Epson SureColor P900MSRP$1,349.00 Score Details Epson's SureColor P900 is a professional tool meant for photographers that want on-demand, large fine art prints with lab-quality results.ProsExceptional photo quality10-color ink systemIncludes half a liter of inkPrints last 200 to 400 yearsTwo paper traysAccepts up to 17 x 22-inch paperHandles cardstock up to 1.5 mmConsToo expensive for casual useFront media tray is finickyRequires a lot of spaceTable of ContentsTable of ContentsSpecsDesignPrinting performanceSpecial featuresSoftware and compatibilityPriceIs the SureColor P900 right for you?I dabble in photography and find large, high-quality prints are the best ways to enjoy a great photo. While full-page borderless looks good, a poster-size print can be a showpiece worth framing.Recommended VideosTo immortalize a moment as artwork, I want lab-quality prints that require the best photo printers available. Thats where the Epson SureColor P900 shines. Its a wide-format printer that features a professional 10-color ink system for exceptional dynamic range and precision color.If youre a photographer or photo enthusiast, youll want to learn more about this printers capabilities, quality, and media handling to help decide if theres enough value to justify the expense.NameDimensions24.2 x 35.6 x 20.5 inchesWeight35.3 poundsPrint speed1.5 minutes (8.5 x 11-inch photo), 2.4 minutes (13 x 19-inch photo)Print resolution5760 x 1440 dpiPortsHi-Speed USB, 100Base-T EthernetPaper capacity120 sheets (main tray); supports up to 17 x 22-inch paperWi-FiWi-Fi 802.11b/g/n/ac, dual-bandThe Epson SureColor P900 is a wide-format printer that requires significant desk space. Photo by Tracey Truly / Digital TrendsEpson gave the SureColor P900 a premium, black finish. It looks great but collects dust rapidly and scratches easily. I kept a micro-fiber cloth nearby for frequent cleaning of the surface panels.The SureColor P900 is a printer large enough to accept poster-size paper up to 17 by 22 inches and an output bin that can hold such a large print. That means you need a sizable space to use this printer.While the unopened footprint is just 24.2 by 14.5 inches, the output bin expands the length to as long as 35.6 inches for printing long sheets. Epson recommends 16 inches of clearance at the back when using the front feed. The SureColor P900 stands just 7.8 inches high when the main rear paper tray is closed. When its open for large prints, the height increases to 20 inches.However, the benefits could be worth the space requirement. The manual front media tray can accept paper up to 1.5 mm thick. That means you can print on specialty papers heavier than most cardstock.To manage this versatile printer, Epson added an adjustable 4.3-inch color touchscreen that tilts up from horizontal 50 degrees for easy viewing while seated or standing.The Epson SureColor P900 prints in photo lab quality on fine art paper of various sizes. Photo by Tracey Truly / Digital TrendsThis is a photographers printer, designed for lab-quality prints in the convenience of your own home or office. It can print on a variety of media ranging from popular small photo sizes like 3.5 x 5, 4 x 6, 5 x7, and 8 x 10, to borderless 8.5 x 11 and 11 x 14 standard paper, all the way up to poster-size sheets at 11 x 17, 13 x 19, 16 x 20, and 17 x 22 inches.The quality is phenomenal. Epsons UltraChrome Pro10 pigment ink system goes fast beyond the standard four colors used by most inkjet printers. With cyan, light cyan, vivid magenta, vivid light magenta, yellow, gray, light gray, violet, photo black, and matte black, the SureColor P900 has a much more expressive palette of colors to choose from to faithfully recreate your favorite moments.Skin tones, yellows, and purples are notoriously challenging for printers, but the SureColor P900 handles difficult tones and shades with ease. True black and subtle shadows can also be hard for many printers but Epson includes two blacks and two grays to expand the range.Everything I printed with the SureColor P900 came out with impressive range and accurate colors. Photo by Tracey Truly / Digital TrendsFine detail and color fidelity arent as important if you rely on an inexpensive phone or compact camera for photography. Epsons six-ink EcoTank ET-8500 might be all you need for casual home use, but youll be limited to letter-size prints and lose some of the sharpness and wide dynamic range that the SureColor P900 provides.I was impressed with the results and pleasantly surprised by the speed. The SureColor P900 can output a full-page photographic print in about a minute and a half. A 13 x 19 photo takes less than two and a half minutes.Draft and standard quality are very good, losing only a bit of fine detail. The best quality mode takes longer but makes a difference when printing the sharpest, high-resolution photos. Color fidelity isnt affected by the resolution and standard prints were good enough for most pictures.While the SureColor P900 is designed for photos, it can also print crisp color documents. Photo by Tracey Truly / Digital TrendsWhile pictures are the SureColor P900s specialty, color document prints are also superb. Gradations are smooth, text is crisp, and graphics are sharp. The best office printers are optimized for productivity and are better suited to text-heavy workloads, but this wide-format Epson printer accepts media that an all-in-one cant.The Epson SureColor P900s operation was