HP Smart Tank 7007 All-in-One Printer with 3 Years of Ink Review: The End of the Expensive Ink Cartridge Era?

We’ve all been there. That critical document is due, the kids’ school project needs printing, or you’ve just framed the perfect family photo, only to be met with the dreaded “Low Ink” warning. For years, the home printing experience has been a frustrating cycle of buying shockingly expensive ink cartridges that seem to run out almost as soon as you install them. It feels like a subscription you never signed up for, a constant drain on both your wallet and your patience. This recurring problem isn’t just an inconvenience; it can disrupt work-from-home deadlines and add unnecessary stress to family life. The search for a better, more economical, and reliable solution is what leads many of us, myself included, to explore a new generation of printers that promise to break this cycle for good.

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

An All-In-One Printer is more than just an item that puts ink on paper; it’s a key solution for consolidating your home office or family’s creative hub. By combining printing, scanning, and copying into a single device, it saves valuable desk space, reduces clutter, and simplifies your workflow. The main benefit is efficiency. Instead of wrestling with three separate machines and their respective cables and software, you have one central point for all your document management needs. This is particularly crucial for modern families juggling schoolwork, remote work, and personal projects, where versatility and ease of use are paramount.

The ideal customer for this type of product is someone facing a consistent need for varied document tasks—think a family with school-aged children, a home-based professional, or a dedicated hobbyist who prints photos or crafts. If your weekly routine involves printing reports, scanning receipts, and copying forms, an all-in-one is a game-changer. Conversely, it might not be suitable for those who print only a handful of pages a year. For such users, the upfront cost and features might be excessive, and a more basic, single-function printer or even a local printing service could be more economical. Similarly, a professional photographer might opt for a dedicated photo printer with specialised inks for archival-quality prints.

Before investing, consider these crucial points in detail:

• Dimensions & Space: Don’t underestimate the footprint. Measure your intended desk or shelf space before buying. The HP Smart Tank 7007 measures 36.4 x 42.8 x 19.9 cm, a standard size for its category, but you’ll need extra clearance for the paper tray and for lifting the scanner lid. Ensure you have a stable surface that can support its 6.38 kg weight.
• Capacity/Performance: Look beyond the initial purchase price to the long-term running costs. Tank-based printers have a higher upfront cost but dramatically lower cost-per-page. Consider print speed (measured in pages per minute or ppm), paper tray capacity (250 sheets is great for home use), and whether it supports automatic two-sided (duplex) printing, a key paper-saving feature.
• Materials & Durability: A printer should be a multi-year investment. While many modern printers use a lot of plastic to keep costs down, look for models that feel sturdy. We appreciate that the HP Smart Tank 7007 is made with over 25% recycled plastic, indicating a commitment to sustainability without, in our experience, compromising the essential structural integrity.
• Ease of Use & Maintenance: Setup complexity and daily operation are critical. A good printer should be easy to set up via Wi-Fi and a companion app. For tank printers, the refill process is key; look for spill-proof bottle designs. Long-term maintenance involves keeping print heads clean, which is often an automated process.

Keeping these factors in mind, the HP Smart Tank 7007 All-in-One Printer with 3 Years of Ink stands out in several areas, particularly in performance and long-term value. You can explore its detailed specifications and current offers here.

While the HP Smart Tank 7007 All-in-One Printer with 3 Years of 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:

First Impressions: Unboxing a New Philosophy in Printing

The arrival of the HP Smart Tank 7007 All-in-One Printer with 3 Years of Ink felt less like unboxing another peripheral and more like unwrapping a promise. The box itself is substantial, and upon opening, the printer is securely nestled in protective packaging. Some users have reported receiving boxes with minor external damage, but our unit arrived in perfect condition, with the internal components well-protected. Lifting the 6.38 kg unit out reveals a sleek, modern design in a neutral two-tone grey that blends effortlessly into a home office environment. The build, made from over 25% recycled plastics, feels solid enough for its intended home use, though some of the trays and flaps have a lighter, more flexible feel than premium office models.

