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Epson WorkForce ES-50 Review

A compact scanner that provides good enough quality 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
Benjamin Hickok
By Benjamin Hickok ⋅ Review Editor  ⋅  June 3, 2025
69
OVERALL
SCORE


RANKED
#12 of 13
  • Scan Quality - 35% 5.5
  • Speed - 30% 7.6
  • Ease of Use - 20% 7.6
  • 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

Our Analysis and Test Results

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

Scan Quality


The color accuracy of the Epson WorkForce ES-50 left a little something to be desired in our scan 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 scan quality 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. Its single-sheet feed design can process a single-sided 600 DPI sheet in 20 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 I had to manually scanned each side of the 10 sheets, resulting in a tedious and slow 1.6 pages 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. I 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 I 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 scan quality 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 scan quality and a lower price, however, it doesn't compare to the incredible speed of the iX160.

Compare to Similar Products

 
Awards  Top Pick Award
Best Portable Scanner
Best Buy Award
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Price $130 List
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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 too bad on the walletWhile not the fastest, it excels in every aspect at a relatively low priceGreat performance for infrequent tasks, but not great for large tasks that require auto feeding and higher speedsA portable scanner that can save you time on the go, but with faulty software that wastes time in the office
Rating Categories Epson WorkForce ES-50 Epson WorkForce ES-60W Brother DS-640 Epson Perfection V3... Canon imageFORMULA R10
Scan Quality (35%)
5.5
7.5
7.8
6.6
6.8
Speed (30%)
7.6
8.1
7.1
7.9
6.9
Ease of Use (20%)
7.6
8.1
7.1
7.9
6.9
Software (15%)
7.7
8.0
8.3
7.7
8.7
Specifications Epson WorkForce ES-50 Epson WorkForce ES-60W Brother DS-640 Epson Perfection V3... Canon imageFORMULA R10
Scanner Type Sheet-fed Sheet-fed Sheet-fed Flatbed Sheet-fed
Paper Sizes Max: 8.5" x 72" Max: 8.5" x 72" Max: 8.5" x 72"
Min: 2" x 3.4"
8.5" x 11.7" Max: 8.5" x 14"
Min: 2" x 2.8"
Optical Resolution 600 DPI 600 DPI 600 DPI 4800 DPI 600 DPI
Simplex/Duplex Simplex Simplex Simplex Simplex Duplex
Automatic Document Feeder No No No No 20 sheets
Measured Pages Per Minute 1.6 2.2 1.4 1.8 3.9
Suggested Daily Volume 300 scans 300 scans 100 scans not specified 500 scans
Connectivity USB USB, Wifi Micro USB USB USB

Benjamin Hickok