The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 is an all-in-one supertank printer for small businesses with outstanding page yields and a remarkably low cost-per-print. Its body feels sturdy, with good access to paper jams, and its output tray slides out automatically when printing. It features an ADF that can automatically scan double-sided sheets in two passes, and a flatbed scanner with high resolution. Wired and wireless connectivity options are superb, including printing directly from USB flash drives. It also comes with two sets of black and color ink bottles, which should last you a long time, even if you print frequently. However, the flatbed scanner's hinges raise only slightly for scanning thicker items, and it doesn't support Bluetooth printing.
Our Verdict
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 is an amazing printer for families. Its cost-per-print is incredibly low, and it produces photos with good quality. Colors look accurate enough for most casual color prints and photos. It can print directly from USB flash drives, and its companion app has a fantastic depth of functionality. Its flatbed scanner has a good scan resolution and color depth for digitizing your most important photos.
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Sturdy body with easy access to paper jams.
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Superb page yields and cost-per-print.
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Produces good-quality photos.
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Flatbed scanner hinges raise only slightly.
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Mediocre color accuracy.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 is a fantastic printer for small or home offices, with superbly high page yields and an impressively fast print speed for black text documents. Its automatic document feeder can duplex scan in two passes for easy processing of double-sided multi-page documents, and it can connect to Ethernet or Wi-Fi for networking.
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Sturdy body with easy access to paper jams.
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Superb page yields and cost-per-print.
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Remarkably fast printing speeds.
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No Bluetooth support.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 is a remarkably good printer for students. Its cost-per-print for black and color prints is superb, and you can print in various ways, including Wi-Fi Direct and directly from USB flash drives. It also has a flatbed scanner to digitize media, but its hinges don't raise very much. Unfortunately, you can't print via Bluetooth.
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Sturdy body with easy access to paper jams.
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Superb page yields and cost-per-print.
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Remarkably fast printing speeds.
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No Bluetooth support.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 is excellent for black-and-white printing, with a supertank system that gives it an incredible black page yield and cost-per-print. It prints amazingly quickly and automatically prints double-sided, and its automatic document feeder supports double-sided scanning. It also has outstanding connectivity options.
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Sturdy body with easy access to paper jams.
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Superb page yields and cost-per-print.
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Remarkably fast printing speeds.
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No Bluetooth support.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 is good for printing casual photos. They're produced with good quality, a good tone, and acceptably accurate colors. However, there's some graininess present. The cost-per-print is superb, and it supports 4" x 6" and 5" x 7" glossy photo paper formats.
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Sturdy body with easy access to paper jams.
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Superb page yields and cost-per-print.
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Produces good-quality photos.
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Doesn't support 2" x 3" format paper.
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Mediocre color accuracy.
- Family
- Small/Home Office
- Student
- Black & White
- Photo
Performance Usages
- Color Quality
- Document Quality
- Scanner
- Speed
- Recurring Costs
- Updated Sep 21, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
- Updated Sep 08, 2022: Added mention of the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550 as an alternative with SD card support.
- Updated Sep 01, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 1.1.
- Updated Jun 06, 2022: In the Scanner Features section, the OCR test result was written as Built-In, but this is incorrect. You need to use the Epson Scan 2 app for this feature, so it's corrected to say Software. Also, the Mobile App section listed Microsoft Office and TXT files as printable by both OS, but it only works on the Android version of the app. Both test results were updated.
- Updated May 27, 2022: This model can print custom sizes. This lets you print on A5 paper, even if that size isn't in the presets, so we changed the A5 result in Printing Size from 'No' to 'Yes'.
- Updated Apr 07, 2022: The 'Duplex Scanning' test now includes a more detailed result explaining the duplex scanning process. The text also reflects the scanning process in greater detail.
- Updated Jan 26, 2022: Reshot and updated the 'In Use Picture'.
- Updated Jan 05, 2022: Fixed error with Max Paper Weight test result.
