review with features, price and specifications

The role of ink printers in homes and small offices has been quite reinvented in recent years. Connectivity, configuration guidance and integration with smartphones have been incorporated into even the most basic models. But the great push has been given by the use of the ink tanks.

The Epson EcoTank ET-2956 It is the most interesting model for the domestic environment from the Japanese manufacturer and offers the consumer everything they can expect from a general purpose model in these times: connectivity, ease of use, speed and most importantly in a home today, ink durability and printing cost.

Technical sheet of the Epson EcoTank ET-2956

Manual mid-range multifunction

Although we have just mentioned the improvements that home inkjet printers have been incorporating over the years so as not to be completely forgotten by the user, we must begin by talking about the aspect that can most disappoint anyone who approaches these printer models after a few years: the design.

The Epson EcoTank ET-2956 The design that we have known for multifunction printers for years does not hardly change. It is true that it introduces updated elements that are necessary at this point, such as touch controls, but apparently we are looking at a rectangular model that aims to be compact when we are not using it, and somewhat more voluminous when we deploy the paper tray or the control and screen wing. The weight of the equipment is 5 kg, very manageable to move around the house.

The simplicity of the design facilitates something that is not trivial: a very quick start-up. Simply use the app (preferable to the printer’s built-in screen) and follow the instructions. They are not complicated at all and are summarized in removing the protections and blocking of moving parts, emptying the ink bottles and initializing the system.

The great point in favor of ink bottle technology is not only how economical it is (we will talk about them later) but that the implementation and Filling of the tanks is done safely and completely cleanly.. It’s not even easy to get dirty. The bottles have a secure closure and the filling system is very well thought out.

The connectivity of the Epson EcoTank ET-2956 is the usual one at this point: the USB that cannot be missing for emergencies or local start-up and Wi-Fi 5 (802.11a/b/g/n/ac). It supports Wi-Fi Direct, Apple AirPrint, and Epson cloud services.

To control the printer, in addition to the application, we can use the 3.7 cm diagonal color screen. It is not touch-sensitive (thank goodness because with that size it would be complicated to handle) so you have to resort to touch controls. The physical control of the printer is practically a curiosity and we will use it basically when we do not have a smartphone with the Epson application to manage it.

Ink tanks are always a success at home

Once the printer is up and running, it is time to take advantage of its connectivity and printing capacity. As we have mentioned, the printer Comes with 1 complete set of ink (one 127ml black bottle and three 70ml cyan, magenta and yellow bottles).

That is exactly the nominal capacity of the ink tanks, whose access is direct and have direct view of remaining ink in each of them. The nominal capacity offers a theoretical yield of 6,600 pages for black ink and 5,500 pages for color prints. The spare parts are also very economical for what is usually the inkjet printer consumable: about 16 euros for the black replacement and the color ones at about 10 euros.

The Epson EcoTank ET-2956 offers borderless printing with a resolution of up to 4,800 x 1,200 dpi with a minimum droplet size of 3.3 picoliters and the use of 400 black nozzles and 128 nozzles per color. Offers automatic double-sided printing and work margins for maximum A4 size and minimum photo size of 10×15 or 13×18 cm.

The capacity of the output tray is 30 sheets and the input tray is 100, with grammage between 64 and 300 gr/m2perfect figures for a home environment even printing on photographic paper. The print quality meets expectations, especially in basic documents, whether in black and white or color, always speaking of the domestic environment.

With photography we can get by if we choose the right photographic paper but it is not a specialized printer. The strong point is decidedly the printing cost per page.

It does offer good print speed data, with 30 pages per minute in monochrome mode and 20 pages per minute in color.

Being a multifunction model we cannot fail to mention the scanner mode. It is not automatic and therefore we do not have a feeding tray and it is not the model to choose if your priority is scanning numerous documents.

The scanner has a contact image sensor (CIS), speed of 10 seconds per copy and a maximum resolution of 1,200 dpi x 2,400 dpi. Output formats can be: BMP, JPEG, PICT, TIFF, Multiple TIFF, PNG and PDF.

Like other connected printers, a point in favor of this Epson EcoTank is the use of the mobile application to print, scan or manage the entire printer, although the interface seems stuck a bit in the past.

Epson Ecotank ET-2956, Xataka’s opinion

You never know when you’re going to need one. color printer until it happens. If you have a school-age family, that moment can come at any time. And if you work or study from home, don’t rule out regretting that at 9 at night there isn’t a reprography or stationery store open.

That is exactly the target audience of the Epson EcoTank ET-2956the most complete domestic model from Epson and that, despite its relative high initial cost, the long term makes us see that the option of the ink tank system is one of the great ideas that an industry has had reviled in the home environment. It is because of printing costs, problem-free longevity as well as simplicity and cleanliness of use.

Images | Xataka

This device has been provided for testing by Epson. You can consult how we do reviews on Xataka and our business relations policy