Epson WorkForce WF-2860 All-in-One Printer Review

The Epson WorkForce WF-2860 All-in-One Printer ($129.99) is Epson's smallest and least expensive entry-level business-oriented all-in-one (AIO) printer.

Like the Editors' Choice HP OfficeJet Pro 6978 All-in-One Printer, it prints relatively fast for its price and churns out very good-looking documents, but its running costs are higher than not just the HP model, but also several other competitors.

If, however, you use it as designed—for printing and copying a few hundred pages each month in low-volume small or home-based offices and workgroups—the Epson WF-2860's high running costs shouldn't add up to too much of a financial burden.

A Third-Generation Upgrade

The Epson WF-2860 represents the third generation of this petite business-centric AIO, with the WF-2760 being its most recent predecessor.

The new model measures 10 by 19.8 by 16.4 inches (HWD) and weighs 14.6 pounds, which makes it about an inch taller than the WF-2760, though both models weigh the same.

The WF-2860 is about an inch larger in all directions than the HP 6978, though the latter is about 3 pounds lighter.

The slightly more expensive Canon Maxify MB2720 Wireless Home Office All-in-One Printer, another of our favorite AIOs, on the other hand, is a few inches taller and longer and weighs an additional 11 pounds.

Smaller by a few inches in all directions than the WF-2860 and the other previously mentioned models is Brother's MFC-J775DW.

Even so, all these entry-level AIOs are small enough to fit on most desktops comfortably.

There's only one paper-input source on the WF-2860 ($176.00 at Amazon) in the form of a 150-sheet cassette that slides out from the front of the printer.

Its automatic document feeder (ADF) holds 30 letter-size (8.5-by-11-inch) document pages or 10 legal-size (11-by-14-inch) pages.

The ADF is not auto-duplexing, meaning that to scan both sides of two-sided pages, you'll have to turn them over manually to scan the second side.

You can, however, print two-sided pages automatically.

The Epson WF-2860's maximum monthly duty cycle is 5,000 pages with a recommended print volume of 800 pages.

The HP 6978 ($179.99 at Amazon) sports both a larger paper capacity (225 sheets) and monthly duty cycle (20,000 pages).

You can configure the WF-2860, as well as set up and initiate print, copy, scan, and fax jobs, from its 2.4-inch color touch screen, which, aside from the Help, Home, and NFC buttons (more on that option below) comprises the entire control panel.

You can also set up and initiate various connectivity and cloud services from the printer's onboard web site.

Versatile Connectivity

One of the WF-2860's more attractive aspects is its somewhat long list of connectivity options.

You get, of course, the basics: Ethernet (wired) networking, Wi-Fi (wireless) networking, and the ability to connect to a single PC via USB, as well as two network-free wireless, or peer-to-peer networking, protocols where no router is required.

Also available are several cloud, network, and internet services, configurable via the AIO's built-in services web site; they include Apple AirPrint Setup, DNS/Proxy Setup, Epson Connect, and Google Cloud Print.

Epson Connect consists of: Epson Email Print, Epson Remote Print, Epson Scan to Cloud, Epson iPrint App (iOS, Android), Epson Print and Scan App (Windows).

Other mobile options include Wi-Fi Direct and near-field communication (NFC), two peer-to-peer network protocols that allow you to connect your mobile devices to the printer without either of them or it being connected to a physical network or router.

NFC allows you to connect your mobile device to the printer by simply touching it to the NFC hotspot on the printer, which, in this case, is located to the right of the control panel.

Middle of the Road Performance

Epson rates the WS-2860 at 14 pages per minute (ppm) for single-sided monochrome documents and 7.5ppm for color pages.

I tested it over Ethernet with our standard Intel Core i5-equipped testbed PC running Windows 10 Professional.

When it printed our 12-page monochrome Microsoft Word text document, I clocked it at 15.1ppm, slightly faster than its 14ppm rating.