- Updated Dec 15, 2021: Added details about ADF capacity test result in the Scanner box.
- Updated Dec 14, 2021: Converted to Test Bench 1.0.
- Updated Jun 30, 2021: Review published.
- Updated Jun 23, 2021: Early access published.
- Updated Jun 15, 2021: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Jun 07, 2021: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Jun 01, 2021: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
- Updated May 26, 2021: The product has won our suggestion poll, so we'll buy and test it soon.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850, which only comes in white and has no variants. It's closely related to the Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5800, which, according to Epson, prints color documents more slowly and doesn't support borderless printing; also, the Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5880 has HP PCL and PostScript page description language support. You can see our unit's label here.
Compared To Other Printers
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 is an outstanding printer for small or home offices, with a supertank ink system for incredible page yields and cost-per-print. Compared to most other supertank printers we've tested, it prints very quickly, and its photo printing speed is especially impressive.
For more options, check out our recommendations for the best printers for small business, the best office printers, and the best all-in-one printers.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 and the Canon MAXIFY GX7020 are all-in-one color inkjet printers with supertanks and are outstanding for office use. The Epson prints documents and photos much more quickly, and it can print slightly more black pages. On the other hand, the Canon can print three times as many color pages as the Epson at a lower cost-per-print for color documents and photos. Additionally, its ADF supports single-pass duplex scanning, which is much faster than the Epson which requires two passes.
Although the Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 is much better overall than the Epson EcoTank ET-4850, they're two different classes of printers. The ET-5850 is designed for business settings with high print loads, while the ET-4850 is a home-office printer. To this end, the ET-5850 offers more features and better performance; it can dual pass duplex scan at up to 9 pages per minute, print up to 25 black or color pages per minute, and produce sharper color documents. By contrast, the ET-4850 has higher color and black page yields but prints slower at 14 black and seven color pages per minute.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 and the Epson EcoTank ET-3850 are two all-in-one supertank printers, but the ET-5850 performs much better overall. The ET-5850 has faxing abilities, and its ADF can perform duplex scanning. Also, it has significantly faster print speeds, produces higher quality photos, and its colors are much more accurate-looking. On the other hand, the ET-3850 yields significantly more pages for both color and black-only documents.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 is a much better printer for almost every use case than the Epson WorkForce Pro WF-7840. While these are all-in-one color inkjet printers, the ET-5850 uses a supertank reservoir, yielding far greater pages. It prints faster and is more color-accurate, and its ADF-equipped scanning processes documents much quicker. However, the WF-7840 is a wide-format printer with an ADF-equipped scanner capable of duplex scanning Tabloid size sheets. Thus, if your workflow requires printing and scanning Tabloid-size documents or photos, then the WF-7840 is the obvious choice.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5180 and the Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 are both supertank inkjet printers with similar features. Choosing between these two models depends on what you care about more. The ET-5850 prints faster and has a larger input tray, but the ET-5180 yields significantly more pages, resulting in a lower cost per print. The ET-5850 has automatic duplex scanning, while the ET-5180's is manual, meaning you need to rearrange the pages through software.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 is better than the Epson EcoTank ET-2800/ET-2803 for most uses. The ET-5850 yields much more black pages, prints significantly faster, and supports automatic duplex printing making it easier to print double-sided documents. Additionally, it has an automatic document feeder with duplex scanning and an Ethernet port, and it can print directly from external USB storage. On the other hand, the ET-2800 yields much more color prints, and its replacement ink is cheaper, making it less costly to maintain over time.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 and the Epson EcoTank ET-15000 are all-in-one color inkjet printers with supertanks, but the ET-5850 is better for small or home offices. The ET-5850's ADF supports duplex scanning, it has a much larger input tray capacity, and it prints significantly faster. On the other hand, the ET-15000 can print on wide tabloid-format paper for specialty prints, and it has much better page yields and cost-per-print.