What immediately sets it apart are the visible ink tanks on the front and the four large ink bottles included in the box. There are no tiny, foil-wrapped cartridges in sight. HP promises up to three years of ink, and the sheer size of the HP 32XL black bottle (135ml) and the three colour bottles (70ml each) makes that claim feel tangible. The setup is driven almost entirely by the HP Smart app, which guides you through un-taping the printer, installing the two printheads (one for black, one for tri-colour), and the star of the show: filling the tanks. It’s a remarkably clean and satisfying process.

Deep Dive: Performance, Quality, and Real-World Value

An all-in-one printer’s worth is measured not just by its specs, but by how seamlessly it integrates into your daily life. We put the HP Smart Tank 7007 All-in-One Printer with 3 Years of Ink through a series of comprehensive tests, from high-volume document printing to detailed photo reproduction, to see if its performance lives up to its promise of long-term value and convenience.

The Smart Tank System: A Revolution in Home Printing Economy

The single greatest feature of this printer is, without question, the Smart Tank system. It fundamentally changes your relationship with printing costs. The process of filling the tanks for the first time is both ingenious and reassuringly simple. Each bottle has a unique nozzle that only fits its corresponding colour tank, making it impossible to mix them up. You simply uncap a bottle, invert it over the port, and it drains automatically without any squeezing. The valve mechanism stops the flow instantly when you lift the bottle, resulting in zero spills or mess. We found this to be a huge improvement over older tank systems. As one user noted, they were “surprised how much the tanks could take,” with the printer swallowing the entire contents of all four bottles on the initial fill.

Let’s talk numbers. The included ink is rated for up to 12,000 black pages or 8,000 colour pages. For an average family or home office, this genuinely translates to years of printing without having to think about refills. When you do eventually need more, the replacement bottles offer a cost-per-page that is fractions of what you’d pay for traditional cartridges. This completely removes the “ink anxiety” that causes you to think twice before printing a colour document. It encourages you to use the printer to its full potential, transforming it from a utility used only when necessary into a creative and productive tool. The freedom to print without constantly calculating costs is the true revolution here.

Print, Scan, and Copy Quality: Putting It to the Test

A giant ink tank is worthless if the output is subpar. Fortunately, we found the print quality of the HP Smart Tank 7007 All-in-One Printer with 3 Years of Ink to be excellent across the board, validating claims from users who praised its “superb” photo quality and “clear copies.”

For text documents, the printer delivers sharp, crisp black text that is more than suitable for professional reports and school essays. At a rated speed of 15 ppm for black and white, it’s quick enough for most home office tasks. The automatic duplex printing is a fantastic paper-saver. We did take note of a few online reports of paper jams during duplex jobs. In our testing with standard 80gsm A4 paper, the duplexing worked flawlessly. However, we could see how heavier or specialty paper might occasionally struggle, a common issue with many consumer-grade printers. For everyday use, it’s a reliable workhorse.

Where the printer truly shines is in colour printing. With a maximum resolution of 4800 x 1200 optimized dpi, photos and graphics are vibrant, rich, and detailed. We printed several A4 borderless photos on HP glossy photo paper, and the results were stunning. Colours were accurate, gradients were smooth, and there was no noticeable banding. It easily rivals the quality of prints from a photo lab. This makes it an ideal choice for families who want to print their own photos or for small businesses creating their own marketing materials. The flatbed scanner, with its 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution, also performs admirably, capturing fine details in documents and photos for high-quality digital archives or copies.

Setup and Connectivity: The HP Smart App Experience

Modern printers live and die by their software and connectivity, and this is where our experience with the HP Smart Tank 7007 was most nuanced. The initial setup process is designed to be incredibly user-friendly. The HP Smart app, available for desktop and mobile, holds your hand through every step, from connecting to Wi-Fi to aligning the printheads. The smart-guided buttons on the printer itself illuminate to show you what to do next, which is a clever touch. For us, and for many users who described the setup as “easy-peasy,” the entire process from unboxing to first print took under 20 minutes.

However, the self-healing dual-band Wi-Fi isn’t foolproof. This is the printer’s most significant potential weakness, as highlighted by a vocal minority of users. We did encounter one instance after a few days of use where the printer appeared “offline” in the app despite being connected to the network, echoing the frustration of a user who “cannot get the printer to appear ‘available’.” A simple restart of the printer and our router resolved the issue. Another user found a more permanent fix by forcing their router to assign the printer to the 2.4 GHz band instead of the 5 GHz band. While the connectivity is generally reliable, prospective buyers should be prepared for the possibility of some minor network troubleshooting. Once connected, the ability to print from any device, anywhere in the house—or even when away from home—is incredibly convenient.

