HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e Printer Review

The HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e feels very well-built, with a sturdy plastic body. The ink cartridges are in a movable cartridge bay that feels sluggish to move, but the lid to the bay feels well-made. The power cord is detachable, making it easy to replace if damaged.

This printer requires a fair amount of maintenance, as, like most inkjet printers, the printheads can clog if left unused for an extended period. If you experience clogging, it has a few built-in maintenance functions to help resolve the issue, like printhead cleaning, printhead alignment, and smear cleaning. The ink cartridges yield a large number of prints, so you won't need to replace them often. When you do, you can easily access the cartridges through the front panel, though the printer needs to be on for the process. You can also access the sheet rollers via the front panel and move the cartridge carriage to the side to get to paper jams, but we don't expect jams to be a frequent issue.

You can see the user guide here.

The display is great. It's touch-sensitive and has an easy-to-navigate settings menu with audible feedback. There are also capacitive navigation buttons at the bottom when the screen is on. You can tilt the screen to make it easier to see when standing.

The HP 9015e has an excellent cartridge system. Whether you're printing in black and white or color, it prints a great number of pages before running out of ink. It's compatible with HP 962XL high-yield cartridges for better page yields, as well as third-party cartridges. For a similarly-priced printer that yields even more pages, check out the Brother MFC-J4535DW.

The HP 9018e has outstanding scanning features. The automatic document feeder automatically processes double-sided sheets, albeit only in two passes, meaning you need to flip the pages manually when prompted. Its OCR (optical character recognition) feature lets you save scanned documents as PDF files so you can easily search for keywords. It makes mistakes occasionally, but mostly when special characters are in the text. Unfortunately, the flatbed's lid hinges don't extend, making it hard to close the lid over thicker items like textbooks.

The scanner's scan quality is okay. Text looks clear, and colors are reasonably accurate; however, the image processing removes some finer details and watermarks, like the lines in the graph and the background SAMPLE text.

• User manual
• Power cable
• Starter cartridges:
• 1x HP 962 black setup cartridge
• 1x HP 962 cyan setup cartridge
• 1x HP 962 magenta setup cartridge
• 1x HP 962 yellow setup cartridge

The print quality of black and white documents is excellent. Text looks sharp, and fine details, like the lines in the graph, are present. There are some vertical lines and smearing; however, they disappear when you print in the High-Quality mode.

The print quality of color documents is excellent. All elements are present, and the colors look vibrant. Again, there are some vertical lines, but they disappear when you print in the High-Quality mode.

This printer's cost-per-print is remarkably low. Thanks to their high page yield, you won't have to replace the ink cartridges often, so printing costs remain low over time. This printer comes with a six-month subscription to HP's ink subscription service, which automatically mails new cartridges to you whenever the printer is low on ink. However, subscribing to the service will prevent you from using third-party cartridges, even if you cancel your subscription.

The printing speed is great. It prints color pages very quickly, so it can easily get color-coded graphs and reports out in no time. It also takes a very short time to print photos. It has a single input tray that holds 250 pages, but its output tray can only hold 60 sheets at a time, so you'll need to clear it if you have a very large print job. If you want a similar printer with a larger tray capacity, check out the HP OfficeJet Pro 9025e. It has a second input tray that also holds 250 sheets, while its output tray holds up to 100 sheets.

The HP OfficeJet Pro 9018e has a mediocre color gamut. Bright greens look darker than they ought to, while blacks have a reddish tint. Additionally, very light color tints come out looking almost completely white. There's a lot of grain in gradients between colors that can be noticeable in some photos.

The color accuracy is okay. It's fine for casual photo printing but not ideal for professional-level work. Like most printers, it struggles most with reproducing blues.

This printer reproduces small details well. Small, distant objects are easily identifiable, though the contrast could be better, as it would help define the edges of objects.

This printer can print directly from a USB flash drive. The USB port is on the left side of the printer near the front.

The HP Smart mobile app is superb. You can print photos and documents, scan the flatbed remotely or scan using your phone camera, send mobile faxes, and manage your HP Instant Ink subscription. You can't print Microsoft Office files, text files, and webpages directly from the app on Android devices, so you'll have to print them from whichever app you use to view those files.

Although this printer is fully compatible with all operating systems, you may need to install the app to get full functionality, depending on the OS. The HP Smart app isn't necessary on Windows, but it makes it easier to access some functions. On Chrome OS, you need to add the printer manually using its IP address if you aren't using the HP Smart app, and even then, you'd only be able to print. The HP Smart app (from the Google Play Store) allows you to set up the printer easily and use its features. You can print and scan without installing any apps or drivers on Macs.