HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e Review - Hebei Handheld Inkjet Group Co.,Ltd

Even in these days of digital documents, it's hard to run a home office without a printer. There are invoices to put on paper, receipts to scan, contracts to copy and maybe even the occasional form to fax. The HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e is among the fastest and most versatile printers I’ve tested, and it was my pick for best home printer overall in my recent roundup of 11 printers. It's an attractive piece of hardware that's admirably easy to set up, and it can crank out pages nearly as fast as a laser printer.

We recently selected the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e as our pick for best home printer overall.

Although replacement ink can get expensive, HP's optional ink subscription promises to lower the overall cost (and make sure you never actually run out). Let's take a look at what makes this our top pick among home-office printers.

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Unlike some printers, the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e impresses even before you start using it, with its stylish, neat design. A lot of printers detract from the decor; this one improves it.

HP provides an easy-to-follow setup guide that makes the overall setup process simple. The guide prompted me to insert the four ink cartridges, print and scan a test page. I installed the companion mobile app, HP Smart, on my phone and quickly connected the printer to my home Wi-Fi network. I liked the app's interface, which corrals common features (printing, scanning, faxing and so on) into a friendly, simple layout. And starting with the mobile app, as recommended by the guide, made the desktop software installation equally easy, given that the printer had already been added to the network. That software matches the mobile app both visually and functionally, making for an admirably seamless experience if you alternate between the two.

Measuring 10.9 x 17.3 x 13.5 inches, the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e has neither the largest nor smallest footprint among its peers, but on the whole it's fairly compact. Its underbelly input and output trays require very little extra space in front. The machine was unusually noisy during the initial setup process and can be similarly loud during maintenance tasks like head-cleaning.

The HP OfficeJet 9015e has a bright 2.7-inch color touchscreen that tilts out for easier access. The touchscreen uses icons for accessing core functions like copy, scan and fax (which the machine can do when connected to a landline, or you can do electronically via the app) and scanning, as well as a shortcuts menu you can configure for tasks that would normally require multiple, time-consuming steps: "scan and email," "copy and save to Google Drive" and so on. HP relegates settings and status info to a completely different menu (one accessed with a down-swipe), a smart move that keeps the main menu uncluttered.

The HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e offers a 35-sheet auto-duplex automatic document feeder.

This printer is about as versatile as they come, and it's appropriate for either a home or a small office. With a 250-sheet paper input tray, automatic double-sided printing, a 35-sheet auto-duplex automatic document feeder (meaning it can copy, scan and even fax double-sided documents without manual intervention) and support for USB drives (printing from and scanning to). The only thing missing is any kind of bypass tray for feeding envelopes or photo paper; to use other media, you’ll have to make the switch inside the main tray. This isn't difficult; it's just a hassle.

In addition to Wi-Fi connectivity, which affords mobile printing via Apple AirPrint, Mopria and the aforementioned HP Smart app, the 9015e supports wired connections via USB and ethernet.

As noted above, this was the fastest inkjet printer I tested; it spat out our ten-page sample document in just 45 seconds. Overall, its print quality was very good. Graphics appeared bright and vibrant, while text appeared dark and uniform, though with just a trace of splotchiness on a couple of the fonts. This issue is minor; you’d barely notice it in most cases, and it disappears entirely if you bump the print quality up from the default setting (which, of course, results in slower output).

As for photo printing, I initially noticed some banding on my glossy test photos, but then realized the printer had sat unused for a couple of weeks between my document and photo tests. Unfortunately, as with all inkjets, this can result in the print head clogging up. After running the cleaning cycle, the printer produced smooth, vibrant photos that, while not the best I’ve seen, are good enough for home printing projects. That said, I might consider a different model if photo printing is something you plan to do a lot of—especially considering this printer's lack of a separate photo paper path.

Whatever kind of printing is your priority, the HP OfficeJet 9015e may leave you with consumables sticker shock. A replacement set of cartridges (sold as the three colors in one package, and a high-yield black in another) sells for $113. However, this works out to fairly reasonable costs of about 2.2 cents per monochrome page and 8.9 cents per color page.

