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HP OfficeJet 5255 Printer Review

Tested using Methodology v0.8.1
Reviewed May 11, 2020 at 11:57 am
Latest change: Test bench update Jun 08, 2020 at 07:24 am
HP OfficeJet 5255 Picture
6.9
Family
5.0
Small/Home Office
5.9
Student
5.7
Black & White
7.4
Casual Photo

The HP OfficeJet 5255 Wireless All-in-One Printer is disappointing for most uses, but is okay as a family printer. This inkjet printer is fairly well-designed with lots of scanning and wireless features, but its two-cartridge system doesn't provide great value. Most people will find it doesn't take long before the cartridges end up costing more than the printer itself - not to mention the slow printing speed and ordinary overall printing quality. That said, the great connectivity options and small footprint could make the OfficeJet 5255 a worthwhile household printer for some.

Our Verdict

6.9 Family

The HP OfficeJet 5255 is an okay family printer. Its photo printing quality is decent and its easy-to-use. If you print a lot of photos, though, it'll start getting pretty expensive to keep using. It also prints quite slowly - not ideal if you're printing concert tickets just before heading out. The scanner has some great features, though, and there are lots of connectivity options for the whole family to connect.

Pros
  • Simple, compact design.
  • Impressive scanning features.
  • Great connectivity options.
Cons
  • Expensive two-cartridge system.
  • Slow printing speed.
  • Mediocre printing quality.
5.0 Small/Home Office

The HP OfficeJet 5255 is a bad printer for home or small offices. The cartridges have a low yield, it prints slowly, and it gets more expensive to use the more you print. There are higher-yield cartridges available to help provide better value, but it'll cost end up costing your business more than a good laser or supertank printer would.

Pros
  • Simple, compact design.
  • Impressive scanning features.
  • Great connectivity options.
Cons
  • Expensive two-cartridge system.
  • Slow printing speed.
  • Mediocre printing quality.
5.9 Student

The HP OfficeJet 5255 is inadequate for students. The cartridges don't last long and are expensive, especially compared to the price of the printer. The more you use this printer, the more it'll cost you, especially if you print a lot in color. It prints pretty slowly too, which can be nerve-wracking if you're on a tight deadline. Its compact design makes it practical for use in a dorm, though, and if you actually scan more than you print, it could be not bad.

Pros
  • Simple, compact design.
  • Impressive scanning features.
  • Great connectivity options.
Cons
  • Expensive two-cartridge system.
  • Slow printing speed.
  • Mediocre printing quality.
5.7 Black & White

The HP OfficeJet 5255 has a disappointing black and white performance. Its black page yield is terrible, so you'll have to change the cartridges often. There are higher-yield cartridges available, but it prints slowly and the tray only holds 100 sheets anyway. While the cost-per-print is better in black and white than it is in color, this printer still isn't ideal for monochrome printing.

Pros
  • Simple, compact design.
  • Impressive scanning features.
  • Great connectivity options.
Cons
  • Expensive two-cartridge system.
  • Slow printing speed.
  • Mediocre printing quality.
7.4 Casual Photo

The HP OfficeJet 5255 is decent for printing photos. It has great color accuracy, but the photo printing quality is just decent as some photos lack detail. It also has a low color page yield, so if you print photos frequently, the cost of buying new cartridges adds up quickly.

Pros
  • Simple, compact design.
  • Impressive scanning features.
  • Great connectivity options.
Cons
  • Expensive two-cartridge system.
  • Slow printing speed.
  • Mediocre printing quality.
  • 6.9 Family
  • 5.0 Small/Home Office
  • 5.9 Student
  • 5.7 Black & White
  • 7.4 Casual Photo
  1. Updated Jun 08, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 0.8.1.
  2. Updated May 11, 2020: Review published.

Differences Between Sizes And Variants

We tested the HP OfficeJet 5255 in black, which is the only color available for this product. It's also sold as the HP OfficeJet 5258 at Costco, and the HP OfficeJet 5222 at certain retailers for Black Friday. We expect our test results to apply to all variants of this model.

