Epson Expression Home XP-312 review
A wide range of features and high-end print, photo and scan quality make this our favourite MFP for the money
Epson XP-312 Scanner
Epson all-in-ones tend to have better scanners than most, and the 1,200×2,400dpi CIS scanner here lived up to our expectations, and the scanner interface continues to be one of our favourites. The scanner’s colour reproduction is excellent, rendering everything on our test card with a good degree of accuracy. Fine details were sharp at high resolutions, and even a 150dpi document scan was easily readable, although we generally recommend using 300dpi for archive-quality document scans. High-resolution scans were a little slow, with a 1,200dpi photo scan taking over two minutes, while a 300dpi A4 scan took half a minute. Similarly, copies are a bit slow, at 17 seconds for a mono copy and 34 seconds for a colour page. Copy quality is decent, although small fonts acquired slightly fuzzy edges.
Epson XP-312 Conclusion
With good print quality, reasonable speeds and features including a colour screen and cloud printing, the Epson Expression Home XP-312 is, at just £50, a great Budget Buy.
Basic Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Rating | *** |
| Maximum native print resolution | 5,760×1,440dpi |
| Max optical resolution | 1,200×2,400dpi |
| Output bit depth | 24-bit |
Quoted Speeds | |
| Quoted speed, mono A4 | 9ppm |
| Quoted speed, colour A4 | 5ppm |
Tested Print Speeds | |
| Time for two 10x8in photos 1.0 | 9m 58s |
| Time for six 6x4in photos 1.0 | 17m 20s |
Physical and Environmental | |
| Standard printer interfaces | USB, 802.11n wireless |
| Optional printer interfaces | none |
| Size | 145x390x300mm |
| Weight | 4.2kg |
| Noise (in normal use) | 51dB(A) |
Paper Handling | |
| Maximum paper size | up to A4 |
| Maximum paper weight | 255gsm |
| Standard paper inputs | 1 |
| Standard paper input capacity | 100 |
| Maximum paper inputs | 1 |
| Maximum paper input capacity | 100 |
| Duplex (code, cost if option) | No |
General | |
| Printer technology | piezo inkjet |
| Supported operating systems | Windows XP/Vista/7/8, Mac OS X 10.5.8+, Android, iOS |
| Other inkjet features | 3.7cm colour screen, cloud printing |
| Other inkjet options | none |
Buying Information | |
| Price | £53 |
| Consumable parts and prices | £13 each |
| Price per colour A4 page | 8.5p |
| Quoted life of supplied black cartridge | 175 pages (ISO/IEC 24711) |
| Quoted life of supplied colour cartridge(s) | 180 pages (ISO/IEC 24711) |
| Quoted life of supplied photo cartridge(s) | N/A |
| Warranty | one year RTB |
| Supplier | http://www.currys.co.uk |
| Details | www.epson.co.uk |
Print Quality | |
| Number of ink colours | 4 |
| Number of ink cartridges | 4 |
| Maximum number of ink colours | 4 |
| Maximum number of cartridges | 4 |
| Quoted photo durability | 98 years |
| Quoted photo durability source | Epson |
Tested Scan Speeds | |
| Full scan area preview | 13s |
| A4 document at 150dpi | 14s |
| A4 document at 300dpi | 32s |
| 6x4in photo at 600dpi | 45s |
| 6x4in photo at 1200dpi | 2m 7s |
Tested Copy Speeds | |
| Time for single A4 mono copy 1.0 | 17s |
| Time for single A4 colour copy 1.0 | 34s |
| Time for 10 A4 copies using feeder 2.0 | N/A |
Photo Features | |
| PictBridge support | No |
| Borderless printing | up to A4 |
| Direct (PC-less) printing | Yes |
| Supported memory cards | SDXC, Memory Stick Pro/Duo, microSDXC, Memory Stick Micro (M2) |
| CD printing | No |
Copy Features | |
| Maximum number of copies | 99 |
| Max mono copy resolution | 1,200dpi |
| Max colour copy resolution | 1,200dpi |
Fax Features | |
| Max mono fax resolution | N/A |
| Fax memory (maximum mono pages) | N/A |