HP Envy 6420e All in One Printer with ADF Review: The Smart Choice for the Modern Family?

There’s a universal moment of frustration that every family and home office worker knows well. It’s 10 PM, the big school project is due tomorrow, and your old, hulking printer decides to flash an enigmatic error code. Or perhaps you’re about to join a crucial video call and realise you need to scan and send a signed document, only to find the scanner driver has mysteriously vanished. For years, my home office was haunted by a clunky, unreliable machine that was perpetually low on one specific, obscurely named colour cartridge. It was a source of constant, low-grade stress. The search wasn’t just for a new printer; it was a quest for a seamless, integrated solution that could keep up with the demands of a modern, connected household—printing homework, scanning receipts, copying documents, and even handling the occasional creative photo project without causing a headache. This is the promise of the modern All-in-One printer, and it’s a promise the HP Envy 6420e All in One Printer with ADF aims to deliver on.

What to Consider Before Buying an All-In-One Printer

An All-In-One Printer is more than just an item; it’s a key solution for consolidating your home office needs into a single, space-saving device. By combining printing, scanning, and copying capabilities, it eliminates the need for multiple bulky machines, saving both desk space and money. The main benefit is convenience. With modern AIOs, wireless connectivity allows everyone in the family, from kids with tablets to adults on laptops, to print from anywhere in the home. Advanced features like automatic document feeders (ADFs) and duplex (two-sided) printing streamline tasks that used to be manual and tedious, turning a multi-step chore into a one-click process.

The ideal customer for this type of product is someone facing the daily juggle of a busy family or a small home office. Think parents printing school assignments, remote workers needing to scan multi-page contracts, or creative hobbyists wanting to print borderless photos. It’s for the user who values simplicity and integration, preferring to manage tasks through a smartphone app rather than fiddling with complex settings on a tiny LCD screen. However, it might not be suitable for those who require ultra-high-volume, commercial-speed printing, as a dedicated laser printer might be more cost-effective. Likewise, professional photographers needing gallery-quality prints with precise colour fidelity may want to look at specialised photo printers.

Before investing, consider these crucial points in detail:

• Dimensions & Space: While designed to save space, AIOs still have a physical footprint. Measure your intended shelf or desk space carefully. The HP Envy 6420e boasts a sleek, low-profile design that is shorter than many rivals, with a clever internal paper tray that keeps its lines clean and compact, making it easier to integrate into a living space rather than just an office.
• Capacity/Performance: Look beyond the initial purchase price to the core performance specs. Print speed, measured in pages per minute (PPM), tells you how quickly it handles large jobs (the 6420e offers 10 ppm black, 7 ppm colour). The Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) capacity—35 pages on this model—is critical for scanning or copying long documents. Also, consider the paper tray capacity (100 sheets here) to gauge how often you’ll be reloading it.
• Materials & Durability: Most consumer-grade printers are housed in plastic shells. The key is a sturdy build that doesn’t feel flimsy. The HP Envy 6420e features a clean, matte white plastic finish that feels solid and looks modern. While the vast majority of units are reliable, be aware that complex machines can have mechanical issues, so a good warranty is essential.
• Ease of Use & Maintenance: A printer’s usability is increasingly defined by its software. An intuitive mobile app, like HP’s Smart App, can make setup, monitoring ink levels, and printing from the cloud a breeze. For maintenance, consider the ink system. The HP Envy 6420e uses a two-cartridge system (one black, one tri-colour) and heavily promotes its Instant Ink subscription, which automates replacements and can simplify long-term upkeep.

Keeping these factors in mind, the HP Envy 6420e All in One Printer with ADF stands out in several areas, particularly for users prioritising design and smart features. You can explore its detailed specifications and current offers here.

While the HP Envy 6420e All in One Printer with ADF 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:

First Impressions: Sleek, Smart, and Surprisingly Compact

Unboxing the HP Envy 6420e All in One Printer with ADF was a refreshingly simple affair. The packaging is efficient, and inside the box, you’ll find the printer itself, a power cord, and two starter ink cartridges (one black, one tri-colour). My first impression was one of refined minimalism. The clean, white chassis and compact dimensions (43.2 x 36.1 x 17.4 cm when closed) immediately set it apart from the drab, bulky office equipment of the past. As one user aptly noted, “It looked very sleek and not bulky. It has a minimalist look to it… it hides well in my alcove and doesn’t stick out which is always a win!”

