Epson EcoTank ET-2980 (ET-2950) ink tank printer review: I’d buy Epson’s entry-level EcoTank for its crisp low cost pages

As the leader in cartridge-free printing, Epson also has the largest range of refillable printers, which now includes this entry-level all-in-one promising ultra low-cost color printing at home.

The white Epson EcoTank ET-2980 has several variants, including the black Epson EcoTank ET-2950 tested here, but it’s essentially a budget tank printer aimed at the small office or anyone who wants to cut their consumables bill by 95%.

Yes, bottled ink is that much cheaper than cartridge ink. But can it compete with the Brother DCP-T580DW and HP Smart Tank 210 to become one of our best ink tank printers?

Epson EcoTank ET-2980: Design and build

For an all-in-one bulk tank device with an integrated 8.5" x 11" scanner, the Epson EcoTank ET-2950 is reasonably compact. It replaces the outgoing Epson EcoTank ET-2850 and as well as printing a little faster using an improved printhead, I think it looks better too.

The tanks protrude less, and yet they’re still conspicuous enough that it’s easy to see the ink levels at glance. And I’m glad to see the capacity is the same, because Epson’s reservoirs are slightly larger than those of the Brother DCP-T580DW. The sleeker replacement also gets an attention-grabbing LED on top that illuminates usefully when there’s printing in progress.

There’s no touchscreen on this budget model, but the 1.4” color LCD is clear enough and the control panel tilts upwards conveniently. There’s no USB Host port and no paper input tray. Instead, you have to load paper in the rear tray, which can only hold up to 100 sheets. The whole thing weighs little more than 11 pounds making it feel insubstantial, so it’s somewhat surprising to find that the out-tray is motorised. That’s really the only luxury.

Epson EcoTank ET-2980: Features & specifications

We’re so used to seeing cartridge printers packed with features and selling for fifty bucks and less, that tank printers, which are not being subsidized in order to make money from their ink, can seem expensive.

Likewise, the feature set on this US$240 EcoTank could also look slim. As mentioned, there’s no touchscreen, no USB Host port and no paper drawer. There’s no ADF (automatic document feed) either, but these are all non-essential items that Epson has dropped to keep the price competitive.

Crucially, the Epson EcoTank ET-2950 can auto-duplex and has a flatbed scanner, unlike the HP Smart Tank 210, and it has Wi-Fi with AirPrint and Mopria compatibility. It can print on a wide variety of paper up to Letter or A4-size, including quite think cardstock, but its best feature is perhaps the generous amount of ink included in the box. Enough to keep you printing for three years according to Epson.

If you would rather have a printer with a paper input tray and an ADF for copying multiple documents at a time, you should consider the excellent step-up Epson Ecotank ET-3850 for around seventy dollars more. Or, if you don’t need auto duplexing or the scanning feature, you can save money with the economical HP Smart Tank 210.

Epson EcoTank ET-2980: Setup and operation

The Epson EcoTank ET-2950 comes with an easy-to-follow quick-start guide printed on a single sheet, but you probably won’t need it. When you plug in and turn on for the first time, the printer’s on-screen prompts will help you get your new printer online and printing the first test page in a matter of minutes.

Alternatively, you can use Epson’s free companion app for iOS and Android called Smart Panel to avoid having to enter your Wi-Fi password via the printer’s control panel.

Filling up with ink is also stress free as the capacity of the bottles matches that of the tanks. That’s 65ml for CMY and 127ml for black. And the keyed bottle necks mean you can’t pour the wrong color in the wrong tank. In day-to-day use, I’d say this is a user-friendly device, thanks to the reasonably sized color display and the intuitive companion app that really simplifies printing remotely.

Epson EcoTank ET-2980: Performance

The Epson EcoTank ET-2950 printed every test page on every type of media from card to envelopes without a hitch or a jam. It printed slowly but steadily with the quoted print speed of 15ppm for simplex mono printing proving accurate.

That slows to just 8ppm in color. In duplex mode, each page is turned over automatically and quite promptly, so long 2-sided documents can actually be printed out faster than the manual duplexing HP Smart Tank 210 despite its superior 22ppm print rate.

