Looking for the most ink-efficient printer without having to spend a lot of money? The HP Smart-Tank Plus 551 is a multipurpose printer with bulk-ink, which gets its ink reservoir from the bottles we use to refill its tanks instead of cartridges. This device is designed for home and small offices, with reasonable capacity, volume ratings, and features. Being very inexpensive it does print very well, making it a decent alternative to the variety of current favorite bulk-ink printers.
For a better understanding of HP Smart Tank Plus 551 features and functionalities let’s dive deeper into this article.
HP Smart Tank Plus 551
- Reliable Connectivity with Bluetooth® LE
- Steady output quality
- Low operational cost
- Elegant and compact design
- Lacks auto duplexing
- Low monthly volume
- A bit expensive
HP Smart Tank Plus 551 Features
Design:
The HP smart-tank plus 551 is leaner compared to other bulk-ink printers and has a very small and compact size with 17.6 x 14.7 x 6.2 inches and weighing around 11.3 pounds. As a result, it occupies less space than its counterparts. Copying, scanning, and configuring the Plus 551 are handled by its relatively basic control panel, which consists of a few buttons and a monochrome 2-inch non-touch screen. It comes with a built-in web server which can perform tasks like consumables monitoring, security configuration and usage report generation right from your browser even on the smartphone.
Speed:
The HP plus 551 comes with a reasonable speed of 11 ppm in black and 5 ppm in color. The speed varies with the document type, however the overall performance is fairly strong. Its copy and scan speed is not that fast either. The least that we can appreciate about HP smart tank Plus 551 is that it is not the slowest in its class. Its copy speed reaches 10 ppm for black and 2 ppm for color. At the same time it scans up to 5 pages per minute.
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Quality:
The HP smart-tank plus 551 is no exception to modern inkjet printers as it is able to deliver decent print quality. The print result is quite similar to HP Officejet pro 8035 which is acceptable for business related documents. While printing color documents like photos, HP Plus 551 results are blazing with perfection, which makes it a better option for printing commercial documents like leaflets and brochures etc.
Efficiency:
The monthly duty cycle of HP smart-tank plus 551 is around 1,000 pages with recommended monthly volume ranging from 200 to 500 pages. Despite being a business printer, the Plus 551 lacks enough paper capacity. Its input tray has a capacity of 100-sheet which can be configured to hold 3 x 5 inch sheets up to plain letter size. It also has a capacity to handle up to 10 envelopes or 30 sheets of cardstock paper. The output tray has a capacity of 30 sheets. It lacks both ADF and bypass tray as well.
Connectivity:
The HP smart-tank Plus 551 comes with typical built-in connectivity like Wireless Direct and wireless networking. It also has Bluetooth as well as the USB 2.0 feature. This device lacks RJ45 connectivity, but offers a smart feature of printing through HP smart app, Mopria, Google Cloud Print, HP ePrint and AirPrint. It also enables the smartphone devices to directly connect to the printer using Bluetooth without having to access any network.
HP Smart Tank Plus 551 Specifications
Sum Up:
The wireless inkjet printer HP Smart-Tank Plus 551 is a great option for small and medium enterprise businesses. It delivers reliable quality when you print business documents and also reduces operating costs to reduce expenses. If you’re seeking for an elegant printer to provide a better output quality, the Plus 551 is a fine option. But if you have a limited budget and are looking for a printer with an auto-duplex feature, we suggest you may look at HP Officejet Pro 8035.