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- The benefits of an Epson EcoTank printer
- Lower printing costs
- Reducing cartridge waste
- Heat-free technology
- Command and control
- A new era in printing
- Finding the right EcoTank printer for you
- Everyday home essentials
- Epson EcoTank ET-2950
- Small office and home office solutions
- Photo printing for pro-level creatives
If you haven’t bought a printer in a while, you might be forgiven for thinking cartridge printers are your only option, but the cost of replacement ink cartridges may be keeping you from making that purchase.
By swapping traditional, low-capacity cartridges for high-capacity, refillable ink tanks, Epson has transformed the way in which households and businesses approach everyday document production.
With high-capacity, refillable ink tanks and up to 3 years’ worth of ink included in the box with each printer, you can print thousands of pages, with no need to worry about expensive cartridge costs.
Here we look at the core benefits of the Epson EcoTank lineup, covering low running costs, environmental sustainability, heat-free reliability and reliable connectivity.
The benefits of an Epson EcoTank printer
Before looking at specific hardware variations, it is essential to understand why the EcoTank architecture has become a dominant force in modern printing.
Lower printing costs
The most immediate benefit of Epson EcoTank printers is that instead of coming with cartridges, EcoTank printers ship with high-yield ink bottles, providing enough ink in the box to last up to three years on home/small office printers and enough ink to print 2,300 photos on the photograph printers.
The cost of printing with Epson EcoTank printers is up to 95% lower than with conventional cartridge printers, making it much more cost-effective to print high-volume school projects, colour photographs, or bulky reports.
Reducing cartridge waste
The ink bottles included with an EcoTank printer are equivalent to 63 ink cartridges, which is a huge reduction in the amount of plastic used over the lifespan of the printer. Empty EcoTank bottles are also widely recyclable via household recycling, eliminating the faff hassle associated with recycling used ink cartridges.
Heat-free technology
Unlike traditional laser printers that require high temperatures to fuse toner onto paper, or thermal inkjet printers that rely on heat to fire ink droplets, Epson’s PrecisionCore and Micro Piezo technologies are heat-free.
This engineering innovation yields multiple advantages, including lower energy consumption with minimal power drawn during operation; faster first page times because no warm-up time is required when coming out of sleep mode; and greater reliability and longevity thanks to fewer moving parts and lower thermal stresses.
Command and control
In 2026, it’s reasonable for you to expect your printer to slip easily into your existing home tech ecosystem, no matter your preferred hardware (laptop, tablet or phone) or operating system (Android, Windows or iOS).
Every model highlighted here embraces wireless versatility, and the latest EcoTank models also offer dual-band Wi-Fi for improved connectivity.
The Epson Smart Panel app transforms your smartphone or tablet into a full control centre for your Epson EcoTank printer.
You can monitor ink levels, perform maintenance checks, set up the printer from scratch and print documents directly without ever opening a computer.
With native support for Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service, iOS and Android users can hit “Print” from any native application instantly.
Additionally, features like Epson Email Print allow you to send documents to your printer from anywhere in the world.
A new era in printing
The Epson EcoTank series has fundamentally shifted what buyers should expect from consumer and office printing.
By removing the financial and ecological penalty associated with disposable ink cartridges, Epson has made high-volume printing accessible, affordable and stress-free.
Whether you are looking for an affordable all-round printer for everyday use, like the ET-2920 and ET-2926, more home office-friendly models with an automatic document feeder, like the ET-4900 and ET-3950, something in between like the ET-2950, or a specialised 6-ink photo printer like the ET-8500 or ET-8550, there’s an Epson EcoTank printer to fit your needs and budget.
Whichever model you pick, investing in an Epson EcoTank printer means saying goodbye to cartridge anxiety for good.
Finding the right EcoTank printer for you
While the underlying philosophy of cartridge-free printing unites the entire series, Epson tailors individual EcoTank models to match specific user workflows, environments and budgets, ranging from everyday home printing to small and home office spaces.
If you buy a selected EcoTank printer before 31 January 2027 you can claim up to £70 cashback from Epson. Epson is also so confident in the design and performance of its EcoTank printers, you can also register for a 5-year Extended Warranty on all EcoTank models.
Everyday home essentials
Epson EcoTank ET-2920 and ET-2926
For families, students, and home-office workers who handle general administrative tasks, homework, and occasional creative projects, entry-to-mid-range models like the ET-2920 and ET-2926 offer an ideal entry point.
Both the ET-2920 and ET-2926 feature compact, space-saving footprints designed to sit comfortably on a home desk or shelf. The ET-2926 stands out with a sleek white finish that blends into modern domestic and home-office environments.
