Which ink does the Epson Expression Premium XP-6100 use?

The Expression Premium XP-6100 prints from four separate Epson 302 cartridges, black, cyan, magenta and yellow, each also available as a 302XL. Separate tanks, so one empty colour is one cartridge to replace.

The size decision splits by slot on this printer. A 302XL colour is rated 650 pages for $21.99, which is 3.38c a page, against 300 pages for $15.39 on the standard, or 5.13c. That is about 34 percent off, so the XL colours are an easy buy. Black barely moves: 550 pages for $29.69 is 5.40c against 6.16c for 250 pages at $15.39, a saving of only 12 percent for 93 percent more at the till.

The set prices show it. A full XL set is $95.66 and a full standard set is $61.56. The colours earn that difference back and the black does not, so the tidy way to buy this printer is XL colours with whichever black you would rather pay for at the counter.

Set beside Epson's own Expression Home XP-4200 in our catalogue, the Premium name does not buy cheaper printing. This machine's 302XL black costs 5.40c where the XP-4200 runs an Epson 232XL black at 9.73c, so the Premium is the cheaper of the two on black. On colour it is cheaper again, 3.38c against the XP-4200's 6.64c, because the XP-4200 has no XL colour to move up to.

Compatible Epson 302 cartridges are available and print, and with separate tanks a compatible set is the largest saving on offer. Epson's guide for the XP-6100 carries the milder of its two firmware warnings, saying only that some updates may affect the functionality of third-party ink. That is a difference in wording rather than in what Epson reserves, so treat it as you would the blunter version and hold updates. As for keeping the machine healthy, the printhead is part of the printer rather than the cartridge, which makes a dried head a repair bill instead of a purchase. Print in colour weekly, leave the printer to finish its charging routine after any cartridge change, and treat a missing colour as a nozzle check before treating it as an empty cartridge, because every cleaning cycle spends ink you have already bought.

Epson gives a refused cartridge no message of its own. Its status message lists carry one line for a cartridge the printer will not take, Cannot recognize ink cartridge, and the remedy printed beside it is to check that the cartridges are installed correctly, so the same wording covers a loose cartridge and a rejected chip. Timing separates them. A compatible that printed for weeks and stopped on the day the printer updated itself is a different problem from one that never worked, and fitting a genuine 302 for a moment tells you which you have. Our guide on whether Epson blocks third party ink, listed with the other guides further down this page, covers the rest.