I remember the exact moment I swore off traditional ink cartridges forever. It was 10 PM on a Sunday, and my daughter announced she had a major school project due the next morning, complete with a dozen colour photo printouts. We fired up our old, trusty printer only to be met with the dreaded “Low Ink” warning. A frantic search of the office drawers revealed nothing. A late-night dash to a 24-hour supermarket yielded a set of replacement cartridges that cost nearly half as much as the printer itself. The frustration, the expense, the sheer inconvenience—it was a recurring nightmare for our busy family. This cycle of “ink anxiety” is a familiar story for millions. We invest in a printer for convenience, only to become beholden to a costly and unpredictable supply chain. This is the precise problem the HP Smart Tank 7605 All-in-One Printer with 3 Years Ink aims to solve, promising a world where ink is an afterthought, not a constant worry.
- BEST FOR BUSY FAMILIES – Print a variety of colour documents in high volumes
- KEY FEATURES – Print, copy and scan, plus automatic 2-sided printing, 35-page automatic document feeder, borderless prints, mobile and wireless printing, Print up to 11 ppm black and 5 ppm colour
What to Consider Before Buying an Ink Tank Printer
An Ink Tank Printer is more than just an item; it’s a key solution for breaking free from the expensive cartridge replacement cycle. Unlike traditional printers that use small, disposable cartridges, ink tank systems feature large, integrated reservoirs that you refill from bottles. This fundamentally changes the economics of printing, dramatically lowering the cost per page and reducing plastic waste. The main benefits are profound: massive page yields from a single refill, predictable and infrequent ink purchases, and the convenience of always having thousands of pages ready to go. For a busy home, a student, or a small business, this means uninterrupted productivity and significant long-term savings.
The ideal customer for this type of product is someone facing high-volume printing needs. This includes families with school-age children constantly printing assignments, students tackling dissertations, home-based businesses producing reports and marketing materials, or even hobbyists printing photos and crafts. If you print several hundred pages a month, the savings are undeniable. However, it might not be suitable for those who print only a few pages a year. For such light users, the higher initial investment of an ink tank printer may not pay off quickly, and there’s a risk of ink drying or print heads clogging from disuse. In that case, a basic, cheaper cartridge printer or even a local print shop might be a more sensible choice.
Before investing, consider these crucial points in detail:
- Dimensions & Space: Ink tank printers are often slightly larger than their cartridge-based counterparts to accommodate the ink reservoirs. The HP Smart Tank 7605 measures approximately 42.8cm wide by 36.4cm deep. It’s essential to measure your intended desk or shelf space to ensure a comfortable fit, leaving enough room for ventilation and accessing the paper tray and scanner lid.
- Capacity/Performance: Look beyond just print speed. Consider the paper tray capacity—the 7605 holds a generous 250 sheets, reducing refill frequency. The 35-page Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) is critical for multi-page scanning and copying. Most importantly, evaluate the ink yield. With up to 12,000 black and 8,000 colour pages included, this printer is built for endurance.
- Materials & Durability: Most consumer-grade printers are constructed from durable plastics. While the build of the 7605 feels solid and well-engineered for home office use, it’s not an industrial machine. Pay attention to moving parts like the paper trays and ADF hinges. User feedback suggests that while generally robust, care should be taken as with any complex electronic device.
- Ease of Use & Maintenance: The refill system is paramount. HP’s spill-free bottle design is a major selling point, making a potentially messy job clean and simple. Also, consider the long-term maintenance. Unlike disposable cartridges that contain a print head, ink tank systems have separate, replaceable print heads. As one user noted, these will eventually need replacing, but they are designed for a much longer life and offer better value.
Keeping these factors in mind, the HP Smart Tank 7605 All-in-One Printer with 3 Years Ink stands out in several areas. You can explore its detailed specifications and features here.
