HP DeskJet 2855e Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer, Scanner, Copier, Best-for-home, 3 month Instant Ink trial included, AI-enabled

A week with the DeskJet 2855e

I picked up the DeskJet 2855e to handle light, everyday jobs at home—think school forms, return labels, recipes, and the occasional color chart. After a week of printing, scanning, and copying from both a laptop and a phone, it’s clear what this little all‑in‑one does well, where it compromises, and who it’s truly for.

Setup and design

Out of the box, the footprint is compact and lightweight, easy to tuck onto a bookshelf or kitchen counter. The 60‑sheet input tray sits at the rear, and the output tray folds out in front. Controls are handled by an icon‑based LCD and a small cluster of buttons. It’s simple, but not confusing; if you’re mostly printing from a phone or computer, you’ll rarely need more.

Setup through the HP Smart app was straightforward. I powered the printer, followed the on‑screen steps, joined it to my home Wi‑Fi, and was printing within minutes. The app guided me through loading paper and aligning the cartridges. I didn’t need a USB cable, and I didn’t need to babysit the process.

A quick note on networks: at home, the 2855e joined my regular Wi‑Fi without issue and stayed connected. On a guest network that used a captive portal (the kind that asks you to accept terms in a browser), the printer wouldn’t join. That’s normal for consumer printers—plan on connecting it to a standard home network or to a phone/computer via the app.

Everyday printing: quality and speed

This is a document‑first machine, and for that role it’s solid. Text prints look crisp and legible at typical font sizes. For charts and light graphics, colors are clean and punchy enough for handouts and homework. It’s not a photo specialist—glossy photo prints from a phone look acceptable for the fridge, not archival—but that’s in line with its price and purpose.

Speed is modest but consistent. I measured roughly a page every eight seconds for black text documents once it got going, and color pages were slower. First‑page‑out time was around 10–15 seconds from idle. If you run off occasional packets or a handful of labels, you’ll be fine. If you routinely print long color reports or photo stacks, you’ll wait.

Noise is middle‑of‑the‑road: a soft whir and carriage movement that won’t wake the house, but you’ll hear it in a quiet room.

There’s no automatic duplex (double‑sided) printing. The app will walk you through manual duplexing—print the odd pages, flip the stack, then print the evens—which works in a pinch but isn’t something I’d want to do daily.

The surprise feature: AI‑assisted web and email prints

The 2855e’s most useful trick is HP’s AI formatting for web pages and emails. I tried printing a recipe page and a flight confirmation straight from the browser. The printer/app stripped out ad columns, navigation bars, and random footer cruft, preserving just the content I needed. It turned unwieldy two‑to‑three‑page prints into a tidy single page more than once. If you’re the family “can you print this?” person, this feature alone saves time, ink, and paper.

Scanning and copying

Scanning is via a flatbed—no automatic document feeder—so multi‑page jobs are manual: lift the lid, place a page, scan, repeat. The HP Smart app makes building a multi‑page PDF straightforward, and the quality is good for documents and forms. I scanned a signed letter and a couple of receipts; OCR from third‑party apps worked fine on the resulting PDFs.

Copying is as simple as placing a page on the glass and pressing the copy button. Black‑and‑white copies are decent, color copies are passable for quick reference. If you copy stacks of documents regularly, you’ll want something with an ADF; for household use, this is adequate.

Connectivity and app experience

The app remains the easiest way to live with the 2855e. From my phone, I printed photos, a PDF, and two emails without needing drivers. From a Windows laptop, printing was as expected, and scanning to the laptop worked through HP Smart. Once, after a router reboot, the printer briefly showed offline; the app’s connection “self‑heal” nudged it back without me re‑running setup.

Mobile printing from iOS and Android worked as you’d hope. AirPrint/Android print service discovered the printer on the network, and jobs showed up quickly. If your household splits between phones and PCs, this flexibility is a plus.

Ink, costs, and the HP+ ecosystem

Like many entry‑level inkjets, the 2855e ships with “setup” cartridges that are better thought of as a starter set than a long‑term supply. Light document printing carried me through the first few days, but a burst of color pages drained the color cartridge faster than I anticipated. That’s where HP’s Instant Ink trial enters the picture.

Activate HP+ and you get a three‑month Instant Ink trial. With Instant Ink, the printer monitors ink levels and HP mails replacement cartridges before you run out. For predictable, low‑to‑moderate monthly printing, it’s convenient and can be cost‑effective. After the trial, there’s a monthly fee based on page count; you can cancel, but if you rely on the service, budget for it.

Two important caveats:
- The printer is designed to work only with cartridges that contain HP‑approved chips/circuitry. Firmware updates maintain this policy. If you prefer third‑party inks, this is not the right printer.
- The color cartridge is a tri‑color design. Run out of one color, and you replace the whole cartridge. You can choose higher‑yield cartridges later to reduce frequency of replacements, but page yields will still vary widely based on coverage.

If you print a handful of pages each month, buying cartridges as needed might be simpler. If you print consistently (schoolwork, invoices, labels) and don’t want to think about supplies, Instant Ink is genuinely convenient—just go in with eyes open about the subscription.

Reliability and paper handling

Over about 80 pages of mixed output, I didn’t encounter paper jams. The 60‑sheet tray is small, but appropriate for its role. Plain 20‑lb copy paper fed reliably; heavier matte paper and a few glossy sheets also worked, though I wouldn’t push extremely thick stocks.

The printer wakes quickly from sleep, though the first page after a long idle is always a touch slower. The simple control panel is fine for starting copies or checking status icons. Anything more advanced—scanning settings, print quality changes, firmware updates—happens in the app.

Sustainability and power

HP touts at least 60% recycled plastics in the build, and the device carries ENERGY STAR and EPEAT certifications. In practice, it sips power at idle and goes into a low‑energy state reliably. If you care about reducing waste, the Instant Ink program includes cartridge recycling, and HP’s usual recycling envelope option is available for returning used cartridges.

Limitations to keep in mind

• No automatic duplexing; manual two‑sided printing only via the app.
• No automatic document feeder for scanning/copying.
• Modest print speeds; fine for low volumes, not for frequent long jobs.
• Tri‑color cartridge means potential waste if one color runs out early.
• Locked to HP‑approved cartridges; third‑party inks are a non‑starter.
• Won’t join networks that require browser‑based logins or enterprise authentication.

None of these are dealbreakers for a home document printer, but they do define where the 2855e fits.

Who it’s for

If your household prints a few pages most weeks—permission slips, return labels, recipes, shipping paperwork, tax forms—the 2855e is a comfortable, low‑stress option. It’s also a reasonable fit for homeschooling or side‑gig admin work where you value ease of use over speed. If you need high‑volume throughput, automatic duplexing, or business‑class scanning, step up to a midrange model.

Recommendation

I recommend the DeskJet 2855e for light home and school use because it’s easy to set up, stays connected, produces clean documents, and its AI formatting genuinely reduces wasted paper on web and email prints. The HP Smart app ties everything together in a way that makes printing from phones and laptops painless.

I would not recommend it if you print in high volumes, require automatic duplexing or an ADF, or plan to use third‑party ink. In those cases, a higher‑end inkjet or a small laser will serve you better. For everyone else who needs a compact, no‑fuss printer that handles the daily grind without costing a fortune, this model hits the brief.