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Epson WorkForce ES-50 Review

A compact scanner that provides good enough performance for most people's needs
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Epson WorkForce ES-50 Review
Credit: Epson
Price:  $130 List
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Manufacturer:   Epson
By Benjamin Hickok ⋅ Review Editor  ⋅  Aug 22, 2024
76
OVERALL
SCORE


RANKED
#9 of 12
  • Scanning Performance - 35% 6.2
  • Speed - 30% 8.5
  • Ease of Use - 20% 8.5
  • Software - 15% 7.7

Our Verdict

The Epson WorkForce ES-50 is an outstanding portable scanner and quite affordable when compared to other leading models. Although it compromises a bit on scanning quality, and speed due to the lack of any sort of automatic feeding, it excels in user-friendliness, convenience, and especially portability. Powered by USB, its compact size and ability to scan wirelessly directly to the cloud offer a modern twist to the traditional scanning experience, and make it a good option for those who need to accomplish scanning tasks at an occasional coffee shop meeting.
REASONS TO BUY
Compact and easy to use
Great size-to-performance ratio
Affordable
REASONS TO AVOID
Cumbersome to scan multiple documents
Not the best clarity

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Bottom Line While probably sufficient for most, this portable model is not a great option for the home officeGreat performance from a portable scanner that isn't to bad on the walletGreat performance for infrequent tasks, but not great for large tasks that require auto feeding and higher speedsWhile not the fastest, it excels in every aspect at a relatively low priceYou can give it a try without any risk, and packs a lot of performance into a phone app, but isn't great for longer documents
Rating Categories Epson WorkForce ES-50 Epson WorkForce ES-60W Epson Perfection V3... Brother DS-640 Scanner Pro App
Scanning Performance (35%)
6.2
8.0
8.6
8.3
7.3
Speed (30%)
8.5
8.7
7.5
7.0
6.7
Ease of Use (20%)
8.5
8.7
7.5
7.0
6.7
Software (15%)
7.7
8.0
7.7
8.3
7.7
Specs Epson WorkForce ES-50 Epson WorkForce ES-60W Epson Perfection V3... Brother DS-640 Scanner Pro App
Paper Sizes 8.5" x 72" Max: 8.5" x 72" 8.5" x 11.7" Max: 8.5" x 32" Any size
Weight 0.6 lb 0.7 lb 3.1 lb 1.0 lb N/A
Resolution 600 dpi 1200 dpi 4800 dpi 600 x 600 dpi N/A
Simplex/Duplex Simplex Simplex Simplex Simplex Simplex
Automatic Document Feeder No No No No No
Measured Pages Per Minute 6.7 15.0 3.8 4.0 3.0

Our Analysis and Test Results

Performance Comparison


epson workforce es-50 - this is a cool model for portability, but not a great option for...
This is a cool model for portability, but not a great option for speed.
Credit: Matt Lighthart

Scanning Performance


The color accuracy of the Epson WorkForce ES-50 left a little to be desired in our scanning performance tests. Scans of the original test photos consistently produced oversaturated colors, with blues being especially oversaturated and unnatural looking. Additionally, brightness and contrast ended up looking different from the originals, with highlights that were overly bright, and shadows that became faded and too dark. While the scanning performance overall is fine for small documents and one-off business applications, this model would not be the best choice for digitizing a family photo album.

epson workforce es-50 - overly darkened areas and oversaturation are obvious in the...
Overly darkened areas and oversaturation are obvious in the resulting scans with this model.
Credit: Sentry Kelly

Speed


The small size, portability, and convenience of the Epson WorkForce ES-50 are great features, but they come at the cost of a significant reduction in speed. The single-sheet feed design can process a single-sided 600 DPI sheet in 6 seconds. This is not terrible when compared to a handful of the slower models we've tested, but the single sheet feed format and lack of duplex mode slows this down significantly when used for our 10-page document 600 DPI black and white duplex test, in which we had to manually scan each side of the 10 sheets, resulting in a tedious and slow 6.7 page per minute scanning rate.

The Epson WorkForce ES-50 was clearly not designed for speed, so if you plan on doing more than occasional scanning on the go, the slow speeds and manual sheet feeding might be a good reason to consider another model.

Simple to use, but not the fastest, or the best option for large double sided documents.
Credit: Matt Lighthart

Ease of Use


There are no paper output trays, autofeeds, or large arrays of buttons to deal with when operating the Epson WorkForce ES-50, which keeps the operation quite straightforward. It has one single button and requires manually setting each page to feed. It doesn't get much more simple than that! Those who seek simplicity will appreciate the ES-50's uncomplicated design and user-friendliness. Settings and adjustments are also easy to access via the software on a computer.

USB power is all this compact model needs to get going.
Credit: Matt Lighthart

Software


Epson delivers consistent, problem-free software with the vast majority of its scanners, and the Epson WorkForce ES-50 follows the standard to a tee. We experienced no issues while operating the ES-50 and found the software to be typical of a company with a well-known pedigree in the printing and scanning industry.

epson workforce es-50 - the epson software running this model is stable and issue free.
The Epson software running this model is stable and issue free.
Credit: Matt Lighthart

Should You Buy the Epson WorkForce ES-50?


We liked the Epson WorkForce ES-50 for its portability and the fact that it targets a niche mobile role in scanning. However, it fell short of the performance of another very similar but faster and more capable Epson model, and is more expensive than our favorite portable budget option. Therefore, it isn't our top recommendation for a mobile scanner, and we feel that there are better options to consider.

What Other Scanners Should You Consider?


For mobile scanning, the Epson WorkForce ES-60W stood out as the better choice over the Epson WorkForce ES-50 as the ES-60W offers higher quality scanning and faster speeds in our comprehensive testing. While it is a little more expensive than the ES-50, the significant improvement in scanning performance makes up for the price difference in our eyes. If you don't need a portable scanner, the best performance and, in particular, the fastest speeds can be found in the Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1600, but expect a big hit to your wallet. Because the iX160 is more expensive than most may be willing to spend, the Canon ImageFORMULA R40 is a great option with even better scanning performance and a lower price, however, it doesn't compare to the incredible speed of the iX160.

Benjamin Hickok