PRINTING. The Epson Expression ET-2500 prints using inkjet technology, which sprays liquid ink onto the paper from a moving head. It prints photos on glossy paper that are fine for casual users, but not as good as most inkjet printers. Unlike most color printers, it can't print borderless photos. Text printing is not a strong point, with noticeably fuzzy edges on letters. Text printing was reasonably fast, 8.1 pages per minute, costing 0.3 cents per page. It prints color graphics with some obvious defects, but OK for casual use, at 2.4 pages per minute, costing 1.4 cents per page.
SCANNING and COPYING. Scanning performance was Good, but had a few noticeable flaws. It can scan or copy an area up to 11.3 x 8.4 inches (letter size). Copying performance was Very Good, suitable for most purposes.
CONTROLS and DISPLAY. The printer has no display screen.
CONNECTIVITY and NETWORKING. You can connect directly to a PC with a USB cable, or to your network router wirelessly with WiFi. There's a WiFi Auto-connect feature that makes it easy to link to your wireless router. Google Cloud Print is built in, to print wirelessly from smart devices via the internet. You can also install Epson's app on your smart phone or tablet, as another option for printing over your WiFi network. You can also print an email remotely by forwarding it directly to this printer.
COST OF OWNERSHIP AND INK. When this section was last updated, the printer's purchase price was about $280, expensive for an all-in-one inkjet printer. Printing uses up ink. Over time, as you print, the costs add up. This printer uses 4 tanks. When the ink runs low, you refill the tanks. The inks are sold in bottles. The Epson ink bottles used in testing were the T6641, T6642, T6643, and T6644. At the time, their prices were all $13 each. We estimate one set of full tanks to last an extraordinarily long time: around 2.6 years. After 2 years of typical use, we estimate the total cost to be $303, low for an inkjet. The estimated yearly cost is $11, also low for this printer type. So the 3-, 4- and 5-year estimates are $314, $326 and $337 respectively.
NOTE. The printer takes up a lot of space and might be more suitable for an office than a small desktop.
PRINTER FIRMWARE. Firmware is software that exists inside the printer. All models are evaluated using the latest firmware version available at the time of testing.
SOFTWARE. The collection of software accompanying the printer may include: the printer driver, printer applications, electronic user manual, (and for all-in-ones:) scanning, faxing, and OCR apps. These get installed on your personal computer. All models are evaluated with a Windows 10 PC using the latest version of printer driver and printer support apps available at the time of testing. The software version was 2.41.0.0.
