The Epson EcoTank ET-2850 is an all-in-one printer designed for small or home offices. It replaces the now-discontinued Epson EcoTank ET-2760 and is similar in design and performance, with one notable difference: it lacks an SD card slot, unlike its predecessor. It has USB and Wi-Fi connectivity, an 8.5x11 flatbed scanner, and a 100-sheet input tray. It supports duplex printing but not duplex scanning since it lacks an automatic feeder.
Our Verdict
The Epson EcoTank ET-2850 is very good for home use. It can print thousands of pages before needing to refill its tanks, and replacement ink is inexpensive. There's a flatbed scanner to scan old pictures, drawings, or pages from a recipe book. However, while it prints very sharp and detailed photos, color accuracy is poor, so most images won't necessarily come out looking like the originals.
- Incredibly high page yields.
- Very low cost-per-print.
- Great photo printing quality.
- Supports wireless printing.
- Bad color accuracy.
- Slow printing speed.
The Epson ET-2850 is decent for small offices. Its supertank system ensures that you can print hundreds of pages a week without buying new ink bottles, which are pretty cheap given the number of pages you can print from a refill. Unfortunately, it doesn't have an automatic document feeder, so it's not ideal for high-volume scanning. Additionally, it prints slowly, which is undesirable if you're under a time constraint.
- Incredibly high page yields.
- Very low cost-per-print.
- Supports wireless printing.
- Good document printing quality.
- Slow printing speed.
- No automatic document feeder.
If you plan to use a printer only occasionally, the Epson ET-2850 is a passable option. It's an inkjet printer that performs best with regular use, not sporadic printing. When you leave it idle, the printheads can clog, which means you'll need to print occasionally to keep the ink from drying out. The printheads aren't replaceable, but the printer does support high-capacity flushing, so you can run several deep-cleaning cycles without refilling the ink. Still, if flushing can't clear a serious clog, you won't have many options to solve the issue. On the plus side, the ink tanks deliver fantastic page yields, so you won't need to refill them often.
- Incredibly high page yields.
- Supports wireless printing.
- Slow printing speed.
- No automatic document feeder.
Can clog if it's left unused.
Printheads aren't user-replaceable.
The Epson EcoTank ET-2850 is good for photos. While it has a wide color gamut and prints detailed photos nicely, its color accuracy is poor, with some images having a distinctly bluish tone and many shades being reproduced inaccurately. On the bright side, its cost-per-print is very low because the ink tank yields a large number of prints, and replacement ink is cheap.
- Great photo printing quality.
- Bad color accuracy.
- Can't print 2x3 photos.
The Epson EcoTank ET-2850 delivers exceptional page yields. Its supertank cartridges can print thousands of pages before needing a refill.
- Incredibly high page yields.
The Epson ET-2850 has poor printing speeds. You can expect to print around 8 black and white pages per minute, and around half that number in color pages.
- Slow printing speed.
The Epson EcoTank ET-2850 document printing quality is great. It's able to preserve all the fine detail, and the text looks sharp. It only struggles in particularly demanding scenarios, such as small white text on a colored background.
- Good document printing quality.
The Epson EcoTank 2850's scanner is unremarkable. It lacks an ADF, which is not ideal if you need to scan longer documents, and its scan quality is only decent. While text is legible, the scanner's processing is aggressive, and finer details and thinner lines are hard to see.
- No automatic document feeder.
Performance Usages
Changelog
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Updated Jan 09, 2026:
We've updated text throughout the review after converting to Test Bench 1.3.
- Updated Jan 05, 2026: We've updated the review to Test Bench 1.3, which adds a number of test boxes including Risk of Clogging and Ease of Unclogging. We also updated the Usage and Performance boxes at the top of the review to better integrate the new aspects covered. See the changelog.
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Updated Dec 12, 2024:
We've added mention of the Epson Expression Photo XP-8800 as an alternative with much faster photo printing in the Printing Speed section.