While the HP Smart Tank 7605 All-in-One Printer with 3 Years Ink is an excellent choice, it’s always wise to see how it stacks up against the competition. For a broader look at all the top models, we highly recommend checking out our complete, in-depth guide:
- Wide range of features
- More for you in it! original HP 2-pack ink cartridges
- CANON INK: Value Pack includes black & colour inks & 50 sheets of Glossy Photo Paper - genuine Canon Ink provides consistent quality prints 100% of the time
First Impressions: Unboxing a Promise of Endless Ink
Pulling the HP Smart Tank 7605 All-in-One Printer with 3 Years Ink from its box, the first thing we noticed was its substantial, business-like presence. Weighing in at 7.7 kg, it feels sturdy and well-planted, a far cry from the flimsy budget printers we’ve tested in the past. The design is modern and functional, with a clean grey and white colour scheme that fits neatly into a home office environment. The centerpiece of the design is, of course, the transparent ink tanks on the front, which offer an immediate and satisfying view of your ink levels.
Inside the box, the star attraction is the set of high-capacity ink bottles—two XL black bottles and one of each colour (cyan, magenta, yellow). Seeing them all lined up, you get a tangible sense of the sheer volume of printing you’re about to unlock. The setup process is guided by the HP Smart app and the printer’s own smart-guided buttons, which illuminate to direct you. It’s an intuitive system that holds your hand through connecting to Wi-Fi, installing the print heads, and the main event: filling the tanks. It’s a moment of truth for any ink tank printer, and HP has nailed the execution.
Key Benefits
- Massive ink supply included, providing up to 3 years of printing.
- Extremely low cost-per-page for significant long-term savings.
- Full-featured All-in-One: Print, Scan, Copy, and Fax capabilities.
- Excellent workflow tools including a 35-page ADF and automatic 2-sided printing.
- Simple, clean, and spill-free ink refill system.
Potential Drawbacks
- Software and Wi-Fi connectivity can be temperamental during setup for some users.
- The Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) does not support 2-sided (duplex) scanning.
A Deep Dive into the HP Smart Tank 7605’s Performance
A printer can promise the world in a box, but its true value is revealed through day-to-day use. We put the HP Smart Tank 7605 All-in-One Printer with 3 Years Ink through its paces, from initial setup to demanding print jobs, to see if its performance lives up to its low-cost printing promise.
The Refill Revolution: Setup and First Fill
The setup experience is arguably one of the most critical—and potentially frustrating—parts of owning a new printer. We found the process for the Smart Tank 7605 to be largely straightforward, especially when initiated from a mobile device using the HP Smart app. This confirms the experience of several users who noted that setting up via a tablet or phone was seamless, whereas PC-based setup sometimes stumbled on network discovery. The app provides clear, step-by-step animated instructions for everything from removing the packaging tape to installing the two print heads (one for black, one for tri-colour).
The real highlight, however, is filling the ink tanks. If you have memories of messy ink refill kits from the early 2000s, erase them. HP’s system is ingeniously simple and completely clean. Each bottle has a unique nozzle that only fits its corresponding colour tank, preventing mix-ups. You simply uncap the bottle, invert it onto the port, and it drains automatically without any squeezing. The valve seals perfectly, and once the tank is full, the flow stops. You can remove the bottle with zero drips. It’s a genuinely mess-free, “spill-free” experience that turns a potentially daunting task into a simple, satisfying one. Watching the ink levels rise in the transparent tanks provides a great visual confirmation that you are, quite literally, stocked up for years of printing.
Real-World Print Quality and Speed
Once filled and calibrated, the printer is ready for action. We started with what makes up the bulk of home and office printing: text documents. The 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution for black and white produces exceptionally crisp, sharp text that rivals a laser printer for clarity. Even in draft mode, text was highly legible and printed at a brisk pace. When it came to mixed-use documents—reports with text, charts, and colour graphics—the HP Smart Tank 7605 All-in-One Printer with 3 Years Ink truly shined. Colours were vibrant and accurate, and graphics were rendered without any noticeable banding or bleeding.
