Designed for architecture and engineering firms and the like, the Epson WorkForce WF-7525 is being touted as the ideal solution for graphic design-related businesses. For this affordable, low-cost four-in-one printer, Epson is putting the emphasis on variety of formats, print quality, speed and connectivity. So we decided to put the WF-7525 to the test and see how many of its promises it lives up to.
Design and Build
The manufacturer ostensibly didn't focus much effort on the design of this rather bulky printer. Esthetics have never been the strong point of multifunction printers, and this one clearly sticks to the rule, with an accent on solidity instead.
This generously-equipped machine prints, copies, scans and faxes. Anyone who prefers buttons to a touchscreen—not us—will be pleased because the front panel is covered with them. The WF-7525 can be plugged into a computer via USB cable or shared with colleagues via Ethernet or Wi-Fi. The wireless model uses the same service found in the latest Epson Connect BX series. Among the services included in Epson Connect, you have:
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The card readers on the front panel allow you to scroll through and view photos on the small (6.3 cm) screen and print your own selection directly from the printer without going through a computer or mobile device.
The two 250-sheet paper trays simplify processes for businesses that print on both blank paper and letterhead, and the 500-sheet capacity means they don't need to be constantly refilled.
The ink cartridge slots are located inside the machine on a four-cartridge cart.
Speed
Epson is advertising print speeds of 34 pages per minute (ppm) in draft mode, up to 15 ppm in B&W and up to 8.2 ppm in colour for professional-quality documents. We measured the speed in standard mode with documents containing both text and images. As illustrated in the graph below, the print speeds we recorded are slightly higher than those advertised (with the exception of draft mode): 10 ppm for colour, 17 ppm for B&W and 23 ppm in draft mode. With double-sided prints these figures drop to 8 ppm. For comparison, the Brother MFC-J6910DW is a bit faster in colour at 12 ppm, but slower in B&W at 14 ppm.
Pages per minute (ppm)
With photo printing the Brother MFC-J6910DW prints slightly faster in 10 x 15 cm format, at 67 seconds, compared to 75 seconds on the WF-7525. In A4 format Brother holds the upper hand, at 148 seconds, compared to 194 seconds on the Epson.
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Print quality
The Epson WF-7525 uses a technology in which each ink droplet is encapsulated within a resin coating that makes the printed material resistant to water, stains, highlighters and yellowing. So we highlighted all over the place and threw water on the paper... And the ink didn't budge. No running, no seeping, nothing.
Graphs in text documents come out in fairly good quality. As you can see below, the size of the ink droplets is visible in solidly coloured areas and the contours of certain letters lack depth and precision. However, the colour shading is accurate and the characters (yellow on a green background) are still legible, as are the characters in the bottom-left legend.
The colour differences show that certain colours lack accuracy (especially blue), which right off the bat raises questions about Epson's promise of high precision and bright colours. In any case, if the colours are indeed brighter, they aren't more accurate.
Average delta E 94 (colour difference): 10.4
Epson opted for a rendering that could be considered "luminous". On photographs the colours come out lighter than on the original image, as though the photographer had used the flash. Who knows, some users may just prefer this look over darker images. However, the lower contrast makes them lose a certain amount of depth, at least compared to the norm.
On photo prints the sharpness is entirely adequate and the ink droplets don't stand out too much. But they aren't completely invisible in certain areas of shading, either, especially skin tones.
Average delta E 94 (colour difference): 7
The print quality is still a step or two behind the Epson Stylus Photo PX730WD and photography-geared A3's such as the R3000 or, more recently, the 1500W.
Scanner & Copier
The copy mode is more of a backup solution than anything else. It works for text, but it's clearly not made to reproduce graphical elements with any sort of finesse.
The WorkForce WF-7525 takes 16 seconds to produce black and white copies and 21 seconds for colour. A button is conveniently located below the copy buttons for optimising or reducing the reproduction quality. The density settings can also be changed.
The WF-7525 is capable of saving scans as PDF files and sending them straight to a memory card or computer, or a third-party recipient by e-mail.
Power Use
In sleep mode the WorkForce WF-7525 consumes a colossal amount of power: 4 watts (that's much too high when you consider that most inkjets go below 1 watt). In work mode, however, it consumes 16 W, which is in the lower average for the inkjet printers we've reviewed.
The WorkForce WF-7525 is a "silent" printer, producing 47 dB(A).
Cost Per Page
: 7.9 pence
The cost per page is very good, although certainly not one of the best. It is lower than the Stylus Photo 1500W (9.5 pence per page), for example, but well above Brother's A3+ multifunction printer, the MFC-J6910DW (4.9 pence per page).
ISO lifespan for text
Design and Build
The manufacturer ostensibly didn't focus much effort on the design of this rather bulky printer. Esthetics have never been the strong point of multifunction printers, and this one clearly sticks to the rule, with an accent on solidity instead.
This generously-equipped machine prints, copies, scans and faxes. Anyone who prefers buttons to a touchscreen—not us—will be pleased because the front panel is covered with them. The WF-7525 can be plugged into a computer via USB cable or shared with colleagues via Ethernet or Wi-Fi. The wireless model uses the same service found in the latest Epson Connect BX series. Among the services included in Epson Connect, you have:
- Email Print: print e-mails and attachments by sending e-mails to the printer (up to 10 MB)
- iPrint (the new version, compatible with all Epson printers): print, scan or send any document/photo/web page to/from your smartphone or tablet
- AirPrint: the Apple app that allows iOS users to print documents on compatible printers, without installing any drivers or software
- Google Cloud Print, also available on Canon's latest series: print from Gmail and Google Docs via Google Chrome
Front panel
The card readers on the front panel allow you to scroll through and view photos on the small (6.3 cm) screen and print your own selection directly from the printer without going through a computer or mobile device.
