Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 review

Our Verdict

The fast and flexible ET-5850 offers lots of features and extremely low ink costs, and makes high-quality prints in record time

For

Very fast performance
Two-sided printing, copying and scanning
Extremely depression ink costs
Fast document feeder and three paper trays
Large, iv.iii-inch color touchscreen

Confronting

Big footprint
Occasional paper feed issue
High initial price

Tom's Guide Verdict

The fast and flexible ET-5850 offers lots of features and extremely low ink costs, and makes high-quality prints in record fourth dimension

Pros

+
Very fast performance
+
Two-sided printing, copying and scanning
+
Extremely low ink costs
+
Fast certificate feeder and 3 newspaper trays
+
Large, 4.iii-inch color touchscreen

Cons

-
Large footprint
-
Occasional paper feed issue
-
Loftier initial cost

The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 ($850) is an inkjet all-in-one that lives up to its "pro" moniker in many means. It'south a workgroup printer that's congenital similar a workhorse, outfitted with high-capacity tanks (equally the product name suggests) that holds enough ink to print thousands of pages. The tanks keep ink costs extremely depression.

In addition to the traditional multifunction jobs of printing, copying and scanning, this workgroup printer offers fax adequacy and can shop 200 speed dial numbers. It offers a full complement of features, which we'll outline in detail, and blazed through our tests with impressive speed—all while delivering summit-notch image quality.

Built to handle up to 3,300 pages per month, our Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 review left no doubt that it'due south one of the best all-in-one printers you tin can buy, congenital for the busy function that can't beget to have its multifunction printer exist a productivity bottleneck.

Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850: Design

Similar to another ink tank competitor, the recently reviewed HP Smart Tank 651, the EcoTank ET-5850's front panel has little windows into its ink reservoirs, so you can plan ahead on ordering ink. Only you lot won't have to do that likewise presently: 2 bottles of each ink (a value of almost $200) come in the box: black, cyan, yellowish and magenta.

Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 review — (Image credit: Epson)

The ET-5850 has some heft to it, at well-nigh 40 pounds. It measures xvi.seven ten 32.4 x 18.ane inches when printing, so it will need a fair chunk of tabletop real estate. That'southward not surprising, given that it houses two 250-canvass newspaper cassettes, a 50-canvass specialty media tray, a 50-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF), and a duplexer. In addition to making two-sided prints, the ET-5850 can scan and copy two-sided original documents via the ADF.

The big, 4.three-inch touch screen operates smoothly. The large on-screen buttons brand card selections unproblematic, and you tin swipe the menu icons beyond the screen, like you can with a smartphone. Assist screens and animated instructions are well organized and easy to follow. There are no physical navigation buttons. On the back console are the USB, Ethernet, and telephone line (fax) ports. Wi-Fi networking and Wi-Fi Direct are supported.

Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850: Impress speed

The ET-5850 put the pedal to the metal in our tests, delivering very fast performance in every print, copy and scan test. It printed our v-folio text certificate in 19.6 seconds, or xv.3 pages per infinitesimal (ppm). That was significantly faster than the HP Smart Tank Plus 651, at 34 seconds, or viii.8 ppm, and a little slower than Canon Maxify MB5420 (our previous Editor's Choice for small businesses), at 17.v ppm. The average for ink tank and high-yield cartridge models was 31 seconds, or 9.seven ppm. Business organisation workgroup inkjets averaged 22.one seconds, or 13.6 ppm in our tests.

The EcoTank printed our six-page color PDF of mixed text and graphics in just 32.8 seconds—a blistering stride of 11 ppm that's a fraction of the category average of two.6 ppm (or, 2 minutes and 19 seconds). The HP Smart Tank Plus 651 printed the aforementioned document at a glacial pace of iii minutes and 30 seconds, or ane.7 ppm. The Catechism Maxify MB5420 printed information technology at one-half the pace of the EcoTank, taking about 1 minute.

Using the rear special media tray, the EcoTank made a high-quality letter-size glossy photo impress in 2 minutes and 21 seconds. The Canon MB5420 was slightly faster, printing the same photo in two minutes and 5 seconds. Loftier-yield inkjets averaged 4 minutes and 31 seconds, while the HP Smart Tank Plus 651 was fifty-fifty slower, taking v minutes and 4 seconds.

The ET-5850 was equally impressive at making two-sided prints, losing merely i or two pages per minute versus unmarried-sided prints. The EcoTank spat out two-sided text documents at 14.five ppm. Past comparison, the Canon MB5420 did and so at 11.7 ppm.

The ET-5850 besides printed two-sided color documents quickly, at 9.five ppm. By comparison, the Catechism MB5420 did so at 6 ppm. Slower models include the Epson EcoTank ET-4750, at 3.4 ppm, and the Catechism Pixma TS9120, at 2.3 ppm.

Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850: Copy and scan speed

The ET-5850 made a blackness-and-white copy in just half-dozen.7 seconds, the fastest time we've recorded for an inkjet all-in-one. It was more than four times faster than the average for ink tank and loftier-yield models, 28.8 seconds, as well as the fastest among business models. The Catechism MB5420 was the side by side-fastest business model, making the same copy in 7.vi seconds.

The EcoTank was was also lightning-fast at making a color copy, doing so in ten seconds—a fraction of the fourth dimension it took nigh general-purpose models. Similarly impressive, the Catechism MB5420 made a color re-create in 13.4 seconds. The average for business models is 31.1 seconds. In our testing, high-yield models accept been somewhat slow at this chore, taking 49 seconds on boilerplate.

Like its duplexer, the ET-5850's automatic document feeder (ADF) is fast. Using the ADF, the EcoTank copied a unmarried-sided five-folio text document in 21.7 seconds, or 13.8 ppm. Past contrast, the HP Smart Tank 651 took almost 11 minutes to re-create 5 text pages—less than half a page per infinitesimal. The Brother INKvestment J805DW made the same re-create in 44.2 seconds, or half dozen.8 ppm.

The ET-5850 continued to work at a brisk pace when copying two-sided multi-folio documents, taking but ane infinitesimal and 11 seconds (eight.5 ppm) to make a two-sided copy of a 10-page double-sided text certificate. The Canon MB5420 was slightly faster, at 8.eight ppm.

Scanning speeds were as well fast in both of our tests. The ET-5850 was quick to make a loftier-resolution browse of a 8-by-ten-inch photo, creating a 600 dpi JPEG in just 17 seconds (the fastest time we've measured for an inkjet all-in-ane). This was almost twice as fast every bit the Canon MB5420, at 31.7 seconds, and the business category average of 31.1 seconds. HP Smart Tank Plus 651, on the other hand, took 2 minutes and 16 seconds to brand the same scan.

Similarly, the EcoTank scanned in record time, making a 300 dpi grayscale PDF in just five.vi seconds, compared to the category boilerplate of 7.1 seconds for business organisation inkjets. The HP Smart Tank 651 made the same scan in eight.3 seconds. The Canon MB5420 made the scan in 9.iv seconds.

The EcoTank too scans quickly using its ADF. It made a 300 dpi five-page PDF scan of a text and mixed colour graphics document in just forty.3 seconds, or merely over viii seconds per page. Scanning a two-sided original via the ADF, the EcoTank made a two-folio 300 dpi grayscale PDF in 21.v seconds. Scanning the aforementioned 2-page document in color took 27.9 seconds. Adding more than pages did not boring down the EcoTank'southward step: It scanned a 10-folio, two-sided original speedily, creating a 300 dpi PDF in i minute and 39 seconds, or just nether 10 seconds per page.

Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850: Print quality

The EcoTank ET-5850 makes loftier-quality prints. Text looked crisp and as close as you can get with an inkjet to the razor-abrupt letterforms of a good quality laser printer. Text in two-sided prints looked just as sharp.

Prints of graphics were of high quality. There was some mild banding visible in flat areas, merely it was spaced out enough to not exist distracting. High-quality inkjet paper seemed to reduce the banding. Colors looked well saturated and natural, mid tone transitions were smooth, and details looked precipitous.

Photographs printed on glossy paper looked very attractive, with rich colors and sharp details. The EcoTank tends to emphasize reds and yellows, creating a warm tone that is arguably a little unnatural looking. Shadow areas in photographic prints tended to lose some subtle details.

Copies of text documents looked attractive, with letter forms that came out a niggling fatter than in the original. On occasion, copy quality suffered due to an apparent ADF or paper feed inaccuracy. On copies of multi-page text documents, this led to some jagged and mismatched lines of text. At worst, a v-page copy had a line of misaligned text on three of its pages; another 10-page copy had one folio with a misaligned row of text. Several other documents copied accurately, however, and graphics copied on manifestly newspaper looked faithful to the originals.

Scans of documents with mixed text and graphics looked very bonny in PDF format. The document scans looked accurate and detailed. Scans of glossy photographs made at default settings, yet, tended to come out darker than the original. Although details were sharp and skin tones looked natural, dark mid tones tended to transition abruptly into shadow, giving an underexposed appearance. Shadows looked also nighttime and apartment, losing details in the original print.

Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850: Ink cost and yield

Ink costs for the EcoTank ET-5850 are extremely low. A bottle of blackness ink costs $29.99 and lasts an estimated seven,500 pages. Color inks toll $22.99 each, and are rated to last six,000 pages. 2 bottles of each ink come in the box. There is a three-pack of cyan, magenta and yellow inks, but it'southward priced simply 2 cents less than if you bought the iii inks individually. All inks are pigment-based.

