Digital Lifestyle > Reviews > Compact photo printers > P350

P350

P350
  • Manufacturer: Lexmark (http://www.lexmark.co.uk)
  • Pros: Detail in the shadows and in darker areas of photographs was visible, decent reproduction of life-like colours
  • Cons: Images can appear very pale, the most unattractive printer on test,
  • Price: £99
  • Star rating: 0

Lexmark has a bit of a reputation for poor-quality photo printing, but with the P350 the company has introduced a new ink set – the evercolor2 pigmented inks – which is housed in a single, three-colour cartridge.

The new inks seem to have made quite a difference and this printer stood up well in our tests, with colour reproduction being better than both the Canon and the HP offerings. Skin tones were flattering, and although colours could appear pale, this did mean that detail in the shadows was clear – only the Lexmark prints revealed the details in the rocks at sunsets and the faces of people at the bar in a low-light shot. However, pale colours did mean that the green leaves and red-and-yellow flowers in one of our test pictures were a pale imitation of real life.

Print time was the longest of all the printers on test – it took a whopping 2 minutes 11 seconds for our test print to come out. However, prints were dry to the touch immediately and colours weren’t washed away when the print was submerged in water and then wiped dry.

Like the HP and Epson models, the Lexmark P350 comes with a carry handle. It’s slightly larger than the HP Photosmart and slightly heavier, but the two printers are comparable in shape and design, although the dark-grey HP beats the off-white Lexmark in the style stakes.

Overall, the Lexmark P350 is a good home-printing option. It’s cheaper than the Canon and only slightly more expensive than the HP but with better quality prints. Prints can appear pale, but do reveal detail in the shadows that is lost to the other printers we looked at. One feature that’s missing from Lexmark’s portable photo printer is an optional battery pack. Its built-in handle is a nice touch, but for true print-anywhere convenience, a battery is a necessity.

This product is part of our Compact photo printers group product review. Other products in this group are:

 

Photosmart A618

  • Star rating: 0

 

PictureMate 280

  • Editors ChoiceStar rating: 0

 

Selphy CP730

  • Star rating: 0

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