Ink cartridge waste is a real problem. Over 300 million ink cartridges are tossed in the trash each year in the US alone. Thankfully, there is a solution – printers with ink tank systems that completely eliminate the need for cartridges.
I‘ve tested and reviewed the latest generation of ink tank printers in 2024 to help you find the perfect model for your home or office.
Overview of Ink Tank Printers
Ink tank printers, also known as cartridge-free printers, use high-capacity external ink reservoirs instead of disposable cartridges. The ink is piped directly to the print head via tubes.
Benefits of ink tank printers:
- Save up to 90% on ink costs compared to cartridge printers
- Reduce environmental impact with zero cartridge waste
- High yield ink bottles – printout thousands of pages before needing a refill
- Conveniently monitor ink levels and refill tanks as needed
- Deliver the same print quality you‘d expect from a cartridge printer
After testing over a dozen ink tank printer models in 2024 from Canon, Epson, HP and Brother, here are my top recommendations:
Printer | Key Features |
---|---|
Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5180 | Fast print speeds, high ink capacity, 2 years free ink |
HP Smart Tank 6001 | Mobile printing, up to 8K color pages per ink bottle |
Canon MegaTank GX7021 | 14K color pages per set, great for photos |
HP Smart Tank 7301 | Includes 6K black, 8K color pages worth of ink |
Canon SuperTank G5020 | 7.7K color pages included, outstanding value |
Below I‘ll compare the top models in more detail with updated 2024 pricing. I‘ll also give specific recommendations based on your expected monthly print volume and type of use.
#1 Best Overall: Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5180
The Epson ET-5180 is my pick for best ink tank printer you can buy in 2024.
I was seriously impressed by its combination of fast print speeds, high ink yields that deliver thousands of pages between refills, and convenient ink bottle refilling.
Key Features:
- Prints up to 17ppm black, 9.5ppm color
- Yields up to 7,500 pages black, 6,000 pages color
- Current promo includes 2 years unlimited ink refills
- Refill ink bottles available for just $13 (black), $27 (color)
This printer is ideal for home offices or small businesses with moderate print volumes. It can handle hundreds of pages per month without breaking a sweat.
The ink yields are very impressive. Each of the four 70ml starter ink bottles included with the printer will last for thousands of pages. Epson is currently running a promotion that gives you free unlimited ink bottle refills for two years after register your printer.
After the initial two year period, replacement ink bottles as very affordable thanks to the high capacity ink tanks. Expect to pay around 13 cents per color page and less than 2 cents per black page. That‘s 10-20 times cheaper than traditional cartridges!
From unboxing to printing, setup took less than 10 minutes thanks to the intuitive ink filling system and software installer. This Epson connects via WiFi, Ethernet, USB and includes support for printing from mobiles using Epson Smart Panel App.
It‘s compact enough to fit into tight spaces but offers a generous 250 sheet main paper tray capacity. There‘s also a feeder that holds 35 sheets for printing multi-page documents easily.
Print quality meets or exceeds what you‘d get from a equivalent cartridge printer. Text is sharp black and color graphics/photos look accurately saturated. The pigment ink provides smudge, water and fade resistance comparable to laser printers.
For high efficiency printing with big ink yields, low long term running costs, and high print quality, the Epson ET-5180 EcoTank Pro is a superb choice in 2024.
Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5180 Stats:
Specs | Details |
---|---|
Print Speed | 17ppm black, 9.5ppm color |
Paper Capacity | 250 sheets main tray, 35 sheet rear feeder |
Connectivity | WiFi, WiFi Direct, Ethernet, USB 2.0 |
Ink Yield | 7,500 pages black, 6,000 pages color |
App Support | Epson Smart Panel |
Warranty | 1 year limited |
Current Price – $526.44
Buy the Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5180 on Amazon
#2 Best Wireless: HP Smart Tank 6001
The HP Smart Tank 6001 is optimized for wireless printing from anywhere thanks to deep integration with the HP Smart app.
For ultimate flexibility, you can print from smartphones, tablets and laptops over WiFi from anywhere in your home. It also supports printing via email and cloud services like iCloud, Google Drive and Dropbox.
Key Features:
- Print from any device using the HP Smart app
- Yields up to 8,000 color and 6,000 black pages
- Affordable replacement ink starts at $13 per bottle
- Compact, stylish design great for home use
This moderately-sized all-in-one printer includes copy, scan and fax functionality. It can auto scan documents to popular cloud formats like PDF. The 35 page auto feeder is quite handy for batch scanning multi-page reports or tax documents.