These estimates deliver costs per page of 0.4 cents for text pages, and 1.half-dozen cents per colour page. By comparison, the HP SmartTank 651's costs per page are 0.iii cents and 0.8 cents, respectively. Using high-yield cartridges, the Catechism MB5420 has much college costs per page of 1.5 cents (text) and vii.1 cents (color). The Brother INKvestment MFC-J805DW has costs per page of one.2 cents for text and five cents for colour. The average for high-yield printers is 0.6 cents per folio for text, and 3 cents per page for color, while business inkjets boilerplate 1.9 and viii.ix cents, respectively. In both cases, this is a dramatic comeback over standard inkjets, which average costs per page of v.9 cents and 14.9 cents, respectively.

I additional consumable that needs factoring into costs is a maintenance box, which stores ink discharged during print head cleaning. This function costs $23.99 and would be a significant expense if it needed regular replacement. At press time, Epson had non sent usa an approximate of how often users might need to replace the maintenance box. In our testing, the LCD showed the maintenance box to be roughly threescore per centum filled up after using half a bottle of black ink and roughly 5-eighths of the color inks. If this rate was constant, the box may need replacing every 5,000 pages or so, adding nearly half a cent per folio to printing costs. Still, it's besides likely that the initial setup deemed for much of the maintenance box usage, and the box volition last much longer.

Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850: Setup and software

To set upwardly the ET-5850, I removed roughly a dozen pieces of blue packaging record, and then filled the four ink tanks. Filling the tanks from the included bottles is simple: You twist off the cap of each ink bottle, and insert it atop the corresponding tank, and wait for gravity to piece of work its magic.

I ran the installation from the CD-ROM on a Windows 10 PC, and followed instructions for charging the ink, which took roughly ix minutes. When prompted to print a exam page, the ET-5850 automatically extended its output tray.

The CD-ROM includes 2 scanning programs. ScanSmart is required for using the "scan to estimator" function from the ET-5850's touch screen. In Windows 10, ScanSmart's home screen offers double-sided and single-sided scanning options, and plenty of file saving options. One function you might miss, however, is auto cropping. The scanning expanse carte du jour only offers certificate sizes such as letter, A4, etc. If you lot scan smaller objects, such equally a 4-by-6-inch photo or iii-fold brochure comprehend, you will get a lot of white space you'll demand to crop out afterwards. The Epson Scan 2 programme provides TWAIN compliance.

I set the ET-5850 over USB (no cable included) and on my wireless network. In both cases the setup was straightforward.

Printing from a mobile telephone was pretty seamless. The iOS version of the Epson iPrint app worked well on an iPhone vii, and was intuitive, except for a couple unsupported formats. For instance, the "impress photos" function took me to the Photos gallery to select pictures for printing. But, because the app does not support the iOS Notes format, selecting the Epson iPrint app directly from Notes resulted in a "format not supported" message. The same was true of .png files (screenshots). However, the workaround was piece of cake in both cases: Instead of selecting Epson iPrint from the share menu, I selected the native "impress" part and then selected the ET-5850 from the list of printers. The ET-5850 supports Apple AirPrint and Mopria, and there is an Android version of the iPrint app, likewise.

Epson'southward iPrint app too offers voice-activated press via Alexa, Google and Siri. On iOS, the iPhone app has an "Add to Siri" button on the main page with iv choices: Print the terminal photo I took, scan this document, run document capture, and show me my printer'southward ink levels. I used the first option with a "impress photo" command, and my latest snapshot printed successfully.

Startup time was roughly average. The ET-5850 took 14 seconds to ability upward and display its domicile screen carte du jour. Making a blackness-and-white copy immediately took just 9 seconds, compared to half dozen.7 seconds during regular testing.

Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850: Verdict

Extremely low ink costs and exceptional performance make the ET-5850 a great fit for a busy office. With a document feeder, duplexer, three paper trays, and ii-sided scanning, the ET-5850 is probable to meet the demands of most busy offices.

If your print book warrants a workhorse like the ET-5850, it's unlikely you'll be disappointed. In every examination nosotros ran it through, the ET-5850 delivered loftier image quality at record speed. Print quality was excellent, re-create quality was tiptop-notch, certificate scans looked abrupt, and ii-sided operations were all quickly accomplished. The only disappointments were that scans of photographs came out besides night at default settings, and that the included scanning software does not offering automatic cropping.

Compared to our previous Editor's Selection, the Catechism Maxify MB5420, the ET-5850 offers dramatically lower ink costs—fifty-fifty when the MB5420'southward loftier-yield cartridges are installed. The time information technology takes to recoup the higher initial investment in the EcoTank will depend on your office'southward print volume—the more than yous impress, the faster the render on the investment.

The EcoTank Pro outperforms the Maxify in most categories—and doubles the Maxify's speeds at color press and scanning, all while delivering high image quality.

If your function equipment budget can accommodate the cost, the fast and feature-rich ET-5850 is definitely worth a serious look.

Eric Butterfield is a freelance writer and musician from California. His work has appeared in PC World magazine, CNET, Taproot, and Alter Activity — plus Tom'south Guide, of grade — while his music has appeared in more than 260 Tv set evidence episodes for major networks such equally NBC, Hulu, BBC America, and more. Y'all tin check out his piece of work on Spotify.