The Epson EcoTank ET-2800/2803 is an all-in-one supertank inkjet printer that uses Epson's T522 ink. It has a 1.5-inch display, an 8.5" x 11" flatbed scanner with no automatic feeder or fax functionality, and a 100-sheet input tray. It has Wi-Fi and USB connectivity, supports Apple AirPrint and Morpia Print Service, and is compatible with Epson's Smart Panel mobile app. The Epson EcoTank ET-2803 is the same printer but exclusive to Walmart and Target. Our review applies to both models.
The Epson EcoTank ET-2800/Epson EcoTank ET-2803 performs well for family use. Its cheap ink bottle refills and incredible page yields mean it's remarkably cheap to maintain in the long run, easing the load on your wallet. It prints great-looking, vibrant photos, and its color accuracy is fine for everyday use. It has a high-resolution flatbed scanner, but the lack of an automatic document feeder makes digitizing multi-page documents cumbersome, as you'll have to scan each page manually.
The Epson ET-2800/Epson ET-2803 is passable for small or home office use. Its supertank ink system gives it incredibly high page yields, meaning you don't often have to spend time refilling its ink tanks. Unfortunately, it isn't suited for busy workplaces since it prints slowly and doesn't have an ADF to easily digitize multi-page documents. Additionally, it doesn't have an Ethernet cable to ensure a stable network connection.
The Epson EcoTank ET-2800/Epson EcoTank ET-2803 is a great printer for students. Maintaining the printer is cheap thanks to its outstandingly low cost-per-print, and its incredibly high-yielding supertank ink system means you might not even run out of ink for the entire duration of your study program. You can easily digitize notes and reading materials and even convert them into searchable PDFs using its flatbed scanner and OCR software. It's a bit slow to print, though, so it's best to set aside time to let it print even short documents.
The Epson ET-2800/Epson ET-2803 is decent if you mainly need to print in black and white. It has incredible page yields and a superb cost-per-print, but it's held back by its slow print speed and lack of an automatic document feeder. On the bright side, it gets short documents out fairly quickly, making it a reasonable choice if you mainly queue up short print jobs.
The Epson EcoTank ET-2800/Epson EcoTank ET-2803 performs decently as a photo printer. It uses dye-based inks, producing great-looking photos with high contrast. While colors look vibrant, their accuracy is only alright, so printed photos likely won't look quite like the originals. There's also a noticeable amount of grain, and the contrast is sometimes too high, resulting in a loss of detail in dark and bright sections of images. Fortunately, its color gamut is wide, so it produces smooth gradients with no banding.
We tested the Epson EcoTank ET-2800 in white; it's also available with a black finish. There's an Epson EcoTank ET-2803 variant, which is the same printer but exclusive to Walmart and Target. Our review applies to both the ET-2800 and the ET-2803.
You can see our unit's label here.
The Epson EcoTank ET-2800/Epson EcoTank ET-2803 is a great printer overall and a good choice for households that print a lot due to its high page yields and low cost per print. However, it has slow printing speeds and lacks many features that other printers in its class have, like an automatic document feeder, Ethernet connectivity, and automatic duplex printing.
For more options, see our recommendations for the best home printers, the best photo printers, and the best inkjet printers.
The Epson EcoTank ET-2800 and the Epson EcoTank ET-2850 are very similar supertank printers. The biggest difference is that the ET-2850 prints more black pages and can print double-sided sheets automatically. However, the ET-2800 has much better color accuracy and produces more fine details in photos. It also produces higher-quality scans.
The Epson EcoTank ET-2800 and the Epson EcoTank ET-3850 are both all-in-one supertank printers, but the ET-3850 performs better overall. The ET-3850 has higher page yields for both black and color documents, faster printing speeds, an automatic document feeder, and Ethernet connectivity. On the other hand, the ET-2800 produces better-looking photos with more details and better color accuracy.
The Epson EcoTank ET-2800 and the Epson EcoTank ET-4800 are very similar printers. If you scan many documents for work, the ET-4800 has an automatic document feeder, so it's more convenient since you don't need to scan each page individually. Also, it has an Ethernet port if you want to plug it directly into your router for a faster connection. Otherwise, both perform very similarly.
The Epson EcoTank ET-2400 and the Epson EcoTank ET-2800 are very similar all-in-one inkjet supertank printers. They're nearly identical in features; the only difference is that the ET-2800 has a better display panel, making it easier to navigate the settings menu, and it supports Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service. The ET-2400's scanner picks up finer details and produces higher-quality scans; however, it also boosts the contrast and saturation more, which you may or may not like, depending on whether accuracy is important to you.