The most pleasant surprise was its photo printing capability. Echoing the sentiment of an amateur photographer in the user reviews, we were stunned by the quality. We printed a high-resolution landscape photo on standard A4 paper, not even glossy photo stock, and the results were incredible. The colour fidelity was outstanding, capturing subtle gradients and details with impressive accuracy. While it won’t replace a dedicated professional photo printer, for family photos, school projects, or business flyers, the quality is more than sufficient and punches well above its weight. The automatic 2-sided (duplex) printing works reliably, saving paper on multi-page documents, although a few users reported occasional paper feed issues on very large jobs. We found it worked flawlessly for documents up to 20 pages.
Mastering Workflow: Scanning, Copying, and the ADF
A true “All-in-One” is a workflow hub, and this is where features like the Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) become invaluable. The 35-sheet ADF on the Smart Tank 7605 is a game-changer for anyone who needs to digitize or copy multi-page documents. We fed it a 20-page contract, and it scanned the entire stack into a single PDF effortlessly. This saves an enormous amount of time and tedium compared to lifting a scanner lid 20 separate times. Copying is just as simple, with options to collate, resize, and adjust quality directly from the printer’s small LCD screen or the HP Smart app.
However, we must address a critical limitation that several users rightfully pointed out: the ADF performs single-sided scanning only. This means if you have a double-sided document, you must scan one side, manually flip the entire stack, and then scan the other side. For a printer in this price range with so many other advanced features, the lack of duplex scanning is a significant omission and feels like a cost-saving measure in the wrong place. For users who frequently handle double-sided paperwork, this could be a deal-breaker. While the feature set is otherwise robust, this is a noteworthy weakness in its workflow capabilities.
The Smart Ecosystem: Connectivity and App Control
In today’s connected world, a printer’s value is deeply tied to its software and connectivity options. The Smart Tank 7605 offers a full suite: dual-band Wi-Fi, Ethernet for a stable wired connection, and Wi-Fi Direct for printing without a network. The HP Smart app is the central nervous system for the printer. From your phone, you can initiate prints and scans, check ink levels, order supplies, and even send a mobile fax. This level of mobile integration is fantastic for printing photos directly from your camera roll or documents from cloud services on the fly.
However, this is also where the user experience can become divided. We found the app to be powerful but, as some users have reported, occasionally buggy. Some users have experienced persistent connection issues, particularly with the printer’s embedded web server (EWS) which is used for advanced settings. These users complain of a slow interface and frequent crashes that require a printer restart. While our own testing was mostly stable after the initial setup, it’s clear that the software experience isn’t universally flawless. The best approach seems to be relying on the mobile app for everyday tasks and having patience when diving into the more advanced desktop settings. If you get a great printing experience with this powerhouse, you’ll be glad you checked out the HP Smart Tank 7605 All-in-One Printer with 3 Years Ink available online.
What Other Users Are Saying
After our own extensive testing, we dug into feedback from a wide range of users to see how our findings compared. The sentiment is overwhelmingly positive, especially regarding the core value proposition. One user, who had owned the printer for a year and a half, joyfully reported that they still hadn’t used up the initial ink supply, despite frequent use. They contrasted this with their old printer, for which a single set of XL cartridges cost over €100. This perfectly encapsulates the primary reason people love this machine: it delivers on its promise of radically low running costs.
Praise is also common for the print quality, with one student calling it the “best quality performance” they’ve ever seen for printing graphs and photos for presentations. The ease of the initial setup and ink filling is another frequently mentioned positive, with one person noting it was “simple and clean.”
However, the criticisms are just as consistent and align with our own findings. Several users across different regions reported software and connectivity problems, with one German user calling the onboard web server “extremely slow” and “buggy.” The most significant shared complaint is the lack of duplex scanning, which one French user described as “a bit stingy” for a device at this price. A few others noted issues with the ADF jamming or pulling multiple sheets at once, indicating some mechanical sensitivity.
