Office & WFH · Head-to-head
Epson EcoTank ET-4950 vs Brother MFC-J4355DW
Which should you buy? Our verdict on both, pulled from our full The Best Home Printers: 4 Compared (and One to Skip) comparison.
The EcoTank ET-4950 is the pick if you print enough to care about ink cost, thanks to refillable tanks and no subscription strings. The Brother MFC-J4355DW is the smarter value if you'd rather spend less upfront and still print cheaply.
Epson EcoTank ET-4950
Buy itA cartridge-free tank that makes cheap-per-page printing the default, not a subscription.
- Refillable ink tanks cut running cost dramatically versus cartridges, and Epson rates the bottles in the box at up to 3 years of ink at about 150 pages a month, or up to 6,600 black and 5,500 color pages
- Full feature set: auto document feeder, auto two-sided printing, a 250-sheet tray, 2.4-inch color display, Ethernet, and fax
- Refills come in keyed EcoFit bottles with no subscription or enrollment required
- Highest upfront price of the group, so the savings take time to pay back
- Epson's own fine print says included-bottle yields are lower than replacement bottles because part of the ink goes to initial setup
Brother MFC-J4355DW
Buy itThe low-cost document workhorse: full office features and high-yield INKvestment cartridges for far less upfront.
- Ships with one 1,800-page black cartridge and one 750-page cartridge for each color, per Brother
- Auto two-sided printing, a 20-sheet single-sided document feeder, a 150-sheet tray and fax
- Dual-band Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct and a 2-year limited warranty
- Small 1.8-inch color display feels dated next to rivals
- Still a cartridge printer, so it cannot match a tank's cost per page
Side by side
The 7 criteria below are the ones our full comparison judged every product on, narrowed to these two.
| Epson EcoTank ET-4950 Our pick | Brother MFC-J4355DW | |
|---|---|---|
| Our verdict | Buy | Buy |
| Best for | Households and home offices that print enough to care about long-term ink cost and want zero subscription strings. | Anyone who mostly prints documents and wants the least fuss and lowest cost without a big upfront outlay. |
| Price tier | $$$ · premium | $$ · mid-range |
| Ink system | Refillable tanks (cartridge-free) | High-yield INKvestment cartridges |
| Running cost per page | Lowest | Low |
| Office features (ADF, duplex, fax) | All included | All included |
| Photo quality | Good | Fair |
| Connection reliability (owner reports) | Mostly good, some drops | New model, short owner record |
| Supply freedom | Keyed EcoFit bottles, no subscription | Brother INKvestment cartridges |
| Upfront cost vs long-run value | High cost, best long-run value | Low cost, strong value |
Which one is right for you?
Pick the Epson EcoTank ET-4950 if
households and home offices that print enough to care about long-term ink cost and want zero subscription strings.
Know before buying: highest upfront price of the group, so the savings take time to pay back.
Pick the Brother MFC-J4355DW if
anyone who mostly prints documents and wants the least fuss and lowest cost without a big upfront outlay.
Know before buying: small 1.8-inch color display feels dated next to rivals.
The bottom line
Our overall pick is the Epson EcoTank ET-4950 - A cartridge-free tank that makes cheap-per-page printing the default, not a subscription. Choose the Brother MFC-J4355DW instead if anyone who mostly prints documents and wants the least fuss and lowest cost without a big upfront outlay.
Want the full picture, including the other options we compared and the popular one we'd skip? Read the complete The Best Home Printers: 4 Compared (and One to Skip).