If the ET-2800 is the default recommendation in this category, the ET-2400 is the answer to “is there a cheaper one that is not a compromise?” Mostly, yes — because the compromise is in the chassis rather than in the ink.
Same ink, same cost per page
Epson lists the ET-2400 as taking 522 ink, with replacement yields of 4,500 ISO pages black and 7,500 color. Those are the same figures as the ET-2800 and the ET-4800. At the prices we read on Epson’s store, that is about 0.4¢ a black page and 1.1¢ for four-color — identical across all three printers.
This matters more than it sounds. In most product categories the cheap model is cheap because it is worse to own. Here, the cheap model is cheap because it has fewer features, and the ongoing cost is the same. That makes the ET-2400 the most straightforward value proposition in the EcoTank range.
| If you print | Ink over 3 years | Total with the printer |
|---|---|---|
| 25 pages a month | $4 | $194 |
| 75 pages a month | $11 | $201 |
| 200 pages a month | $29 | $219 |
Supplies only in the middle column; sticker price plus supplies in the right one. Mono pages at the manufacturer’s rated yield and the supply price we read on 27 September 2026. Real cost runs higher because rated yields assume 5% page coverage. The full method.
What the saving costs you
- No automatic two-sided printing. Same as the ET-2800. Since paper costs more than ink on these machines, this is the omission with the largest financial consequence.
- Flatbed scanner, no document feeder. Adequate for occasional scanning, slow for anything multi-page.
- No wired Ethernet. Wi-Fi only. For a printer shared by several people, a cable is the single best fix for intermittent “the printer is offline” complaints.
The gap in list price between the ET-2400 and the ET-2800 on Epson’s own store when we checked was fifty dollars. Neither has a duplexer or a feeder, so that fifty dollars buys refinement rather than capability.
Who it is for
Someone who has decided that bottle-fed ink is the right technology and wants the lowest price that gets them there. A first printer for a household. A second printer for a home that already has a laser for text and wants something for color without cartridge costs.
Who should buy something else
- Anyone printing multi-page documents regularly. Pay for a duplexer. The paper saving repays it.
- Anyone printing fewer than twenty pages a month. A mono laser, without hesitation. At that volume the ink saving cannot repay the extra hardware cost and you have bought the technology least tolerant of being ignored.
- Anyone who scans stacks of paper. The ET-4800.