Like many people, I became the designated keeper of my family’s history. This inheritance wasn’t a stately home or a classic car; it was boxes. Twenty-gallon totes, dusty shoeboxes, and forgotten albums, all overflowing with generations of printed photographs. These were the tangible records of lives lived, moments captured on film long before the age of the cloud. The goal was simple yet monumental: digitize everything. I wanted to preserve these memories from fading, moisture, and time itself, and share them with relatives scattered across the country. My first attempt involved a standard flatbed scanner. The process was agonizingly slow. Placing each photo, scanning, waiting, removing it, cropping, and color-correcting took an eternity. As one user aptly described it, a single scan could balloon into a 30-minute ordeal. After several hours, with only a handful of photos digitized, I knew there had to be a better way. This daunting challenge is what leads so many of us to search for a specialized solution like the Epson FastFoto FF-680W Wireless Photo Scanner.
- World’s Fastest Personal Photo Scanner (1) — scan thousands of photos as fast as 1 photo per second at 300 dpi (2); batch-scan up to 36 photos at a time
- Preserve Your Priceless Photos — restore, organize, protect and share photos; scan Polaroid photos, panoramas, postcards and photos up to 8" x 10"
What to Consider Before Buying a High-Speed Photo and Document Scanner
A high-speed scanner is more than just an office peripheral; it’s a key solution for reclaiming physical space and preserving invaluable information, whether that’s family photos or critical business documents. In a world that’s increasingly digital, these devices act as a bridge, converting fragile, analog records into secure, shareable, and organized digital files. The primary benefit is efficiency. What would take weeks or even months on a traditional flatbed can be accomplished in a matter of days or hours, transforming an overwhelming project into a manageable one. It’s about liberating memories from a dusty attic and bringing them back into the light of the digital age.
The ideal customer for this type of product is someone facing a large-scale digitization project. This includes family genealogists with boxes of inherited photos, small business owners needing to archive years of receipts and invoices, or anyone looking to declutter their home by digitizing decades of paperwork. It’s for the person who values their time and understands that speed and automation are worth the investment. Conversely, this might not be the right tool for a professional photographer who needs the absolute highest-resolution scans of negatives or slides, as flatbed scanners often offer superior optical quality for that specific task. It’s also likely overkill for someone who only needs to scan a few documents a month; a basic all-in-one printer would suffice for them.
Before investing, consider these crucial points in detail:
- Dimensions & Space: While far more compact than a large flatbed, these sheet-fed scanners still require a dedicated footprint on your desk. Consider the unit’s dimensions (D x W x H) and ensure you have enough clearance for the paper trays to extend and for documents to feed through smoothly. The Epson FastFoto FF-680W, for instance, has a relatively small footprint when closed but requires more space when the trays are open for operation.
- Capacity/Performance: This is arguably the most important factor. Look at the Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) capacity—how many photos or pages it can hold at once. For the Epson FastFoto FF-680W Wireless Photo Scanner, this is about 36 photos. Also, check the scan speed, measured in photos per second or pages per minute (ppm). Finally, consider the resolution, measured in dots per inch (dpi). A 300 dpi scan is great for sharing, while 600 dpi is the standard for high-quality archival.
- Materials & Durability: Most personal scanners are constructed from high-quality plastic. This is perfectly acceptable, but pay attention to the feel of the moving parts like trays and rollers. The internal components, particularly the rollers that guide the paper, are critical. Gentle, reliable rollers are essential for handling delicate, old photos without causing damage, a feature Epson highlights with its “SafeTouch Technology.”
- Ease of Use & Maintenance: A great scanner is a combination of powerful hardware and intuitive software. How easy is the initial setup? Does it connect easily via Wi-Fi and USB? Is the accompanying software user-friendly for organizing, naming, and enhancing your scans? Long-term care involves periodic cleaning of the rollers and glass with a microfiber cloth to prevent streaks on your scans, so easy access to these components is a plus.
Making the right choice depends on balancing the volume of your project with the quality you need and the budget you have.
