Hiti P525 Ongoing Performance Review

Hiti Photobooth Printer Review

Update: Paper Jam

This review keeps getting better. I called the Hiti customer support about this. “You need to send it in. No one else can fix it.” Instead, I sent it to a local repair guy who is still working on it. He found that a sensor that looks at the paper entering the ribbon is dead. Why it died is not known, nor does it make me happy. He will try to find a replacement, but my event for tomorrow, and future events, are in jeopardy. Like you, this printer is important and not having it is deadly.

My hope is that this Hiti photobooth printer will come back to life and serve me for years to come – worry-free. My hopes are dim.

I will give the customer service rep a high mark for tying to work with me. My 3-year warranty will get me the fix and shipping. Problem is on my end: I can’t find my original purchase receipt. I will look for it, and I am also looking for a new printer. I don’t trust Hiti anymore. A 2-year old printer that is handled with care should still be in operation. 

Updated Review September 3, 2023
Hiti photobooth printer review for Model P525.

The most recent fodder for review was on 8/26/23 at a local high school football game. First test print gave me a paper jam error message. There was no paper jam. Retry with the same error. The rolls have proven themselves both reliable and utterly frustrating at time. Third time failing to reboot, and it was time to change rolls.

I had a spare 5″ x 7″ roll that I bought during COVID as they were out of the 4″ x 6″. As soon as I pulled it out, the tab on the end of the ribbon fell out. That’s the kiss of death. That tab holds the matching ID with the paper. It also did not work.

In the end, I used my back up Canon Selphy printer. And then I remembered why I wanted the Hiti. I bought new 4x6s and all will be well shortly. Hiti photo booth printer review is that when it works, it’s great, and that’s still okay by me.

Update 8/23: Auto Cutting Is Finally Enabled

I confess I was clueless. My bad, but yes, now I don’t need the scissors. I won’t miss the cuts in the webbing of my hand they would sometimes  give me. Now that it’s enabled, it has also freed up more of my time during the event. Big plus.

It was in the printer set up that  you need to pick 2-up and that is what cuts the paper.

During Covid, the event business slowed down and supplies took longer to arrive from China. For HITI printers for my photo booth – that meant printing paper and ribbon. In 2021, the HITI factory wasn’t able to sell 4″ x 6″ paper. I had to get a 5×7 roll.

Quality, Speed and Reliability of Hiti P525

Nothing’s more important than a reliable printer. Long-lasting rolls and no issues. Having been in the photo booth rental business for five years now, I’ve used the Hiti P525 for about 14 months now. This Hiti photo booth printer review hopes to help you get a longer view of it’s performance. Overall, I have been pleased with the Hiti’s performance, even if it is a bit of a paper and ribbon hog.

Adjusting the PC for the New Printer Paper

This was a trial and error experience for me. The PC printer setting were easy enough to find, but sometimes the printer would reject the paper and/or the ribbon.

HITI Customer Service

Five stars. They took my calls promptly and went the little bit extra to make sure I understood the fix. Odd thing is that is seems to be coming from some guy’s apartment in the Silicon Valley. Not that I mind, but it’s not the expected corporate drone. So that’s a plus, too.

My Hiti Photobooth Printer Set-Up

To help with the review of the Hiti photobooth printer, here is my set up: I use an iPad, an older one probably 6 years old by now with Lumabooth. For the laptop I used an older PC running Windows 10. Lumabooth Assist is also installed and runs on the PC. Finally, I have my own network generator, TP Link, and they iPad and PC are both linked to it. The laptop (PC) is hardwired to the Hiti.

The speed of  printing is about 8 seconds once the Hiti receives the command. My set up is older so I don’t count the time it takes for the command to hit the Hiti. No complaints on that. Weighing in about 34 lbs., its not as heavy as other, but I purchased a special case with wheels for it. I also purchased some 4″ wide straps to lower and raise the Hiti P525 in and out of the case as it’s a tight fit.

One complaint is that it does not cut the image down the center to give me two prints, I still have to do that manually and that sucks.

Okay, so what about when things go wrong with the Hiti P525?

I was doing a school event. I hate working with kids of any age, but they come with the territory. These kids were okay, not like a bar mitzvah. I will never do one of those again. Anyway, right at the end of my time, the printer needed new paper and ribbon. I loaded it in but I got an error message saying mismatched ribbon. I apologized to the last person wanting their print, and loaded up and went home and forgot about it. My next event was at a trade show and I was still getting the same error. 80200 is the number that came up. Luckily, the client was drinking a bit and she didn’t care.

I called Hiti support our in California and received good support from the one person who can help. I can’t imagine how they can only have one person, but he was good. We were able to rule out that it was their printer. Beyond that, he was also engaged enough to send me some 6×4 images to test further. I did but I was still getting the ribbon mismatch on some settings. If I forgot to tell you, I had changed nothing in between for this error to pop up. I was frustrated.

After letting it sit for a while and using my back up Canon Selphy for a gig this past weekend, I decided it was time to try and trouble shoot again. I had already reinstalled the printer driver and the Lumabooth Assistant on the PC. Finally, I changed the printer settings on the PC to 6×4 2 up vertically and that gave me a print out that is acceptable. I’m not sure how much faster or slower it will consume the media. I hope not any faster.

Okay, so this wasn’t a great review of the P525 more like a rant against what went wrong, but if you’re having the same issues, keep at it, call customer support and get it solved. Best of luck.

About Big Fun Photo Booth

Since 2017, Big Fun Photo Booth (aka BFF Booth) has been serving up the laughs and the memories. As a local vendor, we know the Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and north Florida venues and people. And it is Big Fun. We have the largest photo booth enclosure you can get. We have texting of images. We have unlimited, beautiful prints. We have awesome lighting for every skin type. We have great props. We have SMS and email capabilities. And we know how to have a good time. Our attendant is lively, humorous, and professional. Give us a call at 904 477-9995 or email info@bffbooth.com. We accept all major credit cards and have easy payment terms. Plus our prices can’t be beat. We pride ourselves on offering a great value, not gouging the wedding party or the party organizer. Let’s have Big Fun!