Who should you buy a printer from—Xerox or Epson?
That is the question that we will use our almost 40 years of expertise in the printer/copier industry to answer today.
Because finding the brand with the features that most align with your printing goals can be the difference in making a good purchase or a bad one.
We’ve written numerous printer brand comparisons, and we are always open about the fact that we sell Xerox products.
However, our company philosophy revolves around honesty and transparency. As such, we’re not afraid to call out when a competitor beats out our products in a certain area.
At the end of the day, you need the right information to make an educated purchasing decision and we want to be the medium you go to for access to this kind of information.
This article will have a brief overview of each company, key similarities and differences between their printers, who offers the best prices and a summary detailing who would be a better fit for Xerox and who would want to go with Epson.
Need a printer/copier? Download your free copy of the Complete Guide to Purchasing or Leasing a Printer for Your Business to make sure you get the right machine in place the first time.
Overview of Xerox
Xerox was founded in 1906 in Rochester, New York, and is credited with being the first printing company to manufacture and sell xerographic plain-paper copiers.
Today, Xerox has over 13,000 active patents for innovation, and its products, which include print solutions for several workplaces, have reached 160 countries worldwide.
Headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, Xerox concentrates on selling office equipment such as single-function (print only), multifunction (print, copy, scan and fax) and production printers for a wide array of workgroups. They also sell a wide range of services and solutions for things like print management and document workflows.
Overview of Epson
Epson is a multinational electronics corporation based in Suwa, Nagano, Japan that was established in 1942. They are credited with creating the world’s first miniprinter, the EP-101, in 1968.
On the office equipment side, they sell many different types of printers and scanners, including selections for home and office use. Their catalog goes beyond traditional printers and includes machines like Supertank printers, photo printers and label printers, among others.
Epson also markets different types of robotic machines and software, and they notably sell a variety of projectors for classrooms, meeting rooms and large venues.
Both Xerox and Epson made our “Top Five Printer Brands (2024)” list. Check out the list to see what other brands made the cut.
2 Similarities Between Xerox and Epson
Let’s first go over two similarities between Xerox and Epson:
-
Brand Recognition
A key similarity shared by Xerox and Epson is they both are award-winning brands that have been mainstays in the industry for decades.
Epson celebrated its 80-year anniversary in 2022 and has noted partnerships with former NBA Hall-of-Famer Shaquille O-Neal and the LPGA.
Xerox has frequented the printer world for over 100 years and has won awards for its products from Keypoint Intelligence and CRN, among others. They were recently awarded with the Buyers Lab (BLI) Document Imaging Software Line of the Year for 2022.
-
Modernized User Interfaces and Apps
Another similarity between Xerox and Epson is that the majority of their machines contain modernized touchscreens as the machine’s main source of navigation.
The way you complete tasks at the machine, like printing, copying or scanning, has changed over the years. Many modern-day printers are now equipped with a smartphone or tablet-like touchscreens as the mechanism for completing tasks rather than manual buttons.
They also each have apps you can download to help automate tasks and increase general office productivity. These apps enable actions like mobile printing and scanning or printing to cloud services.
While most machines in both brands’ catalogs contain touchscreens and the ability to download apps, there are a couple of differences within those similarities that are important to note.
One, Xerox and Epson have different-looking touchscreens. See the images below to see how they compare to each other:
Xerox User Interface (Courtesy of Xerox)
Epson User Interface (Courtesy of Professional Plotter Technology)
And two, Xerox’s App Gallery also includes more unique productivity apps, like the Xerox Translate and Print app, and industry-specific applications compared to Epson, which offers printer apps built to aid the common printer tasks.
Read our blog on the pros and cons of apps for your printer to learn more about their benefits and if they would be a fit for your workplace.
2 Differences Between Xerox and Epson
Let’s now go over two of the key differences between Xerox and Epson:
-
Different Printer Options
The first major difference between Xerox and Epson is the types of printers they sell outside of traditional office printers/copiers.
Epson has more home printer options in its catalog than Xerox. They have 20 printers listed in their “Printers and All-in-Ones for Home,” and also have categories for EcoTank printers and photo printers for home use.
Xerox’s machines are built more for office settings. While they have smaller machines for home offices, like the Xerox B225, they are not the best option when trying to find a personal printer.
On the other hand, Xerox sells production printers built for high-volume workgroups or print shops. Epson has production photo and graphic art printers, but they do not have large production presses like Xerox does.
If you need a printer outside of the traditional office space, Xerox and Epson differ in the types of machines they offer, with Epson having more home solutions and Xerox having more enterprise solutions.
-
Specialize in Different Features
The next difference between the two brands lies in the types of features they specialize in.
You may have already heard of or noticed Epson’s EcoTank printers; they are some of the most environmentally sustainable machines you can find in the printer industry.
Some of the features on their EcoTank printers include cartridge-free supplies, replacement ink options and a “Zero Cartridge Waste” initiative.