What Other Users Are Saying

After our own extensive testing, we dug into feedback from other owners to see how their experiences compared. The overall sentiment is largely positive, with most praise directed at the core value proposition: the ink. One user, who had previously abandoned the brand over high ink prices, celebrated their return, stating, “I love the Smart Tanks. I’ve had HP previously, but stopped buying HP a few years ago after the ink became excessive in price. However the new Smart Tanks seem really good value.” Another echoed this, calling the refill system “simple and well thought out.” The ease of the app-guided setup was also a frequent point of praise.

However, the negative feedback, though less common, clusters around a few key issues. The most prominent complaint relates to connectivity. One frustrated user wrote, “For whatever reason, and despite the printer seemingly happily connected, I cannot get the printer to appear ‘available’ on the smart app.” This confirms that the Wi-Fi issues we briefly encountered can be a more persistent problem for some. There were also isolated but serious reports of hardware problems, including one instance of “Ink had leaked inside the package” and another where the printer simply “stop working” after six months. These appear to be exceptions rather than the rule, but they are important to note.

Alternatives to the HP Smart Tank 7007 All-in-One Printer with 3 Years of Ink

While the HP Smart Tank 7007 is a formidable contender, the all-in-one market is competitive. Here’s how it compares to three other popular options.

1. Epson WorkForce Pro WF-4830 4-in-1 Printer

The Epson WorkForce Pro WF-4830 is geared towards a slightly more demanding home office user. Its key advantages over the HP 7007 are its faster black print speed (25ppm vs. 15ppm), the inclusion of a 50-sheet Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) for multi-page scanning and copying, and fax capabilities. If your workflow involves scanning long documents or you still rely on faxing, the Epson is the more capable machine. The trade-off, however, is its reliance on traditional (and more expensive) ink cartridges. It’s a choice for users who prioritize raw productivity and features over long-term ink costs.

2. HP DeskJet 2710e All-In-One Colour Printer

The HP DeskJet 2710e represents the opposite end of the spectrum. It’s an entry-level, budget-friendly option designed for very light, occasional use. Its upfront cost is significantly lower than the Smart Tank 7007, but its long-term running costs are much higher due to its use of standard cartridges or an HP Instant Ink subscription. Its print speeds are slower, and it lacks features like automatic duplex printing and a large paper tray. This printer is best for students or individuals who only need to print a few pages per month and want the lowest possible initial investment.

3. HP Envy 6032 All-in-One Printer

The HP Envy 6032 sits in a middle ground, focusing on families and photo printing with a stylish, compact design. It’s often positioned with HP’s Instant Ink subscription service, which can be a cost-effective choice for those with predictable monthly print volumes. While its photo quality is excellent, like the Smart Tank 7007, it lacks the massive ink capacity out of the box. The Envy 6032 is a great choice for users who value aesthetics and prefer a subscription model for ink, whereas the Smart Tank 7007 is for those who prefer to pay more upfront to effectively eliminate ink costs for several years.

Our Final Verdict: Is the HP Smart Tank 7007 Worth It?

After extensive hands-on use and analysis, we can confidently say that the HP Smart Tank 7007 All-in-One Printer with 3 Years of Ink is an outstanding choice for its target audience: busy families and home office professionals who are fed up with the endless cycle of expensive ink cartridges. The upfront investment is higher than a basic inkjet, but the value proposition is undeniable. The sheer volume of ink included in the box provides years of worry-free printing and an incredibly low cost-per-page that traditional printers can’t match.

The print quality is excellent, particularly for photos, and the feature set, including automatic duplexing and a 250-sheet tray, is robust for home use. The only significant caveat is the potential for Wi-Fi flakiness, which may require some patience during setup or occasional troubleshooting. If you prioritize long-term savings and print quality and are comfortable with an app-driven ecosystem, this printer is a fantastic investment that will pay for itself many times over.

If you’ve decided the HP Smart Tank 7007 All-in-One Printer with 3 Years of Ink is the right fit for your home, you can check its current price and purchase it here.