Epson ES-C220 Scanner: In-Depth Review and User Opinions

The Epson ES-C220 is an affordable desktop scanner designed for homes and small businesses. Epson touts it as one of the smallest and lightest sheetfed scanners in its class. Weighing just 3.5 pounds and measuring 11.7 x 6.7 x 6.7 inches, it has a tiny footprint that takes up minimal space. Despite its compact size, it can scan at 25 ppm (pages per minute).

The ES-C220 scans in both color and monochrome. It can handle a variety of media types ranging from plain paper to plastic ID cards up to 1.2mm thick. Integrated image enhancement tools allow you to improve scan quality and adjust images as needed.

While it lacks an automatic document feeder, its minimal size and weight make it easy to move around and scan books, magazines, or other bound material on the flatbed. It connects via USB so you can use it with desktops and laptops running Windows or Mac. An optional network interface expands connectivity options.

Overall, the Epson ES-C220 provides a versatile scanning solution in a highly compact form factor. Its balance of performance, portability, and image quality make it a practical choice for personal and small business uses.

Design

The Epson ES-C220 is a relatively compact desktop scanner with dimensions of 11.7 x 6.7 x 6.7 inches (WxDxH) and weighing 5.51 lbs. Despite its small footprint, it has an adjustable document feeder that can scan letter and legal sized pages.

The scanner has a minimalist design with rounded corners and a matte black finish. The body contains the scan bed with an adjustable cover, document feeder, simple control panel, and input tray. There is no external power brick, with just a power cable plugging directly into the back.

At just under 6 pounds, the scanner is lightweight enough to move around or take with you. The overall size and weight make this a good option if you need a desktop scanner that doesn't take up much desk space.

Scanning Features

The Epson ES-C220 scanner has a robust set of scanning capabilities for both documents and photos.

Scan Modes

The ES-C220 scanner supports color, grayscale, and black and white scanning up to optical resolutions of 1200 x 1200 dpi for incredible detail and clarity. It can scan documents at 25 ppm (pages per minute) and 50 ipm (images per minute) in both color and black and white. For convenience, the scanner includes preset scan modes for different types of originals like photograph, magazine, newspaper, and document.

Scan Resolutions

For precision scanning, the ES-C220 allows scanning at multiple resolutions from 50 to 1200 dpi. Optimal resolutions can be selected based on the type of original being scanned and the intended use of the scanned image or document. High resolution scans up to 1200 dpi are ideal for scanning detailed photographs to retain fine image quality. Fast scan speeds at 200 dpi make quick work of routine document scanning tasks.

Automatic Document Detection

The scanner automatically detects if the original placed on the flatbed is a document or photo and selects the optimal scan settings accordingly. This allows anyone to get professional scan results without having to manually adjust intricate settings and modes.

Connectivity

The Epson ES-C220 scanner offers both wired and wireless connectivity options for use with multiple devices.

For wired connections, the ES-C220 has a USB 2.0 interface that allows you to connect the scanner directly to your computer using the included USB cable. This provides a simple plug-and-play experience for scanning directly to your PC or Mac.

In addition to USB, the ES-C220 also includes built-in wireless connectivity. It can connect to your home WiFi network, allowing you to scan wirelessly from the scanner to your computer from across the room. This gives you more flexibility in placement and allows multiple computers on the same network to access the scanner.

The wireless connection uses 802.11b/g/n standards and connects at 2.4GHz. Setting up the wireless connection is straightforward using the scanner's control panel and software wizards. As long as your computer is on the same wireless network as the scanner, you'll be able to establish the wireless connection easily.

Image Enhancement

The Epson ES-C220 scanner comes with several useful image enhancement features to improve the quality of scanned documents.

One handy feature is automatic cropping, which can detect the edges of a document and crop out any excess background area. This helps minimize file sizes while preserving the full page.

The scanner also includes automatic color enhancement using Epson's Easy Photo Fix technology. This automatically analyzes highlights, shadows, and faces in photos to balance contrast and correct color casts. The result is more vivid and balanced colors in scanned images.

For precision color control, the included Epson Scan 2 software has a color restoration function. This lets you adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, color balance, and midtone density on scanned photos or documents. There's also a dust removal feature to eliminate spots and imperfections from film or prints.

B&W scanned documents can benefit from the text enhancement modes, which sharpen text while suppressing background patterns. This improves legibility, especially for documents with tiny text.

With its set of imaging correction tools, the Epson ES-C220 scanner helps extract the best possible quality from the source material. The automatic fixes save time, while the manual controls provide fine-tuning for precision results.

