Epson Expression Photo XP-980: Specs, Features, Pros & Cons
Epson's Expression Photo XP-980 is an all-in-one that can print a borderless photograph the size of a small poster, and very few printers that also copy and scan go that large. It is a cartridge printer, sold under Epson's Expression Photo name, and it uses six separate color cartridges where an ordinary household printer gets by with four.
Most of the design points at pictures. A dedicated photo tray, memory-card slots, a large touchscreen and direct printing onto CDs and DVDs let it work without a computer at all. The flatbed can scan an old family print so a fresh copy comes off the same machine a minute later, which makes it a handy tool for anyone restoring an album. Pages also print on both sides automatically, and it connects over Wi-Fi, Ethernet or USB, with AirPrint for iPhones and Epson's app for everything else.
The person it suits prints photographs for albums, frames, scrapbooks and craft projects more often than they print letters. A photographer who wants to check an edit on paper before sending a file to a lab would also find a use for it, since the larger sizes let a print be judged at something close to wall scale.
What it gives up is everything that makes documents cheap and quick. Black pages come out at about half the speed of an ordinary home inkjet, there is no document feeder, so multi-page scanning happens a sheet at a time, and there is no fax. Small photo cartridges make plain-paper printing costly as well. A household that mostly prints homework and forms would be buying a small photo lab to do an office job.
Category strengths
Where the Epson Expression Photo XP-980 beats the median
- Has touchscreen display ?
- A higher print resolution ?5,760 dpi vs 4,800 dpi (median)
Where the Epson Expression Photo XP-980 trails the median
- No automatic document feeder ?
- A much lower print speed (black) ?8.5 ppm vs 16 ppm (median)
- A lower input tray capacity ?100 sheets vs 150 sheets (median)
- A much lower output tray capacity ?30 sheets vs 67.5 sheets (median)
- A lower print speed (color) ?8 ppm vs 9 ppm (median)
- A heavier build ?8.8 kg vs 7.98 kg (median)
How this VS Score was computed
Score 42: each known spec is measured against the median of all printers (65 products), then weighted; 50 means level with that median. In classes of six or more, a value beyond the class’s 10th–90th percentile range counts as that limit, so one extreme product cannot set the scale. 61% of the scoreable weight could be used; unknown values, features not applicable to this class and proxies (battery capacity where a rated life exists) add or remove nothing.
| Specification | This product | Cohort median | Score weight | Points moved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automatic duplex printing | Yes | 73% of the class have it | 1 | +50.0 |
| Automatic document feeder | No | 55% of the class have it | 1 | −48.0 |
| Print speed (black) | 8.5 — capped at the class’s lower range (8.8) | 16 | 2 | −44.0 |
| Ethernet | Yes | 54% of the class have it | 0.5 | +25.0 |
| Touchscreen display | Yes | 45% of the class have it | 0.5 | +25.0 |
| Supertank / refillable ink | No | 30% of the class have it | 0.5 | −24.0 |
| Duplex scanning | No | 23% of the class have it | 0.5 | −24.0 |
| Input tray capacity | 100 | 150 | 1 | −17.0 |
| Fax | No | 35% of the class have it | 0.2 | −9.6 |
| Output tray capacity | 30 | 67.5 | 0.3 | −8.4 |
| Print speed (color) | 8 | 9 | 1 | −6.0 |
| Print resolution | 5,760 | 4,800 | 0.5 | +5.0 |
| Weight | 8.8 | 7.98 | 0.3 | −1.5 |
Not scored: Color printing (standard for the class (88% have it)); Monthly duty cycle (unknown: not scored); All-in-one (standard for the class (85% have it)); ADF capacity (unknown: not scored); Wi-Fi (standard for the class (97% have it)); Wi-Fi Direct (standard for the class (90% have it)); USB (standard for the class (100% have it)); Apple AirPrint (standard for the class (97% have it)); Mobile app printing (standard for the class (100% have it)).
Editor’s note
The Epson Expression Photo XP-980 is a photo printer first and an all-in-one second, and every interesting number on its sheet points at the first job. It prints borderless up to 11 x 17 inches, genuine wide-format wall-art territory, using six individual Claria Photo HD cartridges (the usual four plus light cyan and light magenta) at a maximum resolution of 5760 x 1440 optimized dpi. A 4×6 photo takes as little as 11 seconds, and droplets go down as small as 1.5 picolitres, which is what smooth skin tones and gradient skies actually require. Document speeds, by contrast, are 8.5 ppm black and 8 ppm color. This is pedestrian, and a clear signal about what this machine is for.
Paper handling is photo-oriented too: a 100-sheet plain tray, a dedicated 20-sheet photo tray, a rear feed for specialty stock, direct CD/DVD printing, and even SD and CompactFlash card slots for computer-free printing on the 4.3-inch touchscreen. Auto duplex covers plain-paper documents. The scanner is a 4800 dpi flatbed. There is no ADF and no fax, so multi-page office scanning is manual page-flipping. Connectivity is current: Wi-Fi 5, Ethernet, USB, Wi-Fi Direct, AirPrint and Epson's Smart Panel app.
Running costs deserve honest accounting. Six cartridges at photo-printer yields (around 500 black / 740 color pages with XL tanks) make this an expensive machine for everyday documents. An EcoTank owner would wince. But that comparison misses the point: dedicated photo output up to tabloid size with this color depth normally means a bulkier, pricier machine.
For scrapbookers, photographers proofing at home, and anyone who wants frame-worthy prints without a lab, the XP-980 is the small-footprint way to get there. As a family document workhorse it is the wrong tool.
Specifications
Quality bars show where each figure sits between the lowest and highest of the 65 printers this VS Score is measured against.
Printing
Scanning & copying
Paper handling
Connectivity
Design
Sources and verification
Where the specifications come from
- Official product pageepson.com
- Datasheet or manualcdn.bfldr.com
- Independent testingrtings.com
Verification
- First published
- Specifications last checked
- Sheet completeness
- 22 of 24 specifications verified; the rest show as Unknown and are never estimated or scored
- Page type
- Product specification page — Compiled from the manufacturer’s published specifications and the cited sources; this is not a hands-on test.
- Basis
- Research-based: specifications and editorial text were compiled from the documents listed here and the manufacturer’s published data. We have not tested this unit ourselves; where independent measurements are mentioned they belong to the linked publication.
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The bottom line
The Epson Expression Photo XP-980 earns a VS Score of 42, below the median of the 65 printers it is measured against (a score of 50 is level with that median).
- Who it’s for
- Photo enthusiasts who want borderless prints up to 11 x 17 with six-ink color depth from a desk-sized machine.
- Who should look elsewhere
- Document-heavy households: 8.5 ppm, no ADF, no fax and photo-printer ink costs make it a poor office workhorse.
- The trade-off that matters
- Exceptional photo output in exchange for high cost per page on everyday documents.
- The main alternative
- Canon PIXMA TR7120
The VS Score is calculated from the weighted specifications above, each measured against the median of comparable printers — a shortlisting guide, not a substitute for your own priorities. See how we score.
