Independent product test of Riso ComColor X1 9150

Marketed as the world's fastest sheetfed colour printer, the Riso ComColor 9150 should be seen as a serious challenger to the perhaps more well known players in this field within the industry. But since Riso is a bit humble in the way it presents this printer, and has not focused on the higher volume market, it has stayed under the radar in a way. So while the printer is best known for use in office environments and in-house corporate print centres, it is also ideal in a production print environment. As we will see, our tests show that this printer actually delivers a colour gamut and image quality at or above that of litho offset on uncoated paper. And the speed? An impressive 150 single-sided pages per minute!

The Riso ComColor 9150 is very compact thanks to the simple paper path and slim design of the array inkjet print head; because this is an inkjet-based machine, not toner-based. This is both the secret to the speed, and the low power consumption. The paper comes out cold, and the ink is instantly dry thanks to the oil-based pigment inks. The paper doesn't need any special coating like most dye- and water-based inkjet inks, and another benefit from the oil-based ink is that the image doesn't smear if in contact with water or humidity.

Thanks to the compact design, the footprint can be kept very small even if optional equipment is added to the ComColor 9150, like stapling, punching, folding or binding.