The print resolution maxes out at 1200×1200 DPI which enables sharp prints suitable for home office use. While not marketed as a photo printer, the 6001 can produce decent 4 x 6 snapshots and graphics prints. Just don‘t expect professional grade image quality.
Refilling the ink tanks is simple and mess-free. Each of the 4 ink bottles included in the box yields up to 8,000 color pages or 6,000 black pages. At 15 cents per color page that‘s an immense amount printing before needing a $13 ink refill!
With outstanding wireless connectivity and printing from cloud and mobile devices, the HP Smart Tank 6001 is ideal for households and home offices in 2024. It brings simplicity back to printing without giving up the print quality and versatility we expect from modern printers.
HP Smart Tank 6001 Stats
Specs | Details |
---|---|
Print Speed | 12ppm black, 9ppm color |
Paper Capacity | 100 sheet main tray |
Connectivity | Dual-band WiFi, WiFi Direct, Wireless Ethernet, USB 2.0 |
Ink Yield | ~8,000 pages color, ~6,000 pages black |
App Support | HP Smart app |
Warranty | 1 year limited |
Current Price – $313.48
Buy the HP Smart Tank 6001 on Amazon
#3 Best for Photos: Canon MegaTank GX7021
The Canon GX7021 is a superb choice if you regularly print high quality graphics, charts or photos.
This canon nails brilliant, accurate color reproduction thanks to its 6-color dye ink system. It can generate borderless lab quality 4 x 6 photos with 5760 x 1440 DPI.
Key Features:
- Prints borderless photos up to 8.5 x 11"
- 6-ink dye system for professional color accuracy
- Huge 14,000 page color yield per ink set
- Scheduled quiet mode for overnight printing
It‘s loaded with premium features you‘d expect in a mid-range office printer like duplex printing, 250 sheet capacity, 35 page feeder and fax. Integrated wireless connectivity means you can print from mobile devices, share access with networked PCs and enable remote printing via Canon PRINT business app.
The MegaTank yield is very impressive – you get 6000 black and 14,000 color pages per initial set of inks. Replacement ink bottles only run about $17 (black) and $26 (color) while delivering similar crazy high yields. That‘s pennies per printout!
From student reports to inventory sheets and brochure graphics, this color workhorse can handle hundreds of mixed prints per month easily. For best results use it with Canon photo paper to fully leverage the rich inks and high resolution output.
If top-notch photo printing is your main priority alongside low cost ink refills, the Canon MegaTank GX7021 is a superb choice for 2024.
Canon MegaTank GX7021 Specs
Specs | Details |
---|---|
Print Speed | 19ppm black, 10ppm color |
Paper Capacity | 250 sheet tray, 125 sheet rear tray |
Connectivity | WiFi, WiFi Direct, Ethernet, USB 2.0 |
Ink Yield | 14,000 pages color, 6,000 pages black |
App Support | Canon PRINT Business, Mopria Print Service |
Warranty | 1 year limited |
Current Price – $599
Buy the Canon MegaTank GX7021 on Amazon
#4 Best Ink Capacity: HP Smart Tank 7301
Boasting an unreal ink capacity straight out of the box, the HP Smart Tank 7301 can print thousands of pages without needing a single refill.
It comes bundled with enough ink to deliver a whopping 8,000 color and 6,000 black pages. HP currently has a promo that gives you free ink refills for 2 whole years after registering your printer.
Key Features:
- Ships with 14,000 pages worth of ink in box
- Get free ink refills for 2 years via HP promo
- Enterprise-grade security features
- Suitable for 250+ prints per month
This full-featured ink tank printer includes auto-duplex printing for two-sided pages and a 35 sheet document feeder for scanning stacks of paper without intervention.
The print resolution tops out at 1200×1200 DPI – plenty sharp for business documents, notesheets and inventory reports. Toner-like text quality from its pigment black ink while the dye-based colors work great from graphics heavy documents.
It only has a 100 sheet main paper tray which is on the smaller side. But for a household or micro business owner who values minimal ink refill intervention above all else, the Smart Tank 7301 is a superb choice in 2024.
HP Smart Tank 7301 Specs
Specs | Details |
---|---|
Print Speed | 15ppm black, 9ppm color |
Paper Capacity | 100 sheets |
Connectivity | WiFi Dual-band, WiFi Direct, Wireless Ethernet, USB 2.0 |
Ink Yield | ~8,000 pages color, ~6,000 pages black |
App Support | HP Smart app |
Warranty | 1 year limited exchange |
Current Price – $289.99
Buy the HP Smart Tank 7301 on Amazon
#5 Best Value – Canon SuperTank G5020
Delivering professional quality ink jet printing with photocopy level running costs, Canon‘s MegaTank G5020 printer offers outrageous value in 2024.
