HP Smart Tank 7602 All-in-One printer review

The HP Smart Tank 7602 All-In-One printer is deserving of many superlatives, starting with its potent productivity-enhancing feature set, easy setup, speediness, with beautiful text and image printing. It took me just a few moments to go from plugged into wireless printing from my cell phone and laptop. I love plug-and-play devices and I love devices that come up with clever solutions. The HP Smart Tank succeeds at being a clever problem-solver while also improving productivity, thanks to its user-friendly setup. 

The other great feature is cost-effectiveness, which small business owners and families on a budget will appreciate. The smart tank system is rated to produce 6,000 black text pages and 8,000 color pages which will save you money. I can’t tell you how much money I have spent in the past on ink, so this is game-changing. Oh, I forgot to mention it’s also quite attractive and its touch screen control bar works beautifully. I could go but it’s best to follow the HP Smart Tank 7602’s fine example and get to the work of sharing why in my humble opinion this is one of the best all-in-one printers available right now.

HP Smart Tank 7602 All-in-One Printer pricing and availability

The HP Smart Tank 7602 All-in-One Printer costs $524.99 and comes with a standard one-year warranty. You can upgrade to a two or three-year warranty ($104 or $126, respectively) when you purchase from HP’s site.

HP claims the included ink could last up to two years depending on your printing volume, which is a significant advantage over the sometimes meager starter ink cartridges included with printers.

HP Smart Tank 7602 All-in-One Printer setup

Setting up the HP Smart Tank 7602 was a breeze. Once plugged in, I followed the instructions given to me via the display bar and I was up and printing once I filled up the ink tanks and popped the printer head in. It took me less than ten minutes to complete the setup, but it only took that long because I also connected two laptops and cellphones via the HP Smart app.

Several people I know do not appreciate the Smart app setup and prefer to just plug it into their computer, and I respect that preference, but in my opinion, using the HP Smart app is fast, easy, and allows me to set up multiple devices far more quickly, especially in a home/office setting.

I immediately started testing the 7602’s printing, and scanning capabilities from my OnePlus 10 Pro, and there was no lag or issues to speak of. It printed beautiful text, and images scanned flawlessly via the HP Smart app.

HP Smart Tank 7602 All-in-One Printer design and ease of use 

The HP Smart Tank 7602 All-n-One has a very clean look and sanitized aesthetic that I appreciate. Its tri-tone white, blue, and gray coloring gives it some business casual curb appeal.

On the front of the Smart Tank, we find HP’s logo and the 3-inch touchscreen MGD (Mono Graphics Display) which reminds me of Apple’s unpopular TouchBar that haunted the MacBooks for a while. Although it didn’t work for a laptop I find it functions wonderfully on a printer. Its responsiveness is excellent when you touch or slide your fingers against it as you select and use different functions. Three ink tank windows on the right are clearly marked with their correlating color and give users a visual ink level readout. The 250-sheet paper tray is front-facing and has a pop-out paper catcher so you don’t have to worry about your printed pages flying all over the place.

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On the left front of the printer, we find the black ink level window, power button, and a USB Type-A port. On the back is the ethernet port that allows you to connect the 7602 directly to your router for networking as well as the USB Type-B port for directly connecting your printer to your computer via the supplied USB Type-A to USB Type-B cable. Finally, you have a telephone jack for the fax and the DC-in power port. There are also access doors on the rear in case you have to deal with a paper jam. At the top, we find the 35-page paper feeder for when you are scanning or copying multiple pages. The output tray is rated to handle 100 sheets. 

You can control all of your printing, scanning, copying, and faxing easily via the 3-inch touch screen, smartphone application, or desktop software. The user-friendliness of the HP Smart Tank 7602 is what I find impressive. One of the neat features I like is that if you’re working from your office, but want to print a document at home, you can send the document to your 7602 at home, and it won’t print until you’re home, within direct view of the printer. This keeps your document private and for your eyes only.

