HP Envy Inspire 7955e All-in-One Printer review

The HP Envy Inspire 7955e All-in-One Printer is an excellent option for any small business, home office, or makeshift dorm room. HP calls it the “printer that prints everything so you can create anything,” from high-res vacation photos to black-and-white office documents for your next group project. This comprehensive printing platform also adds integrated ink management and a variety of other nifty features — including six months of free ink when you sign up for HP+.

• Still shopping? Check out more of the best printers right here 
• The best all-in-one printers can plow through printing projects at a pretty peppy pace
• The best laser printers have zippier output times than their inkjet brethren

HP Envy Inspire 7955e All-in-One Printer pricing and availability

The HP Envy Inspire 7955e All-in-One Printer costs $250, and that comes with a standard one-year warranty; if you sign up for HP+ during the setup process, this protection gets extended to two years. You can upgrade to a three- or four-year warranty ($45 or $60, respectively) when you purchase from HP’s site.

The HP Envy Inspire 7955e was designed for both productivity and play, and there’s an awful lot to like about the new HP+ platform. (More on that later.)  

HP Envy Inspire 7955e All-in-One Printer setup

Getting started with the HP Envy Inspire 7955e was a snap; I simply plugged the printer in, and the touchscreen automatically guided me through the rest of the process. Once I installed the two ink cartridges and loaded up the paper tray, I was good to go. Note: you can navigate HP Smart via your desktop or the mobile app, but throughout my testing, I preferred the latter.

During setup, you can sign up for HP+, which works in conjunction with the HP Smart printing app. If you opt in, you'll have the opportunity to try HP Instant Ink (free for your first six months) — ensuring new ink or toner cartridges are delivered to your doorstep before you run out. Once the trial period for HP Instant Ink is over, these plans start at $0.99 per month (estimating ink usage of only 15 pages during that time) and go all the way up to $24.99 (700 pages per month); this recurring fee might be impractical for the average household, but it could be perfect for small businesses and college kids. Or both, if you got ‘em.

As mentioned above, springing for HP+ will extend the warranty by an extra year. HP Smart lets you view ink levels at a glance; scan documents on the go, and print out vivid color photos from just about anywhere. When HP+ is activated, this app becomes more robust (indicated by the white ribbon at the top of the screen turning orange), allowing you to print, scan, and fax right from your phone in a variety of creative ways.

As I put the HP Envy Inspire 7955e through its paces, scanning and printing documents directly from my Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra smartphone became highly intuitive, with minimal lag between app selections and initial printer activity. 

HP Envy Inspire 7955e All-in-One Printer design and ease of use

There’s no denying it: the HP Envy Inspire 7955e looks basically identical to the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e. The 2.7-inch color touchscreen allows for easy menu selections, and it can be tilted to 45 degrees for better viewing; it was easy enough for my monkey-man hands to navigate, but choosing smaller icons took a somewhat delicate touch. 

On the backside of the printer you’ll find a power port and one host USB port, which is covered with a sticker. (You have to set the printer up via HP Smart, as opposed to a wired connection to your laptop.) Unfortunately, there’s no SD Card slot or USB memory port for printing/scanning from a thumb drive. Tsk, tsk.

Just like the OfficeJet Pro 9015e, the 35-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF) sits on top, and if you lift the lid, you’ll find the glass scanning area inside. There’s also a flip-down panel on the front of the printer for swapping out ink cartridges, and a 125-page input tray on the front, complete with a separate photo tray.

HP Envy Inspire 7955e All-in-One Printer print speeds

Using standard printing paper in its (smallish) 125-sheet input tray, the HP Envy Inspire 7955e holds its own with day-to-day home office chores. At default settings with the printer fully warmed up, it churned out my 5-page black-and-white text document in 27.8 seconds, or 10.9 ppm — a tad slower than the OfficeJet Pro 9015e (13.4 ppm as tested), which is designed for faster output. It printed out my 5-page mixed text and color graphics document in 46.7 seconds, or 6.4 ppm. 

