The Officejet 4620 is the entry-level model in HP's latest generation of Officejet printers. Designed for home offices and small businesses, it offers all the common multifunction features (printing, copying, scans and fax) plus Wi-Fi, at an affordable price. HP is advertising professional-quality colours at a lower cost per page. Is this true?
Design and Build
This relatively light (6 kg) and compact (45 x 35 x 21 cm) printer will fit easily into nearly any space. Just make sure you have enough room in front, because there's no paper receptacle. When the Officejet 4620 is sitting on the edge of a desk the pages just fall out... onto the floor. Some more downsides to this printer are that it doesn't do double-sided prints and has no card reader. But what gives the 4620 its four-star rating is its small size, Wi-Fi compatibility, PCL6 and PS3 support, Mac/Windows/Linux driver support and 32 MB of standard memory, which make it convenient for groups of five employees.
The paper tray is small, but surprisingly practical. With a capacity of only 80 sheets, it obviously isn't ideal for large volumes. Pictures on the tray itself conveniently show you where to place envelopes and 10 x 15 cm photo paper.
The four cartridges go on the inside of the machine, which is slightly less accommodating than when the access is through the front panel.
One big thing to watch out for with the Officejet 4620 is that it sometimes prints in packets, spitting out unwanted blank sheets along with the printed pages.
Speed
This HP prints quickly for an entry-level device. Its 12 pages per minute in both colour and B&W is faster than the Pixma MX515, Canon's high-end, all-in-one "pro" printer (8 and 6 ppm, respectively).
The 4620 is especially fast when printing photos. It takes 86 seconds to print one A4 photo and 34 seconds for 10 x 15 cm. That's similar to the very excellent Epson WorkForce Pro WP-4525DNF! The Canon Pixma MX515, by comparison, takes twice as long: 131 seconds for A4 and 65 seconds for 10 x 15 cm.
Print quality
While HP printers are often a step ahead of the competition in terms of design and connectivity, they sometimes lag behind when it comes to print quality. And yet, it's always the same problem that ruins their legibility: the size of the ink droplets, which are far too large. You can see it all in the picture below (and then some, since we've blown it up 3 times). At normal size, when you've got the printed document in your hands, the droplets are naturally smaller and less visible than here, but this will at least give you an idea of the overall lack of precision. As everything else goes (shading, colour accuracy, clarity of the lettering and overall rendering), there are no major issues on the 4620.
Power Use
The Officejet 4620 consumes less than 1 watt in sleep mode and 11 watts during use. That's excellent. It is also a quiet printer, at 49 dB when on and running.
Scanner & Copier
One of the 4620's more practical features allows you to scan documents and photos and save them directly on any computer in your network.
The copy mode is as basic as it gets. You can choose from colour, B&W and number of copies. So no settings for quality, clarity, templates, paper types, etc. The copy speeds are in the lower end of printers we've reviewed, at 26 seconds for B&W and 28 seconds for colour. The Canon Pixma MX515's copy function is much quicker, at 7 seconds for B&W and 20 seconds for colour.
Average Delta E 94 (colour difference): 4.2
While it doesn't have features galore, the copy mode's quality is above average. The Delta E 94 is one of the lowest we've seen, which means that the colours are extremely accurate compared to the original document.
Cost Per Page: 9.5 pence using XL cartridges
There are two types of cartridge: standard and XL. The XL cartridges are more expensive, but they last longer and end up costing you less in the long run if your print regularly. The Officejet 4620's cost per page is just under average (the total average for the printers we've reviewed is 9.7 p). For comparison, it beats the Brother MC-J825DW's 9.8 pence, but is clearly outdone by the Canon Pixma MG5350's 9.1 pence.
ISO lifespan - XL cartridges
Design and Build
This relatively light (6 kg) and compact (45 x 35 x 21 cm) printer will fit easily into nearly any space. Just make sure you have enough room in front, because there's no paper receptacle. When the Officejet 4620 is sitting on the edge of a desk the pages just fall out... onto the floor. Some more downsides to this printer are that it doesn't do double-sided prints and has no card reader. But what gives the 4620 its four-star rating is its small size, Wi-Fi compatibility, PCL6 and PS3 support, Mac/Windows/Linux driver support and 32 MB of standard memory, which make it convenient for groups of five employees.
