The HP ENVY Photo 7855 is an all-in-one inkjet home photo printer. It uses a two-cartridge ink system and is compatible with HP's 64 and 64XL ink cartridges. It has Wi-Fi, USB, and Ethernet connectivity, can print directly off a USB flash drive or SD card, and supports Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service. Its scanner is equipped with an automatic feeder but doesn't support duplex scanning. This printer is part of the HP ENVY Photo 7800 series of all-in-one printers, which includes many regional and retailer-exclusive variants.
Our Verdict
The HP ENVY 7855 is a decent printer for family use. It has tons of connectivity options, making it easy for every household member to access the printer. As for its print quality, black and color documents look sharp, but photos look slightly muted due to its narrow color range. It also has poor color accuracy, so some colors might come out looking very different from the original photo. Unfortunately, the ink cartridges run out quickly, meaning you'll need to replace them regularly, which can get expensive if you print a lot. It has a high-resolution scanner; however, the scan quality isn't very good, as it has trouble capturing fine details, so it isn't the best for digitizing photos.
- ADF-equipped scanner.
- Produces detailed photos.
- Supports various paper sizes and borderless printing.
- Produces high-quality black and white documents.
- Feature-rich mobile companion app.
- Poor color accuracy.
- Low page yields.
- Narrow color range.
- Scanner doesn't pick up finer details.
The HP ENVY 7858 is okay for small or home offices. It has plenty of connectivity options, including Ethernet, which is great for offices that rely on a wired network connection. It produces high-quality documents and is decently fast; however, its ink cartridges run out quickly, meaning it requires regular maintenance. Also, although it has a scanner with an automatic feeder, it doesn't support duplex scanning, so processing double-sided sheets can be extremely time-consuming.
- ADF-equipped scanner.
- Wide connectivity options.
- Produces high-quality black and white documents.
- Automatic duplex printing.
- Low page yields.
- Slow to print the first page.
- No duplex scanning.
- Can be difficult to reload the paper input tray.
The HP ENVY 7858 is good for students. It produces sharp-looking documents and is decently fast, so you don't have to wait too long to print out your papers and essays. However, you'll have to replace the ink cartridges often as they run out quickly, which can get expensive if you print a lot. It has a scanner with an automatic feeder, but it doesn't support automatic double-sided scanning, and the lid hinges don't extend, making it hard to close the lid over thicker items like textbooks.
- ADF-equipped scanner.
- Wide connectivity options.
- Produces high-quality black and white documents.
- Feature-rich mobile companion app.
- Low page yields.
- Slow to print the first page.
The HP 7855 is okay for printing black and white documents. It produces very high-quality documents and prints reasonably fast at 13 pages per minute. However, it can get expensive to maintain over time because the black ink cartridge runs out quickly. Also, it's hard to load paper into the input tray, and the touchscreen is difficult to use. It has an ADF-equipped scanner but doesn't support duplex scanning, so you'll have to flip the pages manually.
- ADF-equipped scanner.
- Wide connectivity options.
- Produces high-quality black and white documents.
- Automatic duplex printing.
- Low page yields.
- Slow to print the first page.
- No duplex scanning.
- Can be difficult to reload the paper input tray.
The HP ENVY 7855 is okay for photo printing. It produces a lot of fine details in photos, but it struggles to reproduce lighter shades and bright, saturated tones. It also has poor color accuracy, resulting in some colors looking noticeably different than the original photo. Unfortunately, the ink cartridges yield very few prints, meaning you'll have to replace them regularly, so it can get expensive to maintain if you print a lot.
- Produces detailed photos.
- Decent photo cost-per-print.
- Supports various paper sizes and borderless printing.
- Poor color accuracy.
- Low page yields.
- Narrow color range.
- Low page yields.
- Low page yields.
- Low page yields.
- Low page yields.
- Low page yields.
Performance Usages
Changelog
- Updated Dec 16, 2022: We've updated the review and added more information in the Differences Between Variants, Expected Maintenance, Scan QualityScan Quality, Black and White Documents, Color Documents, and Small Details boxes.
- Updated Sep 23, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
- Updated Sep 09, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 1.1.
- Updated Jan 28, 2022: Reshot and updated the 'In Use Picture'.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the HP ENVY Photo 7855. It's part of the HP ENVY Photo 7800 series of all-in-one printers, which includes many variants. The variants are identical in features and performance; the model number simply changes depending on the region and retailer.
| Model | Region | Exclusive Retailer | Product Number |
|---|---|---|---|
| HP ENVY Photo 7820 | Asia | - | K7S09D, K7S10D |
| HP ENVY Photo 7822 | Australia | - | Y0G42D, Y0G43D |
| HP ENVY Photo 7830 | UK, Europe | - | Y0G50B |
| HP ENVY Photo 7855 | North America | - | K7R96A |
| HP ENVY Photo 7858 | North America | Best Buy, Sam's Club | K7S00A, K7S08A |
| HP ENVY Photo 7864 | US | - | K7So1A |
You can see our unit's label here.
Popular Printer Comparisons
Though marketed as a photo printer, the HP ENVY Photo 7855 doesn't perform any better than most general-purpose color inkjet printers in its price range in regard to print quality. Its color accuracy is especially bad and among the worse for printers of its kind.
For more options, see our recommendations for the best home printers, the best photo printers, and the best HP printers.
The Canon PIXMA TR8520 is much better than the HP ENVY Photo 7855 for most uses. The Canon feels better built, and it has four color cartridges instead of just one like the HP, meaning you can just replace the color that runs out. Also, even though the Canon's cartridges are more expensive, the cost-per-print is lower since the cartridges yield a lot more pages. The Canon produces higher-quality color documents and photos with a wider range of colors and better accuracy. However, the HP prints faster and has a larger input tray, so you don't need to refill the tray as often.
