- 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, as well as small and big businesses. Aside from their specialty printers such as label printers or disc printers, their consumer-level all-in-ones are mostly inkjets, as they've stopped making laser printers for a number of 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
- 11/13/2020 Epson WorkForce Pro WF-4830 reviewed
- 10/30/2020 Epson WorkForce Pro WF-3820 reviewed
- 09/22/2020 Epson EcoTank ET-15000 reviewed
- 07/28/2020 Epson WorkForce WF-2860 reviewed
- 07/10/2020 Epson EcoTank ET-4700 reviewed
Best Epson Printers
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Best Epson Printer For Small/Home Office
Type All in OneTechnology InkjetWireless YesColor YesSuperTankYesThe best Epson printer for small or home offices we've tested is the Epson EcoTank ET-3760. This all-in-one inkjet printer is very cost-efficient thanks to its outstanding supertank ink system, which yields an extremely high number of pages before the tanks need refilling. When you do need to refill them, the ink bottles aren't too expensive, so it won't make much of a dent in your wallet. It has great connectivity options, letting you print via Wi-Fi, USB, Ethernet, and even directly from your mobile device. Also, it's compatible with the excellent Epson iPrint app, which allows you to not only print, scan, and copy directly from your smart device, but you can also perform maintenance tasks like nozzle checks and verifying ink levels.
Unfortunately, although black-only pages print out somewhat quickly, color documents are much slower, and you need to wait even longer for photos. On top of the printing speed, this printer isn't great for photos as the color accuracy is unremarkable, and the pictures look grainy, especially in shades of gray. It should be fine for casual photos, but you might be disappointed if your work relies on precise colors and details. Although it has very good scanner features, such as a flatbed scanner, an automatic document feeder, and a photocopy option, there isn't duplex scanning, so you'll have to manually scan double-sided documents. Overall, this is an impressive inkjet printer and one of the best office printers we've tested.
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Best Epson Family Printer
Type All in OneTechnology InkjetWireless YesColor YesSuperTankNoThe best Epson family printer that we've tested is the Epson WorkForce WF-7720. Although its name suggests that it's designed for work, this printer performs quite well as an all-in-one solution for the whole family. It has an outstanding build quality and comes with a full-feature scanner that includes an automatic document feeder and duplex scanning capability. You can connect to the printer wirelessly through your existing Wi-Fi network or use the printer's Direct Wi-Fi, and it also supports wireless printing from mobile devices using AirPrint or Mopria. It's designed to provide easy access to paper jams, but changing the ink cartridges can be a pain, as it requires the printer to be on and be in its 'Ink Replacement' mode.
This printer's cost-per-print is great, but only because its ink cartridges are cheap, as you still need to replace the cartridges often due to their low yield. That said, printing in color is more expensive, and the long-term cost rises significantly faster than printing in black only. You can increase the printer's yield, as there are high-yield and extra high-yield cartridges that are compatible with this printer. Unfortunately, it's quite slow at printing, whether it's black documents, color documents, or photos. Thankfully, it has a large-capacity input tray that can hold up to 500 sheets of paper, so you can leave a big print job running without worry. Its photo printing quality is good despite its sub-par color accuracy and can print on glossy photo paper. On the whole, it's an all-around great printer for most families, as long as you don't mind its slow printing speed.
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Best Epson Printer For Photos
Type All in OneTechnology InkjetWireless YesColor YesSuperTankNoThe best Epson printer for printing photos that we've tested is the Epson WorkForce Pro WF-3720. This is an all-in-one printer that's meant for small offices; however, it's quite competent when it comes to photo printing. It has good color accuracy, it prints decent quality photos, and although its color page yield is just okay, the ink cartridges aren't overly expensive, so the long-term cost remains fairly low. It has a great build quality, and it's well-designed to provide easy access to paper jams. Its outstanding connectivity options include nearly everything except Bluetooth, and it's also compatible with Epson's exceptional mobile companion app. The scanner has an automatic document if you need to scan multi-page documents, but it can't perform duplex scanning.
As mentioned, this printer can print very decent photos that have a good amount of fine details and vibrant colors. However, the pictures look a bit grainy, and there's the presence of color in the grayscale. It can print on glossy photo paper and supports most photo paper sizes, except for 2" x 3". Unfortunately, its photo printing speed is on the slow side, so a bit of patience is required. Lastly, this printer accepts high-yield cartridges and also accepts third-party cartridges. Overall, while this printer isn't technically made for printing photos, it's the best one that we've tested.
Compared to other brands
- Diverse lineup. Epson has a very diverse lineup that includes printers for home and business use, and they also have printers that are dedicated for 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 isn't as good as other brands. Although Epson has dedicated photo printers, the photo printing quality of their general all-in-one printers isn't as good as other brands.
Although Epson printers are very 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 slower printing speed, they're less desirable for businesses that perform high-volume printing on a regular basis. Their EcoTank printers are extremely successful, though, and are usually among the best in terms of 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.
Notable Mentions
- Epson EcoTank ET-4760: The Epson EcoTank ET-4760 is almost identical to the EcoTank ET-3760, but it comes with fax capability and a touchscreen display. See our review
Conclusion
Epson is one of the top brands when it comes to printers, and they offer a variety of printers to suit most needs. Aside from their hugely popular EcoTank printers, the rest of their lineup doesn't stand out in any way. It's also a bit disappointing that they don't make any laser printers since a lot of small offices still rely heavily on the printing speed and efficiency of laser printers.
For other options, you can check out our recommendations for the best home printers, the best photo printers, and the best laser printers.
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