They have EcoTank printers for multiple categories of machines, including for the home and office setting and their photo printer catalog.
Xerox, meanwhile, concentrates on security as one of its strongest features, ranking near the top of brands on Quocirca’s 2022 Print Security Landscape, just behind HP.
Some of Xerox’s notable security features include McAfee’s Whitelisting technology and Cisco’s Identity Services Engine (ISE), which are available on Xerox’s large office machines.
Which Printer Brand Has the Best Prices?
When it comes to money, it’s difficult to compare Xerox and Epson straight up because of the different types of products they sell.
Epson has cheaper printers than Xerox, but that is because they have multiple home printer options while Xerox doesn’t focus as much on the cheaper machines.
To give you a better estimate of how the brands compare on pricing, we’re going to be comparing two similar multifunction machines from their catalogs: The Xerox AltaLink C8170 and the Epson Workforce Enterprise WF-C20750.
Xerox AltaLink C8170 vs. Epson WorkForce Enterprise WF-C20750
The current standard retail price for the Xerox AltaLink C8170, released in July 2020, is $32,500 while the Epson Workforce Enterprise WF-C20750, released in September 2020 is $27,213, according to bliQ.
These machines are similar to each other in a lot of ways and there is not a substantial difference in their retail prices.
But there are a couple of significant differences that could make you choose one machine over the other. Let’s break them down in more detail:
Xerox AltaLink C8170 (Courtesy of Xerox)
Epson Workforce Enterprise WF-C20750 (Courtesy of PC & More)
Difference #1: Print Speed and Volume
One of the instantly noticeable differences when looking at each machine’s specifications is that the Epson Workforce Enterprise WF-C20750 prints a lot faster and at a much higher volume than the Xerox AltaLink C8170.
The Epson machine prints at speeds of up to 75 ppm (pages per minute) while the Xerox machine prints at 70 ppm.
They have similar maximum monthly duty cycles, which is a numerical measure of the machine’s power, but differ in the recommended monthly print volume, which is the number you should always follow if you want the machine to last.
The Epson printer has a recommended monthly print volume of up to 100,000 pages, while the Xerox printer has a much lower 40,000-page recommended monthly print volume.
Difference #2: Finishing and Configuration Options
Another disparity between the two machines is the Xerox AltaLink C8170 has more finishing and configuration options you can add to customize it to your desired state.
The Epson Workforce Enterprise WF-C20750 does have options for finishers (i.e. booklet-making or hole punch) but doesn’t have as many selections as Xerox’s machine does. See the graphic below that displays each machine’s finishing options (courtesy of bliQ):
In addition to finishers, the Xerox printer will have more security features and accessory options than the Epson printer in this comparison.
Difference #3: Printing Supplies
The third difference between these machines is the printing supplies they take. The Epson printer uses ink cartridges to execute printing while the Xerox one uses toner cartridges.
The pro to the Epson machine using ink instead of toner is it uses heat-free technology, which can save on power consumption. The con to using ink cartridges is they can clog when you don’t use them regularly and can expire, resulting in wasted supplies.
Printers using ink can result in more service issues as well, especially when you don’t use the machine every day.
Read our blog discussing the differences between laser and inkjet printers to learn more about the pros and cons of each.
Which Printer Model Is Better?
Now that you’ve seen a couple of important differences between the two models, which one should you go with?
If you wanted the printer that can print faster and withstand a higher print volume, then the Epson Workforce Enterprise WF-C20750 would be the better choice.
If you wanted to configure and customize your machine with more accessories and finishers, then the Xerox AltaLink C8170 would be the best choice in this scenario.
Both machines are quality multifunction units, and sometimes the decision on which brand to choose comes down to who you want to purchase from.
If there’s a local print vendor close to you and they sell Epson machines, you would probably want to go with the Epson printer because of the proximity between your location and the vendor. Since service is important to your printer ownership, it’s important to be close to the company you’re relying on for your printer.
Who you decide to purchase from, usually either a print vendor or directly from a printer brand will go a long way toward which machine you ultimately choose.
Which Printer Brand Is Right for You—Xerox or Epson?
The printer/copier industry is full of different brands, with each of them offering something a little different than the other.
Xerox and Epson overlap in certain areas, such as their abundance of office printers, but differ on key features that are vital to know before deciding which brand you want to go with.
What can be said about both brands is they’ve been staples of the printer industry for a long time, and there’s a reason for that: They sell quality products encompassing a broad range of solutions.
But which brand you ultimately decide to go with—Xerox, Epson or another—is entirely up to you.
We’ve learned throughout our time selling office printing equipment that the best thing you can do to get the right machine in place is educating yourself beforehand. Looking at brand comparisons is a great way to learn more about the options you have as a consumer.
If you’re interested in reading through another comparison, read our blog comparing Xerox to another one of its competitors, Canon, to see a different comparison between major printer brands.
