Canon MegaTank G3270 vs Epson's EcoTank ET-2800: Two Tanks, Two Tempers

Updated June 15, 2026

Canon MegaTank G3270

VS

Epson EcoTank ET-2800

Look — this is not a sibling pair, it is a border crossing. The Canon MegaTank G3270 and the Epson EcoTank ET-2800 are the entry champions of the two biggest supertank lines on the shelf: Canon's MegaTank and Epson's EcoTank, the two refillable systems every cartridge owner ends up choosing between. They agree on the part that matters most. Both refill from bottles instead of cartridges, both quote yields in the thousands of pages, and both ship with up to two years of ink in the box. Whichever you pick, you have already walked out of the cartridge tax that drives most printer regret.

So the question stops being "which is cheaper to run" — they are effectively level — and becomes "which one's quirks can you tolerate." Canon brings the louder spec sheet and a Wi-Fi reputation that scares people. Epson brings the steadier owner history and a tighter rule about not letting it sit idle. The rest of this page is about that trade, because on cost-per-page there is barely a sheet of paper between them.

Canon MegaTank G3270

Epson EcoTank ET-2800

At a Glance

The cost case is a tie — both already won it

Here's the thing: the reason to read this comparison is not to find the cheaper printer. Both of these are cheap to feed. The expensive printer is the one neither of these is — a cartridge machine.

Both machines escape cartridges by the same route: Epson sells the ET-2800 on Innovative cartridge-free printing from high-capacity bottle-fed tanks, and the G3270's MegaTank reservoirs do exactly the same. Canon makes the bigger paper claim. The G3270 is rated to Print up to 6,000 black & white / 7,700 color pages using a single set of inks, and Canon includes Up to 2 years of ink included in the box. Epson answers in kind: the ET-2800 ships with Includes up to 2 years of ink in the box based on average monthly print volumes, and its refill bottles are cheap — one owner reports they we got 3 years out of our black ink, and a generic replacement bottle is under twenty dollars. Both land in the same low cost-per-page bracket, and RTINGS' cost-per-print and page-yield testing puts that bracket far below any cartridge printer. The exact yardsticks we use to weigh that running-cost axis live in our inkjet comparison criteria.

The yield numbers differ on the box, but the lived gap is small, and Consumer Reports' inkjet running-cost testing reaches the same conclusion: entry supertanks cluster together on cost and pull away from cartridges as a group. An ET-2800 owner past six months who prints a lot reports My black ink still has a 1/4 tank left and the colored inks are still at about 3/4 full. That is the supertank story for both brands. Spend your real attention elsewhere.

Canon MegaTank G3270

Epson EcoTank ET-2800

Where the two tanks actually split

With cost off the table, the differences come down to engine, speed, and the failure each brand is known for. From the Canon side you get the louder spec sheet; from the Epson side, the quieter track record. This is the part that decides it.

On speed, Canon leads on rated black. An independent reviewer measured the G3270 at It prints about 11 pages per minute in black and 6 in color, while Epson rates the ET-2800 lower — its spec sheet lists 5760 x 1440 dpi 10ppm — though Epson's higher print resolution edges Canon on fine detail. The ET-2800's engine is the calmer of the two: it Features Micro Piezo Heat-Free Technology for color printing, a cool-running piezo head rather than a thermal one. Neither does auto-duplex — the G3270 is flatly Single-sided printing, and the ET-2800 is a single-tray entry machine too — so a duplex-heavy office should step up a tier in either line.

Then there are the reputations, and this is where Canon takes the hits. Its loudest flaw is the radio: one owner calls the G3270's ability to connect to wifi and stay connected is ABYSMAL, it constantly goes offline. Color is the second complaint — one owner calls it the exact same one everyone else here in the reviews have had issues with- color printing, partly because the G3270 uses pigment-based black with dye-based CMY. Pigment-based ink doesn't adhere to some glossy media. The platform can still go the distance — a related MegaTank owner calls a five-year-old G3520 an amazing printer no issues or complaints or mechanical issues in 5 years — but the entry ET-2800's owner record runs deeper and quieter. We stage every brand claim against synthesized owner reports in our inkjet printers evidence hub, and Canon's own MegaTank specifications confirm the single-sided, four-ink design.

The idle-clog rule both ecosystems share

One failure mode ignores the badge entirely: both run liquid ink, so both dry out if you leave them alone. This is the rule no supertank escapes.

A redditor puts the physics plainly — ink tank printers are still inkjet printers, and thus are subject to the heads drying out if not run often. Epson's ET-2800 answers idle nozzles with cleaning purges that spend ink to recover. Canon's G3270 can fail harder: when a tank runs low, Apparently because the yellow ink was getting low air can get locked in the print tube, which can brick a near-empty machine. The fix is identical for both, and it is free — print something in color at least once a week. RTINGS scores risk-of-clogging as a first-class metric for exactly this reason. If your printing is genuinely sporadic, neither tank is your answer; a color laser is.

Canon MegaTank G3270

Epson EcoTank ET-2800

So which tank — Canon or Epson?

Because the cost case is a tie, "who buys which" comes down to which ecosystem's temperament fits your home. If you're coming from a clogged or bricked cartridge printer, either tank is the upgrade — the question is only which camp's quirks you prefer. The Canon rewards a buyer who wants the highest claimed yield and is willing to manage a fussy radio; the Epson rewards a buyer who wants the steadier record and prints often enough to keep the heads wet. Either way you are choosing a supertank over a cartridge machine, which is the decision that actually saves money.

Buy the Canon G3270 if…

…you want the bigger paper yield and the faster black engine, and you're comfortable taming Wi-Fi. The G3270's rated 6,000-black / 7,700-color claim leads the entry class, and roughly 11 ppm black is quick for the money. Go in clear-eyed on two things: the radio owners call abysmal — solvable, but real on setup — and color output that draws the loudest complaints, especially on glossy stock where its pigment black struggles. For document-heavy households that print weekly, it earns its place.

Buy the Epson ET-2800 if…

…you want the safer track record and you'll print every week. The ET-2800's Heat-Free engine runs cool, its higher resolution edges fine detail, and its owner history is the deeper and calmer of the two. The catch is discipline — leave it idle and it spends ink clearing the heads. For the buyer who prints regularly and wants fewer surprises, it is the lower-drama tank. We cover its real-world setup and ownership in our full review of the ET-2800.

Skip both if…

…you print rarely, or you need automatic duplex out of the box. A printer that sits idle for weeks will fight you on either brand — a color laser is the honest pick for sporadic use. And neither of these entry tanks prints double-sided on its own, so a duplex-heavy office should step up a tier. For the full cross-brand picture, weigh the running-cost case in our best supertank printers roundup, and read where the MegaTank line sits against Epson in our guide to Canon inkjet printers.