The HP ENVY 5055 is a simple all-in-one printer that's meant as a budget option for those with basic needs. Its flatbed scanner meets the needs of most families or students, but the lack of an automatic document feeder makes it less suitable for those who need to scan multi-page documents. It has a two-cartridge system and both cartridges have poor yield, making its overall cost-per-print quite high. Also, it prints at a snail's pace when it comes to black and color documents, although it's much faster at printing photos compared to other printers. Photos look decent, and surprisingly, the printer's color accuracy is excellent. There's no ethernet or external storage support, but thankfully, you can perform most tasks wirelessly with HP's mobile app.
Our Verdict
The HP ENVY 5055 is a mediocre printer for family use. Although it prints fairly decent photos, it gets very expensive if you print often due to the cartridge's low yield. Additionally, it's slow at printing black and color documents. The scanner only has a flatbed, so it's not the best option if you need to scan long multi-page documents. On the upside, it has excellent color accuracy, and it's compatible with the HP Smart mobile app, which lets you perform most tasks from your smartphone.
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Excellent color accuracy.
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Decent photo printing quality.
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Decent mobile app support.
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Terrible black and color page yield.
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High cost-per-print.
The HP ENVY 5055 is a terrible printer for small or home offices. The scanner lacks an automatic document feeder to process multi-page documents. Its black and color page yields are both low, which means you have to replace the cartridges regularly if you print a lot. It's also slow at printing black and color documents, and it lacks an ethernet port.
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Terrible black and color page yield.
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No automatic document feeder.
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Slow printing speed.
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High cost-per-print.
The HP ENVY 5055 is a poor printer for students. Both the black and color ink cartridges run out quickly, so you end up having to replace the cartridges often, which adds up fast if you print regularly. Furthermore, it's slow at printing black and color documents. It does have decent connectivity options, though, but sadly, there's no support for external storage devices of any kind.
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Decent mobile app support.
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Terrible black and color page yield.
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Slow printing speed.
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High cost-per-print.
The HP ENVY 5055 is a bad printer for printing black and white documents. The black cartridge runs out very quickly, so it needs to be replaced often, making it expensive to print in the long run. Also, it's slow at printing black and white documents.
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Terrible black and color page yield.
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Slow printing speed.
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High cost-per-print.
The HP ENVY 5055 is a decent printer for printing photos. It prints photos at a fairly quick pace and the photos are of decent quality. Color accuracy is excellent and it can print on glossy photo paper. Unfortunately, its cost-per-print is quite high, so it can get very expensive if you print a lot.
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Excellent color accuracy.
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Decent photo printing quality.
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Terrible black and color page yield.
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High cost-per-print.
- 6.3 Family
- 2.9 Small/Home Office
- 5.3 Student
- 4.7 Black & White
- 7.3 Casual Photo
- Updated Jul 06, 2020: Review published.
- Updated Jun 30, 2020: Early access published.
- Updated Jun 26, 2020: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Jun 19, 2020: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Jun 06, 2020: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the HP ENVY 5055 in black, which is the only color available for this model. There's a variant sold for Black Friday called the HP ENVY 5070, and for the most part, we expect its performance to be the same.
Compared To Other Printers
The HP ENVY 5055 is a budget all-in-one printer. Compared to other printers in the same price range, it's a bit sub-par. For roughly the same price, you can easily find one that has a significantly better cartridge system, which helps you save money in the long run. For other options, you can also check out our recommendations for the best photo printers, the best all-in-one printers, and the best cheap printers.
The HP ENVY 5055 and the HP ENVY Inspire 7955e are both all-in-one inkjets, but the 7955e is a much better option. The 7955e features better page yields, a much cheaper cost-per-print, and faster printing speeds. Additionally, the 7955e has an ADF to make it easier when scanning or copying items. Both produce similar-quality photos, but while the 7955e prints deeper blacks, it has issues with contrast that make some shades look cartoonish.
The HP ENVY 5055 and the HP ENVY 5014 are two very similar printers. They both have the same build and connectivity options, and they use the same cartridges. However, the 5055 has a slightly higher color page yield, so it costs less over time to print in color.
The Canon PIXMA TS5320 is much better than the HP ENVY 5055. Although the Canon also has a two-cartridge system, it can yield many more pages of black and color prints, keeping the long-term cost reasonably low. The Canon has better photo printing quality and has wider connectivity options, but the HP has much better color accuracy.
The Canon PIXMA iX6820 is a better overall printer than the HP ENVY 5055. The Canon has a much better cost-per-print and prints better quality photos. The HP does include a mediocre scanner and better connectivity options, but the Canon supports more paper options, including tabloid.
The HP ENVY 5055 and the Brother MFC-J805DW INKvestment Tank are both similarly decent photo printers. However, the Brother is better performing in all other aspects and is more versatile. The Brother is well-built, its cartridge system produces higher page yields, and its cost-per-print is much more affordable too. It also has a scan sheetfed with an automatic document feeder. Conversely, the HP has better color accuracy, and it can print photos much quicker.
