Epson SureColor P900

£1,087/$1,195 A surprisingly compact giant printer

Epson’s SureColor P700 A3+/13-inch printer (£679/$800) might seem an obvious fit for this group test, competing against the Canon Pro-200 and Pro-300 models. But while the A2/17-inch P900 is more expensive, it gives relatively supersized output from a printer that’s only about the same size and weight as the Canon A3+/13-inch models, and its 50ml cartridges have twice the capacity of the Epson P700’s cartridges, resulting in significant savings for ink costs.

Handling is excellent, with an additional pull-out feeder at the front, ideal for fine art media and relatively thick poster board. As well as a useful colour touchscreen, the printer features a translucent top panel and interior LED lighting, so you can check your prints as they’re being made.

Performance

Print quality is excellent for both colour and mono output, although the Canon Pro-300 just has the edge for really deep blacks, and the Epson’s output on glossy paper looks less smooth.

Print speed

Print speeds slow dramatically on the very highest-quality settings, although there can be negligible visual difference.

Ink cost

Helped by relatively highcapacity 50ml ink cartridges, the P900 has very competitive running costs.

Tech focus

Print size: A2/17-inch Resolution: 5,760 x 1,440dpi Inks: Pigment cyan, light cyan, vivid magenta, vivid light magenta, yellow, matte black, photo black, grey, light grey, violet

Interface: USB 2.0, Ethernet, Wi-Fi

Digital Camera verdict

The P900 is much improved over the previous P800, with separate ink channels for both the photo black and matte black inks yielding highquality results.