Epson EcoTank ET-M1120 Mono Ink Tank Printer Review: The End of Expensive Cartridges?

We’ve all been there. You have a crucial document to print—a university assignment, a shipping label for your small business, or a concert ticket for a show that starts in an hour. You hit ‘Print’, and the printer sputters, groans, and flashes a dreaded warning: “Low Ink”. It’s a moment of pure frustration, compounded by the knowledge that a tiny plastic cartridge of black ink can cost more than a celebratory dinner. For years, this has been the accepted reality of home and small office printing: a low initial investment for the printer, followed by a seemingly endless and expensive stream of ink cartridge purchases. This cycle doesn’t just drain your wallet; it creates waste and adds a layer of constant, low-level stress to your workflow. We knew there had to be a better way, a more sustainable and economical approach to high-volume printing without sacrificing quality. This quest led us to investigate a different class of printer, and specifically, the Epson EcoTank ET-M1120 Mono Ink Tank Printer.

What to Consider Before Buying a Monochrome Ink Tank Printer

An Ink Printers is more than just an item; it’s a key solution for transforming digital documents into physical reality, efficiently and affordably. The emergence of ink tank technology, particularly in monochrome models, directly addresses the single biggest pain point of traditional inkjet printing: the exorbitant cost per page. Instead of relying on disposable cartridges, these printers feature large, refillable tanks that you top up with ink from inexpensive bottles. This fundamentally changes the economics of printing, making it possible to produce thousands of pages for a fraction of the cost, a benefit that is crucial for students, home offices, and small businesses that rely on a steady stream of printed materials.

The ideal customer for this type of product is someone facing the constant need for black-and-white documents. Think of the university student printing lecture notes and research papers, the home-based entrepreneur printing invoices and shipping labels, or the small office manager handling daily reports and correspondence. These users prioritise volume, reliability, and low running costs above all else. Conversely, this type of printer might not be suitable for those who primarily need to print high-quality colour photographs, require multifunction capabilities like scanning and copying, or only print a few pages per month. For those users, a colour all-in-one inkjet or even a laser printer might be a more appropriate, albeit different, investment.

Before investing, consider these crucial points in detail:

• Dimensions & Space: Printers can be bulky. Before buying, measure the intended space on your desk or shelf. The Epson EcoTank ET-M1120 Mono Ink Tank Printer boasts a compact design with front-facing input and output trays, making it an excellent choice for tight spaces as it can be operated without needing to be pulled out from its nook.
• Capacity/Performance: This is where ink tank printers shine. Look at the page yield per ink bottle—the ET-M1120 claims up to 5,000 pages from the included ink. Also, consider print speed (measured in pages per minute or ppm) and the paper tray capacity to ensure it matches your workflow and you aren’t constantly refilling paper.
• Materials & Durability: The printer should feel sturdy enough for its intended environment. While most consumer printers are made of plastic, look for solid construction and a reputable brand known for reliability. Epson backs the ET-M1120 with a one-year or 100,000-page warranty, which is a strong indicator of its intended durability for high-volume tasks.
• Ease of Use & Maintenance: Setting up Wi-Fi, printing from a mobile device, and refilling the ink tank should be straightforward. The EcoTank system is designed with keyed bottles to prevent misfuelling and spills, simplifying what could be a messy process. Long-term care is minimal, primarily involving occasional ink refills.

Keeping these factors in mind, the Epson EcoTank ET-M1120 Mono Ink Tank Printer stands out in several areas, particularly in its cost-effectiveness and user-friendly design. You can explore its detailed specifications and features here.

While the Epson EcoTank ET-M1120 Mono Ink Tank Printer is an excellent choice, it’s always wise to see how it stacks up against the competition. For a broader look at all the top models, we highly recommend checking out our complete, in-depth guide:

Unboxing and First Impressions: A Compact Powerhouse

Upon opening the box, our first impression of the Epson EcoTank ET-M1120 Mono Ink Tank Printer was one of minimalist efficiency. It’s surprisingly compact and lightweight, finished in a clean white that blends easily into any home or office environment. Inside, we found the printer unit, a power cable, a setup guide and CD, and, most importantly, two bottles of black ink. Epson includes not just a “starter” bottle but a full-size spare, providing a staggering amount of ink right out of the box—enough for a claimed 5,000 pages. This immediately sets a different tone from cartridge-based printers, which often come with barely-filled “setup” cartridges.

The design is refreshingly practical. Both the 150-sheet paper input tray and the output tray are located at the front, a thoughtful touch that means you can place the printer on a shelf and never need to access the back. The ink tank is integrated into the front right of the unit, with a clear window that lets you see the ink level at a glance—a simple but brilliant feature that eliminates guesswork. Setting it up involved the most satisfying part of the experience: filling the tank. The Epson ink bottles are engineered with a unique keyed nozzle that only fits the corresponding tank, preventing spills and ensuring you can’t accidentally use the wrong colour (if this were a colour model). The ink flows in cleanly and stops automatically when full. It was a mess-free, foolproof process that took less than a minute and felt like a glimpse into the future of printing.