The Epson EcoTank ET-2800 and the Epson EcoTank ET-2720 are both inkjets with supertank ink systems, but the ET-2800 is a newer model that performs a bit better. The ET-2800 yields more black pages, prints slightly faster, and supports duplex printing, albeit you need to flip the pages over manually. Also, the ET-2800 prints much better-quality photos, with deeper blacks and much more accurate colors. On the other hand, the ET-2720 has a wider color gamut, meaning it can produce more vibrant colors. It doesn't support automatic or manual duplex printing, though, so the printer doesn't prompt you to turn over the sheets or your document at all if you want to print on both sides.
The Epson EcoTank ET-2800 and the Epson Ecotank ET-3760 are both color inkjets with supertank ink systems. The ET-3760 is better for small or home office use as it has an automatic document feeder, its cost-per-print is fractionally cheaper, and it prints documents much faster. Additionally, it prints much more black pages before needing a refill, supports automatic duplex printing, and has an Ethernet port. On the other hand, the ET-2800 is better for photo printing as it produces more detailed and color-accurate photos.
The Canon PIXMA G3260 and the Epson EcoTank ET-2800 are both color inkjets with supertank ink systems that perform similarly. The Canon requires less maintenance as it yields much more black and color pages, and the cost-per-print for color documents and photos is much cheaper. On the other hand, the Epson produces better scans and more fine details in photos.
The Epson EcoTank ET-2760 and the Epson EcoTank ET-2800 are both supertank inkjet printers. The ET-2800 produces much better-looking photos with deeper blacks and significantly better color accuracy. However, the ET-2760 yields significantly more black and color pages, supports automatic duplex printing, and can print directly from SD cards.
The Epson EcoTank ET-2800 and the Brother MFC-J4335DW are both inkjet models, but the Epson uses a refillable supertank ink system, while the Brother uses a hybrid high-yield cartridge–tank system. The Brother performs better for home office, student use, and black and white printing, as it prints significantly faster and supports duplex printing. Additionally, it has an automatic document feeder that scans multi-page documents quickly. The Epson yields significantly more black and color pages at a much cheaper cost-per-print, produces significantly better-looking photos with deeper contrast, and produces a much wider range of colors with better accuracy.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 is better than the Epson EcoTank ET-2800 for most uses. The ET-5850 yields much more black pages, prints significantly faster, and supports automatic duplex printing to make it easier to print double-sided documents. Additionally, it has an automatic document feeder with duplex scanning, an Ethernet port, and it can print directly from external USB storage. On the other hand, the ET-2800 yields much more color prints, and its replacement ink is cheaper, making it less costly to maintain over time.
The Epson ET-2800/Epson ET-2803's plastic body feels relatively sturdy, there aren't any creaks or squeaky noises from moving parts, and the input connections feel sturdy. However, the paper tray cover at the top rear of the printer feels thin and flimsy. Also, the design isn't particularly user-friendly, as it's difficult to access the sheet rollers to remove paper jams, and there aren't any lid dampeners for the scanning flatbed, meaning you have to guide the top cover down slowly, or it'll slam down hard.
Like all inkjets, the printheads can clog if you don't print for a long time. If you experience clogging or other print quality issues, it has many built-in maintenance functions that can help resolve them, including printhead nozzle checks, regular and power printhead cleaning, and printhead alignment. There's a paper guide cleaning to remove dirt or loose ink, helping to prevent prints from getting smeared as they go through the feeders.
As for ink maintenance, you won't have to do it often since the ink tanks yield a large number of prints. Refilling the tank is easy, as it's almost impossible to put the wrong ink into the tanks since the nozzle of each bottle is designed to fit with only its corresponding ink tank. The input tray, on the other hand, will need regular refilling, as it only holds 100 sheets of plain paper or 20 sheets of photo paper. Also, it's difficult to access the sheet rollers to clear paper jams, as you have to first raise the control panel, pull down the front inner cover, then lift the scanning bed until it clicks into place. The access clearance is narrow, and you also have to be careful not to touch the printing tubes.
You can see the user manual here
.This printer has a mediocre display. It's very small, so you have to lean in close to see properly. There isn't a numeric keypad, only directional keys, so setting up the printer and connecting it to your network is very cumbersome. The screen doesn't have good viewing angles, meaning you'll have to look at it straight on, but fortunately, you can tilt the entire front panel upwards a full 90 degrees.
