The HP Color LaserJet Pro M454dw is a decent color laser printer for small offices. Like most laser models, it has an exceptionally high black and color page yield, which leads to fewer replacements of the toner cartridges and a lower cost-per-print. It has excellent printing speed, supports the most common paper sizes, and can automatically perform duplex printing. It's very well-built, and its outstanding connectivity options include support for AirPrint, Mopria, and USB thumb drives. The mobile app is decent, but unfortunately, it can't print Microsoft Office files. Also, its lack of a scanner might be a problem for some offices, and its poor photo printing quality makes it less ideal for family use.
Our Verdict
The HP Color LaserJet Pro M454dw is mediocre for family use. Although its cost-per-print for black-only printing is remarkably low, the color toner cartridges are fairly expensive, which adds up quickly over time if you frequently print in color. Also, it doesn't have a scanner, and its photo printing quality is poor.
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Great cost-per-print.
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Outstanding connectivity options.
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Excellent color accuracy.
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No scanner.
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Poor photo printing quality.
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Mobile app can't print Microsoft Office files.
The HP Color LaserJet Pro M454dw printer is decent for small or home offices. It yields a high number of black and color pages, and it prints quickly, making it ideal for offices that regularly print in bulk. It supports most paper sizes and provides easy access to paper jams. However, the lack of a scanner might be a dealbreaker for some offices.
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Exceptional black and color page yield.
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Excellent printing speed.
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Outstanding connectivity options.
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No scanner.
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Mobile app can't print Microsoft Office files.
The HP Color LaserJet Pro M454dw is decent for student use. It has outstanding connectivity options, including support for AirPrint, Mopria, and USB thumb drives. It's relatively cheap to print in black, but it can get costly if you print in color often. Unfortunately, it lacks a scanner, and HP's mobile app doesn't support Microsoft Office files.
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Great cost-per-print.
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Excellent printing speed.
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Outstanding connectivity options.
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No scanner.
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Mobile app can't print Microsoft Office files.
The HP Color LaserJet Pro M454dw is excellent for printing black and white documents due to its high page yield and low cost-per-print. It takes a while to get the first page of a document out, but it prints subsequent pages much faster once it's warmed up.
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Exceptional black and color page yield.
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Excellent printing speed.
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Outstanding connectivity options.
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No scanner.
The HP M454dw is okay for printing photos. It has excellent color accuracy, but there's a lot of graininess in the pictures, and they lack fine detail. The color cartridges are somewhat expensive, though, so it can get very costly if you print a lot.
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Excellent printing speed.
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Excellent color accuracy.
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Poor photo printing quality.
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Can't print on 2" x 3".
- 6.0 Family
- 7.3 Small/Home Office
- 7.3 Student
- 8.5 Black & White
- 6.7 Casual Photo
- Updated Dec 01, 2020: Review published.
- Updated Nov 26, 2020: Early access published.
- Updated Nov 20, 2020: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Nov 16, 2020: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Nov 12, 2020: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
- Updated Nov 07, 2020: The product has won our suggestion poll, so we'll buy and test it soon.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the HP Color LaserJet Pro M454dw. There's an HP Color LaserJet Pro M454dn variant that's almost identical, but it has a two-line LCD screen and lacks wireless connectivity. This printer is part of the HP LaserJet Pro 400 Series of printers and all-in-ones, some of which you can see in the table below.
| Model | Color | Scanner |
|---|---|---|
| M404dw | No | No |
| M454dw | Yes | No |
| MFP M428fdw | No | Yes |
| MFP M479fdw | Yes | Yes |
Our unit was manufactured in July 2019; you can see the label here.
Compared To Other Printers
The HP LaserJet Pro M454dw is a decent printer for small or home offices. It has an exceptionally high page yield for both black and color printing, and it prints very quickly. However, the lack of a scanner might be a dealbreaker for some offices, and its poor photo printing quality makes it less ideal for family use. For more options, check out our recommendations for the best laser printers, the best printers for small businesses, and the best office printers.
