This is one of the more compact color laser printers, but has a full 250-sheet A4 tray plus a 50-sheet multi-purpose feed.
It ’s not a scanner , copier or fax, and there’s no Wi-Fi, just USB 2.0 and Gigabit Ethernet to connect to a PC or network.
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Neither the tiny LCD screen nor the printed Quick Start Guide are helpful, but it doesn’t matter because everything can be set up using Kyocera’s software, including duplex (printing both sides).
Although the P5026cdn lacks Wi-Fi, it works with phones and tablets once it’s connected to a network with wireless access, which you could achieve by cabling it to your broadband router.
This printer’s predecessor, the ET-2500, looked as if its big selling point – four refillable reservoirs of color – had been stuck on the side as an afterthought.
Now Epson has redesigned this printer/ scanner/copier to integrate the ink tank system more neatly (see ringed area in main image). Compared with the hassle and expense of installing new cartridges every few weeks, the concept is very appealing.
Instead of having to decide how patchy you let printed pages become before you give up and replace a color, here you can see how much ink is left. For about a tenner you can buy a new bottle of an y of Text looked crisp, although it could have been a little blacker on the default setting, and color business graphics were solid and vibrant. Photos didn ’t look great, but few color laser printers excel here. At 16.4 pages per minute (ppm) in black or 10ppm in color, this isn’t an especially fast printer for its price bracket, but if speed isn’t your priority you might like the Quiet mode, which slows it even further to avoid noise. It ’s still faster than most inkjets.
Running costs work out at about 7.6p per color page and 1.3p for mono, and you can save more using the Eco mode, which came out noticeably faint. Those are reasonable costs, but a full set of toners adds up to over £250. Unless you really need the volume , speed and solid colors of an office laser printer , an inkjet will be the better choice for most users.
Kyocera Ecosys P5026cdn Review: VERDICT
If you need a proper heavy duty color laser printer , this is relatively affordable to buy and run, but it’s not for everyone
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Kyocera Ecosys P5026cdn Review: ALTERNATIVE
Epson WorkForce Pro WF-5620DWF
A fast ink jet MFP like this or HP’s OfficeJet Pro 8720 does more and costs less to run
Kyocera Ecosys P5026cdn Review: SPECIFICATIONS
1200x1200dpi maximum print resolution • 26ppm quoted speed • PCL 6 • PostScript 3 • XPS Direct Print • USB 2.0 • Gigabit Ethernet • 329x410x410mm (HxWxD) • 21kg • Two-year warranty
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