Compared To Other Printers

The HP OfficeJet 5255 is a disappointing overall printer, especially for office use. It has a low page yield, not nearly as good as the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015. Also, even though it has great color accuracy, it's not as accurate as HP's Photo series, such as the HP ENVY Photo 7155. Also see our recommendations for the best HP printers, the best office printers, and the best printers for small businesses.

Canon PIXMA TR8520

The Canon PIXMA TR8520 is much better than the HP OfficeJet 5255. The Canon has a much higher page yield, whether it be with color or black pages, so it has a much lower cost-per-print. It has better photo printing quality, although the HP has better color accuracy. The HP also has a better overall build quality.

HP ENVY Photo 7155

The HP ENVY Photo 7155 and the HP OfficeJet 5255 are two home printers that perform relatively similarly. The ENVY is slightly better for families since has better color accuracy and photo printing quality. Its cost-per-print is also a little bit lower. On the other hand, the OfficeJet has much better scanning features, providing a flatbed and a sheetfed scanner, which is great for people wanting to process many pages at once.

HP ENVY Photo 6255

The HP OfficeJet 5255 is a better overall printer than the HP ENVY Photo 6255. The OfficeJet has great color accuracy when printing photos, but the cost per print is quite high. It also has great connectivity options and a small footprint, meaning it can be a good option for home and family use.

HP ENVY 5055

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.

HP ENVY 5014

The HP OfficeJet 5255 is better than the HP ENVY 5014. The 5255 is better-built, it has a sheetfed scanner with an automatic document feeder, and its cartridges offer a higher page yield. However, the 5014 has much better color accuracy.

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Test Results

perceptual testing image
Design
7.5
Design
Build & Design Quality
Type All in One

The HP 5255 is a well-designed all-in-one printer. The plastic design feels good overall, and the screen is slightly angled so it's not too hard to see. While paper is easy to load, the two input trays look a bit fragile and there's no adjustable slider to help keep different paper lengths aligned when printing. The output tray is also very flimsy too. You can't access the ink cartridges if the printer is off, but they're easy to get to when it's turned on. The scanner has a good document cover that should help provide a uniform white background when scanning, but the lid doesn't have a prop to help keep it open.

Design
Dimensions
Height 7.3" (18.6 cm)
Width 17.5" (44.5 cm)
Depth 14.2" (36.1 cm)
Weight
13.9 lbs (6.3 kg)

This printer is a relatively compact printer that isn't too heavy. Its size is suitable for a small home office or dorm room that doesn't have much counter space.

7.0
Design
Display Screen
Display Screen Yes
Display Screen Size
2.2" (5.7 cm)
Touchscreen Yes

The HP 5255 has a decent monochrome touchscreen display. The black and white icons are plain but easy to see and understand. The touch controls are a bit sensitive, but overall this display isn't difficult to use.

Design
In The Box

  • Power cable
  • User manual
  • HP 63 Black starter cartridge
  • HP 63 Tri-color starter cartridge

3.8
Design
Cartridge
Photo Cartridge
No
Technology Inkjet
Number Of Color Cartridges
1
Black Cartridge Model
HP 63 Black
Color Yes
Tested Black Page Yield
9.25 prints
SuperTank
No
Estimated Black Page Yield
175 prints
Color Cartridge Model
HP 63 Tri-Color
Tested Color Page Yield
4.9 prints
Estimated Color Page Yield
108 prints
Third Party Cartridge
Yes
High Yield Cartridge
Yes
Drum Unit
No Drum Unit

Bad cartridge system. It uses only two cartridges, one for black and one for color, and doesn't print very many pages in either black or color, even with the standard replacement cartridges. Thankfully, there are high yield cartridges available which should last a little longer. The printer will also accept third-party cartridges, but this could void its warranty.

