Epson SureColor P700 Review

The Epson SureColor P700 is an elite home model that can legitimately claim to be of professional quality. At the same time, the Epson is easy to set up and operate while there are few limitations imposed on the user in terms of the print medium and the dimensions that they can use to actualize their vision. With performance characteristics such as these, one may expect a commensurate cost, and they would not be amiss in this expectation. This printer is one costly unit — though not out of proportion with what one receives in return for the expense.

Performance Comparison

Color Prints

Perhaps the most important evaluation in this review is the quality of the color prints. This is simply because most photographers want to print in color. To assess the quality of color renderings of the Epson SureColor P700, we use seven stock photos that highlight the variety of challenges in rendering faithful coloring in an image. While we will detail our assessment of the outcomes below, suffice it to say that the P700 nearly knocked our proverbial socks off. The color accuracy, resolution, and general quality are without parallel in the group.

Given such high praise, you may be wondering how we arrived at such an estimation. As we briefly mentioned above, we use a fixed set of images that allow us to make apples-to-apples comparisons across all the models in the test group. Specifically, testers are looking at two aspects of the print, resolution and overall impression.

Compared to the other models in our photo printer review, the P700 is just a bit flatter in terms of saturation and contrast. However, its dynamic range is, bar none, the best of the printers in the class. Moreover, this unit provides those inclined to tinker with more control over the level of saturation, contrast, and range than the competition, thus making for a unique print to the user.

Black and White Prints

The black and white analysis is as important as its color counterpart, though for different reasons. Before delving into the reasons why the above statement is true, let's first say that the tests in this evaluation are very similar to the color testing except, of course, that we use a set of stock grayscale images for comparison. Aside from that, the judgment again focuses on resolution and overall impression. While none of the printers we assessed blew our minds with the exceptional quality of their grayscale renderings, the Epson SureColor P700 certainly set the bar for the class.

Having established that the P700 is a leader in the black and white evaluation, let's wrap back around to the idea that grayscale is a critical aspect of a printer's overall quality, despite the format's relative lack of popularity. Grayscale images showcase the quality of a printer's tonal transitions and its border definition. Indeed, the simplicity of these two features makes them so hard to achieve. Moreover, the lack of color makes it hard to hide the printer's lack of technical precision. The P700 deserves special recognition for its impressive dynamic range and neutral color renderings.

Print Capabilities

As the name suggests, the capabilities analysis looks at the range of print dimension, print speed, paper capacity, number of ink cartridges, and diversity of print media that the model will accommodate. Unlike the oft-referenced jack of all trades, the Epson SureColor P700 is essentially a master of all the aspects of performance capacity. Admittedly, this is a busy metric that, in the case of the P700, necessarily involves lengthy lists of paper types and sizes, to name just a few of the avenues of inquiry. To save you some tears of boredom, we will stick to ranges instead of rattling off lists of paper dimensions, et cetera.

The most important component of this metric is print dimensions. This printer uses a paper roll that is 129" long and 13" wide. With few exceptions, it will print anything within those parameters. The P700 will also print flat paper in common sizes ranging from 3.5" x 5" up to 13" x 19". The photo paper tray will accommodate 30 sheets of standard photo paper, but the roll is better suited to bulk printing.

This machine is a veritable peacock for pallet options and print medium. Firstly, the P700 will print on just about everything short of your backside. Well, you can print temporary tattoos with this unit, but here we digressed. The printer will accommodate sheet media up to 1.5 mm thick of Epson Professional, Signature Worthy, Legacy papers, and third-party media. It will print double-sided matte (for brochures) and Fine Art Paper.

The only downside of this unit's capacity is that it is pretty slow to print — ~86 seconds per 4" x 6" color print. Yet, we think the cost in time is a small price to pay considering its drawing on a vast color palette supported by no less than ten ink cartridges.

Operating Costs

Often overlooked when sizing up a potential printer purchase is the long-term cost of operating the machine. This cost is a pretty hard figure to produce, but that's where you're in luck. We did the heavy lifting to present you with a simple cost per 4" x 6" color print.

While the Epson SureColor P700 has a pretty hefty upfront cost, it is among the cheapest cost per print at $0.37. To put that in perspective, the average for the class is $0.56, and the price for that same photo at one national retail chain is $0.33. Not bad, right?

For those of you interested in the nuts and bolts of how we produced this figure, the crux of the matter is establishing how much ink it takes to cover 144 square inches or 1 square foot of paper. The answer is approximately 1 milliliter. Once we have that number, we simply divide the cost of the ink by the volume (in milliliters) of ink, factor in the cost of paper, and presto! Cost per print. This figure is a rough number, but our testing showed it to be on the conservative side and that the differences between the printers, if not the actual cost per print, are quite accurate.

Set-up

The set-up metric addresses those unfortunate circumstances when you receive a much-awaited gadget and then, instead of enjoying it, you spend half of your weekend trying to get it to work. To remove the sting of such an experience, we have assessed photo printers from pulling them out of the box to printing the first picture so that you know what you're signing up for ahead of time. The good news is that the Epson SureColor P700 has about an average difficulty level for set-up.

If you are like this author, you may have read that last sentence and thought, how is that good news? A fair question. The average rating is good news because the P700 is being compared to mini printers that are essentially Polaroid printers for cell phones and have no set-up aside from making a Bluetooth connection. The P700 got an average score speaks to the ease of this full-size, highly technical printer's set-up. You have to follow a multi-stepped process that requires one to download software. That said, if you follow the steps (we're talking to you fellas, just read the instructions), it's no problem.

Should You Buy the Epson SureColor P700?

This printer traverses every aspect of interest to both experienced and lay photographers. The question of value is often a personal one. However, we look at value as a cost to performance ratio. In this light, the P700 is neither a deal nor a rip-off. This unit's price pretty much matches its performance. However, if you don't need a professional-quality printer, then this machine likely has less value for you since its performance will be underappreciated.

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