The HP ENVY Photo 7855 is slightly better than the HP ENVY Inspire 7955e. The 7855 has more connectivity options, including Ethernet, Bluetooth, and external storage support, which the 7955e lacks. The 7855 also prints and scans faster.
The HP ENVY Photo 7855 and the Epson Expression Premium XP-7100 are both all-in-one color inkjet printers, but the Epson is better overall. The Epson prints more pages before its cartridges run out, keeping its cost-per-print lower. It prints color documents slightly faster, though it takes much longer than the HP to initialize and get a single page out. In regards to print quality, the Epson is better for color documents, while the HP is better for black and white documents. For photos, the Epson is much better, as it produces finer details and a much wider range of colors. Although both printers have an automatic feeder, only the Epson supports duplex scanning.
The HP ENVY Photo 7855 is overall better than the HP ENVY 6055e. The 7855's page yield is very low, but it's better than the 6055e's, which helps keep its cost-per-print lower. The 7855 has more connectivity options with Ethernet, Bluetooth, and external storage drive support, which the 6055e lacks. The 7855 also produces higher-quality black and white documents and has an automatic feeder to scan multi-page documents quickly.
Test Results
The HP ENVY Photo 7858's build is sub-par. Although the body feels relatively sturdy overall, the input tray feels flimsy. The output tray conveniently pops out once you start printing, but it's surprisingly hard to push back into place, which can be annoying, as you need to push it back in if you want to load paper into the input tray. Our unit also didn't work properly out of the box; we had to run multiple self-cleaning cycles to resolve the issue. On the upside, the design allows easy access to the ink cartridges and paper jams. For a better-built printer, check out the HP OfficeJet Pro 8025.
The HP ENVY 7858 requires a fair amount of maintenance. Like most inkjet printers, the printheads can clog if you don't print for an extended period. There are a few built-in functions to help resolve clogging issues, like printhead cleaning and printhead alignment. You'll also need to replace the ink cartridges regularly as they run out quickly. As mentioned in the build section, we had multiple issues printing with our unit, both during the initial set-up and after only two weeks without use. We had to perform multiple cleaning cycles before it would print properly. That said, it likely won't affect every unit, so your mileage may vary. In regards to paper jams, you can easily access the sheet rollers through the cartridge bay or from the bottom of the printer. You can access the automatic feeder's rollers by opening its cover. The input tray holds 150 sheets of paper, so depending on your print load, you may need to refill it often.
You can see the user guide here.
The display is sub-par. Although it's easy to see, the touchscreen lacks sensitivity, and some icons are too small, making it hard to use.
The ink cartridges yield very few prints, which means you'll need to replace them often. Also, since there's only one color cartridge, you have to replace the entire cartridge if one color runs out. There are longer-lasting XL cartridges (HP 64XL), but they only increase the yield slightly. If you're looking for an HP printer with a supertank system that can yield more pages per tank, check out the HP Smart Tank Plus 551.
The HP ENVY 7858 has good scanning features. It has an automatic feeder to process multi-page documents quickly, but it doesn't support duplex scanning, meaning you need to flip the pages manually when scanning double-sided sheets. Its OCR (optical character recognition) feature allows you to save scanned documents as PDFs for quick keyword searches. You can scan the document directly from the printer, but you'll need to install the I.R.I.S OCR software for it to work. The OCR works well, though it sometimes make some spacing mistakes. It also has a hard time recognizing graphs, which is typical, as most OCR features are designed to recognize characters only.
The scan quality is mediocre. Although the text and colors look good, finer details like the lines in the graph and the SAMPLE text in the background are almost completely absent. The scanner also scans slightly outside the page, causing a black line to appear at the edge.
- HP 64 Black starter cartridge
- HP 64 Tri-color starter cartridge
- User manuals
- Sample photo paper
- Power cable
- Fax cable
The HP ENVY 7858's print quality for black and white documents is excellent. The text looks sharp, and finer elements like the lines in the graph are clearly visible. It only struggles when simulating the color yellow, which is fairly typical.
The print quality for color documents is decent. The text and colors look good, but unlike black and white printing, finer details, like the lines in the graph, look much more faded.
The cost-per-print is okay. The cartridges aren't overly expensive, but because you need to replace the cartridges often, it adds up quickly.
If you print a lot and you want a printer with a lower cost-per-print, check out the Canon PIXMA G6020.
The HP ENVY 7858's overall printing speed is decent. It's reasonably fast with black text documents but much slower with color documents. It also takes longer than most inkjet printers to initialize and get a single page out. The output tray holds up to 25 sheets at a time, so you'll have to clear it often during large print jobs.
The main input tray has width sliders for different paper sizes, as well as a dedicated photo paper compartment that supports most glossy paper formats. If you need a photo printer that supports tabloid-size paper, check out the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-300.
The HP 7858's color gamut is sub-par. It has trouble reproducing lighter shades as well as bright, saturated tones, particularly purples, blues, and greens. There's no banding, but color transitions look grainy.
The HP ENVY Photo 7858 has poor color accuracy. Most colors look noticeably different from the original. It's okay if you're only printing photos for home use, but it isn't ideal for professional print photography.
The HP ENVY 7858 is excellent at reproducing small details. You can easily see the Tokyo Tower's general structure and the individual metal bars at the top in the sample photo. However, most of the buildings in the background are barely visible.
The HP ENVY 7858 can print directly from both SD cards and USB flash drives.
The HP Smart mobile companion app is superb. It allows you to scan directly from your phone, print photos or PDF files, perform maintenance tasks like printhead cleaning and alignment, and manage your ink subscription.
You don't need any drivers to use the printer on macOS and Chrome OS devices, but you do on Windows devices. You can find the drivers here.