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 and the Brother MFC-J805DW INKvestment Tank are all-in-one color inkjet printers, but the Epson is a much better printer overall. The Epson uses a supertank system for better page yields and a lower cost-per-print. Also, it prints documents and photos much faster. Its automatic document feeder can duplex scan, it has an Ethernet port, and it can print directly from USB flash drives.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 and the Epson EcoTank ET-4800 are both supertank printers. The ET-5850 is better suited for a small office. It's bulkier since it holds almost five times the number of pages thanks to its two input trays. It yields significantly more black ink pages, so you won't have to refill the tank as often if you print many monochrome sheets, but its cost-per-print is more expensive since its ink bottles cost more. On the other hand, the ET-4800 is a better option for your home office if you don't scan or print double-sided sheets often since it can't do either automatically. It also yields more color pages, so it's a better option for photos or colorful stickers.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 and the Canon PIXMA G7020 are all-in-one color inkjet printers with supertanks, but the Epson is a better printer overall. The Epson prints significantly faster, its automatic document feeder can duplex scan, and it can print directly from USB flash drives. On the other hand, the Canon has almost double the color page yield and has a much better cost-per-print for color documents and photos.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 and the Epson EcoTank ET-2720 are all-in-one color inkjet printers with supertanks, but the ET-5850 is a much better printer overall. The ET-5850 has better black page yields, prints significantly faster, and produces better-looking photos with significantly more accurate colors. Also, it has an automatic document feeder with duplex scanning, can fax, and can automatically print double-sided. On the other hand, the ET-2720 has a much better page yield and cost-per-print for color documents and photos.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 is a much better printer overall than the Lexmark MC3426i. While both are designed primarily for office use, the Epson is an inkjet with a supertank reservoir, and the Lexmark is a color laser printer. Owing to its reservoir, the Epson yields significantly more pages than the Lexmark and has a lower cost per print. The Epson is also more versatile, as it's well suited to printing photos, which all laser printers struggle with due to poor color accuracy. Print speed is almost identical with these printers; however, the Lexmark is slightly better built overall.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 is much better than the HP OfficeJet Pro 9125e for most uses. The Epson produces nicer documents and photos, prints faster, and yields significantly more prints. It also has a larger 550-sheet input tray capacity, so you won't have to refill the tray as often.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 and the Epson EcoTank ET-3760 are all-in-one color inkjet printers that use supertanks. The ET-3760 has much higher page yields and a much better overall cost-per-print. On the other hand, the ET-5850 is much better for small or home offices, with faster printing speeds and more accurate-looking colors. Also, it can fax, and its automatic document feeder can automatically duplex scan.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 and the Epson Expression Premium ET-7750 EcoTank are all-in-one color inkjet printers with supertanks, but the ET-5850 is much better for small or home offices. The ET-5850 has an automatic document feeder with duplex scanning, a much larger input tray capacity and significantly faster printing speed. On the other hand, the ET-7750 has a much better cost-per-print and page yields, and it prints better-looking photos. It can also print on wide tabloid-format paper and can print directly from SD cards.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 and the Brother MFC-J995DW are all-in-one color inkjet printers, but the Epson is better for small or home offices, while the Brother is better for students. The Epson uses a supertank system for superior page yields and a slightly better cost-per-print, and it prints much faster. Also, its automatic document feeder can duplex scan. On the other hand, the Brother produces nicer-looking photos, and it can print directly from SD cards.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 and the Epson EcoTank ET-4760 are all-in-one color inkjet printers with supertanks. However, the ET-5850 is better for small or home offices, with a much larger input tray capacity, a significantly faster printing speed, and support for automatic double-sided scanning. It also prints nicer-looking photos with much more accurate colors. On the other hand, the ET-4760 has much better page yields and cost-per-print.
