Is This the Epson EcoTank Printer We’ve Been Waiting For?
For a long while, the best Epson EcoTank printer was a pretty low bar to hit. The series has had a few good models, but most of them have been overpriced gimmicks. Now, we finally have a legitimate Epson EcoTank photo printer.
The Epson Expression Premium ET-7700 is an EcoTank printer specializing in stunning photo quality. With a fifth color slot for photo black, a denser black that the Epson Expression series is fond of, this printer is designed to make great photo prints at a low cost of ownership.
So, what we need to discern is the same as with all the other Epson EcoTank printer models. It the Epson Expression Premium ET-7700 worth it? Is the total cost of ownership better than comparable models from other brands?
Lastly, because (Spoiler Alert) this is a pretty great printer, is this the best Epson EcoTank printer that’s been made so far?
Pros
Scanning
Epson printers are usually built with some of the best scanners around, and the Epson Expression Premium ET-7700 is no exception. The letter-size scanning bed scans images at up to 9600 dpi. That’s higher than most fancy professional photography scanners. This means when you scan photos you will get the sharpest, accurate scans possible. That also means if you are scanning photos to reprint them, you’ll have a much lower loss of information.
Also, while the print resolution isn’t that high, the Epson Expression Premium ET-7700 has a max print resolution of 5760 x 1440 dpi. A high printing resolution and super high scanning resolution are key features when looking at an Epson EcoTank photo printer.
Photo Black
Many people think that photo black ink is a scam. I’m here to tell you they are not. Unlike light cyan or light magenta cartridges, photo black ink is instrumental in delivering a high-quality photo at a lower price point.
In normal CMYK printing, that’s using cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black), a dense black area of an image is created by mixing some of each color with black to make an even darker black. Black alone will show up as slightly see-through, which means seeing the white of your paper in your photo.
To make sure the black parts of your photos look black, CMYK printers traditionally add color to the black to make it denser. This works fine, but it drains all your inks faster and raises your ink costs. A photo black cartridge is much more effective.
A photo black ink is a darker, richer black than your normal key black. This allows your printer to use your regular black for things like text documents or draft copies, and use your photo black for photos and graphics.
The Epson Expression Premium ET-7700 is one of the first EcoTank printers to utilize the photo black. Because of this, the Epson Expression Premium ET-7700 is, in my opinion, the first true Epson EcoTank photo printer.
Versatility
The Epson EcoTank Expression Premium ET-7700 includes many of the features that we’ve basically come to expect out of all inkjet printers these days. WIFI and USB printing, easy printing from mobile devices, and a color display are all included.
Also, this printer can print from an SD card or USB flash drive. This makes printing and scanning photos super easy, even if you don’t have a laptop or phone nearby.
Size
The Epson EcoTank Expression Premium ET-7700 is the most compact Epson EcoTank photo printer to date. It stands just 6.3” tall and takes up a minimal footprint. This makes it the perfect size to sit in the corner of your desk, looking cute, until you need it.
Innovation
Epson EcoTank printers have always had nice ink filling systems. Nice, not great.
While Epson still recommends you wear latex gloves and have paper towels nearby, I honestly don’t think it’s necessary with their new ink bottles. These ink bottles are auto-stop, so the flow of ink stops when the tank is full.
Also, each bottle will only fit into that specific color slot. A bottle of black will not flow into the tank for yellow. With previous models, if you made this mistake, you would most likely need to buy a new Epson EcoTank photo printer. This is a fantastic feature. Just make sure you buy genuine cartridges.
Cost
Alright, so Epson EcoTank printers tend to have a high price tag. However, we’ve seen with the Epson Workforce ET-4750 that they are proven to save you money over the lifetime of the printer. However, I think we need to compare the Epson EcoTank Expression Premium ET-7700 to another best-cost option. So, I want to compare it to the HP ENVY Photo 7855 with Instant Ink.
You can check out my full review on the HP ENVY Photo 7855 with instant ink here, but the short version is that it is a great photo printer. And instant ink can save you a ton of money. But which printer is the better value in the long run?