What’s most striking is the absence of a traditional control panel and screen. Instead, the HP Envy 6420e uses subtle, context-aware lighting on the paper tray and function buttons to communicate its status. This contributes to its clean aesthetic but also signals its reliance on the HP Smart App for control—a very modern approach. The paper tray is neatly concealed within the body, adding to its slick appearance. The 35-page Automatic Document Feeder sits elegantly on top, promising to make multi-page scanning a breeze. It feels well-built for its price point and thoughtfully designed to blend into a home environment rather than dominate it.

A Deep Dive into the HP Envy 6420e’s Performance

A printer can look great on a desk, but its true value is revealed in day-to-day use. We put the HP Envy 6420e All in One Printer with ADF through a series of real-world tests, from setting it up and connecting devices to printing multi-page reports, scanning documents, and even trying our hand at some family photos. Here’s our detailed breakdown of how it performed.

Setup and Connectivity: The HP Smart App Experience

HP has fully embraced the app-driven future, and setting up the Envy 6420e is done almost entirely through your smartphone. The included quick-start guide directs you to download the HP Smart App, which then walks you through every step: connecting the printer to your Wi-Fi network, installing the ink cartridges, and aligning the print heads. For us, the process was remarkably smooth. Within about 10 minutes, the printer was online, connected to our network, and ready to receive print jobs from my phone and laptop. This experience was echoed by many users, with one stating, “I was surprised how easy it was too install this printer. I didn’t even had to turn on my laptop for that, all via the mobile phone.”

However, this reliance on a flawless app-to-printer handshake is also its greatest potential weakness. We noticed a significant number of user reports citing setup frustrations. Comments like, “it was somewhat fiddly to set up,” or needing a factory reset to get past an error, highlight that it isn’t foolproof for everyone. Our key takeaway is that a stable Wi-Fi connection is non-negotiable, and performing a firmware update via the app is one of the first things you should do. Once connected, the self-healing Wi-Fi proved reliable in our tests, automatically resolving minor connection drops. We successfully printed from two laptops, an Android phone, and an iPad without issue, confirming its suitability for a multi-device household.

Print, Scan, and Copy Quality: A True All-in-One Workhorse?

The core function of any printer is, of course, to print. For everyday tasks, the HP Envy 6420e All in One Printer with ADF excels. We printed a variety of documents, including crisp black-and-white text reports, business graphics with colour charts, and school worksheets. Text was sharp and clear, with no smudging, living up to the 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution. Colour graphics were vibrant and accurate, perfect for presentations or homework. The print speed—rated at 10 ppm for black and 7 ppm for colour—felt perfectly adequate for home use; it’s not a speed demon, but as one user put it, “although it wasn’t really fast I wouldn’t say it was slow.” The automatic duplex printing worked flawlessly, saving paper and effort on multi-page documents.

Scanning and copying are where the 35-page Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) truly shines. We fed a 20-page contract into the ADF and scanned it to a single PDF file directly from our phone. It was effortless and a massive time-saver compared to manually placing each page on a flatbed scanner. Users agree, with one noting, “The automatic document feeder holds 35 sheets of paper and works well. The quality of scanning is very good.” The flatbed scanner is still there for books or single delicate items, offering versatility.

The one area where we found performance to be mixed was photo printing. While the printer supports borderless photos, the results on glossy photo paper were underwhelming. Colours appeared slightly washed out and lacked the deep contrast and sharpness we’d want for framing. This aligns with a user who reported that on photo paper, “the quality is so poor you can’t even a person’s face.” For casual snapshots, creative projects, or photos embedded in documents, it’s fine. But if high-quality photo printing is your primary goal, you may want to look elsewhere.

The HP+ and Instant Ink Ecosystem: Convenience at a Cost

You can’t review a modern HP printer without discussing the HP+ and Instant Ink ecosystem, as it’s central to the product’s identity. Activating the optional HP+ during setup gets you an extra year of warranty and advanced features in the Smart App. The catch? You must commit to using only Original HP Ink for the lifetime of the printer, maintain an internet connection, and have an HP account. This “smart printing system” is designed to ensure reliability, but it also creates a walled garden.

The most compelling part of this ecosystem is Instant Ink. This is not a traditional ink subscription; instead of ordering cartridges, you subscribe to a monthly page plan (e.g., 50 pages for £1.99, 100 for £3.49). The printer monitors your usage and automatically orders new ink before you run out. For many, this eliminates the dreaded “out of ink” emergency. As one happy customer explained, “Running out of ink has always been a pain so I like the HP+ ink system… for 0.99p per month for my usage level… it’s a great solution when you consider how expensive ink is.” The included 3-month trial is a great way to see if it fits your printing habits.

