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 stopped making laser printers several years ago. They have a stunning number of inkjet printers for nearly any use, with the WorkForce, Expression, and EcoTank lines being the most popular.
Updates
- 05/15/2023 Epson WorkForce WF-2930 reviewed
- 04/18/2023 Epson WorkForce Pro WF-3820 updated
- 04/12/2023 Epson WorkForce WF-2950 reviewed
- 03/28/2023 Epson EcoTank ET-4800/ET-4810 updated
- 03/22/2023 Epson EcoTank ET-2850 updated
Best Epson Printers
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Best Epson Printer
Family8.7Small/Home Office9.0Student9.3Black & White8.9Photo8.3Estimated Black Page Yield4,921 printsEstimated Color Page Yield2,532 printsScannerADF + FlatbedCost-Per-Print10Printing Speed8.9Connectivity9.0The best Epson printer we've tested is the Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850, an all-in-one inkjet model designed for small or home offices. It has many connectivity options, including Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and USB, so it's easily accessible to everyone. The scanner has an automatic feeder to quickly process long, multi-page documents, and it can also scan double-sided sheets automatically, albeit in two passes. The scan quality is okay; it's good enough for documents but not ideal for photos, as it has trouble capturing finer details. It feels very well built, and its design gives easy access to the ink tanks and sheet rollers (to remove paper jams).
This printer produces very sharp black and color documents. Printing speed is excellent at 25 pages per minute when printing multi-page documents, and it only takes nine seconds to initialize and get a single page out. For photo printing, the pictures look detailed and colorful but a tad grainy. As for its page yield, it's a supertank printer that yields thousands of prints, which is great for busy offices. You can refill the tank as you go, and replacement ink is cheap, so it doesn't cost much to maintain. The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5180 is a great option if this model is too pricey. It has nearly identical features and yields more prints; however, it doesn't feel as well built, lacks automatic duplex scanning, and prints slower at 14 black or eight color pages per minute.
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Best Mid-Range Epson Printer
Family8.3Small/Home Office8.1Student8.6Black & White8.2Photo7.7Estimated Black Page Yield7,885 printsEstimated Color Page Yield4,681 printsScannerADF + FlatbedCost-Per-Print10Printing Speed7.2Connectivity8.0If you don't need all the features of a high-end model like the Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 and want to save some money, get the Epson EcoTank ET-3850, also one of the best Epson EcoTank printers we've tested. Aside from a few flimsy plastic pieces like the automatic document feeder, this printer feels reasonably well built, with a design that allows easy access to paper jams. You get the usual connectivity options like USB, Wi-Fi, and Ethernet, and it even has voice assistant integration, letting you initiate printing via Apple's Siri or Amazon's Alexa. If you regularly scan documents, know that the scanner can only process three pages per minute through the feeder and doesn't support duplex scanning.
This model prints black and color documents well. Some finer details don't always come through, but the quality is still very good. Printing speed is so-so; it's decently fast with black and white documents but slow with color documents. As for photo printing, although it reproduces very fine details and a wide range of colors, its color accuracy isn't that great, and the pictures look grainy. Like our pick above, this printer stands out because of its page yield. A full tank gets you thousands of prints, so you don't have to worry about high maintenance costs even if you print a lot.
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Best Budget Epson Printer
Family8.0Small/Home Office7.8Student8.4Black & White8.1Photo7.9Estimated Black Page Yield361 printsEstimated Color Page Yield255 printsScannerADF + FlatbedCost-Per-Print8.2Printing Speed8.1Connectivity9.0Our best budget pick is the Epson WorkForce Pro WF-4830, an all-in-one color inkjet model. Unlike the higher-end picks above, it uses traditional ink cartridges instead of a refillable ink tank. It feels sturdily built and sports a large touch-sensitive display with an easy-to-navigate user interface. Its ADF-equipped scanner processes up to 18 pages per minute, supports duplex scanning, and has an optical character recognition feature that lets you scan documents into text files for quick keyword searches. Its wide connectivity options include external storage support, meaning it can print directly off a USB flash drive.
Printing-wise, the WF-4830 performs well. Documents look very sharp, and photos look detailed and reasonably color-accurate. Its printing speed is great; it's just a little slow with color documents. As expected, its page yield is much lower than the EcoTank models, meaning you'll need to replace the ink cartridges often. Thankfully, the cartridges are relatively cheap. If you want to save more money, check out the Epson WorkForce Pro WF-4820 variant. It performs similarly but has a smaller 250-sheet input tray and a slightly lower ADF capacity.