Using the duplexer to create two-sided black-and-white prints, the HP Envy Inspire 7955e managed 5.8 ppm, nearly half the speed of the OfficeJet Pro 9015e’s 10 ppm for duplexing; in Enhanced Quiet Mode, it printed out that same test doc in 1 minute and 39.1 seconds, or 3.5 ppm. That’s markedly slower, to be sure, but I could absolutely notice the lowered decibel level as my document eked its way through, and the Envy Inspire 7955e’s chunky machinations didn’t sound nearly as harsh. That’ll impress your clients, no doubt (ie, the sleeping baby).  

Note: HP rates the HP Envy Inspire 7955e at up to 15 ppm for black-and-white documents, and up to 10 ppm for color copies.

HP Envy Inspire 7955e All-in-One Printer copy and scan speeds

Today’s top-tier all-in-one printers are also adroit at scanning and copying, and the Envy Inspire 7955e has the whole family covered when it comes to duplicating homework assignment sheets; polishing up group projects; or creating colorful flyers to help find somebody’s lost dog. It’s not as speedy as some of its competitors, though.  

The Envy Inspire 7955e scanned and printed a multicolored text doc at 2.9 ppm (5 ppm for black-and-white copies), which is far slower than the biz-centric OfficeJet Pro9015e (10 and 11.1 ppm, respectively). The former scanned and printed out a colorful Time Magazine cover in 1 minute and 23 seconds; the latter did the same chore in 1 minute and 40 seconds.  

Using the ADF to make single-sided copies of a black-and-white text document, the Envy Inspire 7955e managed 8.3 ppm, which is slightly slower than the OfficeJet Pro 9015e’s 10.4 ppm.

HP Envy Inspire 7955e All-in-One Printer print quality

Overall, I was fairly impressed with the HP Envy Inspire 7955e’s print quality, particularly when it came to finer details. Text was satisfactorily sharp and crisp in both color and black-and-white documents; no streaking was apparent. 

Glossy photos printed out with sharp, vivid hues, and color copies appeared true-to-life when scanning photographs. Tonal gradients came through just fine in my scans and copies, to a surprisingly accurate degree. In a direct comparison to prints produced by the similarly equipped OfficeJet Pro9015e, I have to give the HP Envy Inspire 7955e the edge.

HP Envy Inspire 7955e All-in-One Printer ink costs

HP offers both standard and high-yield ink cartridges for the HP Envy Inspire 7955e, ranging from $25 each for the former and up to $45 each for the latter. Standard color cartridges are rated for up to 700 pages, or 1,500 pages for the high-yield option; the $42 high-yield black ink cartridges are rated for up to 2,300 pages. That averages out to 3.5 cents per page for color cartridges — or 3 cents for high-yield — and 1.8 cents for high-yield black ink cartridges. 

One reason to consider the HP Envy Inspire 7955e All-in-One Printer, however, is HP Instant Ink (included with HP+ once activated), a monthly service that ensures new ink or toner cartridges are delivered to your door — before you even have the chance to run out. You get six months of free ink or toner when you sign up for an HP+ Print Plan, which is based on how many pages you expect to print on a regular basis. Plans range from $0.99 for just 15 pages per month to $24.99 for 700 pages; when your printer detects low ink levels, you can expect an ink delivery on the way, toot sweet. 

Verdict

The hybrid lifestyle is a family-wide scenario now, and bleeding-edge home office tools have become pivotal for our day-to-day productivity, to matter your profession (or creative passion). The HP Envy Inspire 7955e All-in-One Printer has something for everyone, and while it’s no speed demon in terms of printing speeds, it’s still a solid option for quality prints, copies, and scans. Once you factor in the handy HP Smart app, HP+ Instant Ink service, and a plethora of colorful extras, the HP Envy Inspire 7955e All-in-One Printer stands out as one of the best all-in-one printers you can buy today. 

• The HP OfficeJet 9015e All-in-One Printer offers quicker overall performance
• Check out more of the best home office accessories right here