If you are looking for a versatile printer for use only with your PC and perhaps near mobile devices, you probably will not miss the HP Envy 6055e All-in-One.
HP Envy 6055e Features
Print From Anywhere
One of the features that sets the Envy 6055e apart is that it allows you to print from anywhere you can on the Internet. Once you have installed the HP Smart app, which is available for Windows and macOS, as well as Android and iOS handsets, and once you have connected to your local network, you can easily send documents to the printer over the Internet. Computer Sharing a desk with it (You can also connect using Wi-Fi Direct when you are nearby)
Otherwise, the 6055e’s price-performance capabilities are best described. For example, it is limited to letter-size paper for printing, while the cheaper Brother MFC-J491DW support for legally sized paper makes it more suitable for many small, home offices. The Envy 100-sheet paper tray is also smaller than many of its competitors.
The Canon Pixma TR7020 and Pixma TS6420 both offer twice that capacity, and only the slightly more expensive Epson WorkForce Pro WF-3820 has 250 sheets. On the plus side, HP has an automatic duplex device for duplex printing.
Printer limitations in working with paper to scan also extend. Unlike all its competitors, the Envy 6055e lacks ADF for multi-page document scanning. You should scan the pages (again, not larger than the letter size) one by one on the bed.
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HP estimates the maximum working cycle of the machine at 1000 sheets printed per month, but unless you want to add paper every day or two, the recommended maximum of 400 pages per month is more realistic. With just one tray, you have to change the media every time you want to change the type of paper.
Even for a small home or office, these shortcomings make the Envy 6055e suitable only for light printing and even for scanning, copying, or faxing with lighter work. Also note that while scanning and copying are done locally by the printer, faxing requires the mobile fax feature in the HP Smart app that sends faxes over the cloud.
There is no option to receive faxes, although HP says it is looking to add this feature in the future. Until this is done, you can easily find online fax services that manage incoming faxes and send them by email for less than $ 1 a month, which is much less than the cost of a dedicated fax line.
Installation
The 6055e is small and light enough, measuring 5.2 by 17 by 12.2 inches (HWD) and 11.5 pounds, to make it easy to move around.
The main drawback is the lack of information. HP’s design goal is to make setup so easy and automated that you do not need to follow detailed installation instructions. But if your settings are not exactly what HP assumes, finding a mistake and how to fix it is a challenge. The setup guide just tells you to download and install HP Smart on your PC or mobile device and follow the instructions in the software.
Among the many details that neither the manual nor the software itself mentions is that HP assumes that you are connecting the printer to your PC and the Internet via Wi-Fi. If you plan to use a USB cable for printing and try to install AIO with the cable connected, it will not work. It also does not suggest any troubleshooting steps that might help solve the problem.
Even if you do not connect the USB cable, the installation may not be easy. For example, if you turned off SSID playback as a mild security measure, you may be accustomed to manually entering an SSID to communicate. The Windows Envy installation routine does not offer this option, meaning you have to turn on the SSID player on your router or access point, make the connection, and then turn it off again.
The fact that the 6055e has no LCD screen to report status does not help. Instead, it uses a status light that runs along the front edge, showing each of the five colors in different positions such as blinking, fixed, center, or moving across the bar.
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Another issue is that HP gives you choices during startup that are not well explained and overlap so much that it is confusing. In short, you can sign up for the HP Instant Ink Subscription Scheme, which offers multiple page selections per month and reduces your printing costs to 4 to 7 cents per page, depending on which level and how much you choose.
You can also use the company’s HP Plus support (sometimes HP + spelling), which gives you six months of free ink if you sign up for Instant Ink. But do not confuse HP Plus with an ink sharing scheme. Signing up for it also increases the warranty from one year to two years and adds important features, including the ability to print from anywhere you would not otherwise have.
The good news is that HP says it is aware of these and other startup issues and is working on them. And of course, launching is a hassle at once. When finished, the rearview mirror is. But it is recommended that you download the user guide so that you can decode the status lights.
Low speed but tolerable and print quality
This printer is about 10 pages per minute (page per minute) for black and white printing, which is an average of 9.4 pages per minute when printing a 12-page Word file. Its performance in our commercial suite declined, managing only 3.2ppm despite the 7ppm color rating.
For the background, this makes the Envy slightly slower than the Brother MFC-J491DW or Canon Pixma TR7020 and TS6420, which each have 11 to 12 pages per minute for monochrome and about 4.5 pages per minute for color. It was also much slower than the Epson WF-3820, at 18.9 ppm for black and 12.6 ppm for color.
In the case of duplex printing, HP delivered our 12-page Word document at 6.1 images per minute (with one image on each side of the page). For the photos, we did our 4-by-6 prints on glossy HP photo paper every day, which is also on the slow side, averaging 1 minute and 46 seconds per piece.
The output quality is acceptable for most home or commercial use. The paper photos recommended by HP were of lower quality, with a slightly over-visible appearance that made shadow shadows easy to see but reduced the sense of 3D in some photos.
Not just for local printing
If you need real-time printing from anywhere using your PC, mobile device, or both, the HP Envy 6055e is a home-based option worth considering. If you want a completely versatile role for more traditional local printing from your desktop using Wi-Fi and potentially Wi-Fi Direct, the MFC-J491DW Brother, Canon Pixma TR7020, and TS6420 and Epson WF-above 3820 are all They are better choices, because of the faster speed and better paper management. In the meantime, the Editors’ Choice Award-winning brother offers you the highest cost, while Epson offers the best performance for heavier printing.
HP Envy 6055e Pros
- Double sided printing
- Print, scan and copy; Fax over the cloud using the HP Smart app
- It can print over the cloud from any Windows, Mac, iOS or Android device
- Optional instant ink design can reduce printing costs
HP Envy 6055e Cons
- Slow for price class
- No automatic document feeding
- No control panel or LCD for status information
- Does not provide information needed to decode status lights
