Ricoh Color Printer vs. UV Flatbed: Which One Should You Actually Buy?

If you're trying to decide between a Ricoh color printer and a UV printer, here's the short answer: don't buy a UV printer to do an office printer's job. For daily documents, a Ricoh color printer is the better investment. But if you're making branded merchandise, short-run signs, or packaging samples, a compact UV flatbed—like the Procolored V6 Panda UV printer 6.7" A4 L800—can earn its keep, provided you understand what it is and what it isn't.

I manage purchasing for a 200-person design and manufacturing firm. We spend roughly $140,000 a year on printing and related supplies, and I've been doing this since 2020. In 2024, I put a UV printer next to a Ricoh color printer and ran both through real jobs. That experience changed how I think about print buying.

Here's the part that doesn't fit a neat spec sheet: I almost bought a cheaper UV printer based on a great price and a vague promise. The quote was $2,300 below the model I eventually tested. But when I asked for samples on acrylic and dark phone cases, the vendor went silent. I still kick myself for taking that conversation as far as I did. If I'd pushed for a sample first, I'd have saved two weeks. That's the kind of mistake that gets baked into your process.

What 'format UV printer' actually means

Let's start with terms. A format UV printer is any printer that uses UV-curable ink and cures it with ultraviolet light. The 'format' refers to the maximum media size it can handle. That covers everything from desktop A4 units to large-format flatbeds. A flatbed UV printer keeps the media stationary on a bed, so you can print on rigid materials like wood, glass, and metal—things you can't feed through a Ricoh color printer.

Then there are models like the 9060 UV printer, a 90 x 60 cm flatbed. It's a common choice for small shops that want to move beyond phone cases and print small signs, panels, and branded acrylic. It's bigger, faster, and more expensive than a desktop unit, but it's still a production tool, not an office machine.

At the other end, the Procolored V6 Panda UV printer 6.7" A4 L800 is the kind of machine I'd consider for a team that only needs to print small items. It's based on the Epson L800 printhead platform, and folks love the low entry price. The catch: it's slow to set up for each job, and the printable area is small. And its color accuracy depends on how much time you spend profiling—not just on the printer itself.

What a Ricoh color printer does better

A Ricoh color printer is built for one thing: predictable daily color output. If you're running client decks, product labels, or plain-paper reports, a color laser or multifunction printer from Ricoh can push thousands of pages a month with minimal fuss. It handles plain paper well, has a high duty cycle, and doesn't need an operator for every job.

A UV printer is not that. Even an entry-level UV printer needs cleaning cycles, test prints, and manual part placement. If a team tries to use it for simple documents, they quickly find those jobs are 10x slower. That's not a knock on UV technology. It's a mismatch of tools. You wouldn't use a Ricoh color printer to print on a metal tag, and you shouldn't use a UV printer to print 500 sheets of client handouts.

Color accuracy is where it gets tricky

Ricoh color printers use toner, which is dry and behaves predictably on standard office papers. UV printers use liquid ink that sits on the surface of the substrate and cures under UV light. The same CMYK inks will look different on white acrylic, dark metal, and clear PET.

According to Pantone's color matching guidelines, a Delta E under 2 is the target for brand-critical colors, and Delta E of 2 to 4 is visible to trained observers. On a UV printer, you can get into that range—but only after testing each substrate and adjusting the profile. It's not a one-time setup. It's a per-job ritual.

The surprise wasn't the print quality on the UV side. It was the operator time. On the V6 Panda, swapping between white and color ink, aligning the part, and cleaning the printhead took more time than the print itself. For a short run of 30 personalized phone cases, the cycle time was fine. If I had to do that every day, I'd budget for a dedicated operator.

About that 'Ricoh GR IIIx price 2025' search

One last thing: if you landed here searching for 'Ricoh GR IIIx price 2025,' that's a Ricoh camera, not a printer. As of early 2025, street prices for the GR IIIx have ranged from roughly $1,000 to $1,300 depending on edition and retailer. Verify current pricing at ricoh-imaging.com. It takes excellent photos, but it doesn't print anything. This article is about the printing side of Ricoh, and I don't want you to think I've confused a camera with a flatbed.

When a UV printer makes sense—and when it doesn't

Here's my practical boundary line for a small-to-mid-size business:

• Buy a UV printer when your products involve rigid or textured surfaces: phone cases, plaques, metal tags, wood signs, or packaging mockups.
• Don't buy a UV printer for standard office printing, high-volume black-and-white, or plain-paper color documents. That's what a Ricoh color printer is for.
• If you're printing fewer than 15-20 custom items per week, the cost of ink, cleaning fluid, and test boards will eat your margin. I'd rather outsource those jobs until volume justifies the machine.

Honestly, I'm not sure why some UV printer vendors avoid showing real samples on dark surfaces. My best guess is that white ink is the hardest part of a UV setup, and they don't want to invite questions. But that's exactly what you should ask for. If a vendor can't provide a sample on your specific substrate, that's a red flag.

I've used Ricoh equipment for years, and I'm not saying UV printers are bad. They're just different. The best setup for a growing product team is often both: a Ricoh color printer for document production and a UV flatbed for creative work. A vendor who tells you one machine can do everything is overpromising. A vendor who says, 'This isn't our strength, here's who does it better,' earns the rest of your business.

Bottom line: if you need reliable color documents, buy a Ricoh color printer. If you need to print on things that aren't paper, buy a UV printer. The Procolored V6 Panda and the 9060 UV printer are both solid choices in their lanes. Just don't expect one to replace the other.