Epson WorkForce ES-400 II Review
A high speed scanner that excels in a home office setting
Credit: Matt Lighthart
By Benjamin Hickok ⋅ Review Editor ⋅ August 22, 2024
RELATED: The Best Scanners of 2026
Our Verdict
The Epson WorkForce ES-400 II is a fast scanner that performs well in a home office setting, but lacks the photo scanning quality present in other similarly priced, and even cheaper models. Its mediocre photo scanning quality is too much of a black eye despite its high speed, user friendliness, and good software to elevate it to an award winner, and it therefore sits just behind some of our top picks.
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product
Epson WorkForce ES-400 II | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  Best Overall Scanner For Most People |  Best Wireless Portable Scanner |  Best Budget Portable Scanner | Best Budget Flatbed for Books & Photos | |
| Price | $380 List Check Amazon (on sale!) | $348 List Check Amazon (on sale!) | $200 List Check Price at Amazon | $135 List Check Price at Amazon | $76 List Check Price at Amazon |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Bottom Line | Good for home office use, but not an exceptional photo scanner | A compact, portable scanner that is both fast and produces high-quality results, but won't crowd your desk | Great performance from a portable scanner that isn't too bad on the wallet | While not the fastest, it excels in every aspect at a relatively low price | This flatbed scanner is ideal for archival-quality photos and the occasional simple document, but impractical for everyday home office use |
| Rating Categories | Epson WorkForce ES-4... | Ricoh ScanSnap iX1300 | Epson WorkForce ES-60W | Brother DS-640 | Canon CanoScan LiDE 300 |
| Scan Quality (35%) | |||||
| Speed (35%) | |||||
| File Management (20%) | |||||
| Photo Scanning (10%) | |||||
| Specifications | Epson WorkForce ES-4... | Ricoh ScanSnap iX1300 | Epson WorkForce ES-60W | Brother DS-640 | Canon CanoScan LiDE 300 |
| Two-sided Scanning? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Automatic Document Feeder capacity | 50 sheets | 20 sheets | No | No | No |
| Measured Pages Per Minute | 10.9 | 26.1 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 0.7 |
| Connectivity | USB | USB, Wifi | USB, Wifi | Micro USB | USB |
| Multi-feed Detection | Yes (Ultrasonic) | Length detection | No | No | No |
| Power Source | AC | AC | USB / Battery | USB | USB |
| Paper Sizes | Max: 8.5" x 240" Min: 2" x 2" |
Max: 8.5" x 14" Min: 2" x 2" |
Max: 8.5" x 72" / Min: 2" x 2" | Max: 8.5" x 72" Min: 2" x 3.4" |
8.5" x 11.7" |
| Optical Resolution | 600 DPI | 600 DPI | 600 DPI | 600 DPI | 2400 DPI |
| Suggested Daily Volume | 4,000 scans | not specified | 300 scans | 100 scans | not specified |
| Scanner Type | Sheet-fed | Sheet-fed | Sheet-fed | Sheet-fed | Flatbed |
Our Analysis and Test Results
We found the Epson WorkForce ES-400 II to be a fast scanner that offers great document scan quality, but isn't a good option due to lower photo-accuracy, for those who want to scan family photos.
Speedy, but some photo scanning set backs keep this model from being truly exceptional. Credit: Matt Lighthart
Scan Quality
In our scan quality tests, the Epson WorkForce ES-400 II proved to be great for the home office. When scanning black-and-white text prints, like receipts, the Epson WorkForce ES-400 II produced deep blacks and sharp clarity. It exhibited similar quality for text documents with good saturation and crisp edges and handwriting with fantastic-looking results. For office tasks, the ES-400 II gives the top models serious competition. Unfortunately, moving on to photo scanning performance, it proved to be less impressive.
Oversaturated and over contrasted photo scans took away from this scanners otherwise excellent performance. Credit: Sentry Kelly
Scan Speed
The Epson WorkForce ES-400 II can handle a single double-sided colored scan at 600 DPI in a quick 14 seconds, while double-sided 10-page black and white documents processed on a duplex setting are handled in as little as 55 seconds. In the simplest terms, you can expect to scan documents at a rate of over 10 pages per minute, making the biggest office digitizing tasks a much smaller burden.
In our ten-page document speed test with a 600 DPI, black and white simplex setting, the Epson WorkForce ES-400 II performed the task in 52 seconds, showing practically no difference in speed between the duplex and simplex tasks.
You won't have to wait on or manually feed this very fast model. Credit: Matt Lighthart
File Management
There are no surprises with the Epson WorkForce ES-400 II's software. It functions without issue, lets you get tasks done easily, and the optical character recognition is nearly perfect on text documents. As we've mentioned above, changing settings is easily done via the computer interface, and the overall user experience from a software perspective is as good as or better than any of the top scanners we've tested.
Easily adjust the feeder tray for the documents, receipts, or photos you are about to scan. Credit: Matt Lighthart
Epson products are pretty simple across the board when it comes to setup and operation, and the Epson WorkForce ES-400 II holds up that reputation. You can expect to go from box to up and running in just a couple of minutes, and the operation is just as simple. The device has five simple buttons: power, double feed detection, slow mode, stop, and start. Additionally, changing settings can be done from the computer interface, which is intuitive and self-explanatory, making it a good choice for the less tech-savvy home office user.
If space is tight, this model may work well for you with a document tray that folds up to a surprisingly compact state. This is especially impressive for a model that is capable of handling large stacks of documents.
This model takes up little space when not in use. Credit: Matt Lighthart
Photo Scanning
It proved less capable at faithfully preserving family photos. When looking across multiple photo scans for color accuracy, I found oversaturated colors and diminished brightness levels. The combination makes for images that look (badly) artificially enhanced. While highlights are generally retained, the photo scanning quality overall doesn't accurately reflect originals.
Should You Buy the Epson WorkForce ES-400 II?
The Epson WorkForce ES-400 II is a highly performant model for documents and receipts, earning one of the highest scores in our test lineup overall. For a home office, the Epson WorkForce ES-400 II would be a great tool. Unfortunately, its photo-scanning performance did not stand out enough to make it a good all-around pick. If you rarely work with photos and like the idea of having a fast and compact model, it could work. However, there are similar scanners that can make great photo scans in addition to docs and receipts, and we'd recommend checking out those options first.
What Other Scanners Should You Consider?
If an all-around balance of performance and fast speed is important for you, then you need to look at the Ricoh ScanSnap iX2500. Not only does it nearly quadruple the page-per-minute performance of the ES-400 II, but it also offers some of the best all-around scanning performance. However, its hefty price tag is a reasonable deterrent for many prospective buyers. On the opposite end of the price spectrum, the Brother DS-640 stands out as a good option for those on a budget, offering good performance at the price point.
—Benjamin Hickok
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