- Updated May 09, 2024: Added mention of the Canon MegaTank MAXIFY GX2020/GX1020 as an alternative with an ADF in the Scanner Features section.
Check Price
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
There are two color variants of the Epson EcoTank ET-2850: 'Black' and 'White.' We tested the 'White' variant. There's also an Epson EcoTank ET-2850 Special Edition variant, which is a Costco exclusive that comes with an additional bottle of black ink.
See our unit's label.
Popular Printer Comparisons
The Epson EcoTank ET-2850 is a good inkjet printer compared to other models in its class. It stands out for its wide color range, high page yields, and low cost per print. However, its slow print speeds might be a dealbreaker for some. Also, although it produces good-quality documents, you can find lower-end models that perform better.
See our recommendations for the best home printers, the best cheap ink printers, and the best all-in-one printers.
The Canon PIXMA G6020 and the Epson EcoTank ET-2850 are both supertank printers. If you print monochrome documents most often, the Epson is a better choice. It prints thousands more black pages than the Canon, so you won't have to refill the tank as often. On the other hand, the Canon can print more color pages. This, paired with its lower ink bottle cost, gives it a lower cost-per-print for color printing and photos. It's also much faster at printing photos.
The Epson EcoTank ET-3850 is the step-up model of the Epson EcoTank ET-2850. They're very similar, but the ET-3850 has more helpful features for a small office, like a larger display, an automatic document feeder, and an Ethernet port. It also has higher page yields and faster printing speed.
The Epson EcoTank ET-2980 is the successor to the Epson EcoTank ET-2850. The new model is an improvement in many ways. It offers better black-and-white printing quality, it's noticeably quicker, and it delivers better color accuracy out of the box. Other than that, both printers are similar, notably offering amazing cost-per-print.
The Epson EcoTank ET-2800/ET-2803 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.
Test Results
The Epson EcoTank ET-2850's body is made of cheap-feeling plastic, but it still feels somewhat sturdy. The power cord is removable, making it easy to replace if damaged, and there's a dampener to prevent the flatbed scanner from slamming down. The ink tanks are easy to reach, but you need to lift the flatbed to open the ink tank cover. It differs from the Epson EcoTank ET-2800/ET-2803, which allows you to remove the ink tank cover without needing to move any other parts out of the way.
The weight includes the ink, as we took these measurements after filling the printer's tanks.
The display is passable. It's small but easy to see, whether you're sitting or standing. You can adjust the panel's tilt to improve visibility if needed. The physical control buttons are clicky and responsive.
This printer yields an incredible number of pages thanks to its supertank system. There's no ink level sensor to precisely measure the remaining ink. Instead, the printer monitors ink usage internally to estimate when the ink levels run low, meaning you'll have to keep an eye on the ink levels to avoid completely emptying the tank, as doing so could introduce air bubbles into the print tubes and damage the printheads. You'll need to manually reset the ink levels when refilling the tanks. The printer will continue printing even when it's out of ink. While there's no formal warning for low ink levels, you will receive this reminder once ink levels drop roughly below a quarter full.
Like all inkjet printers, the printheads can clog if you don't print for a while. If you experience print quality issues, several built-in maintenance functions are available to help resolve them, including printhead cleaning, printhead alignment, printhead nozzle check, power cleaning, and paper guide cleaning. It's easy to reach the ink tanks for refills; simply lift the scanner to open the ink tank cover. Refilling the tanks is straightforward since the ink bottles have keyed nozzles that only fit with their corresponding tank, so you won't need to worry about accidentally refilling the wrong tank. The process can be messy, but at least you don't need to do it often, thanks to its incredibly high page yields. Note that once you refill the tanks, you need to reset the ink level counter each time since the printer can't measure exactly how much ink you have left. The sheet rollers are accessible by removing a panel at the back or by lifting the flatbed scanner. The paper tray can only hold 100 pages, so you have to add paper if you print many long documents.