This printer doesn't use ink cartridges. It uses an ink tank that you can refill with bottles of ink. A full set of ink yields a large number of prints, so it's a great choice for high-volume printing. While you can technically fill the supertanks with any third-party ink, we didn't try it and don't recommend doing so. Low-quality ink can damage the printheads, and unlike standard inkjet printers, you can't simply remove the ink if there's a problem.
The ET-2800 yields significantly more cyan pages than either magenta or yellow. While it isn't clear exactly why this is the case, it's good news for people who intend to print blues often, like graphic designers working with a specific color palette or casual photographers who specialize in landscape photos with lots of sky or ocean. Additionally, it doesn't have an ink level sensor but instead monitors ink usage internally to estimate when the ink levels run low. To get the most accurate estimate, you need to fill the ink tanks properly and reset the ink levels manually in the printer settings. It's best not to allow the ink tanks to run too low, as this can introduce air bubbles into the tubes and damage the printer.
This printer only has a flatbed scanner, so it isn't ideal for people who frequently digitize multi-page documents. The scanner lid's hinges don't raise like other printers to properly fit thicker items like textbooks for scanning. Instead, you can actually remove the scanner lid entirely. To do this, you first have to open the lid fully, then gently push forward one hinge at a time until each one releases entirely from the hinge mechanism. Keep in mind this means the lid's white background won't cover any exposed spaces that the item you're scanning doesn't cover, so any direct copies will result in those exposed regions coming out completely black. This could potentially use up lots of ink or result in unusable prints.
If you want an EcoTank printer that has an automatic document feeder, check out the Epson EcoTank ET-3850 or the Epson EcoTank ET-4800.
The scan quality is great. The scanner boosts the contrast and saturation, which is good for text documents because it makes the text easier to read, but it might not be ideal if you're digitizing photos and expect the scan to look as close to the original as possible. It also loses some finer details.
The print quality for black and white documents is great. Most text looks sharp, but smaller text on colored backgrounds looks blurry. All of the fine elements come through properly and more clearly than when printing in color. It has trouble converting the color yellow to grayscale, although that's normal for most printers.
The print quality for color documents is good. Again, except for some smaller text on colored backgrounds, most text looks clear. However, the colors look slightly washed out, and not all of the finer details come through properly.
The Epson ET-2800/Epson ET-2803's cost-per-print is superb, thanks to its high-yielding refillable ink tanks and cheap ink. Also, the printer comes with a set of full bottles in the box, rather than limiting you to half-filled starter cartridges that need replacing not long after you get the printer.
The Epson 2800/Epson 2803 prints slowly overall. It takes a while to print out long documents, like reports or colored worksheets. It also takes a while to print a typical photo, much longer than most inkjet printers. On the bright side, it doesn't take too long to initialize and get single-page prints out. When printing double-sided documents, you need to manually flip the first set of printed pages over when prompted and reinsert them into the feeder so the printer can finish printing the other side. If you want an EcoTank that automatically prints double-sided, check out the Epson EcoTank ET-2850.
This printer doesn't have a removable paper cassette, only an input feeder at the top rear of the printer. You can set custom sizes between 2.12" and 8.5" in width, and 3.39" and 47.24" in length. It has a plastic extender to hold sheets and a movable slider to properly align differently sized media types. However, you need to manually extend and retract the front output tray, which could be inconvenient as printed sheets could fall off without manual intervention.
The Epson EcoTank ET-2800/ET-2803 has a good color gamut. It can produce bright, saturated colors, but struggles with darker shades of green and yellow. Color transitions look a tad grainy, but thankfully, there's no banding.
The color accuracy is okay. Casual prints look great, with only a few noticeable differences to the original image, but it might not be accurate enough for enthusiasts or professionals.
This printer is outstanding at producing small details. The main issue is the halftones (dot effect) making edges and distant objects look less defined.
The Epson Smart Panel mobile app is feature-rich. You can use it to print, scan, and copy, as well as perform maintenance tasks, like cleaning the printheads, checking the printhead nozzles, and viewing the estimated ink levels. You can also buy ink refills and update the printer's firmware. The app alerts you if some documents can't be displayed or printed properly; otherwise, it'll automatically convert most files into a printable format without any manual intervention.
This printer is fully compatible with the most commonly used operating systems. On Windows, you only need to install the printer's drivers if you just want to print, but you need to install the Epson Scan 2 software to use its scanning features. On macOS and Chrome OS, you can print and scan without having to manually install any drivers or software.