The Epson EcoTank L6490 is now available at Mascom International for KSh 70,000, a four-in-one A4 machine that prints, scans, copies, and faxes from one unit. It reaches 17 ipm in black and 9.5 ipm in colour under ISO 24734 testing, feeds 250 sheets from the front tray, and pulls 35-page stacks through the automatic document feeder. Automatic two-sided printing, a 6.1cm colour touchscreen, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, and Ethernet all come as standard. The Epson EcoTank L6490 sits ready for inspection at our shop in Old Mutual Building, First Floor Room 4, Kimathi Street, Nairobi CBD.
Kenyan offices that print heavily know the cartridge trap. The machine is cheap, the refills are not. The Epson EcoTank L6490 drops cartridges entirely and uses four front-mounted tanks you fill from 112 series bottles, with a single 127ml black bottle producing up to 7,500 pages. Law firms filing at Milimani Law Courts, school administrators running exam sets, CPAs preparing KRA returns, and clinics producing patient records all hit the same wall: volume. The Epson EcoTank L6490 answers it by shifting cost out of the consumable and back into the machine you buy once.
Unlike other electronics retailers in Kenya who quote a printer price and stay quiet about running costs, Mascom International walks buyers through the per-page maths before they pay. Users consistently report the Epson EcoTank L6490 clearing several thousand pages between refills, and the pigment-based 112 inks resist water and highlighter smudging on paperwork that gets handled repeatedly. At Mascom International, we're witnessing small offices drop laser machines for tank printers on running cost alone. Test the unit at our Kimathi Street shop, or order it for countrywide pay-on-arrival delivery.
Common Questions About the Epson EcoTank L6490
Is the Epson EcoTank L6490 worth KSh 70,000 for a Kenyan office?
Yes, if you print more than roughly 300 pages a month. The maths turns on ink, not hardware. A KSh 25,000 cartridge printer running two colour cartridge sets a year costs more over three years than this machine plus bottles. Offices printing invoices, contracts, receipts, and reports daily reach break-even inside the first year. Below 100 pages monthly, a cheaper tank model makes better sense. Our Kimathi Street team runs the comparison against your actual monthly page count before you commit.
How much does it actually cost to print one page on this machine?
Under one Kenyan shilling per black A4 page in normal office use. One 127ml black 112 bottle produces up to 7,500 pages, so the ink cost per sheet lands in the range of a few cents rather than several shillings. Colour pages cost more because three separate 70ml bottles feed the cyan, magenta, and yellow tanks, together rated at roughly 6,000 pages. Compare that to cartridge printers, where a single colour cartridge often costs KSh 3,000 and dies around 300 pages.
Can the Epson EcoTank L6490 print on both sides of the paper by itself?
Yes. Automatic duplex printing is built in for plain A4 paper, so the machine flips each sheet internally with no manual reloading. Duplex speed runs 7.5 pages per minute in black and 5 in colour under ISO 24734 testing, slower than single-sided because each sheet passes the print head twice. For schools printing exam papers and offices producing bound reports, this halves paper spending immediately. Note that automatic duplex covers plain A4 only, not photo stock or envelopes.
Does it print from phones over Wi-Fi, or do I need a computer?
No computer needed. Wi-Fi Direct lets your phone connect straight to the printer without any router, which matters when office internet drops. Over a normal Wi-Fi network you can print through Epson Connect, Epson iPrint, Apple AirPrint on iPhones and iPads, or Mopria Print Service on Android. Email Print sends a document to the machine from anywhere with data. Ethernet and USB ports handle wired setups. Most Nairobi offices we supply run it wirelessly across four or five staff computers.
How many pages can this printer handle in a month?
Epson rates the recommended monthly print volume at 1,600 pages, which suits an office of one to four regular users. That figure is a comfort zone, not a hard ceiling. Pushing 3,000 pages monthly on a sustained basis wears the print head and maintenance box faster than the rating anticipates. Busy print bureaus and large offices should look at a machine built for heavier duty cycles. For a typical Nairobi SME, law office, or clinic, 1,600 pages monthly covers normal paperwork with room to spare.
Is the fax function on the Epson EcoTank L6490 still useful in Kenya?
For some sectors, yes. Insurance firms, shipping and clearing agents at the Port of Mombasa, some government departments, and older legal practices still accept documents by fax. The machine sends walk-up black and white or colour faxes at up to 33.6kbps, roughly three seconds per page, and stores 100 speed-dial entries. Its 180-page memory holds incoming faxes when paper or ink runs out. PC-Fax lets you send straight from a computer without printing first. If you never fax, it simply sits unused.
How does this compare to a laser printer at a similar price?
Laser wins on first-page speed and dry toner handling; the tank printer wins decisively on colour cost. A colour laser at KSh 70,000 typically uses four toner cartridges costing KSh 8,000 to KSh 15,000 each, which resets your running cost every few thousand pages. The 112 pigment inks here produce water-resistant and highlighter-resistant black text that behaves like toner on filed documents. Laser suits high-speed mono-only offices. Colour-heavy work such as reports, marketing sheets, and certificates favours this machine.
What ink does it use and where do I buy refills in Kenya?
It uses the Epson 112 pigment series: one black bottle at 127ml and cyan, magenta, and yellow bottles at 70ml each. Mascom International stocks genuine 112 bottles at our Kimathi Street shop and ships them countrywide alongside the printer. The bottles use a key-lock nozzle that only fits the correct tank, so you cannot pour black into the cyan reservoir by mistake. Avoid third-party refill ink; it clogs the PrecisionCore head and voids warranty coverage on the unit.
Technical Specifications
Print Engine and Output Quality
- PrecisionCore print head with 400 black nozzles and 128 nozzles per colour channel for consistent line accuracy.