The HIP Color LaserJet Pro M454dw and the HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw are very similar printers. However, the M454dw performs better overall due to its higher page yield and faster printing speed. That said, the M255dw and its toner cartridges are cheaper, making it a better choice for those with a lighter print load.
The HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M479fdw is a variant of the HP Color LaserJet Pro M454dw but with a scanner added. The M479fdw also has a higher color page yield and a better display screen. However, the M454dw has a better black page yield, and it's a little faster at printing black and white documents.
The HP Color LaserJet Pro M454dw and the Brother HL-L3270CDW Laser are similar in features, as they're both color laser printers that don't include a scanner. The HP is a bit better due to its higher page yield, faster printing speed, and external storage support. On the other hand, the Brother's mobile app allows you to print Microsoft Office files, which the HP's can't.
Overall, the HPI Color LaserJet Pro M454dw is much better than the Lexmark B2236dw. The HP has a higher black page yield and a significantly better display screen, and it can print in color. However, the Lexmark has a faster printing speed and a better mobile app.
Test Results
The HP Color LaserJet Pro M454dw has an excellent build and design, almost identical to the HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw. It's entirely made out of plastic, but it feels sturdy and there are no loose parts. The power cord is removable, making it easy to replace should it get damaged. It provides easy access to the toner cartridges, and you don't need to turn the printer on to change them. Paper jams are accessible through a removable hatch on the back.
The HP 454dw is fairly compact since it doesn't have a scanner, but despite its small size, it's very heavy.
The display screen is good. It's relatively large and visible whether you're standing or sitting. It's touch-sensitive, and there are three additional buttons on the left side. It's a bit laggy and unresponsive at times, and the interface is tedious to navigate as you have to repeatedly swipe down from the top to access the various settings.
- Power cord
- USB-A to USB-B cable
- User guide
- Set of HP 414A toner and drum units:
- 1 x HP Blk W2020A Black toner/drum unit
- 1 x HP C W2021A Cyan toner/drum unit
- 1 x HP Y W2022A Yellow toner/drum unit
- 1 x HP M W2023A Magenta toner/drum unit
The HP LaserJet Pro M454dw has an exceptional cartridge system. It has an incredibly high black and color page yield, which means you don't have to replace the toner cartridges as frequently. We didn't test any third-party toner cartridges because HP only recommends using their cartridges.
The HP Color LaserJet Pro M454dw doesn't have a scanner.
The HP LaserJet Pro M454dw's cost-per-print is great. Due to its high black page yield, the black toner cartridge doesn't need frequent replacement, which helps keep the cost of black-only printing low in the long run. However, the color cartridges need to be replaced more often, so the cost of color printing rises much faster the more you print. All the cartridges are somewhat expensive but keep in mind that the drum unit is built into the cartridge, so you don't have to replace it manually.
Excellent printing speed. It takes a while to get the first page of a document out, but it picks up speed significantly once it's warmed up. It prints color documents faster than black documents, and photos also come out quickly. The main input tray can hold 250 sheets of paper, while the multi-purpose tray can hold up to 50 sheets. The output tray can hold up to 150 sheets. If you need something that prints faster and has a much larger input tray capacity, check out the HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M554dn.
Color accuracy is excellent; however, most colors are still somewhat inaccurate, especially the greens and blues. It should be fine if you're just adding some colors to a document or chart, but it might not be good enough for those who require exact color reproduction.
Like most laser printers, the HP M454dw has poor photo printing quality. Photos look grainy and lack detail, but on the upside, color accuracy is pretty decent.
These results are based on the actual physical photo, not the scanned image provided for reference above, which may not represent the actual photo print quality.
This printer supports most common paper sizes up to the standard legal size.
The HP LaserJet Pro M454dw has outstanding connectivity options. The only thing that it's missing is Bluetooth support. HP advertises Bluetooth capability, but it can only be used for the initial setup. The external storage support is only for USB thumb drives, not SD cards.
The HP Smart mobile app is decent. It lets you print, copy, and even scan documents using your mobile device's camera. However, it can't print Microsoft Office files, .txt files, and webpages. You can perform maintenance tasks like checking the toner level as well as order replacement toner and supplies.