To figure that out, I’ve made a table. Now, for purposes of this evaluation, I’m considering each printer to be printing 300 pages per month. This is because the Epson EcoTank Expression Premium ET-7700 advertises two years of ink in the box, rated at 300 pages per month. Also, 300 pages per month happen to be the top tier of HP Instant Ink. Isn’t it nice when things work out?
So, let’s see who wins.
[table id=2 /]
This is the pain when comparing these types of savings models. The HP ENVY Photo 7855 is a better deal if both printers break after two years. This is significant because this is when extended warranties like Square Trade tend to run out. This is also where you should need to refill your tanks on the Epson EcoTank photo printer.
The Epson Expression Premium ET-7700 is a better deal if your printers last four years. Your average printer breaks down after three years, so this is a bit of a gamble. However, that is four years of only refilling your ink once, as opposed to multiple times per month with the HP ENVY Photo 7855 with Instant Ink.
I’ve provided the information. I’ll let you decide the winner of that battle. In the very least, I’ll say the Epson Expression Premium ET-7700 is at least on par with one of my favorite photo printers. The Epson Expression Premium is making a strong case for the Best Epson EcoTank of all time.
So, what are the drawbacks?
Cons
Speed
This thing is slow. Almost all photo printers are slow, but that’s no excuse. The Epson Expression Premium ET-7700 prints 13 pages per minute of black and only 8 pages per minute of color. For something with the volume capabilities of this Epson EcoTank photo printer, this is crippling.
And the speed isn’t the only aspect holding back your output ability.
Paper Storage
This is the deal breaker for most of my customers. 100 pages just aren’t enough for an EcoTank. This thing is supposed to be a workhorse, and you can’t crank out pages if you have to keep filling the tray.
The redemption here is the multiple trays. But, that doesn’t make up for the shallow document tray. This is a big oversight.
No Touch Screen
Yeah, it’s a nitpick. So what? These days, I expect a touchscreen input. HP has them on almost everything, there’s no reason Epson can’t as well.
So those are the cons. Now it’s time to decide; is the Epson Expression Premium ET-7700 the best Epson EcoTank printer?
Verdict
Heck yeah, it is! Yeah, there are some issues, but this is a bomb printer. Depending on how long you keep it, the Epson Expression Premium ET-7700 will almost certainly save you money over other photo printers. And, while HP’s Instant Ink still has an edge, this is a great option for anyone who doesn’t like the idea of an ink subscription.
The Epson Expression Premium ET-7700 is a great printer for anyone who prints photos on a frequent basis. It’s by far the best Epson EcoTank Photo Printer, and, in my opinion, it’s also the best Epson EcoTank printer ever made.
Click here to purchase the Epson Expression Premium ET-7700 on Amazon
Hi Joe… Love your clean, easy-to-read buying guide!! I just read your review of the ET-7700. I’m actually considering the ET-7750 because it prints up to 11 x 17 (whereas the ET-7700 has a maximum print size of 8.5 x 11.
That said, how do you feel about the EcoTank system for a person who won’t be printing a ton of images every week. I’m giving ‘some’ consideration to Epson’s less costly ET-3700, but as a senior-citizen former photographer, I’m repelled by a printer that doesn’t use “Photo Black” ink. So I’m between a rock and a hard place. I want everything the ET-7750 offers, but I’m fearful that the machine will clog if not used on a steady basis. Your feelings, per chance?
Hi Rita.
If you don’t print at least once every two weeks, I would not get an ecotank. Epson’s PrecisionCore printheads are known for frequent clogging, and that would negate any savings an EcoTank would give you.
If photos are your main concern, you could try an HP ENVY Photo printer with instant ink. You could also do a cheaper Epson, like the XP840. That way if the ink dries out or clogs up, you aren’t out as much money.
-Joe
Thanks for your reply, Joe. I’m leaning away from Epson’s EcoTank printers, simply because I wouldn’t be printing enough to justify having all that ink onboard… plus the risk of printhead clogging. Searching now for a quality AIO printer/scanner/copier with pigment ink for the occasional photo enlargement. I don’t ‘print for show’ and would rather invest in a dedicated Epson flatbed scanner to digitally archive hundreds and hundreds of 35mm slides. That’ll keep me busy!!
