There are a lot of models of printers available on the market. This is great because you can always find what you want; however, the searching process can be a little overwhelming.
HP is one of the well-established companies when it comes to printers and laptops and PCs.
There is no surprise HP owns a big share of the printers market. Their devices are easy to use and have an attractive design. Envy 5055 is the latest printer in their home inkjet line.
In this article, we will tell you everything you need to know about this printer so that you understand its capabilities and decide if it is the printer that you should be getting.
Table of Contents
At A Glance:
At first glance, HP ENVY 5055 looks like a professional printer. There is no much difference between this model and other HP home office printers of the same type.
There is a 2.2 inches touchscreen display with a monochromatic screen that is easy to use and read.
The printer has one USB 2.0 slot, but unfortunately, you can’t use it for USB printing.
Pros:
- Durable with an attractive design
- Low upfront cost
- HP Instant Ink available
- Can connect you your smartphone
- Multiple connectivity options
- Supports a variety of media types and sizes
- Touchscreen interface
- Excellent print quality
- Affordable
Cons:
- High running costs (if you don’t take HP Instant Ink)
- Doesn’t support Ethernet cable or SD card
- The touchscreen sometimes loses responsiveness
- Slow printing speed
- No Automatic Document Feeder
- Only 1-year warranty
HP ENVY 5055 Full Review
Design
As mentioned above, almost all HP Home Inkjet line has the same design. The printer is compact and designed to fit on your desk without taking up much space.
The printer is made to print around 400 sheets a month and is not suitable for hard printing work.
The printer uses a standard horizontal paper tray, which means that the paper goes through a rubber roller, and that makes the printer only compatible with materials that can be bent.
HP decided to go with the rubber roller instead of using top-loading printing- that allows you to use materials that can’t bend- to save space and make the printer more compact.
The printer seems too generic when it comes to the build, but it’s not even close to being generic when it comes to performance.
Set UP
HP spent a long time struggling with the complexity of the installation of their printers. After years of development, they have managed to refine the process and make it a lot easier than it used to be.
Once you setup your printer, you can install the HP Smart App, which will help you manage your printer.
Print Quality
The Envy 5055 uses ordinary A4 paper to operate. The minimum sheet size that you can use with the printer is 3 x 5 inches, and the maximum is 8.5 x 11.7 inches. It offers a maximum resolution of 1200 x 1200 for monochrome and 4800 x 1200 pixels for color.
The quality of the printed photos is high, and you shouldn’t expect other inkjet models from HP to offer you better quality, even the more expensive ones.
Check also: The 5 Best 11×17 Printers 2020 [Buying Guide]
Printing Speed
It’s frustrating that HP has been making printers for over 20 years, and they never worked on their speed. If you already use an HP printer, don’t expect to see any improvements in the speed with this model, because there isn’t!
Connectivity
The Envy 5055 supports Wi-Fi connectivity, and you can easily connect it to multiple devices. The set up can be a little complicated at first, but once you get a solid grasp of how things go, you will be able to get there faster.
Moreover, it supports Bluetooth connectivity owing to the inclusion of a second wireless antenna within the printer.
Unfortunately, some connectivity options are not found in the printer like the Ethernet port or digital memory sticks. This means that the only way to connect to the printer is through a wireless gateway, which shouldn’t be an issue because the Envy 5055 supports Apple air print, Mopria Print, and HP ePrint.
Ink and Toner
There are no drastic changes with the ink systems in HP printers. The printer can handle two cartridges; one for black and the other for color. The color cartridge consists of cyan, yellow, and magenta colors.
When you first get the printer, you get a pair of cartridges preinstalled in the printer. The downside is that these cartridges are smaller than average and can only handle around 100 prints before the need to replace them.
On the bright side, once you dump the originally included cartridges, you can get ones with a higher capacity.
What’s Included in The Box?
- HP Envy 5055 printer
- Setup guide
- Power Cord
- HP 65 setup Black instant ink ready cartridge
- HP 65 setup Tri-color instant ink ready cartridge
- Ink caution flyer
- Instant Ink Flyer
Users’ Reviews on Amazon
Most customers are satisfied with the printer when it comes to using the printer and its setup.
The only bugging thing is that you need to sign up to Instant Ink at some point during the setup process, which is something that people have an issue escaping.
Connecting to other devices is rarely an issue for anyone, but some customers didn’t like the slow printing process.
Final Verdict
HP Envy 5055 is an excellent printer that provides all the printing basics in good measures, and one of the best Chromebook compatible printers. If you are looking for a printer to use at home that is both compact and affordable without compromising the print quality, then this printer is an excellent choice.
Signing up to Instant Ink is one of the blessings of using the printer because you can manage your ink through it and know the status of the ink cartridges.
If you are looking for a printer that will offer you more than the basic printing need, then you should probably check out the HP OfficeJet line instead.