While the Epson FastFoto FF-680W Wireless Photo Scanner is an excellent choice, it’s always wise to see how it stacks up against the competition. For a broader look at all the top models, we highly recommend checking out our complete, in-depth guide:
- OUR MOST ADVANCED SCANSNAP. Large touchscreen, fast 45ppm double-sided scanning, 100-sheet document feeder, Wi-Fi and USB connectivity, automatic optimizations, and support for cloud services....
- FAST DOCUMENT SCANNING – Speed through stacks with the 50-sheet Auto Document Feeder, perfect for office scanning and working from home
- Portable and Travel friendly: This portable document scanner for laptop is a small scanner with feeder for mac and pc that fits easily in your bag for work, home, school, or travel. Take it everywhere...
First Impressions: Unboxing a Productivity Powerhouse
Upon unboxing the Epson FastFoto FF-680W Wireless Photo Scanner, the first thing we noticed was its thoughtful and compact design. For a machine that promises such high-speed throughput, it’s surprisingly modest in size, easily fitting on a standard desk without dominating the space. The build is primarily a sturdy, matte black plastic that feels durable and well-constructed. Everything that needs to articulate or extend—the input and output trays—does so with a smooth, reassuring action. Setup was remarkably straightforward. We opted for the Wi-Fi connection, and using the Epson FastFoto app on a smartphone, we were connected to our network and ready to scan in under ten minutes. The box includes everything needed to get started: the AC adapter, a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 cable for those who prefer a wired connection, a special carrier sheet for delicate or damaged photos, and a microfiber cleaning cloth. It immediately gives the impression of a complete, well-thought-out system designed to get you from unboxing to archiving with minimal fuss. It feels less like a typical office scanner and more like a specialized appliance built for one purpose: to conquer mountains of photos.
What We Like
- Blistering scan speed of up to 1 photo per second (at 300 dpi)
- Single-pass duplex scanning captures notes on the back of photos
- Powerful automatic image enhancement and color restoration
- Versatile media handling for photos, Polaroids, postcards, and documents
Limitations
- High price point may be prohibitive for casual users
- Risk of leaving fine scratches or roller marks on glossy photos
A Deep Dive into the Epson FastFoto FF-680W’s Performance
A machine that claims to be the “world’s fastest personal photo scanner” sets a high bar for itself. After spending weeks with the Epson FastFoto FF-680W Wireless Photo Scanner and digitizing over three thousand photos and documents, we can say that, for the most part, it lives up to the hype. But its performance is nuanced, with incredible strengths and a few critical weaknesses that potential buyers must understand.
The Game-Changer: Blazing-Fast Batch Scanning
The single most impressive feature of this scanner is its speed. It is, without exaggeration, a revolutionary experience for anyone who has ever used a flatbed scanner for a large photo project. The ability to stack a batch of up to 36 photos of similar sizes into the feeder and have them digitized in under a minute is simply astounding. We tested the claim of “1 photo per second” at 300 dpi, and it’s accurate. A stack of 30 standard 4×6 photos flew through the machine in about 30 seconds. The process of watching a lifetime of memories slide through the machine and appear on your screen is genuinely thrilling.
We found the 600 dpi setting to be the sweet spot for archival purposes, providing a fantastic balance of detail and manageable file size (saved as a TIFF for preservation). Even at this higher resolution, the speed remained impressive, scanning a photo every 3-4 seconds. As one user noted, you can realistically scan about 1,000 pictures an hour. This efficiency transforms the project of digitizing a family archive from a multi-year slog into a weekend project. The scanner also handles different sizes in the same batch remarkably well, as long as they are of similar thickness. We mixed 3x5s and 4x6s without any jams. The single-pass duplex scanning is another highlight; it automatically captures any handwritten notes on the back, preserving that precious context—the who, what, and when—that is so often lost. This feature alone makes the Epson FastFoto FF-680W a must-see for genealogists.
Digital Sorcery: Image Quality and Automated Enhancement
Speed is meaningless if the quality is poor. Fortunately, the Epson FastFoto FF-680W Wireless Photo Scanner delivers excellent image quality, but it’s the software that performs the real magic. The “Perfect Picture Imaging System” is a suite of automated tools that work wonders on old, faded photos. We were skeptical at first, but the results were often jaw-dropping.
