Product Review: Epson’s WorkForce Pro Revolutionizes Printing

Putting the Printing Pedal to the Metal

Head-to-head tests between printers usually come down to speed and quality.

Having already confirmed the top quality of the Epson WorkForce Pro WF-R4640 EcoTank’s output, it was time to test its speed. Having a fast printer can mean the difference between long lines behind a printing bottleneck and a free-flowing work process, especially in large agencies.

According to the product specifications, the printer’s maximum speed is 10 pages per minute for color and 20 for black and white. While those numbers are helpful, they do not give a true, real-world picture of speed.

To test that, we loaded a 30-page document with text that used every character on a standard keyboard in a variety of fonts along with bold and italicized paragraphs.

For color printing, the test document was also 30 pages, and contained the same variety of fonts as the first document, but also included photographs, business graphics and line art.

Text was placed around, though and under photographs as well, and a few of the pages contained a single, very complex high-resolution image that would create a challenge for any printer.

Looking at the raw speed test, the WF-R4640 turned in a respectable performance, finishing the 30 pages in one minute and 42 seconds. It printed straight through without pausing at any point.

A little more time was needed for the color test. The WF-R4640 had to pause in several places to process information, especially when it hit the full-page graphics. Still, it bounded over the finish line in two minutes and 29 seconds. More important, in this case: All of the oddly placed photographs were rendered properly, even those with text over and through them. There were no kerning, placement or smearing errors.

The WorkForce Pro WF-R4640 EcoTank isn’t the fastest printer in its class, but it strikes a perfect balance between speed and quality. It would be an excellent choice for any medium-sized federal workgroup with robust color-printing demands, and could also find a home with larger groups if their printing needs aren’t incredibly taxing.