Epson SureColor P700 Review

The Epson SureColor P700 is an elite home model (with an elite price tag) 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.

Color Prints

The P700 nearly knocked our proverbial socks off. The color accuracy, resolution, and general quality are without parallel in the group.

Compared to the other models we tested, 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. This unit allows you to tinker more with the level of saturation, contrast, and range than the competition, thus making for a unique print to the user.

Black and White Prints

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.

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. 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

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 it's drawing on a vast color palette supported by no less than ten ink cartridges.

Operating Costs

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?

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 P700 got an average score here, which speaks to the ease of this full-size, highly technical printer's setup, considering it was compared to several mini printers that are essentially Polaroid printers for cell phones and have no setup aside from making a Bluetooth connection.

You have to follow a multi-step process that requires you to download software. That said, if you follow the steps, 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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