In the following article, we have Epson XP 830 vs XP 860 compared to each other. Both are affordable wireless all-in-one printers that are designed mainly for photo printing. They offer excellent image quality, thanks to their sophisticated inks and high native resolution. However, there are several notable differences between Epson XP 830 and Epson XP 860 that you have to consider before deciding on a purchase. For example, Epson XP 830 prints more quickly while Epson XP 860 prints with richer and more accurate colors. See the breakdown below!
Print Performance
Epson XP 830 has the better edge if you really need a printer that works fast. Well, it is not really blazing fast, but it is considerably faster than Epson XP 860. The ISO printing speeds are 14 ppm for black and 11 ppm for color. However, when doing two-sided pages, the printing speeds are greatly reduced to 5.4 ppm for black and 4.9 ppm for color. See our previous comparison about this model, too: Epson XP 830 vs XP 820.
The print quality is good. This model is especially great for printing photographs quickly. The five-ink system consists of cyan, magenta, yellow, photo black, and matte black inks. The last one is used specially for text and document printing. With a maximum print resolution of 5760 x 1440 dpi, this printer can deliver decent sharpness and detail.
On the other hand, Epson XP 860 is significantly slower at 9.5 ISO ppm for black and 9.0 ISO ppm for color. Two-sided prints are even slower at 4.7 ISO ppm for black and 4.5 ISO ppm for color. However, the reduced speeds are caused by the more sophisticated ink system. Unlike Epson XP 830, Epson XP 860 works with six ink cartridges which consist of black, yellow, cyan, light cyan, magenta, and light magenta.
You see, it does not have a special cartridge for text and document printing; the whole system is focused on photo printing. The print quality is indeed much better. It offers much richer, deeper, and more vibrant colors.
Features
The other features of Epson XP 830 vs XP 860 are quite identical. They each are equipped with a 4.3” color LCD. The display also serves as a touchscreen which supports gesture navigation. This is a great feature. It can help you save a lot of time with its ease of control.
Both also have automatic two-sided print, copy, scan, and fax. They each are equipped with an optical disc tray for printing directly on CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays. The main input tray has a 100-sheet capacity, the ADF tray has a 30-sheet capacity, and the specialty paper tray can hold up to 20 sheets of gloss photo papers.
Both Epson XP 830 and Epson XP 860 are equipped with USB, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi connectivity options. You can easily connect them to your home or office network, be it a wired or wireless network. Both also support PictBridge, which you can use to print your photo shots directly from your digital camera.
Conclusion
If you are entirely focused on photo printing and you don’t mind the slow operation in order to get the best image quality, Epson XP 860 is the way to go. However, for more flexible uses which involve text/document printing, Epson XP 830 is better due to being faster and having a dedicated black ink.