- Heat-Free Technology skips the warm-up cycle, so the first black page lands in about 7 seconds.
- Print resolution reaching 4,800 x 1,200 dpi handles fine legal text, logos, and scanned diagrams cleanly.
- Minimum droplet size of 3.3 picolitres with variable-sized droplet control keeps small fonts readable at 8pt.
- ISO 24734 speeds of 17 ipm black and 9.5 ipm colour reflect real document output, not draft mode.
- Draft-mode figures reach 37 ppm black and 23 ppm colour on 75gsm plain paper for internal copies.
- Four-colour pigment ink set resists water, smudging, and highlighter pens on documents that get filed and re-handled.
Paper Handling and Document Feeder
- 250-sheet front-loading paper tray means fewer refill interruptions during long print runs of contracts or reports.
- 35-sheet automatic document feeder scans and copies multi-page files without lifting the lid each time.
- Automatic duplex printing on plain A4 cuts paper spending by half on double-sided reports and exam papers.
- 30-sheet output tray with face-down delivery keeps printed pages in order and out of casual view.
- Handles A4, A5, A6, B5, Legal, DL, C6, and No. 10 envelopes plus common photo sizes.
- Rear paper path accepts thicker special media without disturbing the plain paper already loaded in the tray.
- Compatible paper weight of 64 to 95gsm covers the 70gsm and 80gsm stock sold across Nairobi stationers.
Scanning Copying and Fax Functions
- Contact image sensor flatbed scanner at 1,200 x 2,400 dpi optical resolution captures documents, ID cards, and certificates.
- ADF scanning runs 6 ipm in black and 5 ipm in colour at 200 dpi.
- Flatbed scan of a single A4 page takes about 12 seconds in black, 27 in colour.
- Output formats include PDF, multi-page TIFF, JPEG, PNG, and BMP for archiving or email attachments.
- Copying supports 25 to 400 percent scaling, 600 x 600 dpi resolution, and up to 99 copies per job.
- Fax transmits at 33.6kbps with error correction, roughly 3 seconds per page, storing 100 speed-dial entries.
- Fax memory holds up to 180 pages so incoming documents survive an empty paper tray overnight.
Connectivity and Mobile Printing
- Wi-Fi plus Wi-Fi Direct connects up to eight devices without a router when office internet goes down.
- Gigabit-class Ethernet port suits offices that prefer cabled network printing for stability and simpler IT control.
- USB port supports direct connection to a single Windows or macOS computer for basic standalone use.
- Epson Connect covers Email Print, Remote Print, and Scan-to-Cloud for staff working away from the office.
- Apple AirPrint prints from iPhone and iPad with no driver installation on the device itself.
- Mopria Print Service handles Android printing natively across Samsung, Tecno, Infinix, and Xiaomi handsets.
- WPA-PSK AES and TKIP wireless security keep the printer off open networks in shared office buildings.
Consumables Running Cost and Power Draw
- Epson 112 pigment ink series: 127ml black bottle, plus 70ml cyan, magenta, and yellow bottles.
- A single black 112 bottle produces up to 7,500 pages, keeping per-page ink cost under one shilling.
- The colour bottle set is rated at approximately 6,000 pages under standard ISO test conditions.
- Key-lock bottle nozzles only fit the matching tank, removing the risk of pouring ink into the wrong reservoir.
- T04D100 maintenance box collects waste ink and is user-replaceable without a service call.
- Power draw of 12W during copying, 5.3W ready, and 0.9W asleep keeps the electricity bill negligible.
- Unit measures 346 x 375 x 347mm and weighs 7.3kg, fitting a standard office desk or side cabinet.
Package Contents
- Epson EcoTank L6490 main unit, brand new and sealed
- One full set of Epson 112 ink bottles: 127ml black plus 70ml cyan, magenta, and yellow
- Additional black ink bottle included in the Africa-market box
- Power cable
- Setup guide and warranty documentation
Note:A USB cable is not included in the retail box, matching Epson's standard packing. Mascom International stocks USB printer cables and Ethernet patch cables at the Kimathi Street shop.
Warranty
The Epson EcoTank L6490 ships with a 12-month warranty through Mascom International, covering manufacturing defects under normal use. Coverage applies to the print head, scanner assembly, and electronics. Warranty claims are coordinated directly at our Nairobi CBD service desk. Use of non-genuine refill ink voids this coverage, so stick to Epson 112 bottles.
Where to Buy the Epson EcoTank L6490 in Kenya
The Epson EcoTank L6490 is available now at Mascom International, located at Old Mutual Building, First Floor Room 4, Kimathi Street, Nairobi CBD. Visit our shop Monday through Saturday, 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM, to run a test print, check the touchscreen, and see the ADF working before you buy. The unit ships in a single black finish.
Order through any of the following:
- Phone/WhatsApp: +254 708 852 521
- Email: info@mascomintl.com
- Website: www.mascomintl.com
Mascom International ships the Epson EcoTank L6490 across all 47 Kenyan counties with pay-on-arrival delivery — you only pay when the printer reaches you. Nairobi and its environs receive same-day delivery. All other major cities and towns, including Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret, Nyeri, and Kisii, receive next-business-day delivery. Mandera, Wajir, Marsabit, Lamu, Tana River, and Turkana receive delivery within 2-3 business days.
Every unit is backed by the 12-month warranty above, with claims handled at our Nairobi CBD service desk.
Our team also stocks genuine Epson 112 ink bottles and maintenance boxes, so refills stay easy after the sale. Buyers across Kenya rely on Mascom International for accurate specifications, current pricing, and after-sales backing on every printer we stock.
