Compare Epson EcoTank L3166 Printer vs Epson EcoTank L6390 Printer

The Epson EcoTank L3166 and L6390 are colour ink-tank multifunction printers, but they serve different workloads. The L6390 offers ISO print speeds of up to 18 black and 9 colour pages per minute versus 10 black and 5 colour pages per minute for the L3166. It also provides automatic duplex printing, a 30-sheet ADF with two-sided scanning and copying, fax, Ethernet and a 250-sheet paper tray, compared with manual duplex and a 100-sheet input tray on the L3166.

Which should you buy? Choose the L6390 for frequent office document printing, multi-page scanning, two-sided document handling and fax workflows. Its faster ISO performance, automatic duplex, ADF and larger paper tray make it substantially more capable for office productivity. The L3166 remains a reasonable simpler and lighter alternative for home printing, copying and scanning at modest volumes, particularly if available in good condition for significantly less money.

The ink formulations also differ. The L3166 uses dye-based inks, while the L6390 uses pigment black with dye-based colour inks. The L3166's higher nominal maximum print resolution does not automatically imply superior output quality for every application. A reliable photo-speed winner cannot be determined from the published figures without fully matching print modes, border settings and media conditions.

Price and availability: The comparison displays the L6390 at USD 350 but marks it out of stock. The L3166 is not available for sale on the page. This is therefore a specification-based recommendation rather than confirmation of immediate purchase availability. Check inventory, warranty and replacement ink costs before ordering. For document-intensive office use, the L6390 offers clear functional advantages; light home workloads may not justify its additional features.

1. Document printing speed: The L3166 delivers approximately 10 ISO black and 5 colour images per minute, compared with 18 black and 9 colour images per minute for the L6390. This gives the L6390 a substantial advantage for frequent document printing. Draft-speed figures of 33/15 versus 35/23 ppm use a different measurement and should not be mixed with ISO results.

2. Duplex printing: The L3166 requires manual page turning, whereas the L6390 supports automatic double-sided printing on A4 plain paper. The L6390 is rated at approximately 7 black and 5 colour ISO images per minute in duplex mode.

3. Scanner and ADF: The L3166 provides flatbed scanning. The L6390 adds a 30-sheet A4 automatic document feeder with two-sided scanning and copying, making it better suited to multi-page documents, invoices and contracts.

4. Paper handling: The L3166 has a 100-sheet input capacity versus 250 sheets for the L6390. Both list a 30-sheet output capacity. Epson China lists Legal support for the L3166, and Epson Singapore lists Legal support for its L6390 regional SKU, while the European L6390 paper-format list differs. Confirm the locally supplied SKU before treating Legal support as a purchasing difference.

5. Connectivity: Both models support USB, Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Direct. The L6390 also offers Ethernet and, according to Epson Europe, dual-band 2.4 and 5 GHz wireless connectivity.

6. Fax and control panel: The L6390 includes fax and a 6.1 cm colour touchscreen, compared with a 3.7 cm colour LCD on the L3166. The L3166's listed core functions are printing, copying and scanning.

7. Ink technology: The L3166 uses dye inks, while the L6390 combines pigment black with dye colour inks. Epson lists approximately 4,500 pages for the L3166 replacement black bottle and 8,500 pages for the L6390 replacement black bottle. Actual cost per page requires replacement bottle prices and comparable testing assumptions.

8. 10×15 cm photo printing: Epson China lists 27 seconds for the L3166 in economy bordered mode, 69 seconds in standard bordered mode and 90 seconds in standard borderless mode. Epson Singapore lists 50 seconds for the L6390 in default bordered mode and 76 seconds in default borderless mode. Although 69 and 50 seconds are both bordered measurements, the sources do not conclusively establish identical quality settings. The apparent 19-second difference should not be presented as a verified like-for-like advantage.

9. Size and weight: The L3166 measures approximately 375×347×179 mm and weighs 4 kg, compared with 375×347×240 mm and 7.3 kg for the L6390. The L3166 is lighter and shorter, while the L6390 offers more office-oriented functionality.