HP's success in the printing industry began in 1984 with the launch of the LaserJet. The company not only offered a high-quality printer, but also established standards for printing that have been widely adopted. This legacy continues to this day, despite the presence of competitive products in the market.
HP advertises this product as a printing solution for the home and on that point I have to agree. Businesses are less interested in the frills and just want lots of high quality output for the lowest possible price.
Unboxing is straightforward with the primary task being the removal of packing tape from anything that opens or closes. There is nothing that needs to be assembled.
HP wants you to use their app for this purpose so have your phone or computer handy. As luck would have it I briefly lost my internet during the install process but I was able to resume without issue. My biggest fear is I will break something while trying to install the ink cartridges but they are installed easily.
The printer is equipped with both USB 2.0 and dual-band WiFi (2.4Ghz and 5Ghz) compatibility, including 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, which is ideal for use with a WiFi hotspot or a router that only supports the 5Ghz frequency.
It should be noted the ink cartridges provided in the box are just to get you started and you should plan to either buy additional ink cartridges soon or sign up for their smart ink subscription service.
The HP Instant Ink service allows your printer to automatically order new ink cartridges when the current ones are running low. You will be notified by the printer and by HP when the new cartridges have been ordered and shipped. The replacement cartridges also come with a prepaid recycling envelope for disposing of the used cartridges. The cost of the service is based on your anticipated usage, with plans starting at $3.99 for 50 pages per month and $5.99 for 100 pages per month. To put this in perspective, a typical set of ink cartridges for this printer can cost around $65 and last for 600 pages. By subscribing to the HP Instant Ink service for 6 months at the 100 pages per month plan, you would pay $36. Additionally, when you purchase the printer, your first 6 months of ink are free.
I used the printer for two weeks performing various printing functions which included the printing of images. I had no difficulty printing single and double sided. The text was crisp and sharp and the colors true to form. The specifications state up to 22 pages per minute but that can depend on the content being printed. I found it interesting that the printer would occasionally pause on multi page jobs to let the ink dry on the current page before printing the next. The performance felt adequate for a home printer.
I was most interested in the scanning capabilities. You have to use the app for this task and it turns out to be a good solution. You can do single page scans from the deck or multi page scans from the automatic document feeder (ADF).
Another interesting feature is the ability to scan using your phone’s camera. I’m not sure I see a use case for this but it's there if you need it.
Copying mimics scanning in its functionality and this can be easily managed using the printer’s control panel or the app.
Faxes are not popular today and the need to send a fax may be niche. I did not test this functionality.
The HP ENVY Inspire 7955e is a suitable option for those seeking a versatile and feature-rich printer for home use. It can be purchased from Amazon for $269.89, with the potential for additional discounts in the future. When compared to similar products from other brands such as Epson, Brother and Canon, this printer is priced competitively.