- Table of Contents
- Intro
- Updates
- Comparison
- Best Printers
- Conclusion
- Discussions
Epson is a company that makes a variety of printers to suit the needs of most common households and small and big businesses. Aside from specialty printers like label printers or disc printers, their consumer-level all-in-ones are mostly inkjets, as they've stopped making laser printers for several years now. That said, they have a stunning number of inkjet printers for nearly any type of use, with the WorkForce, Expression, and EcoTank line being the most popular.
Updates
- 10/29/2021 Epson WorkForce Pro WF-4830 updated
- 09/09/2021 Epson WorkForce ST-M1000 reviewed
- 08/13/2021 Epson EcoTank ET-4760 updated
- 06/30/2021 Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 reviewed
- 05/27/2021 Epson EcoTank ET-3760 updated
Best Epson Printers
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Best Epson Printer For Small/Home Office
Type All in OneTechnology InkjetWireless YesColor YesSuperTankYesThe best Epson EcoTank printer for small or home offices that we've tested is the Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850. Instead of using disposable cartridges, this all-in-one model has four large ink tanks, which you refill yourself with ink bottles. These tanks hold a lot of ink and let you print many pages before you need to refill them again, so you won't have to buy ink bottles that often. When it does come time to refill the tanks, you can easily access them by removing the top black cover. This sturdy-feeling printer has two large input cassettes that hold a total of 550 pages. If you need to print sheets other than the standard letter format, both cassettes have width sliders that you can adjust to the size of your paper. You can scan in two different ways, depending on your needs: a flatbed scanner to quickly make copies of one sheet, and an automatic document feeder to scan long, double-sided documents. While you can't print via Bluetooth, there are many other wireless options to choose from, including Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Apple AirPrint, and Mopria Print Service.
Unfortunately, while it prints black-only and color documents quickly, it's a bit slower than other high-end office printers. Specifically, the first page takes a long time to come out after the printer is idle for a while, meaning you'll need to wait often if you frequently make small, intermittent print jobs. Also, though it can print many pages, you can't print as many as you can on other options in Epson's EcoTank lineup. If you need better page yields at an even cheaper cost-per-print, check out the Epson EcoTank ET-3760. That said, while it might be hard to find the best EcoTank printer that can do everything, the ET-5850 is still an outstanding printer for small or home offices.
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Best Epson Family Printer
Type All in OneTechnology InkjetWireless YesColor YesSuperTankNoThe best Epson printer for home use we've tested is the Epson WorkForce Pro WF-7840. While the WorkForce line is designed for office use, this all-in-one model is versatile enough for family use. It has a large flatbed scanner with high resolution and color depth, letting you scan old photos, handwritten recipes, and documents up to 11" x 17". If you need to scan a couple of double-sided pages and don't want the hassle of flipping them over on the flatbed glass, you can use the automatic document feeder. Printed photos look detailed enough for a picture or diagram in a report, but they come out a little grainy, and there's some banding in dark areas. Otherwise, colors look very good.
Unfortunately, it can't print that many pages with one cartridge, so you might need to replace the cartridges frequently if you need to print a lot of documents or photos often. However, you could buy high-yield versions for the black and color cartridges that will last you longer. It doesn't support printing via Bluetooth, but there are many other wireless methods to print with, like Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Apple AirPrint, and Mopria Print Service. Overall, it has many great features for a variety of uses, making it an impressive printer for home use.
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Best Epson Printer For Photos
Type All in OneTechnology InkjetWireless YesColor YesSuperTankNoThe best Epson printer for photo printing we’ve tested is the Epson WorkForce Pro WF-4830. Although this printer is designed for small offices, it's still a great option for printing casual photos at home. Whether you're printing scenery pictures from a recent trip or working on an arts-and-craft project, images look detailed and colorful. That said, we don't recommend it for professional use if you need colors to look nearly identical to the originals. Also, blacks look a bit faded, and there's some banding visible in dark areas, but this won't be too noticeable in well-lit photos. Otherwise, if you need to digitize an old picture, it has a large flatbed scanner with high resolution, and you can even lift the scanner lid's hinges if you need to scan something thick, like a photo book.
Sadly, it takes some time to print out a 4" x 6" photo; this might not matter if you're printing out only one, but printing a stack might feel long to wait for. Also, the page yield is relatively low, so you may need to replace the cartridge often, especially if you frequently produce photos requiring a lot of black ink. Thanks to the relatively cheap cartridges, the cost-per-print remains low, especially if you aren't printing large amounts every day. This all-in-one model is a very good option if you want something that handles photo printing very well and is versatile enough to perform other home and office tasks as well.
Compared to other brands
- Diverse lineup. Epson has a very diverse lineup that includes printers for home and business use. They also have printers dedicated to printing photos, labels, discs, etc. They also make a good number of dot matrix printers.
- EcoTank. Epson's EcoTank ink system has one of the best yields for inkjet printers and can even compete with laser printers.
- Monochrome inkjet printers. Epson is one of the few companies that make monochrome inkjet printers.
- No laser printers. Epson no longer makes laser printers.
- Photo printing quality is only decent. Although Epson has dedicated photo printers, the photo printing quality of their all-in-one printers and their office printers isn't as good as other brands.
Although Epson printers are popular, they tend to get overshadowed by other brands, as their performance tends to be more middle-of-the-pack. Like other manufacturers, they have a diverse lineup, but Epson is the only one that doesn't produce any laser printers. Since inkjet printers generally have slow printing speed, they're less desirable for businesses that perform high-volume printing regularly. Their EcoTank printers are successful, though, and are usually among the best for page yield.
Lineup
Epson has a diverse lineup that caters to different needs, and they're generally separated into the two categories below. Although the EcoTank line is a separate line of its own, the EcoTank designation is also used in conjunction with some of the models below to indicate the use of a refillable ink tank system. Epson makes enterprise-grade printers as well, which are only available for businesses.
For Work:
- WorkForce: High-performance printers for small or home offices.
- WorkForce Pro: High-yield printers for small or home offices.
- Point-of-Sale: Receipt printers for small businesses.
- ColorWorks: Commercial label printers.
- Pro Imaging: Wide-format photo printers.
- Impact: Dot matrix printers.
- DiscProducer: Disc printers.
For Home:
- Expression: All-in-one family printers.
- PictureMate: Photo printers.
- LabelWorks: Label printers.
- SureColor P-Series: Professional-grade photo printers.
Recent Updates
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Dec 09, 2021: Reworded text for clarity and conciseness. No change to product picks.
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Oct 12, 2021: Verified accuracy and availability of picks; updated text for clarity; no changes to picks.
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Jul 14, 2021: Replaced the Epson EcoTank ET-3760 with the Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 for 'Best Small/Home Office'. Verified availability of picks and updated text for clarity.
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Apr 15, 2021: Verified that picks were still available.
Conclusion
Epson is one of the top brands for printers, and they offer a variety of printers to suit most needs. However, aside from their hugely popular EcoTank printers, the rest of their lineup doesn't stand out very much. It's disappointing that they no longer make any laser printers since many small offices still rely heavily on their printing speed and efficiency.
You can also check out our recommendations for the best home printers, the best photo printers, and the best laser printers.