Verdict
The HP Envy Inspire 7220e is a relatively quick and fairly priced multi - function printing machine . However , you ’ll only get decent farsighted - term time value by paying for an ink magazine subscription ,
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
If you ’re going to call your inkjet pressman the ENVY Inspire 7220e , it ought to be rather good . On newspaper , HP ’s high - end domicile multifunction peripheral ( MFP ) take care like it is .
It ’s stand up with utile feature such as automatic duplex printing and a dedicated photo newspaper tray . It also has touchscreen controls to make everyday job wanton .
But while it also offer cheap ink through HP ’s Instant Ink scheme , you ’ll need to accept certain restriction in gild to benefit . Here are my idea on how it stacks up against thebest printersavailable .
Design and features
The HP ENVY Inspire 7220e sit down towards the top closing of HP ’s chain of mountains of home MFPs . It can print , scan and copy , but it has no fax modem or robotic document feeder for multi - page scans or copies .
All the same , this is a well - specified gimmick , supporting wireless networks , volunteer automatic duplex apartment ( double - sided ) impression , and being assure via a smart color touchscreen .
While rival Epson and Canon are strain their refillable ink tank printer ranges , HP seems instead to be focusing on lowering the price of pickup printing . The 7220e is compatible with HP ’s Instant Ink subscription service , which sees the pressman society new cartridge as your subsist ones get humbled on ink .
This printing machine also supports HP+ . Sign up for that and you ’ll get Instant Ink free for six month , after which monthly subscriptions range from 99p for up to 10 pages per month , to £ 22.49 for 700 varlet . cull the urge 100 - page plan for £ 4.49 , print all 100 Page every month , and that ’s 4.5p per Sir Frederick Handley Page – about half what you ’d pay to be given a distinctive , cartridge - based inkjet .
There are a couple of catches , however . To use minute Ink you ’ll want an internet connectedness , and you must agree to provide HP with sure information on your pressman consumption . And if you also enable HP+ , you agree to firmware update that may forbid you using third - company ( i.e. non - HP ) cartridge .
Do n’t like the strait of that ? You ’ll have to grease one’s palms HP ’s 303XL cartridges or else , which will shape out at an expensive 12p per Thomas Nelson Page .
Whether you ’re buying the magazine or having them sent through Instant Ink , your run costs will be higher than with an ink tank pressman , which typically cost less than 1p per page to go . However , the Envy Inspire 7220e is significantly brassy to corrupt than its ink tank rivals . If you only print in small intensity , it could prove better economic value .
HP ’s magazine can be returned for refilling , and the pressman itself is made from a claimed 45 % reprocess charge card . That ’s skillful for the environment , but it ’s unsatisfying that the 7220e make it in shaping shrink wrapper , and is soften by non - recyclable charge card foam . HP is by no means the only offender among printer manufacturers , but I do care everyone would use only cardboard buffers , which have been around for decades .
This is an light printer to set up on an Android or iOS gadget . It ’s prosperous to mark up on a microcomputer , too , but only if you stand by with the default HP Smart software package – and this only includes a WIA scan driver , which offer up circumscribed control and functionality .
We require better for our tests , so I searched Google to find the HP Easy Start software , which includes a full TWAIN scan driver . HP ’s latest printer are protected by an eight - digit PIN , which you need to regain and move into to terminate the Easy Start install , or make any contour changes via the printer ’s web port .
With the cartridges and software set up , all that remain is to load up unpatterned composition in the principal tray , and optionally sum up 10x15 curium ( 6×4″ ) or 13x18 curium ( 5×7″ ) exposure paper to the 2d tray .
Print speed and quality
It ’s not unusual to encounter trouble when installing a printing machine , but the Envy Inspire 7220e saved up a bout of misbehaviour for the 24-hour interval after I first set it up . When I render to begin our clock test , I instantly observe that print job were spool very slowly , with the printer adopt more than 30 seconds to even begin publish a first Thomas Nelson Page of text . Then it would conk , failing to complete the caper .
