Epson 812 magenta · standard

The Epson 812 magenta is the standard capacity magenta for two business inkjets, the WorkForce Pro WF-7820 and the WorkForce Pro WF-7840. Each colour sits in its own cartridge, so magenta is replaced on its own.

Skipping the standard size is an easy call here. The 812 magenta is rated at about 300 pages and lists at $15.99, which is 5.33c a page. The 812XL magenta is rated at about 1,100 pages for $36.99, or 3.36c. The larger cartridge holds nearly four times the ink for about twice the money, which is about 37 percent off every page. The same holds across the colours, and the black follows suit at 6.85c standard against 4.36c for the 812XL. On a printer bought to do volume, the standard 812 set makes sense mainly as an emergency purchase when the XL is out of stock.

Both of these machines are recorded as open on our firmware tracker, so Epson is not blocking third-party ink here and compatible 812 cartridges are a reasonable way to cut the cost further. The non-genuine ink message appears and can be dismissed. Ink level readings from compatible chips drift, which matters on an office machine where a cartridge running out mid-job interrupts real work, so keep a spare magenta rather than waiting for a warning.

If magenta prints wrong rather than not at all, find the cause before buying. Both of these WorkForce Pro models have a fixed print head and a replaceable maintenance box, and a magenta channel that has gone patchy after a quiet spell is usually dried ink rather than an empty cartridge. Print the nozzle check, look specifically at the magenta block, and run one cleaning cycle if it shows gaps. Every extra cleaning after that fills the maintenance box faster, and that box is a part you will have to buy.