HP Smart Tank 7602 All-in-One Printer print speeds

The HP Smart Tank 7602 comes with a 250 sheet tray which is sizeable for an inkjet printer and allows you to go a while between refilling the tray depending on what your average print needs. I printed out a five-page laptop brochure with text and images in black and white. I did so three times to see if my results were accurate. On average the 7602 printed black and white at a rate of 15.2 pages per min when you do the math. Which falls within the advertised 15 pages per min the unit is rated for. I then printed the same document in color three times and it averaged a spot on 9 pages per minute, which is what HP has it rated for.

It felt even faster than that, but most importantly, the blazing speed did not affect with quality of the print job one bit. I printed up a black and white headshot on regular copy paper and was impressed by the print quality. 

I then used the duplexer to create two-sided black-and-white prints, the HP Smart Tank 7602 managed 6.1 ppm printing the same document I used previously. I repeated the double-sided print job in color and got 5.7 ppm, with excellent quality. I do like that the unit will pause briefly before printing on the other side, to give the ink time to dry. While print speeds were very quick during each of these tasks, print quality was never affected.

HP Smart Tank 7602 All-in-One Printer copy and scan speed 

The copy and scan functions on the HP Smart Tank 7602 Al-in-One are quick and easy to use either via the display or application. The 35-sheet feeder worked flawlessly, as I scanned and copied documents and images. You can scan at a 1200 x 1200 dpi to BMP, JPEG, TIFF, PDF, and PNG formats. The flatbed size is 8.5 x 11.69 with the ability to scan documents up to 8.5 x 14 inches. You can also scan and make copies via the desktop and smartphone apps.

I used the HP Smart Tank to scan and print a multicolored text document at 3.5 ppm (8 ppm for black-and-white copies), which is far slower than the biz-centric OfficeJet Pro9015e (10 and 11.1 ppm, respectively). The Smart Tank scanned and printed out a colorful Time Magazine cover in 1 minute and 23 seconds; the OfficeJet did the same chore in 1 minute and 40 seconds.

Using the auto document feeder to make black and white copies the 7602 managed a speedy 13 ppm in my testing and 10.5 ppm to make double-sided black and white copies, which bested the slightly slower OfficeJet Pro 9015e’s 10.4 ppm.

HP Smart Tank 7602 All-in-One Printer print quality

I absolutely loved printing photos with the HP Smart Tank 7602 AIO as its ability to reproduce fine detail was stunning. I take a lot of photos and the 7602 rendered my images gorgeously whether I used photo paper or copy paper, in either black and white or color. Images were crisp, clean, and highly detailed, with no bleed. 

On the glossy photo paper, the colors were professional level and stunning.I was shocked by the clarity and I would use the images I printed in frames any day. I accidentally printed a black and white headshot taken of me by famed photographer Mark Mann on copy paper and it was fantastic, with even the individual hairs on my beard cleanly reproduced. The HP Smart Tank’s print quality is a major victory and if you’re someone who likes to print your own photos, you will not be disappointed. Also when printing documents the text was tight, sharp and had that nice crisp natural boldness you want against a white page so that your text stands out and is easily readable.

HP Smart Tank 7602 All-in-One Printer ink costs

HP offers both standard and high-yield ink cartridges for the HP Smart Tank 7602, ranging from $14.99 each for the standard and $16.89 for the high yield. You get 8,000 color prints out of the standard and 6,000 from the high yield black which means your cost per print is incredibly low starting at 1.8 cents per color print and 2.8 cents per print in black. Over the life of the printer, you will save a great deal of money.

Bottom line

The HP Smart Tank 7602 AIO is designed with productivity and budget in mind. The initial purchase cost ($529) may cause you to think twice but in the grand scheme of things, it's a good buy thanks to its smart tank design and the affordable ink costs. With the HP Smart Tank 7602, high-volume printing becomes far more economical and when you see the flawless quality of your prints, you will not be disappointed. 

The $500+ upfront cost may rule it out for some home users, but, for a small business, it is a perfect choice. With easy setup, excellent features, and free user-friendly apps for smartphones, tablets, and desktops readily available, the HP Smart Tank 7602 AIO with its long-lasting ink will end up saving money over time.