The downside is the loss of freedom. The printer’s firmware is designed to block non-HP cartridges. For users who prefer the flexibility of third-party ink or refilling cartridges to save money, this is a significant drawback. You are essentially choosing between the upfront convenience and automated service of Instant Ink and the long-term flexibility and potential cost savings of a more open system. It’s a trade-off every potential buyer must weigh carefully.

What Other Users Are Saying

Across a wide range of feedback, a clear picture emerges: the HP Envy 6420e All in One Printer with ADF is a product that users either love for its modern convenience or find frustrating due to its reliance on software and connectivity. The positive sentiment centres heavily on its design and ease of use for the tech-savvy. One 80-year-old user happily reported, “With the help of the app it was fairly easy to setup,” while another praised its simplicity, saying, “It was super easy to set up. I just followed the instructions on the app.” The convenience of the Instant Ink service is another frequently cited benefit, with one person calling their subscription a “no brainer.”

On the other hand, the negative feedback almost exclusively points to connectivity and setup issues. One frustrated user stated, “Every time i turn this printer on I have an issue that is time intensive to resolve,” pointing to recurring error messages. Another warned, “The bloody printer keeps blinking with an error message on it saying setup is incomplete.” These comments underscore that when the app and Wi-Fi connection aren’t perfect, the lack of a physical control panel can make troubleshooting difficult. There are also isolated but serious reports of poor build quality, like the user who had “2 cogs and a spring literally came out of the machine,” reminding us that quality control can vary.

How Does the HP Envy 6420e Compare to the Competition?

The HP Envy 6420e All in One Printer with ADF operates in a competitive market. While it carves out a niche with its focus on design and app integration, several strong alternatives cater to different user needs.

1. Brother MFC-J4340DW A4 Colour Inkjet Printer

The Brother MFC-J4340DW presents itself as a more traditional, business-oriented workhorse. While it also offers print, copy, and scan functions with an ADF, it focuses on practicality over aesthetics. It typically boasts faster print speeds and comes with high-yield inbox ink cartridges designed to last for a significant number of pages right out of the box, appealing to users wary of subscription models. Someone who prints frequently for a small business and prioritises speed and a low cost-per-page with traditional cartridges might prefer the Brother over the HP’s subscription-centric model.

2. Epson WorkForce WF-7840DTW A3+ 4-in-1 Printer

The Epson WorkForce WF-7840DTW plays in a different league primarily due to one standout feature: A3+ printing capability. This makes it an ideal choice for designers, architects, or anyone needing to print larger format documents like spreadsheets, posters, or architectural plans. It’s a bigger, more robust machine with dual paper trays and fax functionality, positioning it firmly in the prosumer and small office space. If your printing needs extend beyond standard A4, the Epson is the clear choice, whereas the HP Envy 6420e is strictly for standard document and photo sizes.

3. Brother MFC-L2835DW All-in-one Mono Laser Printer

This Brother model represents a completely different technology. As a monochrome laser printer, the MFC-L2835DW is built for one thing: fast, efficient, and high-volume black-and-white printing. It will significantly outperform the HP Envy in text printing speed and deliver a much lower cost per page for text-heavy documents. This is the perfect alternative for students, writers, or offices that print reports and invoices all day and have no need for colour. If your work is almost entirely text-based, a mono laser printer like this is a more economical and efficient choice than any colour inkjet.

Our Final Verdict: Is the HP Envy 6420e All in One Printer with ADF the Right Choice for You?

After extensive testing and analysis, our verdict on the HP Envy 6420e All in One Printer with ADF is clear: it is an excellent printer for its target audience. This is a machine designed from the ground up for the modern, connected family or the style-conscious home office. Its greatest strengths are its sleek, compact design, the undeniable convenience of the HP Smart App for mobile control, and the brilliant time-saving 35-page ADF. When paired with the Instant Ink subscription, it offers a “set it and forget it” printing experience that removes the perennial frustration of running out of ink.

However, its modern approach is also the source of its weaknesses. The complete reliance on an app and a stable internet connection for setup and control can be a point of failure for some. The HP+ ecosystem’s lock-in to proprietary ink will be a deal-breaker for those who value flexibility. We would highly recommend it to families, students, and casual remote workers who are comfortable with app-based technology and value convenience and aesthetics. We would caution against it for anyone who is not tech-savvy, requires high-quality photo prints, or is fundamentally opposed to subscription services.

If you’ve decided the HP Envy 6420e All in One Printer with ADF is the right fit for your home, you can check its current price and purchase it here.