After the common round of reboots , I render installing the printing machine on a dissimilar PC only to experience the same job . Repositioning the 7220e closer to our wireless router did n’t seem to help , either . I ’ve antecedently encountered an issue where two recent HP printer would n’t work happily with WPA3 encryption , but switching this off did n’t help oneself this metre .
finally I line up that this MFP worked perfectly from my Chromebook , which I used to perform our clock print tests . I could n’t glance over from the Chromebook , but by the next day the problem had magically resolve themselves and I was able to make our timed scan test from a microcomputer as usual . regrettably by this point the 722e was too blue on ink to repeat our print tests . While frustrating for me , I ’d be wary of drawing any fast conclusions from this – it ’s possible there ’s just something specific about my connection that late HP printers do n’t like .
Issues aside , the Inspire 7220e show to be a reasonably spry pressman . It needed 17 seconds to produce a first Sir Frederick Handley Page of text , and proceed on to nail five Page in 39 seconds – a rate of 7.7 pages per minute ( ppm ) . On our 20 - page problem it pass 10.2ppm .
outstandingly , it was n’t much slower in color , hitting 6.4ppm over five pages , and an impressive 8.1ppm over 20 Thomas Nelson Page . The 7220e printed six mailing-card - sized photos in just over seven minutes , but I could n’t set the usual high-pitched lineament options using my Chromebook – I ’d expect each print to take around two minutes at the very high quality available on a PC .
This MFP has a ready enough scanner . It could preview a written document in 10 endorsement , and get a 150 dots - per - column inch ( dpi ) A4 scan in just 11 seconds . At a more elaborate 300dpi , the same line took 20 indorsement .
At 600dpi , I catch a 10x15 centimetre exposure in 47 seconds , which is n’t speculative , but at the maximal 1200dpi the same line took two and a half minutes . In black only , photocopy were quick : a standard A4 caper took 21 second . This printing machine needed 40 seconds for a colour page , but the tone of both tests was beneficial .
The HP ENVY Inspire 7220e uses a pigment black ink , which helps it grow laconic and dingy textual matter on plain paper . To the naked oculus , printed eccentric is almost as good as you ’d get from a laser gadget . This printer ’s cyan , magenta and sensationalistic color inks are dye - establish , but they still render strong colour computer graphic .
It ’s a bit more of a mixed bag on photograph papers , cave in that pigment inks tend to ride on top of the paper ’s glossary finish . While moving-picture show from the 7220e looked good , they had an inconsistent finish on darker national , with the darkest shades observably less glossy .
The Envy Inspire 7220e is a perfectly good written document scanner , making nicely balanced , crisply focussed copy of our mag page test . I was also print by its dynamical range : it could distinguish all but the darkest couple of shade in our intriguing test target .
pic scan also looked secure at a glance , but HP ’s scan port seems to apply some digital sharpening which ca n’t be turned off . Zoom in and you might notice colour boundaries looking by artificial means strong , with the loss of some fine contingent elsewhere .
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Should you buy it?
:
The HP Inspire 7220e is fairly quick , produce decorous termination , and can be quite cheap to run
Save for its touch screen , this MFP does n’t really do anything brilliantly
Final Thoughts
This is a fairly priced MFP that ought to wrap up the requirements of the typical home . It ’s relatively quick , and generally produces decent result . It has fairish running costs , too , but only if you embrace the melodic theme of paying a subscription to print . While Instant Ink works well for many , I generally prefer the estimate of buy ink for myself when I need it , peculiarly if it ’s cheaper still and comes in big bottles .
Trusted Score
How we test
Every printer we review goes through a series of undifferentiated bank check designed to approximate key things including mark tone , pep pill and cost .
We ’ll also compare the feature with other printer at the same price point to see if you ’re getting good value for your money .
FAQs
Yes , the HP Envy Inspire 7220e has a scanner .
Yes , it even has a dedicated photo tray .