1. Introduction & Overview

The HP OfficeJet 250 is a rare breed in the printing world: a genuinely portable printer that refuses to compromise on essential features. Built specifically for real estate agents, traveling consultants, and remote workers who need a fully functional mobile office, this compact device offers printing, scanning, and copying capabilities anywhere you take it, thanks to its included rechargeable battery.

While many portable printers force you to sacrifice scanning or deal with terribly slow print speeds, the OfficeJet 250 packs a surprising amount of technology into its small frame. In this review, we'll examine how it handles the rigors of travel, its print and scan quality, and whether the premium price tag is justified for your on-the-go workflow.

2. Design and Build Quality

When collapsed for travel, the OfficeJet 250 resembles a sleek, matte-black rectangular brick. Weighing in at just 6.5 pounds (with the battery attached) and measuring 15 x 7.8 x 3.6 inches, it fits comfortably in a standard briefcase, backpack, or the trunk of your car. The matte finish is highly resistant to fingerprints and the inevitable scuffs that come with travel.

To use the printer, the top lid folds back to serve as a 50-sheet paper input tray. Below that, an excellent 2.65-inch color touchscreen folds out. This screen is a game-changer for a mobile printer, providing full access to all standalone features, network settings, and ink levels without ever needing to connect a computer or pull out your smartphone.

3. Setup Process and Connectivity

Quick Setup Guide

  1. Battery Installation: Unbox the unit and slide the included rechargeable lithium-ion battery into the rear slot until it securely clicks into place.
  2. Power Up: Open the top cover, fold up the color touchscreen, and press the power button.
  3. Cartridges: Open the front access door. Insert the HP 62 Black and Tri-color cartridges into their respective slots.
  4. Connect: Use the color touchscreen to navigate to Wi-Fi settings and connect to your local network. If you are in the field with no router, enable Wi-Fi Direct to connect your laptop or phone directly to the printer's own wireless signal.

Connectivity is where this printer truly shines for travelers. Beyond standard Wi-Fi and a USB 2.0 port, it supports Bluetooth Smart and Wi-Fi Direct. This means you can sit in a client's living room or your car, pair your phone or laptop directly to the printer, and print contracts or flyers instantly without needing access to a local network.

4. Print Quality and Performance

Despite its diminutive size, the print quality of the OfficeJet 250 is exceptional and fully suitable for client-facing documents.

  • Text Documents: Black text is near laser-quality—crisp, dark, and highly legible even at smaller font sizes, which is vital for printing contracts on site.
  • Color Graphics: Color charts, logos, and presentations print with solid vibrancy and minimal banding, ensuring your marketing materials look professional.
  • Photos: While not a dedicated photo printer, it handles borderless 4x6 photos surprisingly well, producing vibrant, accurate colors on glossy photo paper.

Speed: When plugged into an AC outlet, it prints at up to 10 pages per minute (ppm) for black and 7 ppm for color. When running exclusively on battery power, speed drops slightly to preserve energy (around 9 ppm black, 6 ppm color), but it remains incredibly fast for a battery-operated device.

5. Scanning and Copying

The most impressive feat of engineering on the OfficeJet 250 is its built-in scanner. Rather than a flatbed (which would make the printer too large), HP managed to integrate a 10-page Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) into the paper path. You can load multi-page documents, and the printer will pull them through to scan or copy. It allows you to scan directly to a USB drive (via a host port on the side), to email, or to a network folder, making it incredibly easy to digitize signed paperwork immediately after a client meeting.

6. Running Costs

The main drawback of any mobile printer is the cost of consumables, and the OfficeJet 250 is no exception. It uses standard HP 62 cartridges. Because the cartridges are small to fit the compact chassis, the page yield is lower than desktop printers. A standard black cartridge yields about 200 pages, while the high-yield (XL) versions provide around 600 black pages and 415 color pages.

Consequently, your cost-per-page is significantly higher than an office printer. The portability tax is real. However, if you are buying this printer, you are paying for the convenience of mobile printing, not high-volume cost efficiency. It is intended for closing deals on the road, not printing 500-page manuscripts.