36 JANUARY2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE383
EPSON’SEXPRESSIONPHOTOXP-8600 is a
compactinkjet multifunction peripheral (MFP)
aimedatcreative home users –and if shiny
blackplastic is your thing, you’regoing to
love it. Business users, on the other hand,
should lookelsewhere:thisMFP misses out
keyhomeoffice features such as afax modem
or an automatic document feeder.
Instead, theXP-8600 focuses on home and
creativeusers, andphotographersinparticular
will be delightedbyits balance of features. At
the front, forexample,there’s ahugecolour
touchscreenwith SD card andUSB interfaces
to supportdirectprinting fromdigital devices.
In the baseare cassettes for100 sheets of A4
and 20 sheetsofupto5x7inphoto paper.
There’s also asingle-sheettray, letting you
printonspecial media without having to reload
the printer.Perhaps mostimportantly, the
six-inkprint engine includes lightcyanand
magenta, which shouldimproveshade control
and reducethe appearanceofgraininphotos.
Theexpensive look is backed up by an
expensivefeel, with sprung and damped
covers,and whisper-quiet scansand prints.
However,this only served to show up the
harshness of the poweredpaper output tray.
While it’seasier to use than on previous
models, with adedicated button on the home
screen, after afew cycles ours wouldonly
close; we hadtopullitout again manually.
COLOUR FAST
This glitch aside,the Expression Photo
XP-8600isexcellent. It’snot the fastest at
mono printing, but it didwell in ourcolour
graphicstest,managing 4.4pages perminute
(ppm). At its standard quality,itcould
produce black text at only 8.6ppm,but this
almostdoubled to 16.9ppm in draftmode.
Photos werepretty quickatthe highest
quality setting,with each 6x4inprint complete
in about70seconds, anda10x8inprint
despatched in two-and-a-half minutes. In black
or colour,photocopiescompleted in about 20
seconds. Scanning was fast, too, with a
preview needing just sixseconds, and even a
1,200 dots-per-inch (dpi) captureofa6x4in
photo completing in 44 seconds.
Printqualityranged from good to superb.
On plain paper,text wasfairly crisp and legible
even in draft mode,but while graphicswere
glitch-free, theywereundersaturated, lacking
the punch we expect fromthe best results.
Photocopies were quitestrong,however,
preserving plentyofdetail from the originals.
On photopaper,the XP-8600 camealive,
delivering exceptionally crisp and detailed
prints. Black and whiteprintswere notablefor
theircontrast and neutralshade; not alwaysa
given from colour inks.Fineshade control and
accuratecolour reproduction meant that
portraits popped off thepage,yet they looked
natural.Happily, theXP-8600 also has avery
capable scanner,which captured sharp images
with accuratecolour andshade reproduction.
PHOTO FINISH
ThisMFP hasfew weaknesses,but it is
tightly focused on itsphotoremit: if you want
an all-round home MFP, look elsewhere.
However, if you needadevice with excellent
scansand photoprinting, the XP-8600
justifiesboth itspurchase priceand itssteep
11.9pper page running costs. It’s aBest Buy.
SimonHandby
SPECIFICATIONS
Mono speed
Monocolour
speed
Mono page cost
Colour page cost
0% -50 Reference + 50 + 100
See page 84 forperformancedetails
TECHNOLOGYPiezoinkjet•MAXIMUMPRINT
RESOLUTION5,760x1,440dpi•MAXIMUMOPTICAL
SCAN RESOLUTION (OUTPUT BITDEPTH)1,200x4,800dpi
(24-bit)•DIMENSIONS142x349x340mm•WEIGHT6.7kg
- MAXIMUM PAPERSIZEA4/legal•WARRANTYOne
year RTB•DETAILSwww.epson.co.uk•PART CODE
C11CH47401
8.6ppm
9.1p
2.8p
4.4ppm
EPSON ExpressionPhotoXP-8600
★★★★★
£119•From uk.insight.com
MULTIFUNCTION PERIPHERAL
VERDICT
There are cheaper home MFPsthanthe XP-8600, but fewcan touch it when it comes to photoprinting
⬆The Expression PhotoXP-8600 lacks home office
features, but is great forcreative users