Hello and thanks for the great reviews. Would you say the Epson ET-7700 prints better photos than the Hp 7855 considering it has the photo black ink?
Yes the Epson ET-7700 will be a much better photo printer than the HP 7855. Ultimately, Epsons tend to have better print quality for photos than other manufacturers.
Very helpful. Thank you.
What could be done with drying ink or clog ups, were it to happen?
C.
If your print head clogs you have to run the automated print head cleaning until it unclogs. Sometimes it never works, in which case you’d need to replace the printer. Dried ink cartridges need to be replaced before the printer will function again.
I let my printer sit in used for extended periods of time. Yes it has clogged up enough that it couldn’t clear it’s self, but I was able to fix it myself! All I did was open the inc feed doors and massage the ink feed tubes up and down all the way to the print head, then run the cleaning cycle. Great printer, and this will save you money on the ink dump tanks!
Thanks for the tip, Mitch!
Hello Joe,
Would printing 1 photo every 2 weeks guarentee the print head wouldn’t clog? Would this be covered under manufacturers warranty? Thanks for the help
There are no guarantees but it would definitely help. Warranties don’t cover print heads because manufacturers view the print head as a consumable product.
Immediate return, flimsy quality, thin plastic panels, ridiculous amounts of ink sloshing around, box came without even a rudimentary instruction sheet and NO software. $500 should buy more. Im going back to a normal ink jet and damn the cost of the ink this is absurd. Epson “customer service” was unhelpful.
Helpful review, thank you.
Unfortunately the multiple trays are not really a solution to volume printing since according to the user’s guide, tray one holds at most 20 sheets of up to 5×7″ photo paper, and tray two 80 sheets up to A4.
I’m researching a home office printer for moderate volume (300 pages/month) text and graphics, plus occasional photo printing. Unfortunately the paper capacity is a problem for this, plus the 105/106 series ink is about twice as expensive as the 101 series used by other Epson ink tank printers like the 3700/3750.
Thanks Joe for such a “Neat” review
I mostly print color graphics (for the kids) and photos (mainly for family photo albums and occasionally bigger A4 photos to hang in a frame)
I am intrigued by big tank printers idea , especially when I remember the days when I had to drive middle of the night to 24/7 super market to buy cartridges for my old canon.
I tried the Canon G3510 recently, while It ticked the box on the ink saving piece but every photo I printed was just OK and some of them I hated.
I was about to press the buttons and buy the ET-7700 , until you pointed out something got me to think (printer mainly fail in 3-4 years) which makes a lot of sense especially with me.
I ran some economics based on my consumption, ET-7700 only make financial sense if it lives at least four years and given how plastic are printers these days, I may not get lucky
Now, the Question:)
The one that will easily beat ET-7700 economically is Canon TS-6250 or even Epson XP-6100 , do u know who delivers better photo compared to ET-7700
And finally, While the HP option is appealing shouldn’t I worry about the fact that it has less colors and no rear feeder?
Sorry for the v long question
Hi Mohamed. If photo quality is your main concern I would go with an Epson or the Canon. The Epsons will have better scanners than the Canon. I don’t think the HP is in the running for best overall photo quality. I would choose whichever Epson makes better financial sense for your needs. I hope that helps!
Hi.
Spent hours looking and found your site. TX! Need a home printer for quality color documents and want to use for crafts (specifically iron on fabric transfers) very low volume.. I think it’s why we burn thru printers, perhaps heads get clogged (?) End up spending hours to get printer working, then buy new one. Would like copy and scan, duplex nice but rarely use… and print from android. Was looking at this Epson, but afraid will clog and don’t have volume needs. Would REALLY APPRECIATE any advice or recommendations from you.. TX so much in advance!
Hi Kim. I’d recommend looking at a printer like the HP ENVY Photo 7855. Since the cartridges for that printer have built-in print heads, you can just replace the cartridge if they clog or dry up. That would probably save you the most money. I hope that helps!
Hi all,
I am considering the ET-7700 but it’s a little expensive.
I am also considering the XP-15000 at half the price.
I realize the XP is a wider format and uses the slightly better
Claria ink in the little cartridges but afraid they might be a lot
more expensive to replace in the long run.
Any insights on both in terms of quality and overall ink costs?