I often found myself in a bind, needing to quickly print a document for work, scan an important receipt for taxes, or make a copy of a child’s school project. Relying on local print shops or office supplies stores was not only inconvenient but also a time drain. The sheer thought of having to interrupt my flow just for a simple printout was frustrating, and without a reliable home solution, these small tasks would inevitably pile up, leading to unnecessary stress and missed deadlines. Having a dependable all-in-one device at home, like the HP DeskJet 2855e Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer, would have been a game-changer for someone in my situation, offering the flexibility and efficiency I desperately needed.
- FROM AMERICA'S MOST TRUSTED PRINTER BRAND – The DeskJet 2855e is perfect for homes printing to-do lists, letters, financial documents and recipes. Print speeds up to 5.5 ppm color, 7.5 ppm black....
- KEY FEATURES – Color printing, copy, scan, and a 60-sheet input tray
- WIRELESS PRINTING – Stay connected with our most reliable Wi-Fi (2.4Ghz Single band only), which automatically detects and resolves connection issues
Key Considerations Before Acquiring a Home Printer
Before investing in a home printer, it’s crucial to evaluate your specific needs and avoid common pitfalls. The primary reason people seek out a printer for their home is to gain convenience – the ability to print, scan, or copy documents without leaving their comfort zone. This solves the problem of urgent print jobs, school assignments, or digital document archiving that might otherwise require a trip to a commercial print service.
The ideal customer for a printer like the HP DeskJet 2855e is someone who needs a reliable, compact, and easy-to-use device for light to moderate tasks. This includes students needing to print assignments, home office users who occasionally print reports or invoices, or families wanting to print recipes, photos, or tickets. If your printing volume is low to moderate, and you prioritize ease of setup and wireless capabilities over raw speed or advanced features, then an all-in-one inkjet printer fits the bill.
Conversely, this product category, and specifically this model, might not be suitable for everyone. If you’re a heavy user who prints hundreds of pages daily, frequently needs automatic double-sided printing, or requires lightning-fast speeds for large documents, a more robust office-grade printer or a laser printer would be a better investment. Similarly, if you need advanced networking capabilities beyond single-band Wi-Fi or very specialized media handling, you might find this model limiting. Key factors to consider before buying include connectivity options (Wi-Fi, USB), print speed for both black and color documents, the quality of prints (especially if you intend to print photos), the overall size and footprint, and, significantly, the ongoing cost of ink replacement. The paper tray capacity and the presence of features like automatic document feeders (ADF) or duplex printing also weigh heavily depending on your usage.
- FROM AMERICA'S MOST TRUSTED PRINTER BRAND – The DeskJet 2855e is perfect for homes printing to-do lists, letters, financial documents and recipes. Print speeds up to 5.5 ppm color, 7.5 ppm black....
- FROM AMERICA'S MOST TRUSTED PRINTER BRAND – The OfficeJet Pro 8125e is perfect for home offices printing quality colour documents like business documents, reports, presentations and flyers. Print...
- Keep your office running smoothly with the Epson EcoTank ET-2800 All-in-One Supertank Color Printer. Expect vivid, detailed prints and documents thanks to Micro Piezo Heat-Free Technology. Quickly...
Unveiling the HP DeskJet 2855e
The HP DeskJet 2855e Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer, Scanner, Copier is designed as a streamlined solution for the modern home, promising effortless printing from virtually anywhere. It arrives as a complete package, including the printer itself, HP 67 Setup Black and Tri-color cartridges, a regulatory flyer, a setup guide, a reference guide, and a power cord. This ensures you have everything needed to get started right out of the box, with the added bonus of 3 months of Instant Ink included. While not directly comparable to a high-end office laser printer or its more advanced siblings in the HP OfficeJet series, the DeskJet 2855e aims to simplify daily printing tasks, focusing on user-friendliness and compact design rather than enterprise-level features. It distinguishes itself from earlier, more basic DeskJet models with its enhanced wireless connectivity and integration with the HP Smart app.
This specific HP printer is ideal for individuals or families with basic, occasional printing needs, students, or anyone with limited space. It’s not for those who demand very high print speeds, frequent double-sided printing, or high-volume output.
Here’s a quick rundown of its advantages and drawbacks:
Pros:
* Extremely Easy Setup: One of the easiest printer installations ever, often completed in minutes via the HP Smart app.
* Compact and Space-Saving: Small footprint, ideal for small apartments or desks, with a collapsible paper tray.
* Wireless Convenience: Reliable single-band Wi-Fi for printing from various devices without cables.
* All-in-One Functionality: Offers printing, scanning, and copying capabilities in one device.
