Epson Expression Photo XP-8500: the 3-in-1 printer that (almost) does everything well

Ergonomics

Epson in turn inaugurates a new chassis on this Expression Photo XP-8500 which clearly looks at the compactness of certain rivals who display a wasp size (Canon Pixma TS8150 or Brother DCP-J772DW). It must be said that the manufacturer had already carried out a slimming cure of its lower models in the Expression Home series (evidenced by the measurements of its XP-445).

The Epson XP-8500 is therefore a block of black plastic which measures 34.9 x 34 x 14.2 cm, nicely finished, in which the manufacturer has managed to integrate everything that one has the right to expect. '' a modern 3-in-1 multifunction printer. Controlled from a 6.8 cm diagonal color touch screen mounted on a tilting front, it offers an SD card reader and a USB Host port, obviously has Wi-Fi and is Wi-Fi Direct compatible for launching of prints from a smartphone. It also has three insertion zones for paper (with a capacity of 100 ordinary sheets for the main one) and hides a motorized trolley acting as a receptacle.

Devoid of fax function and not productivity oriented, it skips the automatic document feeder on the scanner side, but still knows how to print duplex independently and has a large access door at the back allowing easy intervention in the event of a paper jam.

---

Consumption

In terms of energy consumption, the Epson XP-8500 only draws 16 W during A4 photo printing, and only 0.3 W in standby. It also turns out to be quite silent, especially in photos, moreover, our sound level meter placed at 1 meter recording only 43 dB in this exercise. However, it makes more noise in office automation, when printing a multi-page document (53 dB). As always, a silent mode makes it possible to limit these noise nuisances (reduced to 50 dB in office automation), provided that you accept a drop in printing speed.

---

Cost per page

The price of prints is the only area where the Espon XP-8500 is next to the plate. By opting for the official Epson Claria HD 378 ink cartridges in XL format (the most economical), the average cost per page reaches 15.8 euro cents (€ 0.158). This is too much, especially in a market where most manufacturers make real efforts at this level, and where the average cost per page in inkjet is around 10 euro cents (€ 0.10).

---

Scanner and copies

Nothing to report in particular about the scanning and copying performance of the Epson Expression Photo XP-8500. It takes 13 and 15 seconds respectively to scan an A4 document at 100 dpi and a 10 x 15 photo at 300 dpi, while it copies a black and white page in 11 seconds (17 seconds in color). The quality of the copies is necessarily lower than the originals, but text and graphics remain perfectly legible.

---

Photo

The Epson Expression Photo range is generally populated with products that are truly comfortable in the exercise of photography and the XP-8500 is no exception to this tradition. Its Micro Piezo print heads deliver drops that can be at least 1.5 picoliter, which allows prints to display an excellent level of detail.

Better still, with its 6 separate ink cartridges, it manages to convincingly limit color drift. Our probe measures an average delta E of 6.3, with relatively homogeneous differences over the ten shades tested. Some printers do better (this is the case with the Canon TS8150 with an average delta E of only 4.7 - the human eye is able to perceive a difference in tone above a value of 3), but the loyalty remains all the same and the printed pictures are very beautiful.

In terms of speed, count 49 seconds to print a photo in 10 x 15 cm format and 1 minute and 8 seconds for a borderless photo in A4 format. Not to spoil anything, the XP-8500 is fast.

---

Office

Office automation is an area in which Epson's Photo Expression XP-8500 is more than just figuration. Its good performance on this point validates its status as a multifunctional family printer. Fast, it prints our test files up to 15.4 and 10.7 pages per minute (ppm), in black and white and in color. This is more than the 9.5 and 9 ppm touted by the official Epson product sheet. It is also fast in automatic duplexing, a fashion that we have measured at more than 6 ppm.

As for the quality of the prints, it is more than honest: the texts remain easy to read, whether on a white or colored background, the color gradients are correctly rendered, the graphics show good accuracy overall. To do better, the XP-8500 should limit slight overhangs and the blotting effect sometimes observed on the busiest areas. Small inconveniences barely visible to the naked eye, revealed by high resolution scanning of documents. Note that these slight defects are erased by passing on a "higher" print quality, but the print speeds then drop a little. Either way, the Expression Photo XP-8500 does a good job.

---

Conclusion

If the Epson Expression Photo XP-8500 manages to surpass the Canon Pixma TS8150 in rare areas, it suffers from the full force of the latter's excellence in photos, its more aggressive selling price, and a lower cost per page. (even if this last criterion is not taken into account in the final grade). Excellent, this Epson Expression Photo XP-8500 therefore remains in the shadow of the Canon Pixma TS8150.

---