A Deep Dive into the Epson EcoTank ET-M1120’s Performance

A printer’s true value is revealed not on the shelf, but in its daily performance, its long-term running costs, and its ability to integrate seamlessly into your life. We put the Epson EcoTank ET-M1120 Mono Ink Tank Printer through its paces over several weeks of intensive testing, printing everything from multi-page reports to shipping labels, to see if its real-world performance lived up to its impressive specifications. Our findings confirmed that this isn’t just a printer; it’s a fundamental shift in how we think about the economics and convenience of printing.

The EcoTank System: A Revolution in Printing Economics

The single most compelling reason to consider the Epson EcoTank ET-M1120 Mono Ink Tank Printer is its ink system. This is where the long-term value lies, and our experience was nothing short of revolutionary. The initial purchase price is higher than a basic cartridge inkjet, but that’s where the high costs end. The two included bottles provide enough ink to print up to 5,000 pages. To put that into perspective, you would need to buy around 20-25 standard black ink cartridges to achieve the same page yield, which could easily cost 3-5 times more than the printer itself. This aligns perfectly with feedback from long-term users, one of whom noted they had been using the printer for over three years, printing 30-50 pages a week, and had only just started on their first replacement bottle. This is a testament to the sheer economy of the system. We calculated the cost-per-page to be a fraction of a penny, a number that traditional cartridge printers simply cannot compete with. For anyone with significant printing needs, the savings over the life of the printer are not just substantial; they are transformative. The freedom to print without constantly worrying about ink consumption is a powerful benefit that genuinely changes your workflow for the better. The mess-free refilling process, thanks to the cleverly designed bottles, ensures that maintaining this low-cost system is as simple as it is economical.

Print Speed and Quality: Is It Office-Ready?

Low running costs mean little if the output is slow or subpar. Fortunately, the Epson EcoTank ET-M1120 Mono Ink Tank Printer delivers admirable performance for its intended purpose. Epson claims a top speed of 32 pages per minute (ppm) in draft mode and a more realistic 15 ppm for standard quality (ISO standard). In our tests, we consistently clocked speeds around 14-15 ppm for single-sided text documents, which is more than fast enough for any home office or small business environment. A 20-page report was finished in well under two minutes. Another key advantage of its Micro Piezo heat-free technology is that there is virtually no warm-up time. From the moment you send a document, it starts printing almost instantly, a small but noticeable quality-of-life improvement over laser printers that need to heat their fuser unit.

Print quality is equally impressive for a monochrome device. With a maximum resolution of 1440 x 720 dpi, text is sharp, crisp, and highly legible, even at very small font sizes. We tested documents with 6pt and 8pt fonts, and the characters remained clear and well-defined with no smudging or bleeding. This makes it ideal for everything from professional correspondence to detailed academic papers. While it’s not designed for graphics, simple charts and logos in documents were rendered with clean lines and solid black fills. For its core mission of high-volume text printing, the quality is excellent and reliable.

Connectivity and Setup: Seamless Wireless Integration

In today’s connected world, a printer must be easy to set up and use from any device. The Epson EcoTank ET-M1120 Mono Ink Tank Printer excels in this area with its robust Wi-Fi capabilities. The initial setup was straightforward. Using the Epson iPrint app on a smartphone, we were able to connect the printer to our Wi-Fi network in just a few minutes without needing to touch a computer. Once connected, it was instantly available to all devices on the network, including laptops (Windows and Mac), tablets, and smartphones (iOS and Android).

Printing from a mobile device was seamless. Whether sending a PDF from an email or a document from a cloud storage service, the app handled it flawlessly. The inclusion of Wi-Fi Direct is another great feature, allowing you to connect a device directly to the printer without needing a router—perfect for guests or situations where the main network is down. For those who prefer a traditional connection, a high-speed USB port is also available. This flexibility ensures that no matter your tech setup, integrating this printer into your workflow is a hassle-free experience. The focus on app-based control and mobile printing makes it a thoroughly modern and convenient device. The exceptional ease of wireless use makes this printer a standout choice, and you can see the full range of its connectivity options right here.

