Now priced at around the £80 mark on Kodak's online shop (although you can shave another £5 or so from this tag by shopping around), the Kodak ESP 5250 sets out to show that the older printers aren't necessarily inferior. Given its age, it's surprisingly how seamlessly the Kodak slips into place alongside other Kodak printers such as the Kodak ESP C310 and the Kodak ESP Office 2170, giving much newer printers from rival manufacturers a run for their money.
That this printer can compete with the best is most notable in the Kodak ESP 5250's LCD screen. Not only is this large (2.4in), but it can be folded up and down so that you can get a good view of the screen regardless of whether you're sitting in front of the printer or standing over it. The control panel itself is fully featured but not overdone, with a clear navigation system aiding access.
As with many newer printers, the 5250 uses a two-tank ink system, and as ever this Kodak proves good value in terms of running costs – if anything, its black ink costs are the cheapest of the lot.
Print times (from 10.9ppm and 4.1ppm in draft and normal modes, to 1.8ppm at best) on the Kodak ESP 5250 are almost identical to those of the newer models. None of the Kodaks are at all fast, and this is one area where the company really needs to work. The colour output is inferior to that on the newer models, and although the speed seems better – the figures of 7.5ppm and 3.4ppm on draft and normal respectively are superior to those of both the C310 and 2170 – the actual quality of the colour palette is inferior. The shades and tints aren't as realistic, while banding is more of a problem. Output on photo paper is very decent, but both the C310 and 2170 are better choices for colour graphics.
The scanning component is good, with good image reproduction and a nice interface. The lid, though, is rather rigid, which will make it hard to use the Kodak ESP 5250 for thicker material, such as books. As with the C310, there's no Automatic Document Feeder either.
The Kodak ESP 5250 comes with the latest in Kodak's software, so, in a nice touch, you can plug it in alongside one of the newer printers without having to install different software. This consistency of approach is very commendable, and is carried through to the instructions – as with the newer models, you get a slick miniature manual alongside a bold quick installation sheet.
In some areas the Kodak ESP 5250 may at first appear basic. The input (up to 100 normal sheets of paper or 20 sheets of photo media can be used, just as with the ESP C310) and output trays aren't physically separated, so the printed pages will be dropped into virtually the same tray that you use to store the paper. In practice this simple approach works well, and we never find that the paper from the trays got mixed up. If you want a printer with separate input and output trays, look for Kodak's ESP C310.
See also: Group test: what's the best inkjet printer?
The Kodak ESP 5250 comes with many of the same connectivity options as much newer machines. Besides the USB 2.0, you also get Wi-Fi. However, this feature only covers 802.11b and 802.11g – no support is included for the newer and faster 802.11n. You are still able to print to the 5250 from iPhones, Apple iPads, iPod touches or BlackBerry devices. As with the newer models, Kodak's free download, Pic Flick, enables this, so it's not strictly speaking a hardware feature. A memory card drive is included, although there's no PictBridge port for direct printing. Since you'd think this feature was more useful for home rather than business users, it is a bit strange that neither the 5250 or C310 offer this, yet the office-friendly 2170 does. Regardless, the 5250 has a decent range of connection options.
The Kodak ESP 5250's 1,200dpi resolution isn't noticeably inferior to those of the newer models, and the quality of the text is very much comparable. Not as dark as on the 2170, it strikes a nice balance between being overdone and too light. Even in the normal mode, the characters are reasonably well delineated, although even the best mode doesn't produce results that get close to the best inkjets on the market. Most users will be satisfied with the output though.
Visually, the Kodak ESP 5250 is close in design to the newer C310. Not exactly a small printer, it nonetheless has the same modest black casing, once again enlivened by the dash of gold running along the front. The Kodak ESP 5250 isn't complemented by a matching gold circle around any of the buttons, unlike the C310. Otherwise, though, the design is similar – a sign that Kodak's printers and MFDs have carried a certain style for some years now.
See also: Group test: what's the best multifunction printer?
Comments
Dennis Bailey said: I have used the ESP 5250 for a couple of years now and have found it an exellent house or office printer It copes well with most tasks One big let down though is its photo abilities and the software that has to be installed with it When printing ptotographs the printer will decide what the photograph should look like and modify it Any work done before you hit the print button will be altered by the printer
RR said: Any problems and Kodak customer service is appalling i need a new driver for the printer well you cant have one if you have win 7 64bit Kodak customer service is clueless as to a solution The printer itself when I did have it working on another 32bit machine is a ink hungry beast that as has been pointed out asks for new ink cartridge despite there being ink in cartridges Stay well clear and buy a printer that may cost a bit more for cartridgessave you a lot of money in long wrong
Hilali said: problam with printing head
Kevin Hall said: Utter garbage constantly dropping wifi connection when machine is started up wifi is connected try and print something its unable to connect to printereverytime you use it you have to use wifi set up and enter your wep key etc just tried scanning something for the first time with this printer pointless been on 5 hours and still nothing support live chat never availableink cartridges last no time at all print quality is not the best ive used this a handful of times and im so disappointed i refuse to sell it on so its only destination now is a landfill site
Aa1377 said: This is my second Kodak and taking it back colour print is terrible and jams often
YOUR MA said: BEST PRINTER EU
Izzy said: fantastic quality perfectly printed my 120 page dissertation twice using the same ink cartridge
Helen Barnes said: Rubbish ink colours No where near comparable to my old HP Cheap inkcartridges butLOOK like cheap ink
Zoe Lucock said: Terrible machine we bought it to work with iPads as it claims its wifi enabled Tried to set it up searched for it using the ipad and couldnt figure out why it wasnt finding it Searched their website to find that it only works if you download the app which we did Then realised that the app allows you to print photos but not documents webpages etc Really disappointed going to be taking this back ASAP
Talk2me said: Dont buy it Changed cartridge and still ink in old cartridge despite being told that it is empty Now rollers also leaving horrible black marks on paper not happy anymore