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Smart printers are quickly becoming the norm, just like with many other smart appliances. This is amazing from both a business and convenience perspective, but which smart printer is right for your home or office printing needs? Our HP Smart Tank 7301 vs Epson Ecotank 3850 review will reveal which one works best for you.
Our Epson Ecotank 3850 vs HP Smart Tank 7301 review will compare these based on functions, printing speed, paper sizes, smart features, and then any other differences we can find.
These two are very similar, so it’ll really come down to their specific smart features. Epson Ecotank offers voice commands for the true smart home experience, but HP Smart Tank has supply monitoring that will automatically order ink and paper when you need it. Otherwise, it’s a very close race between them.
HP Smart Tank 7301 | Epson Ecotank 3850 |
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What Can You Do With a Smart Printer?
A smart printer is similar to a conventional printer in some ways because you get many of the same basic features. You can expect to print, copy, scan, and some units also fax and other other features. But, a conventional printer stops there while a smart home printer has extra tools to make it more efficient and convenient.
You can expect these units to connect with your phone for enhanced printing and scanning. They also have improved security features to fight malware and viruses. You may not think about cyberattacks with your printers, but they are just as susceptible as any other computer hardware you have.
In terms of both HP 7301 Smart Tank and Epson 3850 Ecotank, both of these have sophisticated smart features you’re sure to love.
Check Price: HP Smart Tank 7301 ->
Epson Ecotank ET-3850 vs HP Smart Tank 7301: Functions
You should always check to see what functions you get before purchasing a printer. Some people think that multifunction or all-in-one printers come with all the features they need, but that’s not necessarily true. One unit might have features that another one lacks. In this case, we found that both units have the exact same features, making this a tie.
Our HP Smart Tank 7301 All-in-One printer reviews found that this unit can print, scan, and copy. Our Epson Ecotank 3850 All-in-One printer reviews found that it has the same features of printing, scanning, and copying.
That’s not all. They also both offer automatic duplex printing. Manual duplex printing means that you have to flip the pages by yourself, which is inconvenient and annoying. Automatic double-sided printing means that the printer does this itself, which makes two-sided printing so much easier.
Another similarity is that both printers have a document feeder that accommodates up to 35 sheets of paper. This makes it much easier to do bulk copying and scanning.
We found that these two machines are basically identical in this regard, so it’s a tie.
Check Price: Epson Ecotank 3850 ->
Epson Ecotank 3850 vs HP Smart Tank 7301: Printer Speed
How fast can smart printers work? This is another factor you want to check before buying a printer as some are faster than others. No one wants to sit around as their pages come out slow as molasses, especially if you frequently print and copy. While there is a difference here between HP and Epson, they are extremely similar and one is better at color printing while the other is better at monochrome printing.
What is the printing speed of HP Smart Tank 7301? It has a 9 PPM rating for color printing and 15 PPM rating for monochrome printing.
What is the printing speed of Epson Ecotank 3850? It has an 8.5 PPM rating for color printing and 15.5 PPM rating for monochrome printing.
PPM, or pages per minute, is an objective measurement that lets you know how quickly your printer can output pages.
As you can see, they are basically the same. HP is a little faster at color printing while Epson is a little faster at monochrome printing, but they are very close. While the 0.5 PPM difference might be important to some, we found that it didn’t make a huge difference between them.
HP Smart Tank 7301 | Epson Ecotank 3850 |
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HP Smart Tank 7301 vs Epson Ecotank ET-3850: Paper Size
Next up is paper size. While nearly every printer works with letter sheets, or 8.5×11, there are often other paper sizes that you can use as well. This can include envelopes, cards, photos, and much more. We found some differences here, but both printers were largely the same. Take a look and see if there’s one specific paper type that you need.
HP Smart Tank 7301 Paper Sizes
- Letter 8.5×11
- Legal 8.5×14
- Cards and Photos: 4×6, 5×7, 8×10
- Envelopes
- European Sizes: A4, A5, A6, B5
Epson Ecotank 3850 Paper Sizes
- 3.5×5
- 4×6
- 5×7
- 8×10
- 8.5×11
- 8.5×14
- A4
- A6
- Executive
- Half Letter
- No. 10 Envelopes
As we said, it’s another tie as they have largely the same supported paper types. The good news though is that you can print almost every conventional size with these. Along with regular paper, you can also use cardstock, envelopes, photos, and more.
Check Price: HP Smart Tank 7301 ->
HP Smart Tank 7301 vs Epson Ecotank 3850: Smart Features
So far we’ve discussed fairly common features, but these are smart printers for your office or home. That means that they offer some unique software features that you don’t see with conventional printers. Once again, they are fairly similar here, but there are some differences that you should know about.
Let’s start with your phone or tablet. Both of these printers are designed to connect with your device. You can do this either through the HP Smart app or Epson Smart Panel app. They are very similar in that you can do cloud printing, scanning, print from your device, save files to your phone, order supplies with ease, and more. This basically allows the two to work in tandem.
Speaking or ordering supplies, HP Smart Tanks are able to monitor your current supplies such as ink and paper. This will then automatically print supplies when you need them. The benefit here is that you’ll never have downtime as you wait for ink to arrive. It’ll be there as soon as you need it.
However, Epson Ecotank fires back with voice commands. You can use Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri to issue voice commands right to your printer. This makes it easy to start print, copy, and scan jobs even if you’re in another room.
Both are amazing, so it depends on whether you want voice commands or supply monitoring more.
Check Price: Epson Ecotank 3850 ->
What is the Difference Between HP Smart Tank 7301 and Epson Ecotank 3850?
Curious about what is the difference between Epson Ecotank 3850 and HP Smart Tank 7301? They are similar in many ways. Not only are they both supertank printers that also feature refillable ink tanks, but they share many of the same features. While we were able to find some differences, we found many more shared features and functions.
Both of these offer the same exact functions of printing, scanning, copying, automatic duplex printing, and they both have a feeder for bulk scanning and copying. The printing speed is functionally identical with HP being somewhat faster with color and Epson being somewhat faster with monochrome printing. They also support nearly the same paper sizes.
Their smart features were also basically the same with dedicated apps that work directly with your phone. HP had supply monitoring while Epson supported voice commands.
HP Smart Tank 7301 | Epson Ecotank 3850 |
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Final Thoughts
So, which is better, HP Smart Tank 7301 or Epson Ecotank ET-3850? They are nearly identical outside the difference of supply monitoring and voice commands. If you have brand loyalty to one or the other, then that might make the difference. We suggest checking their prices and getting whichever one is the better deal.