The Epson Expression Photo XP-8800 ($300) is a multifunction printer aimed to hey the photo enthusiast.
Connectivity options include a USB port, wireless, and Wi-Fi Direct.
Printing from a smart unit is done with the Epson Smart Panel app for iOS and Android.
Does it have what it takes to hang with thebest printerson the market?
In this Epson Expression Photo XP-8800 printer review I’ll walk you through what I think and why.
The panel, including the power button, folds upward 90 degrees.
The body is somewhat compact, measuring 13.7 x 20.7 x 7.2 inches.
It is easy to move, weighing 14.6 pounds.
This Epson does not have a duplexer for making two-sided prints.
Behind a fold-down door, there are two paper input cassettes and the output tray.
The bottom input tray holds up to 100 sheets of letter-size plain paper.
It accommodates paper up to 8.5 x 47.2 inches.
If the output tray is retracted, it will extend automatically when you initiate a print job.
Also, there is a CD/DVD tray for printing on coated discs.
This slot sits behind the touchscreen panel if it is folded down against the body.
The Claria HD inks used by the XP-8800 are described by Epson as lab-quality.
Print speed
The Epson XP-8800 did not disappoint in our speed tests.
(This category excludes ink tank models and high-yield printers.)
The results were similarly impressive when printing on plain paper.
The category average is half that, at 2.7 ppm.
For a photo printer, this Epson did not slough off when printing text documents either.
This was significantly faster than the average of 1 minute and 56 seconds.
Printing at draft controls sped up print time to 24.5 seconds.
(A discussion on print quality follows below.)
These print speed tests were done from a Windows 10 PC.
Print times from an iPhone 7 running the iOS Epson Smart Panel app were very similar.
Copy and scan speed
The XP-8800 made color copies significantly faster than the average.
Copying a page in black-and-white was roughly average, taking 14.4 seconds.
The category average is 15.9 seconds.
Scanning in color at 600 dpi to JPEG format was also faster than the average.
A color scan took 52.1 seconds, versus the average of 1 minute and 7 seconds.
Competing models averaged a significantly faster 12 seconds on this test.
Print Quality
Text documents printed with sharp letterforms, and was quite dark.
Letterforms were heavier than the sleeker text that a laser printer is capable of.
Printing at the best quality setting resulted in slightly darker and at times subtly sharper edges.
Seeing these differences required very close viewing.
Color graphics printed on plain paper with plenty of detail and accurate color.
Prints made at the highest quality setting showed a very mild improvement on letterforms.
Graphics, which were already very attractive, looked the same at the higher setting.
Photos printed on glossy paper looked fantastic, with well saturated colors and plenty of detail.
Increasing the setting to high quality only added a subtle amount of saturation.
Compared to high-quality print configs, glossy photo prints made at lower configs showed very little drop-off in quality.
The difference was so subtle, in fact, that it required extremely close examination and a magnifying loupe.
Color saturation remained nearly constant across all print quality prefs.
The difference revealed in standard-quality prints was just a very subtle vertical pattern.
At first glance, it’s not noticeable at all.
And even at draft quality, it did not become a distraction.
The XP-8800 made attractive copies in our tests.
Graphics in color and black-and-white looked detailed and accurately reproduced.
At best quality parameters, text looked nearly as sharp as in the original from a laser printer.
Only very close scrutiny revealed slightly lumpy edges.
Subtle differences at high quality and standard options similarly were only visible from a very close distance.
At a comfortable reading distance, these differences were negligible.
As with copies, scans of color graphics looked very detailed, with well saturated and natural-looking colors.
Small text in scans of magazine pages, however, looked pleasantly sharp.
Ink cost & yield
The Expression Photo XP-8800 uses six dye-based inks.
Individually, the black ink cartridge costs $11.99 and is rated to print 240 pages.
The XL black cartridge ($19.99) is rated to print 500 pages.
Costs per color page were roughly average.
Total cost per color page is 21.6 cents with standard cartridges and 17.8 cents with XL cartridges.
The category averages are 22 cents and 16.3 cents, respectively.
A two-pack of light magenta and light cyan saves 99 cents off buying two separate cartridgs for $23.98.
These are standard cartridges.
Multi-packs of XL cartridges were not listed on the product webpage at time of review.
This process did not complete the first time, apparently due to an issue with the IP address.
But along the way, the touch screen displayed messages saying there was a web connection connection issue.
The included Epson ScanSmart software worked well on my Windows PC.
In photo scan mode, the software accurately detected multiple photographs and saved them as separate JPEG files.
In document mode, however, the software did not offer an auto crop feature.
You don’t need to use a PC, however.
you’re free to use the mobile app to initiate a scan or copy from the flatbed.
Smart Panel for iOS offers basic photo edits such as auto correct, sharpness and brightness and contrast.
Additional Creative print features such as printing on CD/DVD disks can be done with the Epson Creative Print app.
The XP-8800 started up quickly, in about 7 seconds, when the touchscreen displays the main menu.
The large touch screen works well for standalone operation, and ink costs for color pages are roughly average.
Although text printing lags a bit, the XP-8800 is quick to print, scan and copy in color.
