A pioneer in desktop printing, HP made a big splash with its Thinkjet inkjet printers all the way back in 1988, before going on to launch massively successful mono and color DeskJet models in 1990 and 1991 respectively. The mid-1980s also saw the introduction of HP’s incredibly popular LaserJet series, which included the world’s first PC-compatible desktop laser printer.
The first LaserJet was actually based on a Canon print engine and, indeed, HP has faced stiff competition from both Canon and Epson in the home and office printing sectors down the decades. Even so, HP still has a great deal (as well as some great deals) to offer in its current inkjet and laser line-ups.
As well as maintaining a good reputation for the reliability and dependability of its printers, HP is very up-front about ink and toner costs. The company’s ‘Instant Ink’ subscription-based service takes a lot of the guesswork and downright pain out of the equation. It enables you to sign up for various plans that cover anything from 15 to 700 pages per month for inkjet printers, and from 50 to 1,500 pages for lasers.
The idea is that the ink or toner levels are monitored in the cloud, and replacement cartridges are automatically dispatched as and when necessary. There’s the flexibility to change plans if you need to, while benefits include avoiding the risk of running out of in or toner, making sizeable savings on running costs, and making use of the scheme’s inclusive recycling scheme. Many of HP’s current printers come with a free trial of the program.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the best HP inkjet printers to suit home/family use, followed by inkjets for larger-volume home/small office printing, and finally a selection of mono and color laser printers.
Best HP printers in 2024
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HP home printers
Like the two ENVY home/family inkjet printers in our guide, the inexpensive DeskJet model runs on the same HP 305 pigment black and dye-based tri-color cartridges, with the availability of higher-capacity ‘XL’ replacements. With the HP+ scheme, cloud-connected status brings the convenience of automatic, subscription-based ‘Instant Ink’ cartridge delivery to your door. The printer makes a good stab at mono and color documents but photo quality is lacking in vibrancy and contrast. The 35-sheet auto document feeder is a bonus for scanning and photocopying but double-sided printing is a manual task, as there’s no auto duplex facility.
Like the other two home/family-friendly HP inkjets in our guide, this one is well-connected with USB, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, making it equally easy to print from a connected computer or a remote laptop or smart device. That holds true from around the home, as well as from around the world, thanks to cloud-based support. The HP Smart app makes for easy access but onboard controls are relatively basic, without the provision of a proper display screen. Print speeds are pretty nippy and auto duplex is included but there’s no auto document feeder for streamlining multi-page scanning and photocopying.
Aimed at home users and families tasked with higher volumes of printing, this model is currently offered in various world regions with between six and nine months of ink, on a bonus HP+ free subscription. It delivers the same print speeds as the ENVY 6000e along with auto duplex, but adds a 35-sheet auto document feeder for enhanced multi-page scanning and photocopying convenience. Again, it’s well connected with USB, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support, and is compatible with the HP Smart app. As with the smaller ENVY printer, the duty cycle is rated at up to 400 pages per month and the cartridge line-up is the same, based on HP 305 pigment black and tri-color dye-based cartridges available in standard and XL options.
HP office inkjet printers
Compared with HP’s ENVY inkjet printers in our guide, this is a more home/small office oriented model with twice the recommended duty cycle, at up to 800 pages per month. Running costs are also potentially reduced by the inclusion of separate ink cartridge for all four colors. Even so, capacities for the standard and XL replacements are rather lower than for the more up-market OfficeJet printers we’ve featured. The pigment-based inks deliver crisp and robust mono text and color graphics but glossy photo quality is relatively poor. The printer features a 2.7-inch color touchscreen, 35-sheet auto document feeder and auto duplex for printing, at fairly rapid print speeds, all of which make it office-friendly. A Direct fax facility adds to the business-friendly appeal.
Like the OfficeJet Pro 8025e also featured in our guide, the 9015e has a similarly business-oriented feature-set that include direct faxing, photocopying and scanning, accessed by a handy 2.7-inch color touchscreen. It currently also comes with the same offer of six months’ worth of free ink, through a complimentary subscription to HP+. In keeping with the higher purchase price, however, the duty cycle is duly uprated to as many as 1,500 prints per month, and the choice of standard and XL pigment-based ink cartridges have rather higher capacities. Another bonus is that, in addition to auto duplex printing, automatic double-sided scanning is supported via the 35-sheet auto document feeder.
With even more stamina than the more light| **Weight** OfficeJet Pro 9015e, the 9025e is built for relatively high-volume printing, rated at up to 2,000 pages per month. Even so, it runs on the same four HP 963 pigment-based ink cartridges in standard and XL options with, in some areas at least, the same offer of six months’ free ink under the HP+ scheme. Scanning, photocopying and direct fax facilities are well implemented, with a double-sided auto feeding mechanism to speed up the process. Printing is fast as well, at up to 24ppm for mono pages and 20ppm for color.
HP office laser printers
A budget mono laser printer that won’t bite back when it comes to running costs, this LaserJet is currently offered with six month’s worth of free toner cartridges. Naturally, offers are subject to change so it pays to check before you buy. Despite being an entry-level model, it has a respectable recommended monthly usage of 200 to 2,000 pages and a good turn of speed. It also has a conveniently small footprint, yet packs a built-in scanner with a 40-sheet auto document feeder, along with an auto duplex printing facility. However, there’s only a single paper input tray, so you can’t easily mix and match between letterheaded and plain paper during print jobs. Even so, it’s also well-connected with USB, Ethernet, dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and enables scanning direct to email and PDFs.
Neverstop by name and by nature, this model is supplied with sufficient toner to create 5,000 typical pages - that’s around seven times more than with most LaserJet models aimed at the small business sector. The trick is in the toner refill system, which cuts costs compared with conventional replacement cartridges, while top-ups are also quick, easy and mess-free to apply. The built-in scanner enables similarly simple scanning and photocopying tasks, either directly or from the HP Smart app. At 20ppm, the printer isn’t overly fast for a laser but it’s still pretty quick and has a rated duty cycle of 250 to 2,500 pages per month.
Affordable to buy and run for a color laser, the M454dw also has quite a small footprint, although it’s a fairly weighty beast. With four cartridges under the hood for cyan, magenta, yellow and black toner, it boasts full-color printing to add some pizzazz to robust business documents. It’s no slouch for mono printing, reaching the dizzying heights of 27ppm although, typically, color output is a lot slower, topping out at 7ppm. Unlike many of HP’s current laser printers, this one doesn’t have a built-in scanner either, so can’t be classed as a multi-function device. Even so, as a competitively priced color laser, it has a lot going for it.
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