Epson ES-C380W duplex desktop scanner (review)

The Epson ES-C380W is a compact upright, duplex (both sides) desktop scanner with Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct and USB-C connectivity. Its dual paper output makes it perfect for small business or home use.

Most people know about flatbed scanners as part of a printer. Some have single-sided document feeders, and the more expensive ones have double-sided (duplex) scanning.

At $499, it is one of the lowest-cost duplex scanners, although an ES-C320W scanner at $399 is basically the same, excluding the 2.4” colour LCD screen.

Let’s look at some basic Epson ES-C380W duplex specs

• Desktop 296 (W) x 104 (D) x 124mm (H) x 1.9kg. With paper, it is about 400mm tall, and if the front paper output, you need 450mm depth.
• RGB LED CIS 600 x 600 DPI scanner (200-300 DPI recommended for most scans). Can software interpolate 1200DPI scans.
• Wi-Fi N (2.4/5Ghz), Wi-Fi Direct and USB-C
• Scanning speed depends on DPI – A4 300DPI is up to 30PPM
• Paper type: from 50 x 50mm to oversize A4 and 40 to 413gsm
• ADF: Approx 20 pages 75gsm A4 (a limiting feature for commercial use).
• Formats: JPG, PDF, TIFF
• Clouds: Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote, One Drive and save to PC, email, print (copy) Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.
• It works with Windows, Mac, Chromebook, Android (Mopria), Apple AirPrint, and Epson scanner software.
• Blank page detection can be used as a separator sheet to scan multiple documents simultaneously.

Australian Review: Epson ES-C380W A4 duplex desktop scanner

Website	Product Page User Guide
Price	$499 but seen online as low as $439 plus delivery
From	Epson retailers and Epson online (free delivery)
Warranty	One year extendable free to 2 years with registration
Made in	Philippines
Company	Epson is a Japanese electronics company. It is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of inkjet printers for consumer, business, and industrial use. Epson also makes scanners, video projectors, watches, point-of-sale systems, robots and industrial automation equipment, semiconductor devices, crystal oscillators, sensing systems, and other electronic components.
More	CyberShack Epson news and reviews

We use Fail (below expectations), Passable (meets low expectations), Pass (meets expectations), Pass+ (near Exceed but not class-leading) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below.  You can click on most images for an enlargement.

We are also tightening up on grading. From now on, Pass, for example, means meeting expectations for the price bracket. We consider a Pass mark to be 70+/100 with extra points added for class-leading and excellence.

First Impression – Pass

Scanners are not exciting or fashionable in basic black. This sits unobtrusively on the desktop and, well, scan.

The 2.4” colour screen (50 x 38mm) is way too small for my meaty fingers, but it works fine with any stylus or blunt instrument (it is not capacitive).

I like that it has a U-Turn paper path for up to 127gsm paper, which saves bench space, or a straight-through path up to 413gms for heavier photos and cards, which does not save bench space.

While Epson gear is well-made this is more for light use regardless of the claimed 3500 page per day duty cycle. By that, I mean it is not bullet-proof commercial manufacture, but it will last the distance if you take reasonable care.

The friction rollers are user-replaceable. The recommended replacement is about 10,000 scans (details here). We found them here. The cost estimate is about $80-90.

However, you can buy an Epson CoverPlus courier pickup exchange (maybe a refurbished unit) warranty to extend the warranty (an extra two years for $99 and four years for $199).

Epson Software bundle – Pass+

• ScanSmart for scanning from a computer
• Smart Panel for scanning from a phone or tablet
• Software Updater – keeps software and firmware up to date
• Net Config – network setup (Wi-Fi)
• Device Admin – for admins
• Event Manager
• Web Config – web browser interface (Wi-Fi only)
• Presto! BizCard – for scanning business cards (Windows and Mac – integrates with Outlook)
• Scan OCR
• Scan PDF
• On-device manual

Scan speed – Pass+

We tested a 10-page scan at 200DPI for 20 seconds, regardless of whether it was single-sided or double-sided. At 600DPI, it took 1 minute and 50 seconds.

Paper weights – Pass+

We tested thermal receipt paper (45gsm) and photo paper (250gsm). We did not test heavier stock as we did not have any. There was no slippage or hesitation in loading.

We did the usual tests with bent and dogeared paper and staple holes (staples removed), and it handled these OK.

As it is a desktop ADF, it cannot scan books or other items that require a flatbed scanner.

Power – negligible – Pass+

The power brick is 24V/1A/24W and gets up to 15W on 600DPI colour scans. It consumes 3 in ready mode and <1W idle.

Issues – Wi-Fi would not connect to Wi-Fi 7 Mesh

This is likely an issue with our Wi-Fi 7 BE mesh system or WPA3 encryption, but we could not connect. The LCD screen showed multiple SSIDs of the same network.

We connected to a smartphone personal hotspot and an older Wi-Fi 6 router.

CyberShack’s view – Epson ES-C380W duplex desktop scanner is suitable for light scanning loads

It is perfect for small offices, those who work from home, and those who need to scan documents and photos. Our only caveat is that it is not a commercial scanner and has a 20-page maximum ADF. A commercial-grade DS scanner ranges from $569 to $6399.

Epson ES-C380W duplex desktop scanner ratings 78/100

Rated as a small office/home office scanner at a reasonable price. Note that 2024 reviews use 70/100 as a Pass Mark. Pre-2024, we used 80/100 but need more headroom to reward excellence.

• Features: 80 – Duplex scanning and two output paths make it more useful.
• Value: 80 – reasonable value for a duplex scanner
• Performance: 80 – fast enough for small office/home office use
• Ease of Use: 75—The software installer walks you through setup. While a one-year warranty for a $499 product is adequate, the unavailability of replacement rollers is a concern.
• Design: 75 – Basic black

Privacy – benign