Best printer brands Epson printers

Epson

Epson is among the top five best selling printer brands

Epson printers are slightly more expensive than some of the other printer brands we test (such as Canon). 

Prices range from £40 for a basic printer to £300 for a top-of-the range domestic model. 

Most Epson printers fall into the £50 to £250 price bracket.

Our printer comparison tool will help you to find an Epson printer at a price you can afford.

Testing Epson printers

We’ve tested more than 25 printers from the Epson brand and only around one in nine models tested is a Best Buy. 

The Best Buys tend to include extra features like a built-in fax machine or the ability to print on CDs, but you can still get your hands on an Epson Best Buy for around £150.

Our Best Buy printers page gives you the full list of Best Buy inkjet and laser printers from a whole host of printer brands. 

Epson running costs and cartridges for Epson printers

All of the Epson printers we’ve tested take separate single-colour ink cartridges.

Printers that take three separate single-colour ink cartridges – cyan, magenta and yellow - will generally save you money over the period of ownership compared with models that take combined colour cartridges, because you only have to replace the colour that runs out.

Some brands like HP have printers with combined colour cartridges in their range as well as models with separate ink tanks. Find out more about how HP printers measure up in our HP printers brand overview.

Ink cartridges

Separate single colour cartridges tend to cost you less money in the long run

Epson printer ranges

There are a few prefixes and suffixes in the names of Epson printers - as with the Epson Stylus Office BX625FWD - that will quickly tell you the main features of the model you’re looking at:

  • X models - 'X' being included in the name, means it's an all-in-one printer, so it has a built-in scanner and copier.
  • S prefix - these models are general purpose printers
  • P prefix - 'P' is for photo, so these models are aimed at consumers who like printing photos.
  • B prefix - These are business models and less likely to have memory card slots and preview screens which are usually used for photo printing.
  • D suffix - 'D' is for duplex printing - 'D' prefixed models can be set up to print on both sides of a page.
  • F suffix - An 'F' in the name means the model has a built-in fax. 
  • N suffix - This means that the printer is networkable. It will have an Ethernet connection so you can print to it from more than one computer on your home network.
  • W suffix - A 'W' means that the printer can operate wirelessly.

Although Photo Stylus models are aimed at photo printing, some don’t have a preview screen, and some can’t print from memory card. Don’t assume that the Photo Stylus model you’re considering will have these features because of the name - check before you buy.

We've done the searching for you - to find a printer with a preview screen, memory card slots and PictBridge for printing from a camera, take a look at these photo printers from our tests.

Which? works for you