There are plenty of all-in-one inkjet printers on the market, but not so many capable of handling A3 paper. Epson’s relatively affordable (£250 – that’s about $320, AU$435) lozenge-shaped MFP takes up no more desk space than its EcoTank ET4500, with a footprint of 148 x 479 x 356mm (H x W x D), but it doesn’t stop at A4 size, and it uses an extra colour in its six ink system to achieve higher quality prints.
Add a scanner capable of capturing documents at 4,800 dpi and three document trays that will accept envelopes and blank discs as well as paper, and you have a machine suitable for a home office or a medium-sized business.
Design and build
The rounded sides of Epson’s Expression Photo XP-960 reduce bulk as much as possible, so although it has the capacity to handle A3 paper, it’s small enough to share an average-sized desk with a computer and still have room to spare. The glossy black finish is an absolute magnet for dust, but because all the trays and flaps fold neatly away, it’s very easy to wipe it down with a duster.
When you’re ready to print, the motorised LCD panel whirrs upwards, while the out-tray extends from the front by a few inches. Below this tray are two drawers, one for loading plain A4 paper and another for photo paper and envelopes. Sheets of A3 drop into the rear speciality media feed, where a plastic assembly pulls up telescopically to support the large sheets of paper as they feed in.
The colour display is a generously-sized 4.3-inch touchscreen, and it’s quite easy to print directly from an SD card without any need to access a computer (yes, there’s an SD card slot for printing directly from a camera’s memory card).
At the rear you’ll find a square USB port and an Ethernet port, which could be useful if you prefer not to overcrowd your Wi-Fi network.
Features
The ability to handle A3 paper is what sets the XP-960 apart from your average all-in-one photo printer, but besides that, you have a fairly full feature set. Duplex printing is possible with A4 plain paper, for example, and in this mode, the print speed accelerates from 8 to 28 pages per minute.
Having two paper in-trays is an advantage as well, because it means you can load one with plain A4 and the other with photo paper, envelopes, or printable blank CD-sized discs, and not have to empty the tray each time you switch media. The XP-960 can usually select the correct paper setting when you ask it to print.
The scanner, meanwhile, can capture very high resolution scans of 4,800 x 4,800 dpi, which is good news for designers who can save the scanned documents onto a USB thumb drive, or a mobile device via the app – or have it emailed to a PC.
Epson’s Claria Photo HD ink system uses six, instead of the usual five, colour cartridges (magenta, light magenta, cyan, light cyan, yellow and black) to achieve superior colour fidelity.
All that’s really lacking here is an ADF (automatic document feeder) for lining up, or scheduling printing and scanning jobs. NFC connectivity for linking your phone with a single touch could also have been included, but wasn’t.
Setup and operation
Getting started was a smooth process thanks to the large and user-friendly touchscreen walking us through the procedure. We managed to hook the device up to our Wi-Fi network in just a few minutes.
The LCD’s logical on-screen menu also makes it easy to adjust paper settings and select a function, so you shouldn’t need to reach for the user manual.
Performance
Beginning with a black text on plain paper test, the Expression Photo XP-960 achieved average results after its print heads were cleaned and realigned. The print speed is a little slow at less than 9 pages per minute compared to similarly priced MFPs, but text looks sharp enough. Characters lack the light touch of a laser and look a little heavy-handed by comparison, but they’re perfectly acceptable for an inkjet.
At one point, the print head must have fallen out of alignment as the lines of black text turned grey half way down the page, but after running the automatic calibration tests, printing remained crisp and consistent during the remainder of our testing.
Colour documents benefit from the six ink cartridge system and show good separation and consistency. When it comes to printing photos on photo paper, the Expression Photo XP-960 really shines. There’s no unwanted ink mixing or smearing here and a real boldness to the colour palette that gives quality images professional production values.
We liked
Thanks to a clever design, this A3 multifunction printer requires no more desk space than your average A4-sized MFP, and when you’re not using the extra-large paper tray at the back, it folds out of sight, leaving you with two cassettes that can automatically feed either plain or photo paper.
It’s easy to operate the device from the Epson iPrint app, or the user-friendly touchscreen which nestles in the motorised control panel. This panel and the powered document out-tray both fold away automatically when you switch the power off.
More importantly, the XP-960 prints exceptionally well in full colour. The six cartridge system no doubt helps realise the vibrant and naturally shaded colour palette.
We disliked
For a multifunction inkjet, the XP-960 is on the expensive side and that’s because you’re paying a premium for its A3 capability – so if you’re not going to use large format paper, then look elsewhere.
The ink is also expensive, especially as there are six fairly small cartridges to replace regularly. Epson’s Elephant ink costs £58 (around $75, AU$100) for a multipack of six regular-sized refills.
Final verdict
For any business that needs, on occasion, to produce A3-sized documents or posters, the Expression Photo XP-960 should be a definite consideration. Thanks to its accurate six ink cartridge system, it turned out professional production quality prints every time in our full colour tests. Printing onto photo paper yields especially vibrant and stable colours.
For plain text documents this machine begins to look a little expensive to buy and run, but its wide feature set and ease of use justify the costs if you plan to do any kind of A3 printing as well.
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