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  • Introduction

  • Front

  • Sides

  • Back

  • Ink Cartridges

  • In the Box

  • Performance

  • Photo Print Speed

  • Color Accuracy

  • Color Gamut

  • Depth of Blacks

  • Detail

  • Usability

  • On-Printer Controls

  • On-Printer Display

  • On-Printer Menus

  • Media Slots

  • Wireless & Network

  • Setup & Manuals

  • Drivers

  • Ink/Toner

  • Media

  • Paper Storage

  • Value Comparison

  • Color Comparison

  • Detail Comparison

  • DMax Comparison

  • Color Gamut Comparison

  • Usability Comparison

  • Value Comparison

  • Color Comparison

  • Detail Comparison

  • DMax Comparison

  • Color Gamut Comparison

  • Value Comparison

  • Color Comparison

  • Detail Comparison

  • DMax Comparison

  • Color Gamut Comparison

  • Usability Comparison

  • Conclusion

  • Introduction
  • Front
  • Sides
  • Back
  • Ink Cartridges
  • In the Box
  • Performance
  • Photo Print Speed
  • Color Accuracy
  • Color Gamut
  • Depth of Blacks
  • Detail
  • Usability
  • On-Printer Controls
  • On-Printer Display
  • On-Printer Menus
  • Media Slots
  • Wireless & Network
  • Setup & Manuals
  • Drivers
  • Ink/Toner
  • Media
  • Paper Storage
  • Value Comparison
  • Color Comparison
  • Detail Comparison
  • DMax Comparison
  • Color Gamut Comparison
  • Usability Comparison
  • Value Comparison
  • Color Comparison
  • Detail Comparison
  • DMax Comparison
  • Color Gamut Comparison
  • Value Comparison
  • Color Comparison
  • Detail Comparison
  • DMax Comparison
  • Color Gamut Comparison
  • Usability Comparison
  • Conclusion

Introduction

Front

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Meet the Epson PM 225 Charm compact photo printer.

Sides

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Back

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Ink Cartridges

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In relation to the size of the printer itself, the ink cartridge for the {{product.name}} is a brobdingnagian monstrosity. Sliding into the back of the printer, the CMYK cartridge included with the printer can only handle about 10 prints, despite its large size.

In the Box

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As well as the printer itself, you get:

  • A software and driver disc.
  • A disappointingly low-yield ink cartridge.
  • A small amount of Epson photo paper.
  • No USB cable.

Performance

The {{product.name}} leaves every other printer we've reviewed in the dust in terms of raw color, detail, and accuracy performance, but there's a catch: it's a compact printer only capable of making 4 x 6 inch prints. For professional photographers who would like larger prints, this model is more tempest-in-a-teacup than pro-photo printer, but these lab results are certainly worthy of mention.

Photo Print Speed

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Compared to other compact photo printers, the {{product.name}} is a speed demon. With an average print time of 34.4 seconds, you'll have your 4" x 6" prints in no time flat, despite a somewhat long print initialization. More on how we test print speed.

Color Accuracy

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Much like other, more complicated printers, the {{product.name}} can handle alternate print profiles, which can greatly increase the overall color accuracy. RIght out of the box, though, the {{product.name}} doesn't do too badly in terms of color accuracy if you're not looking for professional-grade photos. More on how we test color accuracy.

Compared to its closest competition, the {{product.name}} is very closely matched by the HP 646, and that's about it. Both perform very well reproducing accurate colors with their native color profiles, as well as with rebuilt ones.

NOTE: Because of the way computer monitors reproduce colors, the images above may not match the results used for evaluating color accuracy. The chart should be used to judge the relative color shift, not the exact printed colors.

Color Gamut

One of the most eye-opening things about testing the newest compact printers is just how well they do with their color gamut. The {{product.name}} is king here, rivaling the bigger, badder, R3000 in its gamut range, sitting at a crazy-wide 76.58%. This is almost unheard of, even for professional photo printers. To confirm that this was an accurate result, we re-tested this again twice, each time with the same result. This is a printer with a gargantuan color gamut. More on how we test color gamut.

Depth of Blacks

Like its performance in terms of color gamut, the {{product.name}} has a crazily-good depth of blacks. After retesting the printer a few times, we came up with a DMax of 3.35, which hangs with the best of them. Despite its small size, the{{product.name}} has one of the best scores here out of every printer we've reviewed so far. More on how we test depth of blacks.

