Epson XP-960 Expression Photo Printer Review

Being a blogger and general picture-taking fiend I find myself taking photographs daily between my DSLR and smart phone. It pleases me having a record of moments saved on my computer, blog and social accounts but to have them sitting behind an LED screen feels similar to having heirlooms and items saved for best tucked away forgotten in drawers. Even with all the technology in the worlds there’s nothing better than printing and displaying your fave photos. Being able to do that from home, via WiFi, from a smart phone and onto A3 paper is just showing off. In a good way, mind you.

I’m not a fan of overpriced gadgets. I like to have things in my home that I love and use frequently. So before I considered reviewing the Epson XP-960 Expression Photo Printer I wanted to make sure that it would be suitable for my day-to-day use. My previous printer had been on the blink for a while, guzzling up ink, and screaming error messages at me every time I really needed it.
I prefer to work paper free most of the time, but I need to print out marketing materials regularly to proof (I love my red pen days!). Thankfully the printer is an all-in-one that prints, scans and copies too so fulfils all my daily requirements and more. Besides the photo printing, it offers up to A3 size prints and mobile printing options too for convenience.

If you’re shopping for a new printer and considering an additional photo printing feature, I hope you’ll find some insight below. Here’s my thoughts so far after 2 weeks of use…

Easy set up and user-friendly| I’d consider myself to be tech-savvy but I promise to anyone who isn’t, it was really easy setting the printer up, enabling the WiFi and connecting to my phone and laptop. Just have your WiFi password to hand and a cup of tea ready whilst the ink configures with the printer (takes about 7 minutes). I used the Epson online setup guide and downloaded the Epson iPrint app and the LED touch screen display did the rest. You’re given step-by-step instructions all the way and I found no issues during this process.

Mobile Printing | My favourite feature is the Epson app which lets you access photos and documents from your phone to print direct. Mobile printing options are beginning to become standard in printers but I was really impressed with the speed and quality of this feature. Being able to print a photo (documents too) taken that same day in a matter of minutes from my phone is pretty cool. Once again, the app was really user-friendly. It connects to Google Drive, iCloud and DropBox too which makes it really easy to print off old saved photos you’ve been meaning to get printed externally.

Prints up to A3 size| This feature felt like a luxury! I actually do opt for A3 prints when printing out brochure proofs at work so being able to have this at home makes my life a lot easier. As for printing A3 photos, I can’t believe how great the quality is, using the glossy photo paper. The photo paper is inserted via the back tray (single feed) and collects at the front by the automated output tray.

To begin with I printed photographs from my DSLR by inserting my SD card (at the front of the printer). I had 1000s of images stored on my memory card but the LED screen took seconds to load them on the screen which was quite impressive. I preferred using the mobile app though which helps you quickly choose your picture, the quality and size too.

Print Quality| The print quality is exceptional and the prints come out at a fast speed and are dry to touch immediately. I’ve been using the A3 glossy photo paper to print out photographs (of Polly natch) and have even been impressed by the quality of phone photographs too. Obviously they’re not as crisp as my DSLR but I’ll pick up smaller size photo paper soon so my phone pictures print a little better. Having said that the first A3 photo I chose to frame was a phone picture of Polly (above) and it looks great.

I’m going to create a small gallery wall in the porch and landing as soon as I buy different size photo paper and frames so I’ll keep you updated with the progress of the printer – how it fairs with ink and usage. If you’re looking for a new printer and are keen to have photos printed too, then I’d definitely recommend the Epson XP-960, priced from £179.99.

Do you print and display your photos?

Disclosure: The Epson XP-960 was provided for the purpose of this review