HP Ink Tank 415 Printer: a wireless solution for the office

HP (Hewlett-Packard) brings out a lot of cool devices from laptops to desktops, but what makes them really stand out are their printers. Today, we’ll be checking out HP’s newest wireless printer, the Ink Tank Wireless 415.

Before we begin, some of you may be wondering: “What’s an Ink Tank printer?“. To compare, Ink Jet printers usually have two refillable ink cartridges for black and colored (cyan, magenta, yellow) inks while Ink Tanks have four individual refillable tanks of ink for each of the aforementioned colors.

In addition to that, the HP 415 (or any of the 410 series) comes with a complete set of ink bottles out-of-the-box. Like most modern printers, it also doubles as a scanner, but not only that, it’s also wireless but more on that later.

There are only two ports on the printer. One is the AC/DC power input, and the other is a USB Type-B port, for connecting to your computer with a USB Type-A to Type-B cable.

Moving on, there are nine buttons on the HP 415. First up, we have the “cancel” and “resume”, then the “wireless” button, which is where the real magic of the printer happens. The light beside it will blink if it hasn’t been set up properly, or if it’s trying to connect. To its right is the “info” button. When pressed, the printer will print out instructions on how to connect wirelessly, or to a computer with a cable.

Next up is the “Wi-Fi direct” button which is a dedicated button for connecting your smartphone to the printer. However, don’t confuse it with the wireless button because they’re functions are different. Adjacent to it is the “HP ePrint” button, which basically allows you to print using cloud-based services, as long as you have an active internet connection.

Below them are the “color” and “black” buttons which let you choose whether your scanned copy will have color or not. Lastly, the power button is located at the bottom. There is a small display above the buttons that show you the information you need to know, like the number of copies you’re printing, wireless status, and sometimes, errors, which is where the printhead LED notification light comes in. It will light up if the printhead is having issues.

Initially, the ink tanks are empty so you’ll have to fill it yourselves. It’s a bit nerve-racking to do it for the first time, but if you follow the manual, you won’t need to worry much. Also, there is a spill-free system protecting you from accidents. 

The HP Ink Tank 400-series’ differs from the rest of the Ink Tank family due to its ability to print and/or scan wirelessly via mobile devices. To establish a connection, you’ll need to make sure that the Wi-Fi direct and Wireless buttons have been pressed and enabled. Then, you need to download the HP Smart Printer app from the Google Play or Apple App stores. Once installed, connect to the printer’s own wi-fi connection. After that, open the app and you’re good to go, whether it be printing or scanning.

If you prefer a wired connection though, that’s simple too. You just need to connect the printer to your computer using the USB Type-A to Type-B cable, and you’re done. No need for a driver CD, as it’s plug and play. Although, HP provided one just in case things go sour during automatic installation.

The HP 415 is very easy to use even with just your phone but, it also delivers great quality prints with high detail. It even supports borderless printing! The drawback to printing wirelessly though is that it’s noticeably slower. When printing colored images using a wireless connection, the printer tends to stop halfway for around 20-30 seconds before continuing.

Overall, it takes 1 minute and 47 seconds to finish. As for black and white, it takes 1 minute and 44 seconds. Using a wired connection, a colored print only took 1 minute and 10 seconds and 53 seconds for black-and-white. Check out our sample prints.

Scanning, surprisingly, works faster on wireless at only 8 seconds, compared to 15 seconds on a wired connection.

Aside from the connectivity, quality, and speed this printer offers, we also really value how quiet it actually is. A huge plus for an office, or even home setup, so no one has to deal with the annoying printer, sounds most of us grew up hearing. Another cool thing about the printer is it’s surprisingly light. It can be carried with just one arm without breaking a sweat. 

The HP 415 Ink Tank Wireless Printer is priced at Php8,790 and is now available at HP authorized dealers nationwide.