The two 250-sheet paper trays simplify processes for businesses that print on both blank paper and letterhead, and the 500-sheet capacity means they don't need to be constantly refilled.
Two 250-sheet paper trays
The ink cartridge slots are located inside the machine on a four-cartridge cart.
Ink cartridge slots
Speed
Epson is advertising print speeds of 34 pages per minute (ppm) in draft mode, up to 15 ppm in B&W and up to 8.2 ppm in colour for professional-quality documents. We measured the speed in standard mode with documents containing both text and images. As illustrated in the graph below, the print speeds we recorded are slightly higher than those advertised (with the exception of draft mode): 10 ppm for colour, 17 ppm for B&W and 23 ppm in draft mode. With double-sided prints these figures drop to 8 ppm. For comparison, the Brother MFC-J6910DW is a bit faster in colour at 12 ppm, but slower in B&W at 14 ppm.
Pages per minute (ppm)
With photo printing the Brother MFC-J6910DW prints slightly faster in 10 x 15 cm format, at 67 seconds, compared to 75 seconds on the WF-7525. In A4 format Brother holds the upper hand, at 148 seconds, compared to 194 seconds on the Epson.
Print quality
The Epson WF-7525 uses a technology in which each ink droplet is encapsulated within a resin coating that makes the printed material resistant to water, stains, highlighters and yellowing. So we highlighted all over the place and threw water on the paper... And the ink didn't budge. No running, no seeping, nothing.
Graphs in text documents come out in fairly good quality. As you can see below, the size of the ink droplets is visible in solidly coloured areas and the contours of certain letters lack depth and precision. However, the colour shading is accurate and the characters (yellow on a green background) are still legible, as are the characters in the bottom-left legend.
The colour differences show that certain colours lack accuracy (especially blue), which right off the bat raises questions about Epson's promise of high precision and bright colours. In any case, if the colours are indeed brighter, they aren't more accurate.
Average delta E 94 (colour difference): 10.4
Hint: the lower the better.
The average for printers we've reviewed is 7.
The average for printers we've reviewed is 7.
Epson opted for a rendering that could be considered "luminous". On photographs the colours come out lighter than on the original image, as though the photographer had used the flash. Who knows, some users may just prefer this look over darker images. However, the lower contrast makes them lose a certain amount of depth, at least compared to the norm.
On photo prints the sharpness is entirely adequate and the ink droplets don't stand out too much. But they aren't completely invisible in certain areas of shading, either, especially skin tones.
With the exception of red and yellow, which clearly peak above the rest, the colour differences and average dE 94 remain reasonable.
Average delta E 94 (colour difference): 7
The print quality is still a step or two behind the Epson Stylus Photo PX730WD and photography-geared A3's such as the R3000 or, more recently, the 1500W.
Scanner & Copier
The copy mode is more of a backup solution than anything else. It works for text, but it's clearly not made to reproduce graphical elements with any sort of finesse.
The WorkForce WF-7525 takes 16 seconds to produce black and white copies and 21 seconds for colour. A button is conveniently located below the copy buttons for optimising or reducing the reproduction quality. The density settings can also be changed.
The WF-7525 is capable of saving scans as PDF files and sending them straight to a memory card or computer, or a third-party recipient by e-mail.
Average delta E 94 (colour difference): 4.4
Power Use
In sleep mode the WorkForce WF-7525 consumes a colossal amount of power: 4 watts (that's much too high when you consider that most inkjets go below 1 watt). In work mode, however, it consumes 16 W, which is in the lower average for the inkjet printers we've reviewed.
The WorkForce WF-7525 is a "silent" printer, producing 47 dB(A).
Cost Per Page
: 7.9 penceThe cost per page is very good, although certainly not one of the best. It is lower than the Stylus Photo 1500W (9.5 pence per page), for example, but well above Brother's A3+ multifunction printer, the MFC-J6910DW (4.9 pence per page).
ISO lifespan for text
| Cartridge | Price (starting at) | ISO lifespan | Cost per page |
| T1301 (black) | £20 | 945 | 2.1 pence |
| T1302 (cyan) | £15 | 765 | 2 pence |
| T1303 (magenta) | £15 | 600 | 2.5 pence |
| T1304 (yellow) | £13 | 1005 | 1.3 pence |
Pros
- Cost per page
- Epson Connect
- Wi-Fi, Ethernet, double-sided prints and card readers
- Silent
- Dual paper tray
- Good resistance to water, stains, etc.
Cons
- Consumes far too much power in sleep mode
- Double-sided prints take twice as long as single-sided
- Lesser quality than Epson's photo printers (PX or 1500W)
Conclusion
When it comes to versatility, productivity and cost reduction, the WF-7525 delivers. With a full range of functions, it is also designed to work via Wi-Fi and print from mobile devices. However, the print quality is a large step behind Epson's photo printers, which could pose a problem for users with high quality standards.
OUR SCORE
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