Black and white text pages are printed with crisp dark black characters that are smudge resistant and easy to read at small point sizes. Through the magnifying glass I can see evidence of overrun, but it’s not visible with the naked eye. If you need fast laser precision and rarely print in color, you should consider a mono laser printer like the Brother HL-L5100DN.

Color prints look rich and bright with well contained colors. It’s perhaps a tad too red and also slightly softer than some rivals. Epson is using its energy efficient Micro Piezo technology to deliver ink through a total of 784 nozzles. That’s 65% fewer than the cheaper HP Smart Tank 210 with its thermal inkjet system.

Although nozzle-count doesn’t equate directly with print quality (their quoted print resolutions are exactly the same) I think the Epson achieves less detail when it comes to printing photos at best quality on coated photo paper. For a business-oriented inkjet, its photo printing is perfectly acceptable, but it’s not a strong point.

Where the Epson EcoTank ET-2950 excels is in handling paper. I always find it annoying when there’s no front drawer and you have to load paper in the rear slot where it curls and collects dust. On the plus side, the paper path is straighter this way so the printer can feed through thicker media without causing a jam. I printed on envelopes, stickers and some pretty thick 300g/m² card with great results. The HP Smart Tank 210, for comparison, chokes on anything heavier than 200g/m².

The Letter or A4-sized flatbed scanner makes decent copies at 1,200 x 2,400 dpi resolution and is easy to operate with the dedicated ‘copy’ button. It’s a pity there’s no ADF to go with it, but at least it has a scanner bed, unlike the HP Smart Tank 210 which relies on your phone for scanning.

Epson EcoTank ET-2980: Consumables

The headline feature here is the three years’ worth of ink you’re getting in the box. To be more precise, that’s three 65ml bottles of colored ink and one 127ml bottle of black that should yield up to 5,500 color pages or 6,600 monochrome. That’s about the same as Brother, HP and Canon give away with their entry-level tank printers.

In this case, Epson’s 102 black ink is pigment-based, while the 102 CMY inks are dye-based because the quicker-drying pigment is better for smudge-free handouts. That’s different from the 106 inks Epson supplies with its photo printers which are all dye-based for their superior performance on coated photo paper.

Epson’s bottled ink is around 95% cheaper than its cartridge ink, though there’s nothing to stop you from using even cheaper third party bottled ink.

Epson EcoTank ET-2980: Maintenance

As with any inkjet printer, the printheads are liable to clog if left unused for long periods, but it’s easy to unblock any nozzles by running a cleaning cycle. Just go into the printer’s maintenance menu, choose one and it will automatically flush the nozzles with fresh ink until it can print a clean test page.

That detachable compartment at the rear corner of the printer is the maintenance box that catches any excess ink generated in this way and at some point in the printer’s lifetime, you may need to replace it.

Epson EcoTank ET-2980: Final verdict

Epson’s entry-level EcoTank all-in-one is short on features, but delivers crisp documents, vibrant color prints and exceptionally low running costs, with enough ink included to last three years.

Admittedly, there’s no touchscreen, ADF, USB Host port or even a front paper drawer, just a 100-sheet rear feed and small color display. But crucially, you still get automatic duplex printing, Wi-Fi and a flatbed scanner. Setup is straightforward using Epson’s excellent Smart Panel app, and the keyed ink bottles make refilling painless.

In my tests, the ET-2950 printed reliably on everything from envelopes to thick 300g/m² cardstock. It’s not a fast printer, but automatic duplexing is a welcome convenience. Pigment black ink produces crisp, smudge-resistant text, while dye-based colors look bright and punchy. Photographs are slightly soft and oversaturated towards red, but perfectly acceptable for occasional use.

The biggest attraction is the ink economy. Epson is putting plenty of ink in the box and replacement bottles are cheap. At around $240, the ET-2950 is relatively expensive upfront, but I think its low running costs, reliable performance and essential duplexing feature make it excellent long-term value.

For more top-performing units, I've tested out the best home printers.