HP Officejet Pro X476dw review

INK COSTS AND PRINT QUALITY

Ink for this printer comes in long plastic tanks that slot in just under the control panel. For new printers there’s a one-off 20-minute priming process, but you can set up drivers and change settings while this process is underway. There are just four consumables, available in XL sizes rated for 9,200 black or 6,600 colour pages. Using these, print costs work out at just 0.7p for a black page, or 3.7p for black and colour. While that’s massively cheaper than an equivalent laser, we should point out that there are separate standards for measuring inkjet and laser yield, so prices aren’t exactly comparable.

This MFP doesn’t just give laser printers a run for their money when it comes to speed and running costs; its print quality stands close comparison too. Although there isn’t the sheen you get from a laser’s toner, black text seemed dark and perfectly sharp to the naked eye. Graphics were very good, with strong colours and smooth shade transitions, while photos were also impressive, even on standard 80gsm office paper. Prints weren’t quite perfect, however, as those with keen eyes could pick out a small amount of graining in some regions. Overall, we suspect that no-one who received prints from the X476dw, and precious few who used it, would ever suspect it wasn’t a laser device.

SCANNING

It’s not all good news. We’re always complaining about HP’s scan software for the PC, and unfortunately we’re stuck with it here. While it’s fine for most office tasks, there’s only a limited set of pre-defined resolutions available, and a frustrating lack of options for those who want to make more advanced changes. Scans were quick up to 600 dots per inch (dpi), and our 300dpi document looked perfect, but we weren’t impressed with the image produced from our test photo when scanned at 600dpi or 1,200dpi: in both cases it appeared to have been sharpened, and looked artificial.

^ It’s a shame HP’s scan interface isn’t better. These advanced options are anything but

^ HP’s Android app is excellent. Here we’re scanning a document

We suspect that this result doesn’t reflect any problem with the scan hardware, which helps the X476dw produce excellent black-only or colour copies. It’s no copying slouch, delivering a single mono page in just eight seconds, and needing only a second longer for a colour page. ADF copies aren’t quite as remarkably quick, but at 37 seconds for a 10-page mono document and 51 seconds in colour, they’re still comfortably ahead or level with similar lasers. Our only criticism here is that the ADF doesn’t fold closed, so dust could get in if you don’t use it often.

CONCLUSION

Taken purely on its price, design, performance and running costs, the X476dw is clearly ahead of the competition. It’s a deserved winner of our Best Buy award. The fact that it’s an inkjet, and that it’s beating lasers at their own game, shows just how much things have changed.