quite reliable when using the main rear paper tray. I tried a variety of paper types and sizes, yet prints consistently rolled through with great quality and surprising speed.The Epson SureColor P900 works with a variety of media up to 1.5 mm thick. Alan Truly / Digital TrendsThe Epson SureColor P900 is quite versatile in terms of the media it supports. I didnt test the optional $250 roll adapter but it holds 17-inch rolls with two- or three-inch cores up to 10 feet long. That means long banners are possible with this adapter.The printers front media tray accepts very thick paper with a direct path that prevents curling. The front media tray pulls paper through the printer and out of the back in a manual process that proved to be finicky and error-prone.The big color touchscreen guided me somewhat but it was still confusing. I pulled the front feeder out until it moved down and locked. Then I carefully aligned the paper with an etched line on the media tray.The SureColor P900 instructed me to push the feeder back in, and this is where I first ran into problems. At the first click, the screen gives me instructions to proceed. When I did, the last inch didnt feed correctly, leaving an overprint followed by an unprinted border.Make sure the SureColor P900s front feeder tray is fully engaged before printing, Photo by Tracey Truly / Digital TrendsIm usually very tech-savvy and detail-oriented but I didnt notice that the media tray should be flush with the front of the printer before proceeding with printing.With that mystery solved, the overprint and border were no longer a problem.I also had to change printer settings to thick paper before using cardstock. When printing on expensive paper, its a good idea to triple-check settings to ensure everything works as expected.When the paper successfully loads, the media tray is the best option for thick paper, accepting cardstock up to 1.5 mm thick while keeping it flat and smooth during the print.Epson includes half a liter of ink with the SureColor P900. Photo by Tracey Truly / Digital TrendsFor such a large, complex printer, setting up the Epson SureColor P900 was simple. The printer comes well-packed with plenty of padding, tape, and cling sheets to secure the parts and protect the shiny black surfaces.The big color touchscreen guided me to install the 10 included ink cartridges, alerted me to the 15-minute ink priming time, and helped me connect to Wi-Fi with no issues.Epsons mobile Print Layout app found the printer quickly and I was ready for my first print in less than half an hour. I started with a full-page borderless photo, but the mobile app works with many paper sizes and types.The SureColor P900 was ready to print after just half an hour of set up. Photo by Tracey Truly / Digital TrendsI loaded a 17 x 22 sheet and tried a poster print that came out great. I used an iPad, iPhone, and Android phone with no issues. Epsons desktop software works with Windows and macOS to provide even more controls and custom media types.At $1,349, the Epson SureColor P900 is expensive enough that it might only appeal to photography enthusiasts or businesses that need large format prints. Epson offers a $200 rebate, effectively lowering the price to $1,149.Each ink cartridge costs $44, so a complete set is a $440 investment. The good news is the ink supply lasts a long time. While many inkjet printer cartridges hold 10 ml of ink or less, UltraChrome Pro10 cartridges hold 50 ml of ink. The SureColor P900 comes with 10 full cartridges supplying half a liter (about a quart) of ink.I was impressed by how many photos I could print. After priming the ink, the cartridges showed about a third of the total capacity left. I expected to see low ink warnings after a few 17 x 22-inch prints. However, I printed the equivalent of 44 letter-size pages with 100% coverage before light gray was noticeably low, reaching 7%. Standard gray dropped to 10%. The six colors and two blacks barely moved, showing 25% to 30% remaining.Since cartridges can be purchased individually, I only need to replenish whats low, so ink costs arent the biggest concern. Fine art paper in large sheets can cost several dollars per sheet.The SureColor P900 uses durable UltraChrome Pro10 ink that Epson estimates to last for hundreds of years in ideal conditions. Color prints are rated at up to 200 years while black-and-white can last for as long as 400 years in accelerated aging tests.As a unique professional tool that makes photos into showpieces, the Epson SureColor P900 offers great value for photographers. I cant overstate how important on-demand prints are without waiting days for a print shop or photo lab to see the results. If theres an error, the print job is delayed again.There are other photo printers with great quality, including Epsons more affordable SureColor P700 that can print on media up to 13 inches wide. While the six-color ink system of the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8500 isnt as refined and it only handles 8.5 x 11-inch paper, its a more affordable alternative for budding photographers.For casual, enthusiast use, its harder to justify the expense and space requirements. Still, theres great value in getting such stunning quality on art paper in poster-size prints within minutes.If you want more than a standard inkjet printer can deliver, Epsons Expression Photo XP-8800 is an inexpensive six-color photo printer that makes sense for a home user.