You can bring those costs down by subscribing to HP's Instant Ink program, which automatically ships new cartridges to you when the printer detects it's close to running out. How much you pay for Instant Ink depends on how many pages you print, ranging from 99 cents to $25 per month. The HP OfficeJet 9015e includes a free six-month Instant Ink trial when you sign up for the HP+ service within seven days of setup. This trial allows you to take the subscription for a test run and gauge your print habits over time. As much as I dislike the idea of yet another monthly fee, Instant Ink can save you money if you print more than a couple dozen pages per month.

The HP OfficeJet 9015e is a superb home printer. It combines pleasing design with fastest-in-its-class printing and extremely good output overall. I found it easier to set up than most competing home-office printers and also appreciated the versatility of HP's mobile app.

However, the HP OfficeJet 9015e offers only one paper path, something to consider if you routinely switch among different media. The Brother MFC-J5855DW, a very strong competitor, includes a second input tray, a convenience for those times when you want to, say, print a few envelopes without having to mess with the primary tray. That model, which gets our nod for best home office printer, also accommodates paper as large as 11 x 17 inches (though that means the printer has a much larger footprint, as well).

What's more, be prepared for the high cost of replacement ink, even though the 9015e's cartridges are larger than most and therefore last longer. HP's ink subscription may help mitigate those costs. The HP Smart Tank 7301 is a solid performer that relies on ink tanks instead of cartridges. It costs more up front but can save you money over time.

For the majority of home users, the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e is an excellent choice, one that's easy to recommend.

As a writer with over 30 years’ experience covering consumer technology, I’ve used or tested every kind of printer imaginable. My work has appeared everywhere from CNET to Yahoo, and I’m the author of the weekly newsletter Deal Secrets, which shares great bargains and unique ways to save money. My expertise there helped inform this review.

I evaluated the printer's speed and the quality of its output. I considered real-world factors including ease of setup, ease of use (Does it have a convenient control panel? What software does it include?) and overall versatility (Can it copy, scan or fax as well? Does it do automatic two-sided printing?). Finally, I looked at the cost of replacement ink.

For my testing, I set up the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e via a Wi-Fi connection to a Windows 11 PC, and printed pages on 20-pound copy paper at the default print quality settings. To gauge speed, I measured the time it took each printer to output a ten-page PDF document containing text, graphics and photos, starting when I pressed "print" through to when the last page finished. I examined the printed pages closely, looking at the weight and sharpness of text, and the color and clarity of graphics. I also printed various 4 x 6-inch test images on standard glossy paper, and then sent the photos from HP's Smart app.

Once upon a time, it was a big deal to bypass the photo lab and produce your own 4 x 6 glossies at home. These days, the vast majority of photos live on phones, rarely to be seen in print. Personally, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve printed a photo at home in the past five years. And according to a recent (very informal) Twitter poll I conducted, a whopping 90% of people print photos at home "rarely" or "never."

Adds Gap Intelligence analyst Valerie Alde-Hayman: "Home printing use cases have shifted primarily due to disruption from smartphones and computing. Instead of printing photos, users are sharing images on social media."

So ask yourself whether photo printing is really an important consideration for you or it's just something you used to consider important. The HP OfficeJet Pro 9105e isn't a champ at printing photos, but I consider its images good enough for typical home use.

This is a tough question to answer unless you know exactly how much printing you’ll do every month and how much you might spend otherwise for à la carte ink cartridges. HP's automated cartridge-replenishment service costs anywhere from 99 cents (for 10 pages per month) to $25 per month (700 pages), with three additional tiers in between. If you’re an "occasional" user paying $4 per month for 50 pages per month, that works out to $48 annually for 600 pages—a cost of about 8 cents per page.

Meanwhile, an entire set of replacement cartridges, purchased separately, costs about $113. But how long would those cartridges last you? Again, it's challenging to say, because everyone prints differently. Your best bet: Take advantage of HP's free 6-month Instant Ink trial and see how it all plays out.

As home printers go, the HP OfficeJet 9015e is relatively compact given its capabilities. Even if your work area is on the cramped side, you should have no trouble finding a home for it. The output tray doesn't stick out very far beyond the input tray, so you don't need much extra clearance in front. Unfortunately, you can't park the printer right up against a wall, as the power cord does protrude a bit from the back, and the ADF also requires a couple inches of rear clearance if you have to lift all the way up.