1. Introduction & Overview

The HP Smart Tank 750 is a premium entry into the increasingly popular refillable ink tank market. Promising to eliminate the frustration of constantly replacing expensive cartridges, this all-in-one printer offers secure, hassle-free printing with extraordinarily low running costs. Designed for homes with heavy print loads or small to medium office setups, it bundles corporate-style features like automatic two-sided printing and an automatic document feeder into a surprisingly sleek footprint.

With enough ink included in the box to last most users several years, the Smart Tank 750 aims to be a long-term investment. In this comprehensive review, we will explore its design, performance, and whether its high upfront cost is justified by its long-term savings.

2. Design and Build Quality

The Smart Tank 750 is an aesthetically pleasing machine that looks modern and professional. Measuring 427.54 x 364 x 240.25 mm and weighing around 7.70 kg, it is relatively compact for a high-volume printer and can easily fit in a corner of a desk without dominating the workspace. Furthermore, environmentally conscious buyers will appreciate that it is manufactured using more than 25% recycled plastic by weight.

Instead of a large, full-color touchscreen found on some competitors, HP has implemented a minimalist approach. The control panel features a 2-line LCD display alongside "smart-guided buttons" that illuminate to guide you through tasks. The front of the printer also features transparent ink reservoir windows, allowing you to easily monitor your current ink levels at a single glance. The device holds up to 250 sheets in its standard input tray and has a 100-sheet output tray, reducing the need for constant paper refills.

3. Setup Process and Connectivity

Quick Setup Guide

  1. Unbox & Prep: Unpack the printer, remove all securing tape, and plug it in. The box includes two bottles of black ink, one bottle each of cyan, magenta, and yellow, along with the printheads.
  2. Install Printheads: Insert the printheads into their respective carriages, similar to how you would install traditional cartridges.
  3. Spill-Free Refill: Open the ink tank covers and invert the color-coded bottles over the tanks. The bottles are engineered to stop automatically when the tank is full, ensuring a completely mess-free experience.
  4. Connect: Follow the guided setup on the HP Smart App to connect the printer to your Wi-Fi network.

Connectivity is a major strong suit of the Smart Tank 750. It features dual-band Wi-Fi with self-healing capabilities, ensuring that the printer automatically resolves connection issues to keep you online. Additionally, it includes a Hi-Speed USB 2.0 port, a standard LAN (Ethernet) port for wired networking, and supports Wi-Fi Direct. Security is also a priority; the printer features HP Wolf Essential security, a secure boot process that stops the device from functioning if malicious code or compromised memory is detected.

4. Print Quality and Performance

The print performance of the Smart Tank 750 is highly reliable, yielding professional results for both text and graphics.

  • Speed: Utilizing HP Thermal Inkjet technology, it achieves ISO print speeds of up to 15 pages per minute (ppm) for black and 9 ppm for color. In draft mode, it can reach up to 23 ppm for black documents.
  • Document Quality: Black text is rendered exceptionally well at up to 1200 x 1200 dpi, producing dark, crisp text ideal for business reports.
  • Color & Photos: Color graphics print vibrantly. The printer supports borderless printing up to 8.5 x 11 inches, making it perfectly capable of producing high-quality marketing flyers and everyday photos.
  • Auto-Duplexing: The automatic two-sided printing feature works flawlessly. During testing, the printer pauses briefly before pulling the paper back in, ensuring the ink is dry and preventing any smearing.

5. Scanning and Copying

The top of the printer houses a 35-page Automatic Document Feeder (ADF), which is a massive productivity booster for those needing to scan or copy multi-page contracts hands-free. It also retains a standard flatbed scanner for delicate items or IDs. The scanner operates at an optical resolution of up to 1200 dpi, delivering clean and quick digitizations directly to formats like PDF, JPG, or PNG.

6. Running Costs and Ink Yield

While the initial purchase price is higher than standard cartridge-based printers, the ongoing running costs are negligible. HP includes an enormous amount of ink in the box—enough to print up to 12,000 black pages or 8,000 color pages. In practical terms, this equates to a cost per page of roughly 10 paise (or fractions of a cent) for black and 20 paise for color. Unlike traditional cartridges, the ink in these tanks does not dry out quickly if the printer is left unused for periods of time.