We tested this with a stack of photos from the late 1970s that had developed a distinct orange-yellow cast over the decades. We scanned them twice: once with enhancements off, and once with them on. The difference was night and day. The software’s color restoration algorithm correctly identified the color shift and restored the blues, greens, and natural skin tones, making the photos look as if they were taken yesterday. This sentiment was echoed by a user who scanned a photo from 1979 and was shocked at how the auto-correct brought back the original, vibrant colors. The software also automatically handles de-skewing (straightening crooked photos), cropping, and red-eye reduction. You have the option to save both the enhanced version and the original scan, giving you full control over the final archive. This intelligent automation saves countless hours of post-processing work in an editing program, further cementing the scanner’s value proposition of speed and convenience.
The Critical Caveat: Handling Delicate and Glossy Photos
No product is perfect, and the Achilles’ heel of the Epson FastFoto FF-680W Wireless Photo Scanner is its handling of certain types of photos, specifically modern, high-gloss prints. Numerous users have reported, and we can sadly confirm, that the scanner’s roller mechanism can leave very fine, hairline vertical scratches or “tire tracks” on the surface of some glossy photos. This is a significant concern for anyone looking to archive irreplaceable, pristine prints from the 90s and 2000s.
In our testing, we found this issue was inconsistent. Matte finish photos and older, less glossy prints from the 50s through the 80s passed through without any issues at all. But on a batch of glossy 4×6 prints from the early 2000s, faint lines were visible when viewed in direct light after scanning. To be clear, these are not deep gouges, but for an archivist, any alteration to the original is unacceptable. Epson provides a carrier sheet to protect delicate or torn photos, and we highly recommend using it for any glossy print you consider precious. This, of course, slows down the process to one photo at a time, negating the batch-scanning benefit. It creates a difficult trade-off: do you risk minor surface marks for the sake of incredible speed, or do you slow down and use the carrier sheet for your most important prints? We also found it struggled with very small, old wallet-sized photos and thick “black back” Polaroids, which occasionally jammed. For the vast majority of older, non-glossy family photos, the scanner is perfectly safe. But for those newer glossy prints, caution is essential. It’s a flaw that prevents a fantastic product from being a flawless one, and a reason why you should consider its features carefully before buying.
Beyond the Shoebox: Document Management and Software Experience
While its name emphasizes photos, the Epson FastFoto FF-680W Wireless Photo Scanner is also a highly competent document scanner. With speeds of up to 45 pages per minute (90 images per minute in duplex), it can make short work of office clutter. We tested it on a stack of invoices and letters, and it performed flawlessly. The included Epson ScanSmart software features Optical Character Recognition (OCR), which converts your scanned documents into searchable PDFs and editable Word or Excel files. This is a massive boon for creating a digital filing cabinet.
The software experience, however, is a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, the FastFoto software for photos is simple and guides you through the process of naming your batches with dates and subjects, which helps with organization. On the other hand, as some technically-inclined users noted, the software can be restrictive. The file naming conventions are somewhat rigid, which can be frustrating for those with a specific organizational system in mind. We also encountered some user reports of software installation hiccups, particularly with Windows 11, where the installer incorrectly reported a lack of disk space. While these issues are often solvable for tech-savvy users, they represent a lack of polish in an otherwise premium package. The cloud integration with Dropbox and Google Drive is seamless, allowing you to automatically back up your precious scans as soon as they’re created, providing instant peace of mind. You can explore its full software capabilities and connectivity options online.
What Other Users Are Saying
The consensus among users is overwhelmingly positive, with most hailing the Epson FastFoto FF-680W Wireless Photo Scanner as a “miracle” and a “game-changer.” Many, like the user who inherited “several large 20+ gallon totes full of family photos,” express profound relief at finally having a tool that makes a seemingly impossible task achievable. Another reviewer was “blown away” after switching from a flatbed, scanning over 2000 photos in just two days. The speed and the quality of the automatic color correction are the most frequently praised features, with one person describing the enhancement technology as “sorcery.”
