You need a cartridge inkjet for a small office that prints, copies, scans and faxes on both sides, and Epson’s online store shows two printers that look the same on paper. The Epson WorkForce Pro WF-4930, announced on October 1 at $279.99, matches the older WF-4830 on speed, trays, document feeder and recommended monthly volume. On October 3, Epson’s store listed the WF-4830 at $149.99, marked down from the same $279.99, though with a Notify Me button where the cart should be. The WF-4930 takes Epson’s new 842 cartridges, which the WF-4830 cannot use, and its high-capacity black costs more per page than the old 822XL.
Two spec sheets, side by side
Epson publishes a spec sheet for each model, and most rows read the same.
| WF-4930 | WF-4830 | |
|---|---|---|
| List price | $279.99 | $279.99 |
| Print speed, black/color | 25/12 ISO ppm | 25/12 ISO ppm |
| Two-sided print speed | 16/9 ISO ppm | 16/9 ISO ppm |
| Flatbed copy speed | 22/10 ISO ipm | 22/10 ISO ipm |
| Paper trays | two 250-sheet | two 250-sheet |
| Document feeder | 50 sheets, two-sided | 50 sheets, two-sided |
| Recommended monthly volume | up to 1,600 pages | up to 1,600 pages |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/k/v/r | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac |
| Weight | 27.6 lb | 26.2 lb |
| Cartridges | 842 and 842XL | 822 and 822XL |
The press release lists what Epson changed: a new white housing, an updated interface and “enhanced network-security support,” which it does not describe further. The extra Wi-Fi letters are the roaming standards mesh routers use to steer a device toward the strongest access point. Both printers keep the PrecisionCore Heat-Free head, which needs no warm-up, both use DURABrite Ultra pigment ink, and both carry a one-year limited warranty in the US and Canada.
If you want more speed, the WF-5930 at $399.99 is the model that moves. It prints color at 25 ISO ppm, more than double the WF-4930’s color rate.
What a page costs on 842 and 822 ink
Cost per page here is the cartridge price on Epson’s store divided by its ISO yield. A color page uses black plus cyan, magenta and yellow, so its cost is the four figures added together. Prices are from Epson’s store on October 3, and retailers often charge less.
| Cartridge | Price | ISO yield | Per page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 822XL black | $47.99 | 1,100 | 4.4¢ |
| 842XL black | $57.99 | 1,200 | 4.8¢ |
| 822XL cyan, magenta or yellow | $36.99 each | 1,100 | 3.4¢ each |
| 842XL cyan, magenta or yellow | $35.99 each | 1,100 | 3.3¢ each |
| 822 black | $23.99 | 350 | 6.9¢ |
| 842 black | $28.99 | 400 | 7.2¢ |
| 822 cyan, magenta or yellow | $14.49 each | 240 | 6.0¢ each |
| 842 cyan, magenta or yellow | $16.49 each | 300 | 5.5¢ each |
On high-capacity cartridges, a color page comes to about 14.5¢ on 822XL and 14.6¢ on 842XL, which is a draw. Black text is where the new ink costs more. At 500 black pages a month, a year of 842XL black runs about $290 against about $262 for 822XL, a difference near $28.
Standard cartridges go the other way. The 842 set yields more pages, and a color page drops from about 25¢ to about 23.7¢. Standard cartridges still cost far more per page than XL on either printer, so an office printing hundreds of pages a month should buy XL whichever model it picks.
The four cartridges in the box are setup cartridges, and Epson says part of their ink is spent priming the printer, so the first replacements arrive sooner than the yields suggest. Epson’s footnote applies to every row above. ISO yields come from continuous printing, all four colors are used for printer maintenance as well as printing, and yields drop when a printer sits idle for long stretches.
Cartridges that do not cross over
Epson lists the 842 series for the WF-4930, WF-4920 and WF-3920, plus three related model numbers (WF-4935, WF-4933 and WF-3925). The WF-4830 is not on that list, and the 822 series does not fit the new models. An office replacing a WF-4830 with a WF-4930 cannot use the spare 822 cartridges in the cupboard, so run them down before the swap or give them to someone who still has an older printer.
Neither printer gives you a cheaper route through third-party ink. Both spec sheets say the printer is designed for genuine Epson cartridges only, and both add that other cartridges, “even if described as compatible, may not function properly or at all.” The cost table above is the cost you will pay.
Which one to buy
Epson’s $149.99 price on the WF-4830 runs from October 4 to October 10, 2026, while supplies last, and on October 9 the page showed the printer in stock. At that price the WF-4830 is the better buy for a text-heavy office. It saves $130 up front and costs less per black page on XL ink, and nothing in Epson’s spec sheets shows the WF-4930 printing, scanning or faxing faster. Once the offer ends, both printers list at $279.99. At the same price the older model still saves about $28 a year in black XL ink at 500 pages a month, and the WF-4930 brings the white housing, the newer Wi-Fi and the cartridges Epson has just launched. Pick the WF-4830 for the lower running cost, or the WF-4930 to keep for years.
Above about a thousand pages a month, both cartridge printers get expensive to feed. The bottle-fed EcoTank Pro ET-5850 prints color at the WF-5930’s 25 ISO ppm, and Epson rates its black bottle at 7,500 pages.
Epson has not said how long it will keep making 822 cartridges, which is the one thing to weigh before buying a WF-4830 to keep for years.
