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The 5 Best Epson Printers of 2024 Reviews

Updated Jun 12, 2024 at 03:20 pm
Best Epson Printers

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 alike. Aside from specialty printers like label 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

Best Epson Printers


  1. Best Epson Printer

    The 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 for quick processing of long, multi-page documents, and it can automatically scan double-sided sheets, albeit in two passes. The printer feels very well built overall, and its design gives easy access to the sheet rollers in case of paper jams.

    This printer produces amazingly sharp documents. It's also fast, taking mere seconds to initialize and pushing up to 25 pages per minute when printing multi-page documents. As for photo printing, printed pictures look colorful and detailed but grainy, a common drawback of office-oriented inkjet printers. Page yield is superb, as 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.

    If this model is too pricey, consider the Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5180, also one of the best EcoTank printers we've tested. 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.

    See our review

  2. Best Mid-Range Epson Printer

    If 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. Like our top pick, this supertank model yields thousands of prints, so you won't need to spend much on replacement ink. Connectivity options include USB, Wi-Fi, and Ethernet, as well as support for Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service, making it easy to print from various devices. Its ADF scanner only processes up to three pages per minute, which is slow but still handy when scanning long, multi-page documents. There's no duplex scanning, so you'll have to flip the pages manually when scanning double-sided sheets.

    This model prints black and color documents well. Some finer details don't always come through in color prints, but the quality is still very good. Printing speed is okay; it's decently fast with black-and-white documents but slow with color documents. As for photo printing, while it reproduces very fine details and a wide range of colors, its color accuracy is sub-par. It isn't bad enough to make the photos unusable; just don't expect the pictures to look exactly like the originals. A cheaper alternative would be the Epson EcoTank ET-2800. It's a great supertank printer with better color accuracy, so pictures look better than those from the ET-3850 (even if they're still a bit grainy). However, there's no automatic feeder. Also, it only supports manual duplex printing and lacks Ethernet connectivity.

    See our review

  3. Best Budget Epson Printer

    Our best Epson EcoTank printer at a budget price point 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 sturdy 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 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.

    See our review

  4. Best Cheap Epson Printer

    If 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 8.5x11 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 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. Because the cartridges are cheap, the printer costs little to maintain over time; it just requires more maintenance, meaning you might have to interrupt your print jobs often to change the cartridges.

    See our review

  5. Best Epson Photo Printer

    The best Epson photo printer we've tested is the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550. This all-in-one supertank model 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 4x6 photo takes less than a minute, and the printer supports various paper sizes up to 13x19, which is great for printing posters. You don't need to worry about high maintenance costs as a full ink tank yields thousands of prints, and replacement ink is cheap.

    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 8.5x11 and has a smaller 8.5x11.7 flatbed scanner.

    See our review

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., and 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.
  • 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

  1. Jun 12, 2024: We've verified that all recommendations are available and made minor text updates to include the Epson EcoTank ET-2800 as a cheaper alternative to the Epson EcoTank ET-3850.

  2. Apr 15, 2024: Minor text edits for clarity. No change in recommendations.

  3. Feb 15, 2024: Replaced the Epson EcoTank ET-4850 with the Epson EcoTank ET-3850 because the ET-3850 is much cheaper and performs almost identically.

  4. Dec 18, 2023: Replaced the Epson EcoTank ET-3850 with the Epson EcoTank ET-4850 because it has better build quality and doesn't require as much maintenance.

  5. Oct 20, 2023: Small text changes to include the Epson EcoTank ET-2840 Special Edition as a cheaper alternative to the Epson EcoTank ET-3850.

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.

Test Results