There are plenty of wireless laser color printers, but how many can not only print 4x more pages than standard cartridges, but also minimize time spent on scheduled maintenance? Meet the HP Color LaserJet Pro M477. Built for both business and personal users alike, it offers fast, easy scanning, easy mobile printing, and lots more, all at a very affordable price. Are all these features worth the money? We think so…continue reading to read our review.
Design
At 16.4 x 18.1 x 15.7 inches, the HP Color LaserJet Pro M477 is slightly bulky, but very stylish, thanks to a mixture of smooth, matte gray finishes. The 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen sits in the upper left, and right beneath, is a high-speed USB port, perfect for direct file transfers. Look to your right, and you’ll find the on/off button. At the base sits a two-tiered paper tray with a 50-sheet multi-purpose tray and another 250-sheet tray for other paper types or envelopes.
Set Up
Setting up the printer was straightforward: No software was required, as it can operated independently, without a network connection or computer. Should you decide on the former, just navigate to the top left, press the Wi-Fi signal icon, and you’ll be greeted with three options: Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi, and HP ePrint. We chose Wi-Fi and HP ePrint for near instant usability. If you prefer Wi-Fi, simply head on over to HP’s official driver page for the Color LaserJet Pro M477, and install the Easy Start software. For the latter, you’ll need to download the official HP ePrint app, register your email address, and then input the printer’s email. In all, it took under 5-minutes from power on to being completely setup and ready to print.
HP ePrint
The HP Color LaserJet Pro M477 comes with ePrint, an HP service that enablesusers to print documents and photos by e-mailing the files as an attachment directly to the printer. A special e-mail address must be activated online at the HP ePrint online portal, and requires an activation code that can be printed from the HP Color LaserJet Pro M477. ePrint accounts can be set to print from a list of specified e-mails or from anyone. When we sent a PDF from our laptop using a standard email service, it printed out in a mere 10.4-seconds and a Word doc took just 8.9-seconds. There is one quirk, photos can only be printed on 4 x 6-inch sheets of paper via this service. Color options (black or color) and paper sizes (8.5 x 11, 8.5 x 14, and A4) for documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and PDFs can be pre-set in the ePrint portal.
Printer Performance
To test the HP Color LaserJet Pro M477, we printed one three-page Word document, one three-page, color PDF, and a 926 x 612-pixel photo over Wi-Fi, via USB, and with ePrint. Over Wi-Fi, it printed the photo in 15.9-seconds, and in terms of quality, text documents looked smooth, bold, as well as razor sharp. Our photo tests proved even more vibrant. The sample image burst with color, and it was perfectly matched by the printer . An outdoor photo that was taken with ample natural lighting (and lots of nearby artificial lighting too) looked as though it had been fine tuned in a photo editing suite. The HP Color LaserJet Pro M477 was the quietest color laser printer we’ve tested. It spooled down quickly after printing and into a low hum.
Other Features
There’s also a flatbed scanner that can scans digital files directly to email, USB, network folders, and the cloud for use from anywhere at 1200dpi. Plus, it boasts digital fax functionality, and can be used as a digital copier.
Verdict
For a multi-purpose color laser printer that does it all (Print, Copy, Scan, Fax), look no further than the HP Color LaserJet Pro M477. You also get HP’s convenient ePrint service, AirPrint support, and an app that works well with both iOS and Android devices. The excellent print quality and superior speed make this the best choice, bar none.
Disclosure Statement
Thank you to HP for being sponsors of this article. All opinions expressed here are my own.
