With the Expression Home XP-420 Small-in-One ($99.99), Epson makes it absolutely clear in the product's name that it's not targeted to a corporate environment. As you would expect, this multifunction printer (MFP) includes features meant primarily for home use, like its ability to print a photo-layout sheet from a camera memory card, even accounting for a problem I saw that may be just with the unit I tested (more on that in the Setup, Speed, and Output Quality section). That makes it a little less appealing as a home printer, but more attractive as a home-office MFP for light-duty use.

In most ways that matter, the XP-420 ($289.99 at Amazon) is hardly changed from the Epson Expression Home XP-410 Small-in-One ($379.88 at Amazon) , which it replaces in Epson's line. Both models lack key features for office use, for example. Unlike the Editors' Choice Brother MFC-J470DW ($179.00 at Amazon) , neither includes an automatic document feeder (ADF) or fax capability. Both also lack Ethernet ports, but include Wi-Fi, so you can share them easily if you want a printer for both home and home office. They also both delivered essentially identical speeds in our tests, along with similar output quality.

Basics

The XP-420's core MFP features are limited to printing from and scanning to a PC, plus copying. However, it can also both print from and scan to a memory card, using JPG files for printing and a choice of JPG or PDF format for scanning. You can also view individual photos from a memory card on the 2.5-inch color LCD before printing them, but the option to print a photo-layout sheet is a welcome alternative.

This MFP offers mobile-printing support, including printing through the cloud and both printing from and scanning to a phone or tablet. With no Ethernet connector, however, the only way to connect to the Internet is through a Wi-Fi access point on your network. That means you won't be able to print through the cloud if you connect to a single PC via USB cable. However, you can still connect directly to print from or scan to a mobile device, thanks to built-in Wi-Fi Direct.

As with most inexpensive inkjet MFPs, the XP-420's paper handling is suitable for only light-duty use, even by home and home-office standards. It's limited to a 100-sheet input tray, with no duplexer and no paper-tray upgrades available.

Setup, Speed, and Output Quality

Setup is typical for the breed. For my tests, I used a USB connection to a computer running Windows Vista. The speed on our business applications suite is best described as acceptable for the price, but no more than that, at 2.6 pages per minute (using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing). That makes it tied with the Epson XP-410 and faster than many printers in its price range. However, it's notably slower than the Brother MFC-J470DW, at 4.9ppm. Photo speed is similarly acceptable, but not impressive, averaging 2 minutes 13 seconds for a 4 by 6.

Text quality is a strong point for the XP-420. Not only is it higher quality that you'll find in most printers meant for home use, it's at the top of the range that includes the vast majority of inkjet MFPs at any price. I wouldn't use it for output that has to look fully professional, like a resumé, but it's easily good enough for most business and personal needs.

Graphics quality in my tests was uneven, with banding showing with some images in some test runs, but not others. The problem consistently showed up when I printed the pages as part of the entire test suite or immediately after. It didn't show up when I turned the printer off, let it sit for an hour or two, and then printed just one or two pages. Epson says it was unable to replicate the banding, and suggested that there might be a problem with the particular unit it sent us for testing.

Even on pages without banding, the graphics output is a half-step below par. Depending on how much of a perfectionist you are, you may or may not consider it good enough for PowerPoint handouts or the like. On the plus side, even the pages that show banding are still easily good enough for any internal business need.

See How We Test Printers

Quality-wise, color photos are at the low end of what you would expect from drugstore prints, making them suitable for snapshots, but not for output you want to frame and put on display. Color quality in particular is problematic, with colors changing under different lighting conditions far more obviously that with most photo output from other inkjet MFPs in its category. In particular, the color was excellent when the only source was sunlight streaming through a window during testing, but showed an unappealing blue shift under both compact fluorescent and LED lighting.

Conclusion

If you need better photo quality than the Epson Expression Home XP-420 Small-in-One delivers, consider the Canon Pixma MG5620 Wireless Photo All-In-One Printer ( at Amazon) . Alternatively, if you want a printer that's more office-oriented, be sure to take a look at the Brother MFC-J470DW, which offers an ADF, fax capability, and a built-in duplexer for two-sided printing. If you don't need the office-related features, however, and aren't concerned about photo quality, the XP-420 has the advantage of better text quality than either of those models and is a perfectly reasonable choice otherwise.

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