The paper tray is small, but surprisingly practical. With a capacity of only 80 sheets, it obviously isn't ideal for large volumes. Pictures on the tray itself conveniently show you where to place envelopes and 10 x 15 cm photo paper.
The four cartridges go on the inside of the machine, which is slightly less accommodating than when the access is through the front panel.
One big thing to watch out for with the Officejet 4620 is that it sometimes prints in packets, spitting out unwanted blank sheets along with the printed pages.
Speed
This HP prints quickly for an entry-level device. Its 12 pages per minute in both colour and B&W is faster than the Pixma MX515, Canon's high-end, all-in-one "pro" printer (8 and 6 ppm, respectively).
The 4620 is especially fast when printing photos. It takes 86 seconds to print one A4 photo and 34 seconds for 10 x 15 cm. That's similar to the very excellent Epson WorkForce Pro WP-4525DNF! The Canon Pixma MX515, by comparison, takes twice as long: 131 seconds for A4 and 65 seconds for 10 x 15 cm.
Print quality
While HP printers are often a step ahead of the competition in terms of design and connectivity, they sometimes lag behind when it comes to print quality. And yet, it's always the same problem that ruins their legibility: the size of the ink droplets, which are far too large. You can see it all in the picture below (and then some, since we've blown it up 3 times). At normal size, when you've got the printed document in your hands, the droplets are naturally smaller and less visible than here, but this will at least give you an idea of the overall lack of precision. As everything else goes (shading, colour accuracy, clarity of the lettering and overall rendering), there are no major issues on the 4620.
Compare photos in the Face-Off
Average Delta E 94 (colour difference): 9.7
The higher the bar, the less accurate the colour.
Good colour accuracy will be at 3 or less.
Average Delta E 94 (colour difference): 9.7
The higher the bar, the less accurate the colour.
Good colour accuracy will be at 3 or less.
The colours in photo prints are adequate, but nothing like the professional quality of the Epson Stylus Photo. In the enlarged image below, for example, you can see the ink droplets. But judging at normal size with your eyes alone, the difference isn't as noticeable. This printer will be just right for rough draft photos.
The graph below shows deviations in the blues and greens, which become especially visible in B&W photos.
Average Delta E 94 (colour difference): 7.2
Power Use
The Officejet 4620 consumes less than 1 watt in sleep mode and 11 watts during use. That's excellent. It is also a quiet printer, at 49 dB when on and running.
Scanner & Copier
One of the 4620's more practical features allows you to scan documents and photos and save them directly on any computer in your network.
The copy mode is as basic as it gets. You can choose from colour, B&W and number of copies. So no settings for quality, clarity, templates, paper types, etc. The copy speeds are in the lower end of printers we've reviewed, at 26 seconds for B&W and 28 seconds for colour. The Canon Pixma MX515's copy function is much quicker, at 7 seconds for B&W and 20 seconds for colour.
Average Delta E 94 (colour difference): 4.2
While it doesn't have features galore, the copy mode's quality is above average. The Delta E 94 is one of the lowest we've seen, which means that the colours are extremely accurate compared to the original document.
Cost Per Page: 9.5 pence using XL cartridges
There are two types of cartridge: standard and XL. The XL cartridges are more expensive, but they last longer and end up costing you less in the long run if your print regularly. The Officejet 4620's cost per page is just under average (the total average for the printers we've reviewed is 9.7 p). For comparison, it beats the Brother MC-J825DW's 9.8 pence, but is clearly outdone by the Canon Pixma MG5350's 9.1 pence.
ISO lifespan - XL cartridges
| Cartridge | Price (recommended) | ISO lifespan | Cost per page |
| 364XL (black) | £15 | 550 | 2.7 pence |
| 364XL (cyan) | £16 | 750 | 2.1 pence |
| 364XL (magenta) | £16 | 750 | 2.1 pence |
| 364XL (yellow) | £16 | 750 | 2.1 pence |
| 364XL (photo black) | £16 | 3,500 | 0.5 pence |
Pros
- Cost per page
- Speed
- Responsiveness
- Prints via smartphone or tablet (ePrint, AirPrint)
- Low energy consumption
- Quiet
Cons
- No double-sided prints
- No receptacle in front to catch printed pages
- Sheets get bunched together when printing
- Low-capacity paper tray (80 sheets)
Conclusion
The HP Officejet 4620 is an entry-level printer that is inexpensive and saves money on both energy and ink. It offers great value for money for users with moderate printing needs.
OUR SCORE
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