Amazon offers free unlimited full-resolution photo storage plus 5GB of free video storage to Prime members. Amazon also has a reasonably priced photo printing service worth checking out, which I'll explain in detail in this Amazon photo printing review. Amazon makes some of the best photo books and many other of the best photo gifts and decor items.
Price: variesBottom line: Store and print your photos with this all-in-one service from Amazon.
The Good
- Free, unlimited, full-resolution photo storage for Prime members
- Free video storage up to 5 GB
- The app can upload photos automatically from your phone
- Storage is searchable, no tags needed
- Excellent quality photos
- Huge variety of photos and photo gifts
- Free shipping for Prime members
The Bad
- One photo arrived bent (though customer service immediately offered a refund or replacement)
- Large logo on the back of the card
- Poster ships in tube, resulting in rolled edges
Photo storage and printing
Amazon Photo Printing review: Features
Amazon Photos is both a storage service and an online photo printing service. I should note that you'll need to be an Amazon Prime member in order to take advantage of the prices listed here. You can still use the service without being a member, but prices will be higher.
Download the Amazon Photos app and you can store your photos in the app. This allows you to free up some space on your iPhone, as you can delete them off of your phone and they'll still be in the Amazon Photos app. You can use both the storage and the photo printing service via either the app or the website, or use them both interchangeably. It all syncs.
The photo storage is incredible: free, unlimited, and full-resolution for Prime members. Now that Google Photos storage will no longer be free and unlimited as of June 2021, this is a great benefit of being an Amazon Prime member. It's searchable, without you having to add any tags to your photos. For example, if you search "dog," all of your dog photos will pop up. The algorithm isn't perfect, though. When I searched "dog," I got a bunch of dog photos and one photo of a tiger! The free storage also includes up to 5GB of video storage, though if you want more, you can pay for it. You can also share photos, create a family vault, create albums, search by place or person (using face recognition), and of course, order photo prints. Note that if you are not a Prime member, you will limited to 5GB of free storage for photo and video combined.
The photo printing service is extensive. There are a ton of different print sizes and photo gifts you can buy, and the prices are reasonable. However, Amazon does not offer wallet-sized photos, which is odd. Amazon does make some of the best photo books, though not as large a variety as some companies offer. You cannot upload photos from other photo or social media sites, only directly from your smartphone or computer.
Being able to store all of your photos at full resolution plus up to 5GB of video for free brings incredible peace of mind.
There is no pickup option, but shipping is free for Prime members, which is unusual for online photo print services. If you spend more than $15, free shipping is expedited. I got my full order in less than a week. You can crop your photos when you order them, but you cannot do photo corrections such as color adjustment on Amazon, so be sure to edit your photos before you upload them.
I ordered three 4x6 photos, two black and white and one in color. They all came out great. In fact, Amazon suggested that I print the photo I took on my phone as a 4x5.3 instead, since it's a better proportion for smartphone photos. I also ordered an 8x10, which is beautifully rendered except that it arrived slightly bent. You can't see the bend in my photo of the photo, and it probably wouldn't be noticeable in a frame, but I wanted to note it. I did reach out to customer service, and they did offer to refund or replace my photo.
I bought a set of cards; the smallest set you can order is 25. The quality was great, they have a quality look and feel. My only complaint was the large Amazon logo printed on the back.
I ordered a 20x30 print, which was also lovely, but it did come in a tube so the edges are slightly rolled even after putting some stuff on the corners to weigh it down for a few days. In a frame, it won't matter, but it's worth mentioning.
I created a photo book, it was easy to put together. There were different themes, text, and stickers you could use to personalize it. I was delighted with how it came out. It's thin and tiny with a soft cover; the quality is wonderful. All of the professional engagement photos you see in my order were taken by JMS Imagery.
| Category | Feature |
|---|---|
| Print size range | From 4x5.3 to 20x30 |
| Photo books | Yes |
| Variety of photo products available | Large |
| Free shipping | Yes, for Prime members (expedited for orders over $15) |
| Cloud storage | Yes |
| Subscription | No, but having an Amazon Prime memberships gets you the best prices |
| Shipping time | Less than one week |
| Auto-crop | Yes, but you will be asked to edit the crop |
| Photo corrections | no |
| Option to pick up locally | no |
| Upload photos from other websites | no |
| All items arrived undamaged | not quite (8x10 slightly bent) |
| Photo quality | Great |
| iOS app | Yes |
Quality for price
Amazon Photo Printing review: What I like
Overall I was impressed with Amazon Photo Printing. There is a large enough variety of prints and photo gifts for most purposes. Make mugs, blankets, calendars, and other gifts that anyone would love. The prices are low, shipping is fast, and the quality is excellent.
My photos are precious to me, and so the more places I can store my photos for free, the better. I have the Amazon Photos app set to upload my photos automatically, so I can free up space on my iPhone. I don't have to worry about running out of storage because it's free and unlimited.
Not perfect
Amazon Photo Printing review: What I don't like
As I mentioned above, I didn't love the big Amazon logo on the back of my cards, nor the photo that arrived slightly bent. The curled 20x30 wasn't great either. But none of those mattered to me very much, especially since Amazon's customer service offered to replace or refund my damaged item. However, there are some things that Amazon Photo just doesn't offer, such as wallet photos, oddly enough. Amazon also doesn't offer as much variety in the photo book lineup as some other sites do.
If you're not an Amazon Prime member, you don't get the unlimited free photo storage (you're limited to 5GB photo and video storage) or free shipping on all orders. Non-Prime members do still get free shipping on orders over $15, and it's only $4 on smaller orders.
Print quality and price
Amazon Photo Printing review: Bottom line
Despite the less-than-perfect packaging and lack of some types of photo items, Amazon Photo Printing is a great service to keep in mind for your storage and printing needs. I was impressed by the customer service, which offered to refund or replace my slightly bent photo. For Amazon Prime members, free storage for all of your photos at full resolution plus up to 5GB of video brings incredible peace of mind. Shipping can be quite expensive for most other photo services, so free shipping is a big plus. It's easy to order photo prints and other photo gifts, you can even do it right from your phone.