Test Results
The Epson ET-5850 feels very well built with a sturdy body, which gives good access to paper jams either from the rear or inside by lifting the flatbed. The two front input cassettes have sliders for different paper formats, while the rear input tray has a cover to close and conceal it when not in use; however, it can feel flimsy or cumbersome to close. The ink tank levels are clear and visible, and the output tray slides out automatically when printing. You can also press the dedicated output tray touch button to slide it back in when the print job is complete. The scanner lid stays open on its own, and the hinges can raise, but only slightly, for scanning thin objects like magazines. The power cable is removable, which makes it easy to replace if it gets damaged.
Update 01/26/2022: We reshot our 'In Use Picture' since the initial one didn't have the input tray fully extended.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 has a great display, with a quick, easy-to-navigate menu with good tactile feedback. There are dedicated touch buttons on either side for Home, Output Tray, and Help, which launches how-to videos on the screen for different tasks. The screen has good visibility whether you're seated or standing, and it can also tilt up and down.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 has a fantastic supertank ink system that uses large, refillable ink tanks instead of disposable cartridges. The incredibly high yield for both black and color documents means that you shouldn't need to refill them often, even if you print frequently. Note, however, that if you run out of one color of ink, the printer won't let you continue printing until you refill the empty tank. If you want a laser model with even higher page yields, check out the Xerox VersaLink C500/DN.
While you can technically fill the supertanks with any third-party ink, we don't recommend doing so. Low-quality ink could damage the print heads, and unlike standard inkjet printers, you can't simply remove the ink if there's a problem. Using third-party supplies could also void your warranty.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 has a flatbed with hinges that raise for scanning slightly thick items like magazines or notebooks. It also has an automatic document feeder with double-sided scanning, which can scan Letter or Legal-size paper, with a capacity of up to 50 sheets. However, it needs two passes to scan double-sided sheets, which is noticeably slower than models like the Canon MAXIFY GX7020 that can do so in a single pass. Using the Epson Scan 2 software, you can convert your documents into a searchable PDF.
While Epson advertises that the ADF can hold 50 pages, the paper kept getting jammed, or the scanner would take in two pages at once. After removing ten pages, the ADF didn't have any issues, so the ADF capacity maximum is listed as 40 pages.
- Start Here guide
- Power cable
- CD-ROM for Epson software
- Epson 542 ink bottles:
- 2x black
- 2x cyan
- 2x magenta
- 2x yellow
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850's cost-per-print is superbly low, as its large ink tanks yield many black and color documents and don't need refilling often.
Even if you print only in black, most inkjet printers continue using the color tanks for servicing tasks, so you may still need to refill them eventually.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 has excellent printing speeds. It doesn't take long to print the first page, and subsequent pages are even faster.
During our initial test, we measured much lower than advertised speeds, but after unplugging the printer overnight and retesting, we experienced the speeds listed above. We don't expect this to be an issue as our unit has been working as intended since, but if you own this printer and are experiencing similar problems, let us know in the discussions below.
Epson specifies that the front input cassettes of the Epson EcoTank ET-5850 can hold up to 250 sheets each for a total of 500. The rear feeder can hold an additional 50 sheets. Along with the preset sizes, you can also print user-defined sizes from 2.52" x 5.0" to 8.5" x 47.24". This lets you print on A5-sized paper if you set the measurements manually.
The Epson EcoTank ET-5850 reproduces colors with mediocre accuracy. It should be fine for documents and casual photos, but it isn't recommended for tasks that require professional-grade color reproduction.
The Epson ET-5850 can print directly from USB flash drives. If you want an EcoTank printer that supports SD cards, check out the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550.
The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 is compatible with the Epson Smart Panel app, a refreshed and updated version of their Epson iPrint app meant for use with their latest printers. From there, you can print a variety of file types, scan directly from your phone camera, perform maintenance tasks like print head cleaning, alignment, and firmware updates, and even order ink and supplies. You can even share access to the printer with guests without requiring them to connect directly.
While you can print all file types through the Android app, you can't print Microsoft Office files or TXT files from the iOS version since the formatting doesn't get converted properly.