For decades, HP has been one of the most well-known and dependable producers of PC technology. The HP OfficeJet 250 is one of the most outstanding, all-inclusive printer packages on the market, which shouldn’t be a surprise. It stands out among high-end printers since it is wireless, portable, quick, equipped with a scanner and LCD touchscreen, and it produces prints with excellent quality.
Design: Huge and powerful
HP’s OfficeJet 250 pushes the boundaries of mobility. It is a giant among portable wireless printers, measuring 15″ length, about 8″ broad, and weighing more than six pounds. Nevertheless, the OfficeJet also has a second foldout tray for scanning and a 2″ LCD touchscreen, packing a lot of capabilities into one striking design. Without requiring a latch, the printer tray elegantly folds down from the top and locks back into position. The battery pack, USB connector, and power outlet are all at the back, leaving the remainder of the exterior’s surface clean and matte.
On the left side of the smooth inside are three indication lights for power, battery life, and Wi-Fi. By pressing down firmly above the screen, a 2″ by 1.5″ LCD panel on the right may be raised up at a 45 degree angle. The touchscreen has phone-like home and back buttons, scrollable icons and menus, and other features to make navigating simple.
For scanning papers, the inside has another foldout tray that folds forward and expands. Moveable paper guides are included in both printer trays to help you set them to the right paper size. The edges may be made to contract or extend as desired by moving the left guide, which also moves the right one. While they seem pretty strong, the guides require some energy to shift.
Setup: There were no problems
Large battery pack that fits neatly into the back of the HP OfficeJet. Once the device was powered on and charging, setting it up just required downloading the drivers (or using the provided CD) and according to the wireless connecting instructions.
To discover the first configuration settings, we had to scrounge among the LCD touchscreen menus. The menus are easy to navigate, although there are several options and tools. Either activating the WPS button on a router or inputting the Wi-Fi password is required for wireless setup. Our home Wi-Fi network was instantly joined by the OfficeJet, giving our PC and mobile devices immediate access.
High-quality, prompt printing
In order to fix the streaking lines that appeared during our initial printing tests, we used the HP Smart app’s Clean Printheads feature. The comprehensive printed diagnostic page, which included evaluated the alignment and colors, impressed us, and we never experienced any other ink quality problems.
Even while using the battery, the OfficeJet 250 boasts one of the quickest wireless printing rates we’ve experienced. Averaging 9–10 pages per minute, HP advertises. Similar results were obtained in our tests, with a 5-page, 1,500-word document printing from a Laptop or smartphone in just under 30 seconds. In terms of performance and speed, the printer didn’t appear to mind whether it was powered by batteries or not.
The whole color spectrum was produced by the photos, which had the best possible photo quality. The 250 produces photographs that, although having a relatively lesser photo quality of 4800 x 1200 dpi, appear a little blurry and murky in comparison. With impressive results, blue sky, green leaves, and skin tones were created. The OfficeJet’s photo printing speed was equally excellent, creating a glossy 5 x 7-inch photo in the highest quality in around 50 seconds.
Scan quality: just single pages
The HP OfficeJet 250 has a document feeder scanner, so it can scan single-page documents using the LCD touchscreen. Nevertheless, we found that the HP Smart software for Windows and mobile devices provided better results and more possibilities. Text papers only took a few seconds to scan, however a single 4″ x 6″ photo took around 30 seconds.
Due to the output from the scanner uncomfortably overlapping the printer feeding tray, the feeding tray for the scanner can be a bit finicky, especially for full size sheets. We were occasionally uneasy when scanning papers since they tended to slightly bend and twist as they entered the scanner, but we never had any major problems. Smaller images like 4″ x 6″ and 5″ x 7″ fit well inside the movable paper guidelines. Photos can be printed, saved, and altered right from the app, and the 250 supports scanning at resolutions of up to 600 x 600 dpi.
Software: The printing software HP Smart is excellent.
An outstanding and simple-to-use app for PCs and mobile devices is HP Smart. The software promptly indicates any printer status concerns, such as offline, low ink, or an empty paper tray, and its menus and buttons are appealing and well-organized. We could quickly control the scanner, print images and papers, and complete any maintenance tasks through the app.
The actual LCD touchscreen, which is stunning in and of itself, is overshadowed by the app’s flawless operation. The touchscreen has several choices for wireless connections, sleep mode and auto-off times, and scanning documents straight to an attached USB storage drive. It also has an on-screen battery life % meter. In order to transmit documents or photographs via email attachments, HP ePrint provides the printer an email account. This eliminates the need for any additional software or connectivity to the printer. The touchscreen is clear, simple to use, and attractive when folded.
Final Conclusion
one of the top portable printers on the market.
The HP OfficeJet 250’s toolkit and selection of choices left a lasting impression on us. Although it is neither the smallest or most affordable wireless printer, the additional size and price provide useful benefits (like the document scanner and LCD touchscreen). We adored the tilted touchscreen, fold-out trays, and strong yet flexible printer guides. With HP Smart, HP also offers reliable, approachable printing software. The OfficeJet 250 is a fantastic premium option for both home and business usage since it prints documents, spreadsheets, and photographs swiftly and attractively.
