chosen automatically is a real advantage over fixed focus on film this expensive.
• •Flexibility of film. Taking both i-Type and 600 means old stock and new both work.
• •A tripod mount and a self-timer, which together make group shots and long exposures practical.
• •Build. 448 g of substantial camera, with filter compatibility and 40% recycled materials.

Where it falls short

• •$2.37 a shot. The dominant drawback and the one that decides most purchases. Eight exposures a pack means a pack is gone in an afternoon.
• •Development takes 10 to 15 minutes, against 90 seconds for instax, and the print needs shielding from light while it happens. At a party that is a practical nuisance.
• •It is big. 150 x 112 x 94 mm and 448 g — a bag camera, not a pocket one.
• •No published battery life. Polaroid gives a figure for the Go and not for this, which is an odd omission on a rechargeable camera.
• •Film is harder to buy. Mostly online or a camera shop, where instax mini is in supermarkets.
• •Two fixed focus zones, not continuous autofocus. Better than fixed focus, short of what the specification implies at first glance.

Alternatives

• •Polaroid Flip, $219.99 listed — sonar autofocus, a four-lens system, Polaroid's most powerful flash, and a warning before a badly exposed frame. Engadget calls it the "most advanced modern instant camera to date". Same film cost. See best Polaroid cameras.
• •[Polaroid Go Generation 3](/instant-cameras/polaroid-go-gen-3-review) — $30 cheaper and cheaper to run, with a much smaller print.
• •[instax SQUARE SQ40](/instant-cameras/instax-square-sq40-review) — a square print at $1.15 a shot rather than $2.37. Not a Polaroid, and less than half the running cost.
• •Polaroid Mod, $169.99 listed — a newer body on the same i-Type film. Worth comparing directly at the time you buy.

Who should buy it

Buy the Now Generation 3 if the classic Polaroid photograph is what you want. It is the sensible point in the range: the full print, genuine autofocus, a tripod mount and a self-timer, without the Flip's premium.

Do not buy it for someone who will shoot a lot, or for a child, or as a general-purpose gift for someone undecided. At $2.37 a frame it rewards deliberate photography and punishes casual snapping — which is a fair description of what Polaroid has always been.