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Best Cheap Epson Printer
Family7.3Small/Home Office6.6Student7.4Black & White7.1Photo7.3Estimated Black Page Yield247 printsEstimated Color Page Yield191 printsScannerFlatbedCost-Per-Print7.7Printing Speed7.0Connectivity7.0If you only print occasionally and just want something cheap to get the job done, we recommend the Epson Expression Home XP-5200. It's a simple all-in-one with Wi-Fi and USB connectivity and a basic 8.5" x 11" flatbed scanner. It produces high-quality documents, prints decently fast at 15 black or seven color pages per minute, and supports automatic duplex printing. For photo printing, it can reproduce very fine details and a fairly wide range of colors, but its color accuracy isn't that great, and printed pictures look grainy.
The main downside of cheap printers is their low page yields, and that's very much the case here. A set of ink gets you about 250 black and 190 color prints, so it isn't ideal for large print loads, as you'll have to replace the cartridges often. It costs little to maintain over time because the cartridges are cheap; it just requires more maintenance, meaning you might have to interrupt your print jobs often to change the cartridges.
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Best Epson Photo Printer
Family8.6Small/Home Office8.4Student8.9Black & White8.3Photo8.8Estimated Black Page Yield4,978 printsEstimated Color Page Yield3,319 printsScannerFlatbedCost-Per-Print10Printing Speed7.8Connectivity9.0If you want to print photos, get the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550, one of the best EcoTank printers we've tested. It uses gray and Photo Black ink in addition to the usual cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, producing extremely detailed and colorful photos. It tends to oversaturate colors slightly, so while photos look visually pleasing, they're not the most color-accurate. Printing a 4" x 6" photo takes less than a minute, and the printer supports various paper sizes up to 13" x 19", which is great for printing posters. You don't need to worry about high maintenance costs as it's a supertank model with amazing page yields and cheap ink.
Of course, although it's primarily for photo printing, you can still use it in an office setting. The downside is that you only get a flatbed scanner, so scanning multi-page and double-sided documents can be extremely time-consuming. It doesn't require much maintenance; just ensure you print often enough to prevent the printheads from clogging. If you don't need wide format printing and want to save money, you can get the cheaper Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8500 variant. It performs exactly like the ET-8550; however, it only supports paper sizes up to 8.5" x 11" and has a smaller 8.5" x 11.7" flatbed scanner.
Compared To Other Brands
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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 makes a large number of supertank printers. These EcoTank models have among the best yields for inkjet printers. -
Monochrome inkjet printers.
Epson is one of the few companies that make monochrome inkjet printers.
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No laser printers.
Epson no longer makes laser printers, so they don't have any good options for occasional printing. -
Photo printing quality is only decent.
Although Epson has dedicated photo printers, the photo printing quality of their general-purpose, all-in-one printers isn't as good as other brands.
Epson vs Canon
Epson and Canon are very similar. Canon printers are usually better for photo printing but don't yield as many pages as Epson's EcoTank printers. Also, while Epson focuses almost exclusively on inkjet printers, Canon also makes laser printers. See our recommendations for the best Canon printers here.
Epson vs HP
Epson and HP are both major printer manufacturers. HP makes a wider range of printers, including laser models, inkjet models, and even portable printers with a built-in battery, whereas Epson focuses mostly on inkjet printers. Epson printers are generally better for photo printing, and their EcoTank printers also have significantly better page yields than most HP printers. See our recommendations for the best HP printers here.
Epson vs Brother
Like Epson, Brother is also one of the biggest printer manufacturers in the world. While it makes a wide range of printers, it's most well-known for its laser models, whereas Epson focuses almost exclusively on inkjet models. Its INKvestment Tank printers generally yield more prints than most cartridge-based printers but can't compete with Epson's EcoTank models, which yield significantly more. Check out our recommendations for the best Brother printers.
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 speeds, 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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Aug 23, 2023: Small text changes to improve clarity. No change in recommendations.
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Jun 29, 2023: Verified that all picks are valid and available. No change in recommendations.
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May 03, 2023: Minor text changes. Replaced the Epson WorkForce WF-2860 with the Epson Expression Home XP-5200 because the WF-2860 is discontinued.
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Mar 09, 2023: Minor text changes to improve clarity. No change in recommendations.
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Jan 10, 2023: Minor text changes to improve clarity and readability. No change in recommendations.
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 the printing speed and efficiency of laser models.