Detail

For a compact printer, the {{product.name}} does a fair job of handling detail, though there are some disappointing blemishes. Namely, issues with the gradients and sharp edges.

It seems to handle color gradients fine, with only a bit of oversaturation in the darkest end of each ink.

Like other compacts, the {{product.name}} doesn't seem to be able to make edges as crisp or clean as it should be, but it does manage to handle its print jobs fairly well when considering how other compacts typically handle it. Still, take a good look at how poorly the angle scan delineates the change between black and white, as it causes problems in other scans.

Usability

The {{product.name}} is a very compact printer, but it is hindered by its extremely limited media. It does not have many fancy networking features, and the software is somewhat annoying to carry around in disc form wherever you go. Still, if you're just looking for fast, simple 4 x 6 inch prints, you can do no better.

On-Printer Controls

On the printer itself, you'll notice that there are a small collection of buttons, mainly for navigating a simplistic est of menus with a left, right, and OK button labeled as a crude representation of a printer. These buttons are easy to press, though you will probably never use them save for the power button.

On-Printer Display

On the top of the printer is a very tiny screen (2.5") with a similarly tiny resolution. This feature seems to be more of an afterthought by Epson, and doesn't really factor much into interfacing with your device, as most functions outside of maintenance are controlled via the computer.

The on-board screen is a nice touch

On-Printer Menus

From the printer itself you can call forth a small handful of menus to monitor ink levels, certain settings, and different print modes for your photos. Though they aren't very visually appealing or expansive, they get the job done should you decide that you want to print from memory card instead of the computer itself.

The on-screen menu of the Sony DPP-F700

Media Slots

The front of the {{product.name}} is home to the several media slots available to print from. Among the collection of cards you can print from are type I and II compact flash, MemoryStick, SD, and xD. This should be sufficiently complete enough to print from most cameras' media cards.

Wireless & Network

Though the {{product.name}} does not seem to be able to handle wireless printing, Epson does sell a bluetooth adapter that enables you to print from any bluetooth enabled device like a smartphone, but as you can guess, it's not included with the {{product.name}}; you'll have to shell out more for the capability.

Setup & Manuals

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Once you've located a USB cable that will work with the {{product.name}}, connect your cables and run the driver utility on the computer you are going to use the printer with. Once you've set this up, you can insert the ink cartridge and the paper you wish to use and you'll be ready to go. Overall, the setup takes about 15 minutes, depending upon how fast your computer is with installing software.

Drivers

Pretty standard for a compact printer, the drivers for the {{product.name}} allow you limited control over your prints. Becuase there are so few printing options on an extremely limited range of media, this isn't terribly surprising.

Ink/Toner

The included ink cartridge of the {{product.name}} can only handle printing about 10 total prints, so you will be forced to purchase another cartridge in very short order to sate the hungry ink consumption of the {{product.model}}. Though it's common practice to include a small quantity of ink for a compact printer, with the way it's priced the ink is bought at a sum that is higher cost-per-weight than gold. Something's not right here.

 

Media

Because it is a compact printer, the {{product.name}} cannot handle any other media than paper 4" wide. It's not unexpected, but a little disappointing if you bought a printer looking for bigger prints on-demand.

Paper Storage

The load paper tray of the {{product.name}} seems like it was more of an afterthought in the design process, though it does manage to hold a relatively standard number of sheets in the tray itself. You can expect the printer to handle 20 sheets of paper before it has jamming issues.

 

Value Comparison

Though you can find the {{product.name}} for cheaper than the A646 at this point in its life cycle, going from a strict MSRP standpoint, the A646 is slightly cheaper. Additionally, the ink for the {{product.name}} is about $10 more expensive per cartridge. Over time, the A646 will be the cheaper buy, but it's hard to beat the initial hit of $100 less for the {{product.name}} right now.

Color Comparison

Both printers have exceptionally good color accuracy, and with a custom profile, both score almost identically well, so you really can't go wrong with either here.

Detail Comparison

In terms of detail, the {{product.name}} does a fairly good job at maintaining sharp lines and high contrast, but it is far from an ideal printer to handle this task. Still, it can only print 4 x 6 photos, so it's not like we're talking about artifacting issues on a visible scale here.