Its predecessor, the WF-2760, was about 3ppm slower, and the Brother MFC-J775DW came in about 5.1ppm behind, while the HP 6978 churned at 1.8ppm faster.

See How We Test Printers

Next up, I combined the results from printing our colorful graphics- and photo-laden PDF, Excel, and PowerPoint test documents with those from the above 12-page Word document test and came up with a score of 7.4ppm.

That's just slower than its 7.5ppm rating for color documents, which is relatively fast, considering that very few of the printers we test come close to making their manufacturers' color page rating.

The WF-2860 beat its predecessor by 1.2ppm, Brother's MFC-J775DW ($129.99 at Staples) by almost 3ppm, and the HP 6978 by 1ppm.

I also printed our two highly detailed and colorful 4-by-6-inch snapshots, and, while the WF-2860 was significantly slower than most of its competitors, it also, in most cases, printed significantly better-looking images.

That was especially true when I printed on the glossy premium photo paper that Epson provided.

When I set the print quality to best and set the finishing option to borderless, while, yes, the photos took close to 3 minutes to print, the image quality was exceptional.

PrecisionCore Print Quality

Epson's WorkForce brand inkjets are, output quality-wise, some of the best in the business.

Much of this is due to their patented PrecisionCore printheads, which typically contain smaller, more tightly spaced ink nozzles.

This pays off by delivering tight, well-shaped, and highly legible text down to point sizes that most people need magnification to see, and larger headline-size fonts look smooth with no noticeable jagged edges.

Our test Excel charts and PowerPoint handouts looked exceptional, too, with solid fills, smoothly graduating gradients, and well-delineated hairlines (say, 1 point and smaller).

With the WS-2860's near-laser quality type and extraordinary graphics, you should be able to churn out most types of business documents—even those meant to impress would-be clients.

As mentioned, also impressive were the WF-2860's exquisite photos, which, during my tests, were certainly of keeper-quality for family photo albums, or perhaps real estate marketing photos.

Colors were brilliant, accurate, and highly attractive, and detail was hard to beat.

Runaway Running Costs

One of our biggest complaints about the WF-2760 is its inordinately high running costs.

At 5.5 cents for monochrome pages and 16.3 cents for color pages, the WF-2860's per-page operational costs are only slightly lower (by 0.5 cent black and 1 cent color) than those of its predecessor.

All the printers discussed here cost considerably less to operate.

HP's 6978 delivers running costs of (when you buy the highest yield cartridges, of course) are 3.2 cents for monochrome and 10.4 cents for color, but when you subscribe to that company's highest-yield Instant Ink program, you can print all pages, no matter what they are and how much ink coverage they contain, for 3.5 cents.

That's an exceptional bargain, especially if you print a lot of photos.

The Canon MB2720's ($286.12 at Amazon) running costs are about half that of both the WF-2860's monochrome and color pages, and the Brother MFC-J775DW's cost per page are 1 cent for black pages and 4.7 cents for color.

If, however, low running costs are one of your primary concerns, you may want to consider one of Epson's EcoTank models, such as the Epson WorkForce ET-3750 EcoTank All-in-One, or a Canon MegaTank AIO, perhaps the Canon Pixma G4200 MegaTank All-in-One Printer.

Both bulk-ink machines cost considerably more than the WF-2860, but, at less than a cent for both monochrome and color pages, if you print a lot, they're probably worth thinking about.

If your print volume is high, a difference of a few cents per page can add up quickly.

For Modest Needs

Without question, like the WF-2760 before it, the WF-2860 is a fine little printer with sound print speeds and admirable output.

But its running costs greatly restrict its value for anything other than printing and copying a small number of documents and photos each month.

If you need lower operating costs, you have plenty of options, including the HP 6978 with a subscription to Instant Ink, or one of Epson's EcoTank or Canon's MegaTank models.

Otherwise, if your volume needs are modest, but you do need a few quality prints and copies each month, the Epson WorkForce WF-2860 should serve your small office or home-based business well.