Many customers ask if compatible inks can be used in their printers due to the perceived high cost of ink from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM).
Some printer consumables claim to be as good as the manufacturer’s genuine cartridges. But often they do not offer the same consistency, reliability or longevity.
Some people report that they have always used compatible ink cartridges in their printers and have never had any problems whilst others, have not always been so lucky, suffering from poor quality prints to printers not recognising the installed cartridges/ink tanks.
Types of cartridges
Original cartridges
An original or genuine cartridge is one made by the printer manufacturer. For example, an original cartridge for an HP printer is one made by HP. Genuine cartridges – those that have been developed and endorsed by the printer manufacturer for a specific printer – may have the initials OEM attached to them.
Third party cartridges
These are compatible printer cartridges which are not made by the printer manufacturer. They may be mass produced by supermarkets such as Tesco. They should work just as well as genuine ink cartridges but the quality can be affected, as we will go on to explain.
Is third party printer ink as good quality as original ink?
It is argued that genuine printer cartridges offer better quality printing as the inks are oil-based. While compatible printer ink cartridges can contain more ink, they are mainly water-based.
Genuine ink cartridges, despite some criticism from consumers due to higher prices, do offer longevity and will not damage your printer. They also clean and lubricate the print heads to ensure no blockages build up.
Alongside this, many hours of development go into creating OEM cartridges to match the specific printer for the best results, and ensure top quality for users.
Original cartridges also come with a warranty and are guaranteed to suit their branded printer. Your printer warranty may be affected if you do not use branded consumables.
Third party inks may appear to produce acceptable results in the short term, but any important documents or photographs you print may discolour or fade within months. Many OEM cartridges boast fade-resistant results with a longevity of hundreds of years.
However, if you do choose to get a brand-new printer and intend to buy third party ink cartridges, it’s worth noting that they may not be available for a few months while the third-party manufacturing companies catch up with the available technology.
Ink subscription services
The desire to save money on printing is nothing new. Replacing a printer's ink
cartridges gets expensive in the long run. To ease the pain, some printer models offer high-yield cartridges, which offer some savings. A new strategy to reduce ongoing ink costs is with an ink cartridge subscription plan. All the major printer manufacturers now offer some variation of this.
When the ink in your printer is running low, these services automatically order and ship ink cartridges to you. This is undoubtedly convenient, saving you a trip to the office supply store.
Convenience aside, the big question is, will an ink subscription really save you money?
Plans are available from the four biggest inkjet printer brands: Brother, Canon, Epson and HP. The plans vary and offer different terms, so you'll want to match your printing needs to the right plan in order to maximize your savings.
What are ink subscription plans?
These days, every printer manufacturer offers some sort of ink subscription plan. For a small recurring fee, you get to skip the inconvenience of running out of ink in the middle of a printing project, and save yourself a trip to the store, all while giving printer companies a new way to encourage brand loyalty and keep more dollars from going to third-party budget ink sellers.
Some plans have a monthly fee that includes a set number of printed pages, and the option to buy extra pages. Other plans simply offer a discount on the automatically triggered ink purchases, or just free shipping.
When the ink in your printer is running low, these services automatically order and ship ink cartridges to you. This is undoubtedly convenient, saving you a trip to the office supply store. In most cases, the shipping will be free, and you will receive an email notification that the order has been placed. Generally, you will have 24 hours to cancel the order, just in case you don't really need it. The printer needs to be connected to the internet for these subscription services to work.
All of these plans automatically ship ink cartridges to you when your printer is running low. The printer must be connected to the internet to initiate the order. And, of course, the printer must be eligible for the subscription plan. Most inkjet printers and all-in-ones are eligible for the manufacturer's ink subscription plan—but not all of them.
What types of subscription plans are available?
There are two types of ink subscriptions. Those with a monthly fee allow you a set number of printed pages. You pay only the monthly fee, not for the ink cartridges themselves when they are shipped to you.
An ink subscription with a monthly page count may be best suited to users with a consistent print volume. If your print needs vary widely, you may have to monitor your ink subscription plan in order to avoid excessive purchases of extra pages, or to avoid losing excessive pages that have been rolled over from previous months when you printed less than your plan allows.
The second plan type has no monthly fee—you just pay for the ink cartridges, sometimes at a discount price. There is no set number of monthly pages, or a monthly subscription fee, just free shipping and in some cases a discount on your order.
Regardless of the type of plan, the ink shipment is triggered automatically, and you are sent a notice, which usually gives you the option to cancel.
Are there any alternative options?
The most recent revolution to rock the world of inkjet printing is the advent of the refillable ink tank and it’s easy to see why. By moving away from expensive ink cartridges to bottled ink, you can save up to 90% on your consumables cost.
Ink tank, or ‘supertank’ printers are simply inkjet printers that have swapped their disposable cartridges for onboard ink reservoirs that you can fill up with bottles of ink. As well as being much cheaper to buy, you can fit more of this bottled ink in the tank, which means less printer downtime. Canon’s MegaTank, Epson’s EcoTank and HP’s Smart Tank systems all work in the same way and though the inks are incompatible between brands, they are all very easy to top up and all offer similarly dramatic savings. They all reduce the amount of waste plastic to the same degree too.