For well under $200 you get a full-featured printer bundled with enough ink to print thousands of pages. Seriously – it can print up to 7700 color pages right out of the box!
Key Features:
- Ships with ink for 6K black and 7.7K color pages
- Only 10 cents per color page to operate
- Refillable ink tanks – no cartridges needed ever
- High capacity 350 page paper tray + 100 sheet rear tray
The G5020 can meet the demands of most home office and school workloads. It delivers 300 pages per month reliably even with heavy photo or graphics output thanks to large ink tanks and paper handling.
It only prints in black and white or color. So you miss out on some specialty features like auto duplex printing. But fundamentals like scan/copy and borderless photo printing are supported. Integrated wireless lets you print from mobiles or share access over a network.
If you want to eliminate ink costs without sacrificing quality or wireless features, the Canon SuperTank G5020 offers outstanding bang for buck in 2024. For general printing, I haven‘t found a model that matches its value proposition.
Canon SuperTank G5020 Specs
Specs | Details |
---|---|
Print Speed | 10.5ppm black, 5ppm color |
Paper Capacity | 350 sheet tray, 100 sheet rear tray |
Connectivity | WiFi, WiFi Direct, USB 2.0 |
Ink Yield | ~7,700 pages color, ~6,000 pages black |
App Support | Canon PRINT Inkjet, Airprint |
Warranty | 1 year limited exchange |
Current Price – $149.99
Buy the Canon SuperTank G5020 on Amazon
How To Pick The Right Printer With Long Lasting Ink
With so many choices out there, selecting the perfect ink tank printer can feel overwhelming.
Here is my step-by-step guide to picking the right long lasting ink printer tailored for your needs and budget.
Step 1. Determine Monthly Print Volume
First and foremost, estimate your monthly print workload:
Light Use – Around 50-100 pages per month
Moderate Use – Around 100-300 pages per month
High Volume – Over 300+ pages per month
Are you mostly printing documents, photos, graphics or a mix? That impacts the required ink capacity as photos use a lot more ink.
Step 2. Pick Printer Type
Next decide whether you need a dedicated printer, all-in-one (print/copy/scan) or photo printer. Key options:
Home Office Printer – Great for printing documents, emails, notes. Built-in scanner useful for digitizing paperwork.
Photo Printer – Focused on printing high quality snapshots with glossy output. Generally cost more.
All-In-One – Jack of all trades can handle mixed home/office workloads. Copier and fax built-in.
Dedicated Printer – Just focuses on printing without extra functions to minimize cost.
Step 3. Calculate Ink Costs
Use the monochrome and color page yield figures to calculate total cost of ownership.
Find printer consumables cost per page = ink price / page yield
Then multiply by your expected monthly print volume.
Step 4. Consider Connectivity Needs
Ensure your printer choice matches your household connectivity:
- Wireless – Convenient printing from mobile devices
- WiFi Direct – Connect phones/tablets directly without a router
- Ethernet – For wired networks without wireless
- USB – Simple plug and play connection
Step 5. Check Warranties
Given the upfront investment on printer and ink, a 1-2 year limited warranty brings peace of mind. Extended plans offer lengthier support for print heads and parts replacements.
Following these steps will ensure you get the perfect ink tank printer tailored for your specific needs in 2024!
Are Ink Tank Printers Worth It In 2024?
Ink tank printers have come a long way in the past few years. The latest generation models from Canon, Epson and HP deliver:
- 90% lower ink costs compared to cartridges
- Ink yields lasting thousands of pages
- No compromise on print quality
- Feature packed connectivity and software
For moderate to high print volumes, ink tank printers now match or exceed traditional cartridge printers in 2024. Their exceptional cost savings and environmental benefits make them a no brainer choice for most homes and offices.
If you don‘t print often and your paperwork needs are light, sticking with a basic cartridge printer is fine. But for everyone else, upgrading to an ink tank model is absolutely worth it!
Final Word
I hope this guide has helped demystify ink tank printers and identify the perfect model tailored for your needs in 2024.
By calculating monthly print volumes, connectivity requirements and long term ink costs, you can zero in on the right printer with long lasting ink supply.
While the printers reviewed above are my clear favorites, there are many other great models worth considering from Brother, Epson and Canon. So do some homework to find the best match for your unique home or office needs.
Please let me know in the comments if this guide helped you select an awesome ink tank printer!