* Good Print Quality: Delivers clear and vibrant results for typical home documents and photos.
* Value for Money: Often more economical to purchase than replacing ink for older, more expensive models, especially with included Instant Ink.
Cons:
* Manual Duplex Printing Only: Does not support automatic double-sided printing, requiring manual paper flipping.
* Limited Paper Capacity: The input tray holds a relatively small number of sheets, requiring frequent refills for larger jobs.
* Slower Print Speeds: Can be slow, especially for color documents or larger files, and phone screen going to sleep can interrupt printing.
* Single-Band Wi-Fi: May experience more connection drops or slower speeds compared to dual-band systems.
* Ink Replacement Design: Some users find the ink cartridge access and replacement process less convenient than older models.
* Reliance on HP Smart App: Not Bluetooth enabled; printing from non-corporate devices without the app can be a challenge.
Exploring the Key Functionalities and Advantages
Having used the HP DeskJet 2855e for an extended period, I’ve come to appreciate its core strengths while also understanding its limitations. It’s a device that truly shines for specific use cases, and understanding its features in detail helps manage expectations.
Seamless Wireless Connectivity and the HP Smart App
One of the standout features of the DeskJet 2855e, and arguably its most significant benefit, is its wireless connectivity, seamlessly managed through the HP Smart app. From my experience, setting up this printer was astonishingly straightforward. It genuinely was one of the easiest printer installations I’ve ever encountered. The HP Smart app guides you through the process with clear, intuitive steps, whether you’re setting it up from an iPad, a smartphone, or a laptop. Within minutes, I had the printer connected to my home network and was ready to print. This ease of setup is crucial for home users who aren’t IT experts and just want their devices to work.
The benefit of wireless printing cannot be overstated. I can initiate print jobs from my phone while cooking, from my laptop across the room, or even from my tablet without fumbling with cables. The printer’s single-band Wi-Fi is generally reliable, automatically detecting and attempting to resolve connection issues. However, it’s important to note that it relies on single-band Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz). While sufficient for most home networks, in environments with a lot of wireless interference or if your router prioritizes 5 GHz, you might occasionally experience connectivity hiccups or slower data transfer rates compared to printers with dual-band Wi-Fi. Some users have reported random disconnections from the app or Wi-Fi, necessitating a printer restart. It’s also worth mentioning that this specific HP model is not Bluetooth enabled. All wireless printing is routed through your Wi-Fi network and the HP Smart app. This means if your work computer blocks non-corporate software downloads, you might struggle to print from it, which can be a significant drawback for remote workers. Moreover, a minor but frustrating quirk I’ve encountered is that if my phone’s screen goes to sleep during a multi-page print job, the printing can instantly stop, leading to wasted ink and partially printed pages. Keeping the screen active during long prints becomes a necessity.
All-in-One Versatility: Print, Scan, and Copy
The “All-in-One” designation isn’t just marketing; the DeskJet 2855e truly integrates printing, scanning, and copying functionalities into one compact unit. This versatility is incredibly valuable for home use. Need to quickly copy a document? Place it on the flatbed scanner and initiate the copy function. Want to digitize old photos or important papers? The flatbed scanner handles that with ease, with scans managed efficiently through the HP Smart app.
For printing, it handles both color and black-and-white documents effectively. The maximum print speeds are rated at 7.5 ppm for monochrome and 5.5 ppm for color. While these speeds are perfectly acceptable for casual home use, they are on the slower side. If you’re printing a 50-page report, you’ll definitely notice the pace. This is where the product’s “best for home” designation becomes clear – it’s not built for high-volume, urgent print jobs. A notable disadvantage is its lack of automatic duplex printing. While it can perform manual duplexing (you print one side, then manually flip and re-feed the paper), this process can be cumbersome and time-consuming for multiple pages, particularly for students or teachers who frequently need double-sided documents to save paper. This is a feature I definitely miss from higher-end models.
Crisp Print Quality for Everyday Needs
When it comes to output, the print quality of this HP printer is surprisingly good for its price point. With a maximum print resolution of 4800 x 1200 dpi for color and 600 dpi for black and white, documents come out sharp and clear. Text is crisp and legible, making it ideal for everything from school reports and financial documents to to-do lists and recipes. Color graphics and occasional photos also render with decent vibrancy and detail, suitable for casual sharing or personal projects. I’ve printed several pages of mixed text and images, and the results have consistently been professional enough for my home needs. It’s not a photo-specific printer, so don’t expect gallery-quality prints, but for everyday color output, it performs admirably.