DMax Comparison

One of the most amazing bright spots to the {{product.name}} is its dMax measure. Though that of the HP A646 is solidly in the "good" territory, the {{product.name}} is just too deep to even be compared to that of the A646.

Color Gamut Comparison

Similarly, though the gamut of the HP A646 is massive (69.9%), and impressive in its own right, the {{product.name}}'s color gamut range is absolutely brobdingnagian by comparison. Measuring in at 76.58%, the {{product.name}} sets a new PrinterInfo.com record.

Usability Comparison

Here's where the {{product.name}} falls short against the HP A646. Not only can the A646 print 5 x 7 photos, but it can also use its native bluetooth connection to print photos from your smartphone. While the HP is a connectivity powerhouse, the PM 225 can't quite compete in this area.

Value Comparison

Costing almost twice as much as the {{product.name}}, the A536 lags in every category but usability. If you only care about making 4 x 6 prints, the {{product.name}} wins hands-down, but the HP A536 allows you much more flexibility in portability, media, and print source.

Color Comparison

Even with a custom profile, the HP A536 only sniffs the {{product.name}}'s color accuracy performance, but still can't match it. You'll notice a theme in the raw performance comparisons here.

Detail Comparison

While neither printer impresses in terms of detail, the {{product.name}} does a better job recreating fine lines and color gradients better than the A536 does, so again, the {{product.name}} is the better pick from a performance standpoint.

DMax Comparison

With a dMax score of 2.11, the HP A536 is not even on the same plane of performance as the {{product.name}}, which has an astoundingly good depth of blacks measure.

Color Gamut Comparison

The {{product.name}} has an absolutely huge color gamut as well, measuring in at 76.58% of the Adobe RGB color gamut. The HP A536 has a respectable color gamut, but looks bad in comparison to that of the {{product.name}}.

Value Comparison

This one's tricky to compare for a number of reasons, mainly because the printer to the Z340 is attached to a camera, and can print just about anywhere that's not underwater. On the other hand, the print quality of the Z340 is terrible. If you're looking for frame-worthy photos, the {{product.name}} is the printer you're looking for.

Color Comparison

Across the board, the {{product.name}} is far more accurate with color reproduction than the Z340 is. Not only that, but what you can't see here is the fact that there is also a huge color error problem on the tail edge of every print, with a band of orange at the bottom of every 2 x 3 print.

Detail Comparison

Perhaps there's only so much you should expect from a printer with no ink, but the Polaroid camera just can't even compete in terms of detail reproduction. Still, we're talking about a maximum 2 x 3 print here, so there's really not a whole lot one should expect.

DMax Comparison

Again with the unfair comparisons, the Z340 doesn't even come close to "good," whereas the {{product.name}} is close to "best of all-time (so far)." If you're looking for quality prints, you're not going to be using the Z340, that's for sure.

Color Gamut Comparison

Similarly, the Z340's color gamut is not nearly as wide as the {{product.name}}'s is, but it's not a fair comparison. Not even close.

Usability Comparison

Here is where the Z340 really shines: not only is this a printer that's attached to a 14 megapixel camera, but it's a printer that uses no ink. While it's a small convenience, it's nice ot only have to buy the paper you'll use to print on, and that saves a lot of hassle and frustration down the line. The {{product.name}} on the other hand, doesn't really go much of anywhere, and requires ink cartridges to print. Raw performance means only so much.

Conclusion

If you're looking for a compact printer that can give you 4 x 6 prints with a remarkably high quality, the {{product.name}} fits the bill to a "t". With an amazingly wide color gamut, and a great color accuracy score, the {{product.name}} is a top performer in its category at a very reasonable price point.

In addition to substantially good detail performance, the {{product.name}} is a quick and accurate printer. Though the ink cartridge packaged with the printer only lasts about 10 prints, you can buy higher-capacity versions online. If you're looking for a compact with better picture performance, we have yet to find one.

Though it does suffer the setbacks of being a compact by nature, it performs as well as you could ask for. For those of you looking for the ability to make larger prints, the {{product.name}} isn't the printer you're looking for.

Meet the tester

Chris Thomas

Chris Thomas

Staff Writer, Imaging

@cthomas8888

A seasoned writer and professional photographer, Chris reviews cameras, headphones, smartphones, laptops, and lenses. Educated in Political Science and Linguistics, Chris can often be found building a robot army, snowboarding, or getting ink.

See all of Chris Thomas's reviews

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