REASONS TO BUY
Small size
Good graphic and photo quality for its price class
REASONS TO AVOID
Expensive operating cost
No duplex printing
Inconsistent quality for print jobs
HP ink cartridges only
HP discontinued the DeskJet 4155e.
HP DeskJet 4155e Review
A compact pick for casual home printing needs but is expensive to maintain
Credit: HP
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Our Verdict
The HP Deskjet 4155e is a mixed bag. On the one hand, it surprised us with its excellent photo and graphic print abilities for its low upfront cost. On the other hand, it has extremely high operating costs. It is also confined by HP's proprietary ink service, making possible workarounds obsolete. Overall, this printer makes sense for those whose priority is the low initial purchase price and want a high-quality printer capable of producing solid photo prints but don't use their printer often.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The HP Deskjet 4155e is a bit of a conundrum. It does excel at photo printing, but its excessive operating costs and general operating errors make it hard to recommend. Keep in mind that this machine cannot print duplex documents. Its high photo quality, coupled with its low initial purchase price, does make it stand out from the pack. If you don't print very often, this may not be a bad option.
Performance Comparison
You can print, copy, and scan with the 4155e.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Text Quality
The HP Deskjet 4155e did poorly in our text quality tests. Here we made prints of different sized text and examined them under a microscope. As you can see in the photo below, the text exhibited blurriness and a lack of crispness at the edges. We also observed inconsistent fills for bolded text and an inability to maintain sharpness for thin fonts. That said, the text quality is what we'd expect from such a low-cost printer.
Text appears streaked and fuzzy up close.
Credit: Lesley Robinson
Graphics and Photos
The HP DeskJet 4155e performed surprisingly well in our graphics and photos test metric. Prints were consistent, and at least from afar, details were sharp. However, under close inspection using a microscope, there was some very faint striping in parts of the images, and the details aren't as sharp as they seemed at first glance.
Graphics prints are surprisingly good from this affordable printer.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
That said, the colors were vibrant and sharp, and the HP DeskJet 4155e demonstrated respectable photo and graphic printing performance in our testing, considering its modest upfront cost.
The HP produces higher definition compared to other printers twice the price.
Credit: Lesley Robinson
Operating Cost
The HP Deskjet 4155e operating costs are undoubtedly high. Every 120 pages of monochrome prints will cost you $18, or $74.96 per ream. Color prints will set you back $94.95 per ream. That works out to 15 cents per page for black and white prints and 19 cents per page for color prints, which is nearly double the average cost for the entire test group.
With such high ink costs and frequent ink resupplies you'll quickly find this printer's upfront cost misleading. So, if you use your printer frequently, this unit isn't actually as cost-effective as it leads on. However, this could still be a decent budget printer if you'll only use it occasionally.
Ease of Use
The HP DeskJet 4155e performed pretty well overall in this metric but is limited by its small display screen. The initial setup is quite simple and is aided by the support of a mobile app, which we found to be easy to operate. The HP DeskJet 4155e also has a tiny display to indicate ink levels, paper loads, WiFi status, etc. That said, it makes pleasant noises to indicate when print jobs are complete, and ink cartridge replacements are simple.
The HP's tiny screen is compact but more difficult to use than larger screens found on more premium models.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Printing Speed
The HP DeskJet 4155e has no duplex printing capability; as such, it struggled a bit in our speed testing. During our mixed photo and text document test, this model crawled along, finishing the task in a slower 3 minutes and 45 seconds.
The HP DeskJet 4155e was too slow for our liking.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Full-page images took 5 minutes and 13 seconds, while our 10-page simplex test document printed in 59 seconds, or at a rate of 10 pages per minute — seven pages per minute less than the average for the test group. Again, this printer cannot print duplex documents, so potential buyers need to be aware of this limitation when considering it against other printers.
Should You Buy the HP DeskJet 4155e?
At a glance, the HP DeskJet 4155e doesn't look like a bad buy with its low purchase price, high-quality photo prints, compact size, and decent all-around performance. However, our testing revealed that its operating costs negate any cost savings you might be thinking you're getting by purchasing such an inexpensive printer. That said, if you're someone who doesn't print often, but when you do, you want photo (and other) prints to be high quality, and you don't need duplex printing ability, then the 4155e is an okay option.
What Other Printers Should You Consider?
Ultimately, the HP Deskjet 4155e is hard to recommend to anyone outside of the casual printer user who wants high-quality photo prints. Options like the Epson Workforce Pro WF-4820 present a much lower operating cost while still producing high-quality photographs. Of course, for greater text quality, faster speed, and more reasonable operating costs, you'll want to take a look at a more premium printer like the HP OfficeJet 8015e Wireless Color.
The HP is not a top printer in our lineup, but it is certainly respectable for its modest price.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
—Lesley Robinson and Benjamin Hickok
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