Epson - Epson EcoTank ET-3700

Epson

Epson EcoTank ET-3700: a printer without cartridges quickly pays for itself

Aprox. 383€

See specifications

The Epson EcoTank ET-3700 is a color multifunction inkjet printer that does not use traditional cartridges, but ink tanks. This allows him to advertise a ridiculously low cost per page.

Positive points

Exceptionally low cost per page (€ 0.006).

Compact and well finished printer.

Good print speeds.

Bad points

Too much noise pollution.

Slightly disappointing print quality.

Our review

Presentation

The Epson EcoTank ET-3700 is a color multifunction inkjet printer. It aims to follow the most intensive uses thanks to its ink tank system, which allows it to advertise a very low cost per page. However, Epson compensates for this shortfall by marketing the ET-3700 at an introductory price of € 399.99.


Presentation

Ergonomics

The Epson EcoTank ET-3700 is particularly compact (37.5 x 34.7 x 18.7 cm) and its construction appears to be of high quality.

The front cassette does not protrude, even when loaded with A4 paper, but its capacity is limited to 150 sheets. We regret the absence of a second paper inlet, which would have made it possible to avoid having to empty the cassette before loading photo paper for example.

The advertised capacity of the paper output tray is 30 sheets. In one piece, it seems solid but requires a certain space in front of the printer to be unfolded (allow a little more than 15 cm). The ET-3700 has an automatic two-sided function.

A hatch on the back of the ET-3700 provides access to the printing mechanism. The ink tanks are filled from the front. The operation is simple and the ink level can be viewed visually.

On the connection side, the EcoTank ET-3700 has an Ethernet port, but no SD card reader. It is obviously possible to print using Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Direct. The ET-3700 is notably compatible with Apple's AirPrint services and Google Cloud Print. The latter will however be closed on December 31, 2020.

The tilting control panel of the Epson EcoTank ET-3700 includes a 6.1 cm diagonal LCD screen. It is not tactile and navigation is carried out using the keys on the right of the control panel.

The menus are pretty well thought out, except for the parameters whose tree structure would benefit from being more intuitive.


Ergonomics

Consumption

Like most inkjet printers, the Epson EcoTank ET-3700 uses little energy. We noted a consumption of 0.5 W in standby. In photo printing, it stabilizes at around 13 W.

Noise pollution however darkens the picture. Thus, with 42 dB measured at 1 m from the printer in photo printing and peaks up to 62 dB, the EcoTank ET-3700 is heard. These values are not alarming, but it will still be necessary to take this element into account before installing this printer in the home. A silent mode theoretically limits nuisance, at the cost of lower print speeds, but it was not effective during our tests.


Consumption

Cost per page

Main argument of the Epson EcoTank range, the cost per page of printers without cartridges is generally very low. This is the case here with around 0.6 euro cents (€ 0.006) per page in color and 0.2 euro cents (€ 0.002) in black and white.

Epson also offers a package to buy with the printer called "EcoTank Unlimited Printing", which allows for 39.99 € to enjoy unlimited ink for two years. It will still be necessary to print more than 3,000 pages per year in color for this offer to be interesting.

Filling the four ink tanks is easy. The ink bottles delivered with the printer can print up to 14,000 pages in monochrome or 11,200 pages in color according to Epson.


Cost per page

Scanner and copies

The Epson EcoTank ET-3700 scans and copies using a 1,200 x 2,400 dpi resolution flatbed scanner. It takes 10 s to scan an A4 document at 100 dpi and 15 s for a 10 x 15 cm photo at 300 dpi. The renderings are fairly faithful. Copies require 11 s for an A4 document in black and white and 25 s to do the same in color. The EcoTank ET-3700 also exists with an automatic document feeder under the reference ET-3750.


Scanner and copies

Photo

The photo is not the highlight of the Epson ET-3700. The quality of the prints is not bad but lacks fidelity, as evidenced by its average delta E measured at 9.5. In other words, the colors of the renderings do not quite correspond to those of the source file and we particularly feel this shift on black, which draws towards blue.

Unfortunately, the average quality of photo prints from the ET-3700 is not offset by quick execution. Indeed, the Epson printer still takes 1 min 34 s to print a photo in 10 x 15 cm format and more than 3 min 30 s for a photo in A4 format.


Office

With almost 19 pages per minute printed in monochrome and 12 pages per minute in color, the EcoTank ET-3700 is fast. In black and white, it is possible to reach a speed of 25 pages per minute in draft mode, without this too affecting the print quality. Only the graphics then lose readability. In automatic duplex mode, we measured a print speed of 7.5 pages per minute. These speeds make the Epson EcoTank ET-3700 one of the fastest inkjet printers on the market.

The print quality is there, although the graphics lack contrast slightly.


Conclusion

For printing text, text and more text, the Epson EcoTank ET-3700 is one of the best multifunction printers on the market, thanks to its high print speeds and very low cost per page. We regret, however, that its print quality is not flawless, especially in photos.


Specifications