The HP OfficeJet 5255 is an overall much better printer than the HP ENVY 5055. The OfficeJet has a better build quality, its scanner has an automatic document feeder, and although it has a 2-cartridge system like the ENVY, it can yield more black and color pages, making it more cost-effective over time. Also, the OfficeJet has a slightly faster printing speed and more connectivity options. For photo printing, the ENVY has a slight edge, as it prints photos faster and they're of higher quality.
The HP ENVY 5055 and the Canon PIXMA TR4520 are both compact all-in-one options, but the Canon performs better for photo printing, and the HP is better suited for black-only document printing. The Canon has a lower cost-per-print and higher page yield for color documents, and it also has better scanning features, including an automatic document feeder. The HP has a lower cost-per-print and higher yield for black-only text pages, and it has a much faster print speed. Although the HP produces images with much more accurate-looking colors, the Canon has a higher photo print quality.
The HP ENVY 5055 and the Canon PIXMA TR8620 are all-in-one color inkjet printers, but the Canon is better overall. The Canon's page yields and cost-per-print are superior, and it produces photos with much better quality. It also has an ADF, faxing capabilities, an Ethernet port, and can print directly from SD cards. On the other hand, the HP has significantly better color accuracy, though it still isn't suitable for tasks that require accurate color reproduction.
Test Results
The HP ENVY 5055's design is sub-par. It only has a single input tray with a fairly small 100-sheet capacity and it isn't removable, so those with large hands may have a hard time loading paper. The main input tray is also the photo paper tray, which means that you can't load both types of paper at the same time. Also, the printer needs to be on when changing the ink cartridges.
Thankfully, it isn't all bad. The printer feels quite sturdy except for the rather flimsy output tray, and the power cord is removable, making it easier to replace. Paper jams are easy to remove, as you only need to access a panel by lifting the scanner bed. If you want a printer with a better build quality, then check out the HP ENVY 6055.
The HP ENVY 5055 is a compact printer that's well-suited for small spaces.
The display screen is decent. It's on the small side and it's monochrome, but visibility is good whether you're standing or sitting. The menus are fairly intuitive and there are touch-sensitive buttons around the screen to help you navigate. There are instructional videos on how to load paper and change the ink cartridges, which you can view directly on the screen.
- Power cord
- 1x HP 65 Black ink cartridge
- 1x HP 65 Tri-Color ink cartridge
- User guide
The HP 5055 has a terrible cartridge system. It only has a single color cartridge, and both the black and color cartridge run out quickly, so you'll need to replace them frequently. Luckily, there's a high-yield cartridge available if you print a lot, and it's eligible for HP's Instant Ink subscription service. If you want a printer that can print more color and black documents, check out the Canon PIXMA iX6820.
The printer accepts third-party cartridges as well, but using them may void the warranty.
The HP 5055 has mediocre scanning features. It only has a flatbed, so no automatic document feeder, and consequently, no duplex scanning. Additionally, the lid can't extend to accommodate thicker documents. If you want a similar printer with an automatic document feeder, check out the HP ENVY Pro 6475.
The HP ENVY 5055's cost-per-print is poor. Even though the cartridges are relatively cheap, they need to be replaced often, which adds up quickly over time if you print a lot. Also, because it has a tri-color cartridge, you would need to replace the entire cartridge if a single color runs out.
Keep in mind that even if you print only in black, most inkjet printers continue using the color cartridges for servicing tasks, so you'll likely still need to replace them eventually.
If you want a printer with a lower cost-per-print, check out the Epson Expression Home XP-4100 or the HP DeskJet 2755.
The HP ENVY 5055 has a mediocre printing speed. It's very slow at printing black and color documents. As for photos, while it may look like it takes a while, it's quite good compared to other printers such as the HP DeskJet 3755. If you want a printer that prints more black pages per minute, check out the Canon PIXMA MG3620.
The HP ENVY 5055's color accuracy is excellent; however, most colors are still somewhat inaccurate when compared to the source. That said, it should be fine if you're just adding a splash of color in a document.
The HP ENVY 5055's photo printing quality is very decent. There's a good amount of fine details and colors appear vibrant. The color temperature leans on the warm side, giving the overall image a reddish tint. Also, there's a bit of banding in the grayscale.
These results are based on the actual physical photo, not the scanned image provided for reference above, which may not be representative of the printer's photo print quality.
If you want a printer with better photo printing quality, check out the Canon PIXMA TS5320 or Canon PIXMA TS6420.
There's only one input tray for both regular and photo paper formats. It supports most common paper sizes up to the standard legal size, as well as most photo paper sizes, except for 2" x 3".
The HP ENVY 5055 has decent connectivity options. You can connect to it via a wired USB connection or wirelessly through Wi-Fi, but unfortunately, it doesn't have an ethernet port and can't print from an external storage device. And although it's advertised as having Bluetooth support, it can only be used to perform the initial setup, not for any printing tasks. If you need a printer that can print off of external drives like USB thumb drives or SD cards, check out the Epson Expression Premium XP-6100.
The HP ENVY 5055 is compatible with the HP Smart mobile app, which is available for Android and iOS devices. It lets you print, scan, and copy. You can also perform maintenance tasks, as well as buying or managing your HP ink subscription.