Hp Envy 4520 Printer Review

For $99.99, you can purchase the HP Envy 4520 All-in-One Printer. This is evident in the lack of commonplace office conveniences like a document feeder (ADF) for scanning. This is especially clear when considering the different types of output this cheap inkjet MFP can produce, with rather great quality for images and graphics but poor quality for text in our tests.

The 4520 (on Amazon) has some weaknesses because other multifunction printers (MFPs) are available for the same price or less that can compete with it in its strong points and decisively outperform it in its weak points. Our top pick for a fairly priced inkjet MFP is the Brother MFC-J470DW ($179 on Amazon), which is on par with the 4520 in terms of photo and graphics quality and speed, provides superior text quality and is over three times as fast in our business application benchmarks. In addition to the 4520’s lack of an automatic document feeder (ADF) and a fax modem, the Brother model has these and other office-centric capabilities. While both have wireless Internet access, only the 4520 has Wi-Fi Direct.

Hp Envy 4520 Printer Specs

PROS

1. Reflexive duplexer.
2. Wi-Fi Direct and Wi-Fi.
3. Uses the cloud to print.
4. In tests, photos were printed quickly and well.

CONS

1. No fax or Ethernet.
2. HP’s Instant Ink Program is hard to sell with its installation software and LCD on the front panel.

Design

The HP Envy 4520’s slim, simple look was the first thing we noticed about it. It looks like HP’s other all-in-one printers, but it’s smaller and still has the same features. The copier and scanner lid almost blends in with the printer’s top, and a touchscreen and digital controls have replaced all but one physical button. This gives the machine a clean look, even in the smallest flats or dorm rooms.

Touchscreen

The HP Envy 4520 Multifunction Inkjet Printer can automatically print on both sides of a piece of paper. This is another great thing about it. Duplex printing is especially useful to ensure the quality of brochures, quotes, or detailed invoices. This will cut down on the number of sheets you need to print your papers and save you money on printing, which will be very important as your business grows. The very useful touchscreen on the front of the HP Envy MFP 4520 printer controls all its features. The tablet is easy to use and small (5.5 cm), just like the printer as a whole. But I’ll talk more about small power later.

Basics

Printing, copying, and scanning are the only basic MFP tools the 4520 has. Paper handling is also restricted, with a 100-sheet input tray and a welcome duplexer built in. That’s enough for most home uses, but every time you want to switch from normal paper to photo paper, you have to change the form in the tray. The letter-size pieces can fit on the flatbed, which can be used to scan and copy. The printer doesn’t have Ethernet, but if you connect to your network through Wi-Fi and your network is connected to the Internet, you can use the 2.2-inch front-panel touch screen to print from various websites using HP’s print apps. A mobile printer can print through the cloud when connected to a network. You can also print from iOS, Android, Windows, Google Chrome, Amazon Kindle, and Blackberry phones and computers through a Wi-Fi access point on your network. If you connect to a single PC via a USB cable, you won’t be able to print through the cloud or use Web apps. However, you can still connect directly with Wi-Fi Direct to print from a mobile device and print various templates that are saved on the printer. You can choose from graph paper, music paper, and, oddly enough, fax cover sheets for an MFP that can’t fax.

Quality and Speed

The 4520’s performance in business apps is mediocre at best. Using QualityLogic’s hardware and software for timing, I determined that its output on our business apps suite was a painfully slow 1.4 pages per minute (ppm). In contrast, the Brother MFC-J470DW only managed 4.9ppm. In my evaluation, I said that the 2.6ppm achieved by the Epson Expression Home XP-420 Small-in-One ($289.99 on Amazon) was only acceptable for the price. The 4520 has an advantage in photo quality over its rivals, taking an average of 1 minute and 1 second for a 4 by 6-inch print. It’s almost a minute faster than the Epson XP-420 and on par with the Brother MFC-J470DW. Quality of output varies. The text quality could be better, falling into a tier below that of most inkjet MFPs. However, this should be fine so long as you avoid using font sizes smaller than 8 points.

Conclusion

The Brother MFC-J470DW should be considered if you require a printer for home and workplace use or want better text quality and faster print speed for business applications than the HP Envy 4520 All-in-One Printer offers. The 4520 is a decent choice, but not convincing, if you don’t require office-centric features like an automatic document feeder (ADF), aren’t worried about text quality or print speed for documents, and can make good use of connecting via Wi-Fi Direct.