Why the Epson EcoTank ET-16150 Is the Go-To Printer for Bulk Sublimation
If you're printing a handful of mugs or phone cases each week, an A4 EcoTank like the ET-2810 or ET-2850 will serve you well. But once your orders start climbing past 50 prints a day, those smaller printers become a genuine bottleneck. The print speed is slower, the paper capacity is limited, and you simply cannot print anything larger than A4. That is where the Epson EcoTank ET-16150 comes in.
The ET-16150 is Epson's A3+ wide-format EcoTank printer, and it is built for a very different kind of workload than its A4 siblings. Here is what makes it stand out for high-volume sublimation work, and how to decide whether it is the right investment for your business.
A3+ Print Capability
The headline feature is print size. The ET-16150 can print up to 13" x 19" (A3+), which opens up a whole range of products that A4 printers simply cannot handle. All-over t-shirt prints, large cushion covers, A3 photo panels, chopping boards, and oversized items all become possible without tiling or compromising your design. If you have ever tried to squeeze an edge-to-edge design onto A4 paper and found it just does not cover enough of your blank, the jump to A3+ solves that problem entirely.
Larger Ink Tanks and Lower Running Costs
The ET-16150 uses the same refillable EcoTank system as the A4 models, but the tanks hold significantly more ink per fill. While the A4 EcoTanks use 70ml bottles per colour, the ET-16150's tanks accept larger volumes, which means fewer refills and less downtime when you are in the middle of a big batch of orders.
Running costs per print remain low because you are buying sublimation ink in bulk bottles rather than expensive cartridges. For a business doing high-volume work, this adds up to a meaningful saving over weeks and months. A 70ml CMYK ink bundle will fill an A4 EcoTank, but the ET-16150 lets you pour more in and go longer between refills.
The 5-Colour Ink System (and Why It Does Not Matter for Sublimation)
One thing that sometimes causes confusion is the ET-16150's 5-colour ink system. Out of the box, it runs CMYK plus a dedicated photo black. That fifth ink channel is useful for standard photo printing, but for sublimation you only use the four CMYK channels with sublimation ink. The photo black channel is simply left empty or unused. This does not affect print quality for sublimation work at all, since sublimation relies on the four-colour CMYK process.
Faster Print Speeds for Bulk Work
Print speed is one of those specs that beginners tend to overlook, but it becomes very important when you are filling orders. The ET-16150 prints noticeably faster than the A4 EcoTank models. When you are printing 50, 80, or 100 transfers in a session, that speed difference translates directly into time saved. An A4 model printing a full-colour design might take 2-3 minutes per sheet on high quality settings. The ET-16150 is quicker, and because it can print larger sheets, you sometimes fit more designs per print run.
Better Paper Handling
Sublimation paper is thicker and stiffer than standard office paper, and cheaper printers can struggle with it. The ET-16150 has a rear feed tray that handles thicker paper much more reliably than the front-loading cassettes found on most A4 models. Paper jams are less frequent, and you can load a decent stack of sublimation paper without babysitting every sheet through the printer. For bulk work, reliable paper feeding is not a luxury, it is a necessity.
Price and Who It Is Actually For
The ET-16150 sits at around the 400-450 pound mark for the printer alone. As a pre-converted sublimation bundle, the price is higher because it arrives ready to print with sublimation ink already installed and flushed through the system.
That is a significant step up from an A4 EcoTank at 180-200 pounds. So who actually needs it?
The ET-16150 makes sense if you regularly print A3 or larger designs, if you are doing high-volume batch work (think 50+ prints per day), or if you are producing items like all-over garment prints and large home decor blanks. If your product range is mostly mugs, phone cases, keyrings, and small designs that fit comfortably on A4, then an A4 printer is perfectly adequate and a better use of your money.
There is no point paying the premium for A3+ capability you will never use. But if you are scaling up, taking on wholesale orders, or expanding into larger product lines, the ET-16150 removes the size and speed limitations that hold A4 printers back.
Getting Started
If you are ready to move up to A3+ sublimation printing, browse our full range of sublimation printers to compare the ET-16150 bundle against the A4 options. And if you are still weighing up which printer size suits your business, our guide on choosing a sublimation printer for beginners covers the A4 models in more detail.