Utilising Epson’s Micro Piezo print head technology, these models support high-resolution printing (up to 5,760 x 1,440dpi), meaning they punch well above their weight class when printing glossy colour photos alongside crisp text.
They offer standard 100-sheet rear paper capacities and rely on manual duplexing (flipping pages by hand for double-sided prints), which keeps the hardware simple, reliable and cost-effective.
Epson EcoTank ET-2950
If you are after a still affordable home printer but one capable of easily handling heavier printing jobs, then the EcoTank-2950 is the printer for you.
As well as all the expected EcoTank benefits of the cheaper models, the ET-2950 adds automatic duplex printing, allowing it to print on both sides of the page without manual intervention, a 3.7cm colour LCD display and dual-band Wi-Fi.
In the box with the printer, you’ll find enough ink to print up to 8,500 pages in black and 6,500 pages in colour.
The ET-2950 also uses pigment rather than dye-based black ink, which is more smudge-, water-, and fade-resistant and delivers sharper, more professional-looking text documents.
The EcoTank-2950 is also faster than the cheaper models, with speeds of up to 33ppm in black and white and 15ppm in colour.
Small office and home office solutions
Epson EcoTank ET-4900
When home users or small-business operators need more than just basic print, scan, and copy functions, specifically looking for automated workflow, the ET-4900 steps up as a versatile and affordable solution.
With its integrated 30-sheet ADF, or Automatic Document Feeder, manual duplex (two-sided in plain English) printing and a built-in fax, the ET-4900 is a true master of all trades.
If you need to scan, copy or fax a multi-page contract or tax document, you no longer have to lift the flatbed lid and place pages down one by one. You simply stack the papers in the feeder and let the machine process them autonomously.
Equipped with Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Ethernet and Apple AirPrint support, the ET-4900 integrates effortlessly into multi-device households. Users can print directly from smartphones and tablets using the Epson Smart Panel app.
Epson EcoTank ET-3950
The Epson EcoTank ET-3950 is an even more capable all-in-one printer engineered for home offices and busy households.
Epson’s cartridge-free EcoTank ink system delivers high print yields right out of the box, offering up to 15,100 black pages and 5,500 colour pages before requiring a top-up.
For daily productivity, the printer integrates a 30-page automatic document feeder (ADF) alongside an automated double-sided printing mechanism, making multi-page duplex (double-sided) scanning, copying, and printing effortless.
Media management is equally robust, anchored by a generous 250-sheet front-loading paper tray that reduces the frequency of paper refills.
The handy paper viewing window lets you see how much paper you have left without opening the paper drawer, while the automatically extending output tray means you’ll never again have to pick your copies up off the floor because you forgot to open the receiver.
Photo printing for pro-level creatives
Epson EcoTank ET-8500 and ET-8550
The Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8500 (for A4 printing) and ET-8550 (for A3+ printing) are premium printers designed specifically for creative enthusiasts and high-volume photo printing.
Their defining feature is the six-colour Claria ET Premium ink system, which moves beyond standard cyan, magenta and yellow by incorporating both a dedicated photo black and a specialised grey ink.
This unique formula includes a sharp pigment black optimised for crisp text documents alongside five dye-based inks engineered to produce borderless, lab-quality colour and monochrome photographs with exceptional tonal transitions.
Because these printers rely on ultra-high-capacity refillable reservoirs rather than expensive, small plastic cartridges, a single out-of-the-box ink bottle set can last up to two years or print roughly 2,300 high-quality photos at an exceptionally low operating cost.
Media handling on this unit is exceptionally versatile, offering four separate paper paths to accommodate a wide variety of creative projects.
This includes dual front paper trays configured to swap between standard A4 office paper and small photo sheets, a rear speciality media feed, and a single-sheet straight-line paper path capable of processing thick cardstock up to 1.3mm thick or banners up to two metres long. It also features a dedicated tray for direct CD and DVD surface printing.
For everyday productivity, the machine includes an integrated A4 flatbed scanner, automated double-sided printing, and a large 10.9cm colour touchscreen for effortless menu navigation. Connectivity options are wide-ranging, integrating Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Ethernet and direct slots for SD cards and USB flash drives, all fully supported by the Epson Smart Panel application for mobile device control.
To find out more about EcoTank and cost savings, visit epson.co.uk/ecotank
Cashback promotion: Terms & Conditions apply; see epson.co.uk/cashback for more details
To sign up for a 5-year Extended Warranty, visit epson.co.uk/printerwarranty
For more information about EcoTank cost savings, please visit epson.co.uk/ecotankfootnotes