The Printer That Uses the Least Amount Of Ink

In A Nutshell

• The printer that uses the least amount of ink is the Epson WorkForce ET-4550 EcoTank. It has wireless connectivity, color printing and, for those few who still need it, a fax.
• Epson also manufactures the Pro WF-R4640 EcoTank, which includes ink to print up to 20,000 black and 20,000 color pages. It has two paper trays and is great for medium-sized businesses.

The Details

We have two choices when it comes to printers: inkjet or laser. If you only need to print black-and-white documents, go with a laser printer. They are typically faster than their inkjet competitors and produce a sharp, crisp black-and-white text. If you print graphics and photos, you will want an inkjet printer. They excel at photos, but are also capable for standard black-and-white printing.

Epson’s EcoTank series of printers conserve the most ink of any inkjet printers. Though they are an investment upfront, they will save you plenty of money in ink over your lifetime. The ET-4550, which is designed for personal use, is sold with 2 years of ink. It can print up to 11,000 black pages and 8,500 color pages, which is equivalent to about 50 standard ink cartridges.

When you do run out of ink, it won’t break the bank to refill. EcoTank’s use ink from bottles instead of cartridges. The refill ink bottle costs about $50 and lasts another 2 years.

Epson claims it can do away with ink-wasting cartridges because its printers use Micro Piezo print head technology. The hardware has permanent mechanical print heads that  are always connected to the printer. This means ink can be used from anywhere. In the EcoTank’s case, it is brought in from a massive reservoir on the side.

For Businesses

If you need faster printing speed, larger tray capacity and bigger inkwells, Epson offers the WF-R4640. Like the smaller model, the WF-R4640 uses ultra low-cost DURA smudge-resistant ink. The included ink reservoir is good for about two years worth of prints, or 20,000 black and 20,000 color pages.

It has 580 page paper capacity and a color touch screen display.