HP ENVY Photo 7855 Printer Review

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.