Printers are awkward pieces of tech. Cumbersome, reliant on expensive ink, and often tedious to get working, many people are often dissuaded from buying a printer altogether by the space required and the convenience of relying on a work printer. For loose ends and for casual use, a printer can be a brilliant tool to have, but they’re still bulky and not easily moved around. Enter: HP’s portable printer.
The HP OfficeJet 250 Mobile, what we’re calling HP’s portable printer, is everything I’ve ever wanted a printer to be. Stylish, easily moved, capable of printing up to A4 paper, and reliant on a common HP ink cartridge (HP 62, for both black and colourful ink), this is the perfect printer for somebody that might need to have printed documents on the go, or someone who doesn’t have much space to play with in their home (such as myself, and literally all of my friends in Sydney). That being said, it doesn’t come cheap.
Why the heck are you reviewing a printer?
We’ve just come out of iPhone season, and we’re just entering Google Pixel season, but yes, I’m talking about a printer, because it genuinely solves a lot of problems for me. As I have a hybrid WFH/office situation, I don’t have a printer at home. Most of the time this is fine, because I can just use the work printer, but that relies on me leaving the house, and obviously, I can only use it for work-related things. When I’m at home, and I need a printer… Ugh.
This has been a problem a few times, mostly with product returns where I need to print labels or courier notes, and is a colossal inconvenience.
The other side to this is with more casual stuff. My house is boring, and it’s not for a lack of trying – I’ve got Redbubble posters and drawings I’ve bought at conventions on the walls, but for the most part, it’s all boring white walls, LEGO sets, and my craploads of tech.
The solution? Well, what about a small printer that can spit out coloured images up to an A4 size?
I was first introduced to the OfficeJet 250 Mobile at an HP event where the company was debuting its new Smart Tank collection (I declared that I was printer-pilled). Cool for some people, but at the event, my eyes were caught by the tiny printer in the corner.
Now, the OfficeJet 250 Mobile has been around for quite some time – it originally released in 2016, but HP appears to be maintaining it with the occasional revision. It’s not new, but it’s certainly unique.
And, look, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. We’re talking about a printer here – not a new car, not a new phone, a printer. As long as you can print documents and photos, you’re fine, right?
And that’s all I needed this thing to do. Print me things, please. I don’t need large pieces of paper printed, just boring black and white documents, and perhaps a cute little photo, or a drawing my niece wants me to print.
The battery is a nice extra, as far as my uses go, but it’s great for when a power point is not readily available. HP reckons the printer is capable of printing 225 pages on a full charge, with a 1,050mAh capacity.
I’m satisfied with the quality HP’s portable printer is capable of – it’s not an HD printer, and you’re likely to see some artifacts or washed-out colouring on some prints, but when you consider that this thing is meant to be convenient and portable, you can forgive it for its quality.
What some users might not be able to get over is the price – $430 in Australia. Ink’s included in the box, but to buy HP’s proprietary cartridges from, say, JB Hi-Fi, you’re likely to spend $37 on black and $43 on colour. These cartridges can supposedly print up to 165 pages, but if you’re looking to save money, you might be interested in HP’s ink subscription service.
Compared to HP’s cheapest printers, which start at $50, this portable printer is obviously quite expensive, but it’s also fulfilling a niche that I, and people like me, would want for it. I can’t not criticise it for its price because, obviously, I’m really only printing work documents and the odd photo with it (as far as I’m concerned, its portable battery will mostly go unused, and its scanning capabilities can just be done by a smartphone), so ultimately, my ideal printer would be something this size, much smaller, and much cheaper, with some of the features cut out (the screen, battery, and perhaps even the coloured ink could be cut out). After all, I only need a printer for odds and ends. A printer is not a terribly important gadget to own in 2023, although perhaps it is more important for some people who WFH.
But the HP OfficeJet 250 Mobile is certainly worth considering if you need an on-the-go printer that’s roughly the length and weight of a large laptop, that can easily fit into a small space.
Where to buy the HP OfficeJet 250 Mobile
Image: Zachariah Kelly/Gizmodo Australia