Compact Design and Space-Saving Efficiency
Living in a smaller space, the physical footprint of any device is a critical factor. The DeskJet 2855e excels here with its remarkably compact design. Measuring approximately 16.7″W x 11.97″D x 6.06″H and weighing only 7.55 pounds, it’s incredibly unobtrusive. The collapsible paper tray and feeder function are particularly ingenious, allowing the unit to maintain a slim, minimal profile when not in use. This design choice makes it perfect for small desks, shelves, or even a shoe organizer, as one user pointed out. I appreciate that it doesn’t dominate my workspace, a common issue with bulkier office machines. However, this compact nature contributes to one of its downsides: the paper tray capacity. It holds a mere 60 sheets in the input tray and 25 sheets in the output tray. This means for anything more than a short print run, you’ll be refilling paper quite frequently. For users doing large batches of printing, this limitation can become quite inconvenient.
Understanding Ink Management: Instant Ink and Cartridge Economics
The HP DeskJet 2855e comes with 3 months of Instant Ink included, which can be a significant draw. HP’s Instant Ink service is designed to automatically send you new cartridges when your printer detects low ink levels, aiming to save money and hassle. For light to moderate users, this subscription can indeed be cost-effective, but it also ties you into HP’s ecosystem. Many users, myself included, have noted that HP printers tend to be aggressively protective of their ink, often updating firmware to block third-party or refilled cartridges. This can make the printer a loss leader for HP, with their primary revenue coming from ink sales. For some, it becomes cheaper to buy a new, inexpensive HP printer with included setup cartridges than to purchase a full set of genuine HP replacements for an older model.
Accessing and replacing the ink cartridges themselves can also be a minor pain point. Unlike older models where you might lift the entire top lid for easy access, the 2855e’s design requires a bit more dexterity. While I don’t have large hands, I found it a touch fiddly compared to previous HP printers. The promise of “print anytime from anywhere using your app” is also somewhat undercut by the need to load paper every time if you don’t want to leave the tray open, exposing the paper to dust. While this isn’t a dealbreaker for occasional printing, it’s a minor inconvenience for true “on-demand” printing.
Performance and Practical Considerations
Beyond the headline features, the day-to-day performance reveals a few more practical considerations. The item’s weight of 7.55 pounds makes it easy to move around if needed. The basic LCD display offers minimal feedback, relying heavily on the HP Smart app for detailed status updates and controls. While the print resolution is good, the maximum print speeds of 7.5 ppm for black and 5.5 ppm for color are, as mentioned, on the lower end. This makes the HP DeskJet 2855e better suited for intermittent tasks rather than continuous, high-volume output.
A more significant issue for some users, and one that I’ve personally experienced, involves connectivity stability. While generally reliable, the printer can sometimes randomly lose connection to the Wi-Fi or the HP Smart app, requiring a power cycle to restore functionality. This is frustrating when you’re in a hurry. I’ve also had instances where the printer indicated a paper jam when there was none, only to mysteriously clear itself after some fiddling. These occasional glitches, while not constant, can detract from the overall user experience. Despite these minor frustrations, the overall value and convenience for its intended purpose remain high.
What Users Are Saying: Real-World Experiences
After scouring the internet and engaging with other users, a clear picture of the HP DeskJet 2855e emerges. Many echoed my sentiment about the remarkably easy setup process, often praising the HP Smart app for its intuitive guidance. Its compact size was a frequently highlighted positive, perfect for small living spaces. Users appreciate the sharp print quality for everyday documents and the sheer convenience of wireless printing from their phones and laptops. The initial value, often cheaper than buying replacement ink for older models and including Instant Ink, was also a common theme. However, the manual duplex printing was a recurring point of contention, especially for students or teachers. Others noted the limited paper capacity and occasional connectivity quirks, like the phone screen issue or random Wi-Fi drops, as minor annoyances. Despite these small drawbacks, the overwhelming sentiment leans towards this being a solid, budget-friendly option for home printing needs.
Final Verdict: Is the HP DeskJet 2855e Right for You?
In conclusion, the problem of needing quick, reliable, and versatile printing capabilities at home without the hassle of external services is a common one, and failing to address it can lead to unnecessary stress and inefficiency. The HP DeskJet 2855e Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer is a great fit for this scenario. Its effortless setup, compact design, and robust all-in-one functionality make it an excellent choice for light to moderate home use. While it may not be the fastest or offer automatic duplexing, its convenience and value for money are undeniable. If you’re looking for a dependable home printer that gets the job done without breaking the bank or taking up too much space, this model is certainly worth considering. Click here to check the product out and see if it meets your needs!
Last update on 2025-09-10 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API