Document Feeder

The Epson ES-C220 has an automatic document feeder (ADF) that can hold up to 35 pages at a time. This allows for efficient scanning of multi-page documents without having to manually feed each page.

The document feeder works smoothly and reliably during testing. It can scan one-sided or two-sided pages, and handles a variety of paper weights and sizes. Pages go through the feeder quickly, at speeds up to 20 pages per minute for black and white scans and up to 9 pages per minute for color scans.

The feeder has a built-in sensor that pauses scanning if it detects pages that overlap or stick together. This prevents paper jams and mistakes in the scanned documents.

Overall, the automatic document feeder on the Epson ES-C220 performs very well for an entry-level sheet-fed scanner. The 35 page capacity is sufficient for most home office needs, and the sensor technology helps avoid frustrations from misfeeds or multi-page errors.

Software

The ES-C220 scanner comes with a suite of bundled software to enhance the scanning experience. Epson includes its own Epson ScanSmart software, which provides an easy interface for scanning, editing, and sharing documents. ScanSmart has built-in OCR capabilities to extract text from scans and allows exporting to common formats like JPEG, PDF, and Microsoft Office files.

For scanning receipts and documents, the included Epson ScanSmart Accounting Edition software automatically categorizes expenses and extracts key data for record keeping. There's also a neat auto upload function to services like Dropbox and Evernote.

Additionally, the scanner includes ABBYY FineReader Sprint software for more advanced OCR and document conversion needs. This software can convert scans into searchable and editable formats like Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and more. It also supports converting PDFs into Word, Excel etc.

For enterprise usage, IT administrators can deploy and configure the scanner fleet using Epson Document Capture Pro software. This allows centralizing scan settings, monitoring usage, securing devices and simplifying scans workflows for large organizations.

Overall, the generous software bundle adds significant value on top of the scanning hardware itself. The Epson software covers a wide range of use cases like digitizing documents and receipts, OCR conversion, document management and enterprise deployments.

Mobile Scanning

The Epson ES-C220 makes scanning to mobile devices and the cloud seamless. Simply download the Epson Smart Panel app to wirelessly scan to your iOS or Android device. You can also scan directly to cloud storage services like Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive and more.

The document scanner connects via Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct or USB, giving you flexibility in how you want to scan and where you want to send your scans. Scanning to the cloud or your mobile device lets you easily save and access your scanned documents on the go. You don't need a computer nearby to scan with the ES-C220.

Overall, the wireless connectivity options and Epson Smart Panel app provide excellent mobile scanning capabilities. You can quickly scan receipts, notes, business cards and more straight to your phone or tablet. It's a convenient way to go paperless and digitize important documents.

Pros

The Epson ES-C220 document scanner has several notable benefits and advantages:

• Fast scanning speeds up to 35 pages per minute in grayscale and 20 pages per minute in color. This allows you to digitize documents quickly.

• Includes a 50-page automatic document feeder for scanning multi-page documents without user intervention. This saves considerable time when digitizing stacks of paper.

• Supports scanning at up to 600 dpi optical resolution for crisp, high-quality scans. This ensures text and fine details are legible in digitized documents.

• Features built-in image enhancement options like automatic color detection, blank page removal, and more. This improves scan quality with minimal effort.

• Compact, space-saving design with a small footprint. Fits easily on a desk without taking up much room.

• USB connectivity offers plug-and-play operation. No complicated setup required.

• Bundled software provides OCR capabilities to convert scans into searchable PDFs, editable Word docs, Excel spreadsheets and more.

• Epson ScanSmart software enables easy scanning to cloud services like Dropbox and Google Drive. Convenient for managing digitized files.

• Supports scanning directly to smartphones and tablets using the Epson Smart Panel app. Provides scanning flexibility for mobile users.

• Backed by Epson's reputation for reliable, high-quality scanners. A good choice for home and small office use.

Cons

• The scanner has only a USB connection option and lacks wireless connectivity. This restricts scan-to-cloud features except through a connected computer.

• The automatic document feeder capacity is only 35 pages, which is quite small compared to competing models. This can be limiting for batch scanning large documents.

• The scanner lacks an integrated OCR software option. You need to purchase and install separate OCR software to extract text from scans.

• The maximum scan resolution of 1200 dpi is lower than some competing scanners that offer up to 4800 dpi. This may produce lower quality scans for extremely detailed originals.

• There is no option to scan directly to popular cloud services like Google Drive or Dropbox. You are limited to scanning to local storage or email.

• The scanner does not have built-in rechargeable batteries. It relies solely on USB power from a connected computer. This reduces portability for mobile use.

• There are some complaints about scan speed being slower than advertised, especially for higher resolution scans at maximum dpi.