What Is an E Printer? | The Two Things This Name Can Mean

For the full breakdown, see our best E Printer All in One guide.

If you searched “what is an e printer,” you have likely run into one of two very different things. For home and office use, it almost always points to HP ePrint, a free cloud printing feature built into many HP printers. In the creative and small-business world, the same name refers to LONGER’s ePrint, a professional UV printer for decorating objects. Knowing which one you are looking at changes everything, so here is how to tell them apart and how each one works.

What Is an HP ePrint?

HP ePrint is a cloud-based printing service that lets you print by sending an email. Instead of connecting your computer to the printer with a cable or a driver, you send your document or photo as an email attachment to a unique address assigned to your printer, and HP’s servers route it to your machine over the internet. It is a cloud feature, not a direct network connection.

HP describes ePrint as a way to print from anywhere. You can be in another room or another country — if you can send an email, you can print. This makes it especially useful for printing from a phone, tablet, or laptop while away from home. The workflow is straightforward: open the document, create a new email, attach the file, and send it to your printer’s email address. HP notes the same method also works for printing webpages.

To use HP ePrint, you need four things:

• An email account
• An HP printer that supports ePrint
• A working internet connection
• An HP Connected account set up and linked to your printer

How Do You Get an ePrint Email Address?

Your printer gets a unique email address when you enable the feature. On most HP printers, you set this up through the control panel or the HP Smart app, where you sign in to your HP Connected account. Once connected, the printer displays its email address on the screen. You can also find it in the HP Smart app under printer settings.

The main trade-off with HP ePrint is that your printer must stay connected to the internet to receive jobs. If the printer is offline or the Wi-Fi drops, emailed print jobs will not arrive until the connection is restored. It is a convenience feature, not a replacement for a standard home network print setup, which still works for everyday local printing.

What Is the LONGER ePrint UV Printer?

LONGER’s ePrint is a completely different product. It is a professional UV flatbed printer built for printing directly onto objects. Where HP ePrint is a service inside a normal printer, LONGER ePrint is a standalone machine for small businesses and creators making custom merchandise like phone cases, accessories, and even Braille signage.

LONGER sells two main models. The ePrint SE uses a single printhead with a 6-channel ink configuration, while the full ePrint model uses dual printheads and a 12-channel ink architecture. The larger dual-head version prints at 1440 DPI resolution and is roughly six times faster for textured white ink layers compared to the SE model. Its print bed measures 310 mm by 420 mm (about 12 by 16.5 inches), which fits most phone cases and small flat objects.

The 12 ink channels on the full model break down as CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black), six white channels, and two varnish channels. The heavy white-ink allocation matters because UV printers often lay down white as a base layer under colors on dark or transparent surfaces. The machine itself is substantial: roughly 650 mm wide, 445 mm deep, and 330 mm tall, weighing about 30 kg (66 pounds).

These figures come from third-party coverage of the product’s launch. LONGER introduced the ePrint line through a Kickstarter campaign, with pricing set at $1,499 for the SE and $1,899 for the dual-head model, plus a $2,949 All-in-1 Combo package. A U.S. retail launch date has not been confirmed, and details like consumables pricing and full compatibility lists are not yet public.

Which One Do You Actually Need?

The answer depends entirely on what you want to print. If you need a standard printer for documents, photos, and school papers — and you like the idea of emailing files from anywhere — HP ePrint is the relevant feature. Any recent HP printer that lists ePrint support will do the job.

If you run a small business or a side hustle making custom phone cases, stickers, or branded merch, the LONGER ePrint is a production tool for printing onto physical objects. That decision involves price, floor space, and expected volume, which is a much bigger commitment than buying a home printer.

If you are leaning toward the LONGER ePrint for actual production work, our tested roundup of the best e printer all-in-one models compares the top contenders side by side to help you decide before you spend.

For most people searching this term, HP ePrint is what they have. It is free, built into millions of printers, and works with nothing more than an email. If your printer has the feature, it is worth enabling — it takes five minutes and gives you a print-from-anywhere option that costs nothing extra. The LONGER ePrint, meanwhile, is a specialized industrial tool for a much smaller audience. Knowing which one your search was about is the first step, and now you have the answer for both.