How Does the HP Smart Tank 7605 Compare to the Competition?
The HP Smart Tank 7605 All-in-One Printer with 3 Years Ink operates in a competitive market. While its feature set is strong, certain alternatives might be better suited for specific needs.
1. Canon PIXMA TR150 Portable Printer
- Travel light with a portable printer - Sleek, light and robust, it's ideal for a business on the move. Tight on space? All cables and connections are fixed to one side for space-saving efficiency
- Couple up with easy connectivity - Print wirelessly with the Canon PRINT app, AirPrint (iOS), Mopria (Android) or Windows 10 Mobile. No internet router? Tap into Wireless Direct
The Canon PIXMA TR150 isn’t a direct competitor but rather a solution for a completely different user. Its defining feature is portability. It’s compact, lightweight, and can be powered by an optional battery, making it the ideal choice for professionals, students, or anyone who needs to print on the go. If your office is a coffee shop, a client’s site, or a hotel room, this is your printer. However, it sacrifices nearly all of the HP’s strengths to achieve this. It uses traditional cartridges, lacks any scanning or copying functions, and is designed for very light-duty printing, not high-volume home office work.
2. Epson WorkForce WF-2860 Wireless All-in-One Printer
- Get Laser-Quality Performance — the WorkForce WF-2860, powered by PrecisionCore.
- Packed with features — all in one compact, space-saving design.
The Epson WorkForce WF-2860 is a much closer rival, offering a similar all-in-one feature set: print, scan, copy, and fax, complete with an ADF and duplex printing. The crucial difference lies in the ink system. The WF-2860 uses traditional ink cartridges. This means a lower initial purchase price, which can be tempting. However, the long-term cost of ownership will be significantly higher than the HP Smart Tank. Someone who prints infrequently and prioritizes a lower upfront cost might prefer the Epson, but for anyone with moderate to high print volumes, the HP’s ink tank system will provide far better value over time.
3. Epson EcoTank ET-2750 Printer
- Save 90 percent on the cost of ink*: Equivalent of 88 cartridges worth of ink included
- Ultra-low-cost printing: Print up to 14,000 pages in black and 5,200 pages in colour
The Epson EcoTank ET-2750 is the most direct challenger, as it also uses a refillable ink tank system. Like the HP, it promises ultra-low running costs and comes with a generous supply of ink in the box. It also features automatic duplex printing. Where the HP Smart Tank 7605 pulls ahead is in its office-centric features. The ET-2750 lacks an Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) and fax capabilities. This makes the HP 7605 a much more complete and efficient solution for a busy home office that handles multi-page documents regularly. The Epson is a great choice for high-volume printing, but the HP is a superior all-in-one productivity tool.
Final Verdict: An Outstanding Value for High-Volume Homes
After extensive hands-on use and analysis, our verdict is clear: the HP Smart Tank 7605 All-in-One Printer with 3 Years Ink is a phenomenal machine that delivers on its core promise. It effectively eliminates the cost and anxiety associated with ink cartridges, offering an incredible volume of high-quality printing right out of the box. Its combination of excellent print quality, a full suite of office features like an ADF and fax, and the brilliantly designed spill-free refill system makes it a top-tier choice for any busy family or home office.
However, it’s not without its flaws. The lack of duplex scanning is a perplexing omission, and the software can be finicky for some users. But if your primary goal is to produce thousands of high-quality pages—from school reports to business documents to vibrant family photos—without ever worrying about the cost of the next cartridge, these compromises are likely worth making. It represents a fundamental shift in home printing, focusing on long-term value and convenience over a low initial price. It is a powerful, reliable workhorse that we can wholeheartedly recommend.
If you’ve decided the HP Smart Tank 7605 All-in-One Printer with 3 Years Ink is the right fit, you can check its current price and availability here.
Last update on 2025-10-31 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API