Mixbook photo book review: A user-friendly service from start to finish

Mixbook is an almost-perfect all-rounder for those that want a photo book with minimal hassle.

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Mixbook photo book
(Image: © Future)

TechRadar Verdict

Mixbook offers a great user experience in all aspects, from choosing the type of product you want to the snappy delivery times. With almost constant sales and discounts available, users can expect to get good value for money on their photo book. While other services might offer better quality books, Mixbook is a great overall performer.

Pros

  • +

    Well priced

  • +

    Great user experience

  • +

    Lots of designs to choose from

Cons

  • -

    Some small glitchy moments

  • -

    Constant discounts make pricing confusing

  • -

    Middling quality

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Mixbook photo book: Two-minute review

If you want a slick and seamless process, then Mixbook is a great option and is one of the best photo books available in the US and UK. There are loads of different designs to choose from, handily split into separate categories (including Weddings, Pets, Adoption, Travel, and more). 

I enjoyed scrolling through the wide variety of designs, which included anything from stylish minimalism to more wacky, colorful designs. Usefully, when you hover over each design, you get a preview of what’s inside the book. When you select a design to use, you can then easily choose between landscape, square, and portrait orientations at the top of the page. 

While most aspects of Mixbook’s service are pretty effortless, I did find its pricing a little confusing. With constant discounts available, Mixbook’s ordinary pricing becomes fairly arbitrary and meaningless. The base price for an 11 x 8.5” landscape book is $49.99 / £41.94, but was only $33.49 / £29.36 at the time of writing – obviously, this is ostensibly a great discount, but I’ve never actually seen a Mixbook photo book available at full price! 

Adding photos on the Mixbook photo book site

(Image credit: Future)

One of the most likely areas for a potential hiccup when building a photo book is when it comes time to upload photos. This is because the builder has to sift through and process a large amount of images. However, Mixbook’s image uploader was pleasantly hiccup-free. 

You can add photos from your phone or desktop, or you can import them from Facebook, Instagram, Google Photos, or Smugmug. I uploaded my images from my desktop, which did take a little while but it wasn’t overly painful. One of my favorite aspects of Mixbook is that you’re able to start putting your photo book together as soon as the first photo uploads, which is a great timesaver. 

I found dragging and dropping the photos to be nice and easy. Each page is customizable, with different templates to explore. You can also move either the frame of the photo or enlarge and adjust the photo itself, which means you can get the perfect framing for each image. 

Mixbook photo book designer

(Image credit: Future)

I did have a few glitchy moments where photos didn’t show up properly for a few seconds, but these weren’t overly disruptive to the process as a whole. I particularly liked a feature where you can copy and paste a page design elsewhere into the book, which is another great potential timesaver. 

When I was done with building my photo book, I used the handy Preview function to double-check for mistakes. I found the payment process to be just as seamless as every other part of Mixbook’s service, with options to pay via card, gift card or PayPal. 

Mixbook photo book preview

(Image credit: Future)

After paying, Mixbook gives you the option to email your fully designed book to other people so that they can order it for themselves. I love this feature and can see it being really useful for those creating photo books for weddings, new babies, and other big life events. 

My Mixbook photo book came promptly and in suitably sturdy cardboard packaging. There wasn’t any scuffing or damage to the photo book and there weren’t any printing errors either.  I found the photos to be pretty true to color, albeit a little bit less vibrant than I would have liked. 

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Back of the Mixbook photo book results
(Image credit: Future)

When inspected up close (as in, within 25cm of the page), the images are slightly fuzzy – especially the darker photos. However, you wouldn’t notice this at a normal viewing distance. 

Should you buy the Mixbook photo book?

Buy it if...

You want a seamless user experience

Mixbook’s photo book builder is super easy to use, with my favorite feature being the ability to start designing the book while the photos are uploading. 

You love a good deal

With Mixbook’s almost-constant discounted prices and sales periods, you’re always sure to get a photo book at a great price.

You want to share your creation with others

Many people like to order multiple copies of photo books for their extended family, but you don’t need to wait for people to pay you back with Mixbook’s useful feature that enables you to email your creation to as many people as you’d like. 

Don't buy it if...

You want the best quality photo book

Mixbook’s quality is fairly middling, with some images’ vibrancy being lost on the page. 

You get overwhelmed by choice

While Mixbook’s expansive selection of designs is excellent, they can be overwhelming if you’re unsure what to pick.

Also consider...

Image

Snapfish photo book 

Snapfish is a very competitive option for photobook fans due to its large variety of great designs and materials to choose from. It also has a slightly tricky photo book builder, but compensates with wonderfully low prices.

Image

Mimeo

You might not get the bells and whistles of other photo book services, but Mimeo is pleasantly reliable.  It's got a better user experience than other photobooks, too.

How I tested the Mixbook photo book

  • I built a photo book on Mixbook’s website using my own photos
  • I standardized the tests across different websites by choosing products at a similar price point with similar designs and features. 

In my testing process, I used Mixbook’s website and photo book builder to create a photo book with my own photographs. As I was testing multiple photo books at the same time, I made sure to choose books that were at a similar price point so that I could test how much value for money each product gave. I also chose similar designs, shapes, and sizes and used the same batch of photos for each test. 

I compared each book side by side to check for image quality and any color variations. I also inspected the covers and pages of each book to ensure that there were no scuffs, creases, or scratches

First reviewed May 2023

Louise Carey
Louise Carey

With over a decade of photographic experience, Louise arms Digital Camera World with a wealth of knowledge on photographic technique and know-how – something she is so adept at that she's delivered workshops for the likes of ITV and Sue Ryder. Before joining the site, her formidable hands-on abilities served her well as features editor for Practical Photography. A freelance photographer in her own right, she is a proud Nikon DSLR shooter.