24 facts in comparison
Brother MFC-J4355DW vs Epson EcoTank ET-4903
Ink reaches the Epson EcoTank ET-4903 from bottles poured into four tanks, and it reaches the Brother MFC-J4355DW from cartridges that feed an internal reservoir. That plumbing is the choice here. Epson puts about three years of ink in the box. Brother's INKvestment system ships with roughly a year's worth, and its replacements are cartridges again, so the refill routine stays familiar.
Unlike most pairings that involve a tank printer, this one is close. Both are color inkjet all-in-ones with a document feeder, a fax modem and Wi-Fi, neither lists an Ethernet port, and both suit a household or one-person office printing a few hundred mixed pages a month. Both print up to legal size, and both work with AirPrint and the maker's phone app. Each sends faxes from the same box that scans and copies, which keeps a home office down to one machine.
Brother's engine prints 20 pages a minute in black and 19 in color against 11 and 6 for the Epson. It holds 150 sheets in its paper tray where the Epson feeds 100 from the rear, and it catches 100 printed sheets to the Epson's 30, so on a long job the Epson's tray needs emptying about three times as often. Brother also confirms automatic two-sided printing, though only at Letter size.
Epson's feeder takes 30 originals to the Brother's 20. The printer weighs 5.5 kg where the Brother weighs 8.9 kg, and its fax sends in color. Its rated resolution is higher too, at 5760 dpi against 4800, a gap that shows up in photos sooner than in forms. It gives up certainty on duplex printing, because Epson does not state an automatic duplex unit anywhere in its specifications. A household that prints two-sided by default should confirm that before ordering, because the Brother leaves no such doubt.
Editor’s note
Inkjets that sit for weeks between jobs are the ones that clog, and no reservoir or tank design changes that. Both printers share the risk, so an office that prints black text in bursts would be better served by a mono laser than by either.
On its own terms the J4355DW is a competent, unglamorous machine. Its fax modem runs at 14.4 kbps, its 1.8-inch panel has no touch layer, and the duplex unit stops at Letter size, so two-sided legal work is out. Its feeder scans one side only. Against that, Brother still lists it as current, covers AirPrint, Mopria and Chromebook printing, and runs dual-band Wi-Fi with WPA3.
Epson builds the ET-4903 for a lighter month. Its rated duty cycle is a sixth of the Brother's, and its color engine manages under a third of the Brother's color pace, so a long mixed job takes a while to clear.
A replacement bottle set is rated at 4,700 pages in black and 7,500 in color, and that refill math is the strongest evidence on either side of this pairing.
Head-to-head points: every spec is scaled between these products only, so a product can score high here and modestly on its own page, where the VS Score measures it against the median of its class.
Where the Brother MFC-J4355DW beats the Epson EcoTank ET-4903
- A much higher print speed (black) ?20 ppm vs 11 ppm
- A much higher print speed (color) ?19 ppm vs 6 ppm
- A much higher monthly duty cycle ?30,000 pages vs 5,000 pages
- A much higher input tray capacity ?150 sheets vs 100 sheets
- A much higher output tray capacity ?100 sheets vs 30 sheets
Where the Epson EcoTank ET-4903 beats the Brother MFC-J4355DW
- A higher print resolution ?5,760 dpi vs 4,800 dpi
- Has supertank / refillable ink ?
- A much higher ADF capacity ?30 sheets vs 20 sheets
- A lighter build ?5.5 kg vs 8.9 kg
Key real-world differences
The spec sheet pulls in both directions. These are the gaps big enough to shape the decision — with the actual figures, and what each one means in real-world use.
- Print speed (black)Printing20 ppm vs 11 ppm — 81.8% more for the Brother MFC-J4355DW
Black-and-white pages per minute; higher is faster.
- Print speed (color)Printing19 ppm vs 6 ppm — 3.2× more for the Brother MFC-J4355DW
Color pages per minute; higher is faster.
- Input tray capacityPaper handling150 sheets vs 100 sheets — 50% more for the Brother MFC-J4355DW
A larger tray needs refilling less often.
- Output tray capacityPaper handling100 sheets vs 30 sheets — 3.3× more for the Brother MFC-J4355DW
How many printed pages the output tray holds.
- ADF capacityScanning & copying20 sheets vs 30 sheets — 50% more for the Epson EcoTank ET-4903
How many pages the document feeder holds at once.
Which one should you buy?
There is no single answer — it depends on what you will actually use it for. Match your priority to the pick below.
- Best for printing Brother MFC-J4355DW takes the category 89 to 47 — driven by print speed (black) (20 ppm vs 11 ppm).
- Best for scanning & copying Epson EcoTank ET-4903 takes the category 100 to 88 — driven by ADF capacity (20 sheets vs 30 sheets).
- Best for paper handling Brother MFC-J4355DW takes the category 100 to 26 — driven by input tray capacity (150 sheets vs 100 sheets).
- Best for design Epson EcoTank ET-4903 takes the category 100 to 24 — driven by weight (8.9 kg vs 5.5 kg).
- On a budget Brother MFC-J4355DW is the cheaper way in at $ 208.9, and still scores 90 overall.
- Top overall score Brother MFC-J4355DW tops the overall VS Score at 90 while winning 2 of 5 categories outright.
Where each one falls short
Brother MFC-J4355DW
- Supertank / refillable ink: No vs Yes
- ADF capacity: 20 sheets vs 30 sheets
- Weight: 8.9 kg vs 5.5 kg
Epson EcoTank ET-4903
- Print speed (black): 20 ppm vs 11 ppm
- Print speed (color): 19 ppm vs 6 ppm
- Input tray capacity: 150 sheets vs 100 sheets
- 2 specs are unreported (shown as Unknown) and excluded from its scores.
What matters to you?
Drag the sliders to weight each category and re-rank the products to suit your priorities.
Score breakdown
Printing
Scanning & copying
Paper handling
Connectivity
Design
Specs last verified October 21, 2026Brother MFC-J4355DW: 24 of 24 specs verified (100%)Epson EcoTank ET-4903: 22 of 24 specs verified (92%)Unverified specs show as Unknown — never estimated, never scored
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What reviewers say
The bottom line
Brother confirms automatic duplex printing and Epson does not, and that settles it for anyone who prints two-sided by habit. The Brother MFC-J4355DW is the safer buy there, and its engine runs close to twice as fast in black, so a busy morning of school forms clears sooner.
A home that prints color steadily is better off with the Epson EcoTank ET-4903, whose boxed ink settles the supply question for years, provided someone confirms its duplex support with the seller first. Its slower pages and rear feed are the cost of that supply. Neither belongs on a desk that needs a wired network, and a mono laser beats both for black text in bulk.