After sitting unused for nearly two months, the magenta and cyan printheads were clogged. It took four printhead cleanings in a row and letting the printer rest for 12 hours before the printheads worked as intended. That said, you won't experience this amount of clogging if you use your printer regularly.
See the user guide here.
This is an inkjet printer, which means it can clog if left unused for an extended period. Inkjet printers use liquid ink that flows through extremely fine printhead nozzles. During extended periods of inactivity, this ink can evaporate, thicken, or dry out, potentially blocking the ink flow. Environmental factors such as dry air, dust, temperature fluctuations, or direct sunlight can accelerate clog formation. Clogs may cause missing lines, faded colors, or complete print failures. To reduce the risk, we recommend printing periodically and storing the printer in a cool, stable environment. If clogs occur, most inkjet printers include built-in maintenance routines to help clear the printheads, which are detailed in the Expected Maintenance test box of this review.
If you don't want to deal with unclogging, laser printers use a different system with dry toner and a drum instead of ink and printheads, which avoids this issue.
This printer has non-replaceable printheads paired with a high ink volume, which helps resolve most clogging issues without needing a refill or a new cartridge. The large flushing volume partially compensates for the lack of replacement options for the printheads. However, if a clog exceeds what printhead cleaning tasks can handle, you will most likely need professional help to resolve the issue, which can be quite costly.
- Start here guide
- Setup CD-ROM
- Power cord
- Epson T502 bottles
- 1x black
- 1x cyan
- 1x magenta
- 1x yellow
The cost per print is very low, thanks to this printer's high page yield and inexpensive ink bottle refills.
The photo printing speed is particularly slow compared to most inkjet models. If you want a printer that can print photos much faster, check out the Epson Expression Photo XP-8800.
The print quality of black-and-white documents is great. Printed text looks sharp, and all of the fine details are present and easily visible. However, white text within a gray background is hard to read.
The print quality of color documents is good. Text looks sharp and clear, but finer details look faint, like the lines in the graph, and the colors are a tad washed out.
Note: There's some ink leakage at the top right of the second sample image.
This printer can print on A5 paper, but you need to set a custom size to do so. You can set custom sizes with a width of 3.5" to 8.5" and a length of 5" to 47.24".
The OCR (optical character recognition) feature is software-based, meaning you need to install the Epson Scan 2 software to use it, and you can only initiate an OCR scan from your computer. If you need an automatic document feeder, check out the Epson EcoTank ET-3850 or the Canon MegaTank MAXIFY GX2020/GX1020.
The scan quality is decent. All text is legible, although a bit blurry; finer details and thinner lines are, however, very hard to see. The image processing significantly boosts the contrast and color saturation, which you may or may not like.
This printer has a great color gamut. It mainly struggles with bright, highly saturated tones and darker shades of green. Color transitions are a bit grainy, but still better than most office inkjet printers.
The Epson ET-2850 has bad color accuracy. While this isn't an issue when adding color to a report or assignment, it becomes a problem if you print photos regularly. Printed images are colorful, but most shades look drastically different from how they appear in the original image, especially browns, greens, and blues.
This printer does an amazing job of reproducing fine details in images. The halftones (dot effect) aren't overly distracting, though they soften the edges of objects.
The Epson ET-2850 supports borderless printing, but there might be a slight loss in print quality.
The Epson Smart Panel app is feature-rich. It lets you print, scan, copy, check ink levels, and start a printhead cleaning. Some additional features include Access to Class, which allows you to print assignments and documents from Google Classroom, and the Creative Print and Epson Gallery website, which provides access to artistic prints and printing on various media formats. A Guest Connection feature creates a QR code, allowing your friends to easily connect to the printer. Microsoft Office and text files don't appear properly on the iOS version of the app, as the app alters the formatting. Therefore, you'll need to print them using the app you use to view those files.
You don't need to install drivers on macOS and Chrome OS devices, but you do on Windows devices, which you can get here. While there's no printing app, there's a maintenance tab in the Printing Preferences that lets you access printhead cleanings.