Design, Usability, and Long-Term Reliability

Beyond the core technology, the physical design of the Epson EcoTank ET-M1120 Mono Ink Tank Printer is a masterclass in practicality. Its compact footprint (measuring just 37.5cm wide and deep) allows it to fit comfortably in spaces where larger, more cumbersome printers would not. As confirmed by user feedback, the decision to place the 150-sheet paper tray and the output tray at the front is a game-changer for usability. It can be tucked away on a bookshelf or in a cabinet, and remain fully functional without ever needing to be moved. The simple control panel consists of just a few buttons and indicator lights, focusing on essential functions like Wi-Fi status and power, which keeps the operation simple and intuitive.

The build quality feels solid and durable for a consumer-grade device. The paper handling was reliable during our testing, with no jams or misfeeds even when printing long documents. The 100,000-page or one-year warranty provides significant peace of mind, signalling that Epson has built this machine to handle the high volumes it’s designed for. The visible ink tank is another highlight, replacing ambiguous software warnings with a simple, foolproof visual check. You always know exactly how much ink you have left, allowing you to plan refills well in advance and avoid any printing emergencies.

What Other Users Are Saying

Our positive experience with the Epson EcoTank ET-M1120 Mono Ink Tank Printer is widely echoed by the broader community of users. The prevailing sentiment is overwhelmingly positive, focusing on the same core strengths we identified. One user, in particular, provided a perfect summary of the printer’s value proposition. After owning it for over three years and printing an average of 30-50 pages per week, they were still using the ink from their first replacement bottle. They specifically praised the printer’s long-term economy, stating they were “fed up having to buy expensive XL black cartridges” for their old printer and that the EcoTank had been a revelation in savings.

This same user also highlighted the “compact and neat” design that allowed it to fit on a shelf, and the convenience of the front-facing trays. This real-world, long-term feedback powerfully validates our findings on its cost-effectiveness and practical design. While critiques are rare, some users have noted that the initial Wi-Fi setup can occasionally be tricky depending on their network configuration, and others have expressed a wish for automatic two-sided printing, a feature reserved for more expensive models.

How Does the Epson EcoTank ET-M1120 Compare to the Competition?

The Epson EcoTank ET-M1120 Mono Ink Tank Printer occupies a specific niche, but it’s important to understand how it stacks up against other popular options. Depending on your needs for colour, portability, or all-in-one features, a different model might be a better fit.

1. Epson EcoTank ET-2750 A4 Printer

For those who love the EcoTank concept but absolutely need more than just monochrome printing, the ET-2750 is a logical step up. It’s a full-colour all-in-one device, offering print, scan, and copy capabilities. It shares the same revolutionary ink tank system, providing extremely low running costs for both black and colour printing. It also adds the convenience of an LCD screen and automatic duplex printing. The trade-off is a higher initial purchase price and a slightly larger footprint. This is the ideal choice for a busy family or a home office that needs the versatility of a multifunction printer without the high cost of colour cartridges.

2. Canon PIXMA TR150 Portable Printer

The Canon PIXMA TR150 serves a completely different purpose. It’s a compact, lightweight, and portable printer designed for professionals on the go. It can be powered by an optional battery, allowing you to print high-quality documents and photos from anywhere. While its portability is unmatched, it relies on traditional ink cartridges, meaning its running costs are significantly higher than the EcoTank. You would choose the PIXMA TR150 if your primary need is mobility—for printing contracts at a client’s site or reports from a hotel room—and high-volume, low-cost printing is not a priority.

3. HP DeskJet 2710 Multifunction Printer Wi-Fi

The HP DeskJet 2710 represents the traditional budget-friendly, all-in-one inkjet model. Its main appeal is a very low upfront cost, and it offers the convenience of printing, scanning, and copying. However, it uses standard ink cartridges, which makes it far more expensive to run over time, especially for anyone printing more than a few pages per week. This printer is best suited for the very occasional user who prioritises the lowest possible initial price and needs multifunctionality, but is not concerned with the high long-term cost per page.

Final Verdict: Is the Epson EcoTank ET-M1120 the Right Printer for You?

After extensive hands-on testing and analysis, our conclusion is clear: the Epson EcoTank ET-M1120 Mono Ink Tank Printer is an outstanding machine that delivers on its promise of high-volume, ultra-low-cost printing. Its greatest strength is its ability to free you from the tyranny of expensive and wasteful ink cartridges. The sheer amount of ink included in the box provides incredible value and peace of mind, making the higher initial investment pay for itself many times over.

This printer is not for everyone. If you need colour, scanning, or copying, you should look elsewhere. But if your primary need is to reliably print a significant number of black-and-white documents, this printer is almost perfect. We wholeheartedly recommend it for students, writers, home office workers, and small business owners. It is a well-built, thoughtfully designed, and exceptionally economical workhorse that solves the biggest problem in printing. It is an investment that simplifies your workflow and saves you a remarkable amount of money in the long run.

If you’ve decided the Epson EcoTank ET-M1120 Mono Ink Tank Printer is the right fit, you can check its current price and purchase it here.