8.1
Design
Scanner
Scanner
Yes
Scan Flatbed
Yes
Scan Sheetfed
Yes
Automatic Document Feeder
Yes
Duplex Scanning
No
Scan Resolution
1,200 DPI
Scan Color Depth
24 Bit
Flatbed Scan Size
8.5" x 11"
Fax
Yes
Copy
Yes

The 5255 has great scanning features. The scan resolution and color depth are good. There's an Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) so you can scan long documents automatically. The flatbed is helpful for scanning ID cards or pages from a passport, but isn't large enough for legal documents or tabloid pages.

Printing
6.2
Printing
Cost-Per-Print
Black Cartridge Price
20.99 US$
Color Cartridge Price
24.64 US$
Black Only Printing
0.12 US$/print
Color Printing
0.228 US$/print
Photo Printing
0.616 US$/print
Ink Subscription
Optional

The cost per print of the OfficeJet 5255 is mediocre. The cartridges cost nearly half the price of the printer. Not only is the price-per-page quite high, but the more you print, the more you end up spending in total.

Keep in mind that even if you print only in black, most inkjet printers continue using the color cartridge for servicing tasks, so you will likely still need to replace it eventually.

6.3
Printing
Printing Speed
Black Only Text Document
7 PPM
Color Document
5 PPM
Photo Printing Time
57.1 s
First Page Out Time (Black Only)
15.4 s
Duplex Printing
Automatic
Input Tray Capacity
100 pages

The 5255 has a mediocre-at-best printing speed. If you only have one page to print, you can expect to wait a bit. While subsequent pages are a lot quicker, it's still quite slow overall, especially if you have to print in color. On the upside, the tray holds 100 sheets so you shouldn't have to replace the paper too often unless you print a fair bit.

8.0
Printing
Color Accuracy
Average Color dE
8.87

The 5255 has great color accuracy. You shouldn't have a problem with it unless you rely on very accurate colors for work like graphic design or photography.

7.2
Printing
Photo Printing Quality
Borderless Printing
Yes

The HP 5255 has decent photo printing quality. Contrast is high and reds are vivid, but grayscale palette is limited. Some detail is missing, and there are a few small artifacts present. If photo printing quality matters to you, check out the HP OfficeJet Pro 6978.

We based our results on the actual physical photo, not the scanned image provided for reference above, which may not represent the printer's photo print quality.

Printing
Printing Size
Letter (8.5" x 11") Yes
Legal (8.5" x 14") Yes
Tabloid (11" x 17") No
A6 (105mm x 148mm) Yes
A5 (148mm x 210mm) Yes
A4 (210mm x 297mm) Yes
Photo (2" x 3") No
Photo (4" x 6") Yes
Photo (5" x 7") Yes

The input tray can be adjusted to support most popular paper formats.

Mobile App And Connectivity
8.0
Mobile App And Connectivity
Connectivity
Ethernet
Yes
USB Input To Computer
Yes
Wireless Yes
Bluetooth
No
Wi-Fi via Router
Yes
Wi-Fi Direct
Yes
External Storage Support
No
Apple AirPrint
Yes
Mopria Print Service
Yes

This wireless printer has great connectivity features. You can set it up with an existing WiFi network via a router or use its WiFi Direct network. It doesn't have any external storage support so you can't print directly from a USB key or memory card, and it doesn't support Bluetooth, but Apple users can print seamlessly with AirPrint while Android users can use Mopria for mobile printing.

7.0
Mobile App And Connectivity
Mobile App For Home Use
Mobile App Yes
App Name HP Smart
iOS Yes
Android Yes
Photo (JPEG, PNG)
Yes
PDF
Yes
Microsoft Office Files
No
Text Files (TXT)
No
Webpages (HTML)
No

This printer uses the HP Smart app, which is a decent mobile printing app available on both iOS and Android. You can print photos and PDF files from it, scan from the printer to your phone, and manage your ink subscription.