In their ongoing struggle for relevance, printers have in recent years gained apps, and touchscreens, and all manner of features that range from useless to maddening. The Epson EcoTank, though, is notable mostly for what it’s gotten rid of: ink cartridges. Or more specifically, a lifetime of pricey ink cartridge refills.
The five new EcoTank models range from $350 to $1,200 in price, depending on capacity and feature set, but even the most affordable version promises enough ink in its reservoirs to cover 4,000 black and 6,500 color pages before requiring a refill. This is an absurd amount of ink, unless you are home-printing an outrageously popular zine, and even then you should be pretty well covered.
The way the EcoTanks work is so delightfully simple, it’s almost—almost—as if the prevailing cartridge system exists solely to disadvantage the average consumer for the benefit of the handful of companies that dominate the world of printing hardware. Instead of shipping with a few small cartridges, the EcoTank comes with the equivalent of 20 cartridges worth of ink already onboard, in small tanks.
It also takes a bit of clever engineering to get the ink from those tanks to the page; as the WSJ points out. Epson uses what it calls "MicroPiezo printhead technology," which is a fancy way of saying permanent mechanical printheads, as opposed to the disposable thermal printheads that dominate the industry. Epson's printheads use microscopic nozzles to fire the ink onto the page, and can be fed from any source, like, say, a big ol' goblet.
Yes, you pay more upfront, but you also end up paying far less in the long run, both in money and sanity. Refills cost $13 per bottle, or $52 per set of bottles, though again keep in mind that you won’t need to even think about those refills for literally years at a time. Relatedly, you’re far less likely to find yourself out of ink the one time you actually have an urgent printing need.
You’re also more likely, Epson says, to go ahead and splurge on color print-outs instead of a puritanical black and white canvas, because you’re less worried about hoarding those magentas, cyans, and yellows.
“The introduction of EcoTank marks a fundamental shift in the way we think about using color in business and in the home,” said Epson America executive Keith Kratzberg in a statement. “Epson EcoTank sets a new standard for color printing, convenience, and value.”
It’s marketing speak, sure, but it’s backed up by simple math: fewer refills plus less long-term cost equals more printer peace of mind than you may have had in quite some time.