However, the praise is not universal, and the negative feedback centers on a consistent and critical issue. Multiple users report that the scanner “scratched the heck out of a 90’s era glossy photo” or left “tire track” marks from the rollers. One user was on their third machine due to this issue, while another concluded, “If efficiency is your highest priority, then this scanner might be for you, but if it’s quality, I’d look elsewhere.” This creates a clear picture: users are thrilled with the speed and convenience but deeply concerned about the potential for damage to a specific type of modern, glossy photograph.
How Does the Epson FastFoto FF-680W Compare to the Alternatives?
The Epson FastFoto FF-680W Wireless Photo Scanner is a specialized machine, but it exists in a competitive market of high-speed scanners. Here’s how it stacks up against some popular alternatives.
1. ScanSnap iX2500 Document Scanner
The ScanSnap iX2500 is a document-scanning titan. Its primary advantage is its massive 100-page auto document feeder and large, intuitive touchscreen, making it an ideal choice for a busy small office with heavy paper-archiving needs. While it can scan photos, it lacks the specialized photo-handling features of the Epson, such as the advanced color restoration and the SafeTouch technology designed for delicate prints. If your project is 80% documents and 20% photos, the ScanSnap is likely the more robust and efficient choice. However, if your priority is liberating thousands of family photos from shoeboxes, the Epson’s dedicated photo software and gentle handling mechanisms give it a clear edge.
2. ScanSnap iX1300 Compact Scanner
The ScanSnap iX1300 is all about saving space without sacrificing much performance. Its incredibly compact design and unique U-turn paper path make it perfect for cluttered desks or users who need a portable scanning solution. It’s a capable and fast document scanner, but like its bigger sibling, it’s a document-first device. Its 20-sheet ADF is smaller than the Epson’s photo capacity, and it doesn’t offer the same level of automated photo enhancement. Someone who needs a versatile, everyday scanner for a mix of receipts, documents, and occasional photos in a tight space would prefer the iX1300. Those embarking on a massive photo-only project will find the Epson’s larger capacity and specialized software more suitable.
3. Epson Workforce ES-400 II Desktop Document Scanner
Coming from the same manufacturer, the Epson Workforce ES-400 II offers a glimpse into a more document-focused alternative. It’s a solid, reliable desktop document scanner with a 50-sheet ADF and respectable speeds. It shares some of Epson’s excellent imaging technology, including automatic image adjustment tools. However, it lacks the “FastFoto” branding and the specific features that come with it—namely, the advanced photo restoration, single-step duplex for notes on the back, and the SafeTouch system. For a budget-conscious user who needs to scan primarily documents but wants the flexibility to do photos, the ES-400 II is a strong contender. But for the dedicated task of photo archiving, the premium paid for the FastFoto FF-680W and its specialized toolkit is well worth it.
Final Verdict: Is the Epson FastFoto FF-680W Worth It?
After extensive testing, we can confidently say that the Epson FastFoto FF-680W Wireless Photo Scanner is a truly remarkable, yet imperfect, machine. For its intended purpose—digitizing vast quantities of older, non-glossy family photos—it is an absolute triumph. The sheer speed is transformative, turning a dreaded chore into a satisfying project. The automated color correction and enhancement software works like magic, breathing new life into faded memories with almost no manual effort required. It successfully bridges the gap between our analog past and our digital future in a way few other devices can.
However, it is not a perfect solution for everyone. The high price tag makes it a significant investment, and the very real risk of leaving fine scratches on modern glossy photos is a major drawback that cannot be ignored. Our recommendation is therefore conditional. If you are the keeper of a multi-generational photo archive, consisting mostly of prints from the pre-2000s, this scanner will change your life. The value it provides in time saved is immeasurable. But if your collection is primarily pristine, high-gloss prints that are irreplaceable, you must be prepared to use the protective carrier sheet or consider a different archival method. For the right person with the right project, this scanner isn’t just a good choice; it’s the only choice. If you’re ready to finally tackle those boxes of photos, we highly recommend you check the latest price and see if the Epson FastFoto FF-680W is the right solution for you.
Last update on 2025-11-10 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API