HP ENVY 4500 Pro Reviews

A cheap MFP with strong features and decent performance, but it’s a bit slow

The Envy 4500 has missing features and limitations that would have made it a well-rounded photo MFP, but given that it can be found for less than the retail price, it’s unreasonable to expect it to offer the same degree of functionality as a more expensive MFP. As we reviewed the printer, we kept this all in perspective. Still, the paper tray has limited capacity (the output support offering even less), and the use of a tri-color ink cartridge means you’ll be replacing it when just one of the colors runs out, which happened pretty quickly during our tests. You also need to keep in mind that if you need good-quality output or are printing photos, you are going to have to spring for premium (expensive) paper. With that said, the Envy 4500 is a capable photo printer. But the old adage states, “You get what you pay for.” If what you want is an inexpensive MFP that does a good job in monochrome, that’s certainly true of the Envy 4500. But if you need high-quality color and photo printing, you are going to wind up wondering if the initial purchase price was that good of a buy.