HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw Review

The HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw is an excellent printer that rivals some of the most exceptional models we've put through our comprehensive testing.

Performance Comparison

Text Quality

To examine text quality, we used a microscope to scrutinize each printer's ability to generate sharp text prints in black and white and maintain a high level of text resolution from one print to the next. Overall, we found the HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw did a consistent and exceptional job compared to its peers.

The text quality of black and white prints was great across all of our tests. We deeply analyzed prints, using magnification to reveal things that are not visible to the naked eye. Under this level of scrutiny, the HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw offered impressive performance with consistent clarity. We observed no blemishes, smearing, or spreading, and absolutely no streaking or bleed-through.

What was very obvious from this model that many other printers fail to get right is blackness. The HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw prints blacks that are truly black, solid, and never light or washed out.

However, when it boils down to text resolution and clarity at a very small text size, we did notice an ever so slight loss of edge detail. Again, this is hardly noticeable and requires some rather intense scrutiny. Overall, we were very impressed with the text quality in prints produced by the HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw.

Graphics and Photos

The HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw didn't shock or awe our team in our graphics and photos testing metric.

The HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw produced photo prints that were generally crisp with a high level of resolution and were consistently pixelation and patch-free. However, the most glaring and consistent issue was oversaturated blues that dominated images and made otherwise exceptional prints mediocre.

We generally observed decent graphics and photo prints in our testing, and while this printer did severely oversaturate some colors, it still offers consistent, albeit average, graphic and photo printing abilities.

Operating Cost

The HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw did well in our operating cost metric compared to most other home printers we've tested. We calculated the replacement for black ink to cost around $72 in total, with 1350 pages used before replacing. This averages out to $26.67 for 500 sheets. The ink replacement of 500 colored pages came out to a total of $34.40. Both black and white and color printing costs are on par with what you can expect from most other home printers.

Those aforementioned reem and ink consumption costs work out to about 5 cents per black and white page, and 7 cents for color pages. These operational costs are a little better than the average, based on numbers generated from our entire test group of 8 cents for black and white pages and 11 cents for color pages, meaning you'll get a little more mileage out of this printer than you would with most others.

Ease of Use

The HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw is a user-friendly printer that is easy to set up and easy to use. The initial printer setup is straightforward, and the printer comes with clear instructions. The brief process involves loading paper, selecting the 'English' language setting and 'USA' for location, turning on the WiFi, and then manually connecting to WiFi. Making that Wifi connection worked perfectly on the first attempt.

There is no need to download an app before you can begin printing with the HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw, and the four toner cartridges come pre-installed. There was also no pre-flight calibration print operation to run with this model, as there is with many others. Printing from either a laptop or a smartphone via the app was simple and painless.

The interface earned our praise for its 1.5 by 2.5-inch color touchscreen display, which makes it easy to navigate through the various menus and settings. This was straightforward and intuitive in general. There is also a power button along with three other buttons on the side of the screen to aid in navigation. They include home, back, and “?”. Our test team had zero issues navigating menus, but we do recognize that it felt a little bit cramped and believe it could be difficult for someone with larger fingers to operate.

Paper trays are in the front and easily accessed, as are the four toner cartridges. The customer service was also great, and both the app and the company's website are easy to use. The live chat offered on both platforms was pleasant and helpful. We were pleased with the overall ease of use, which seems to be a hallmark of HP printers these days.

Printing Speed

The HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw is a fast printer and was only outpaced by a couple of printers in our competitive product lineup. In our mixed text and photo speed test, the M255dw accomplished a 10-page test print in a swift 51 seconds and performed just as well in our high-resolution photo speed test, finishing the task in a brisk 31 seconds.

This model also does a good job at printing both simplex and duplex text prints, completing our 10-page document test using duplex settings in 46 seconds, or an average of 13 pages per minute, while it performed the same test using simplex settings in 31 seconds, averaging a quick 19 pages per minute.

For a quick comparison, the fastest printers tested performed the 10-page tasks at 17 pages per minute and 33 pages per minute, respectively, while the average for the test group was 10 pages per minute using duplex settings and 17 pages per minute using simplex settings.

Should You Buy the HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw?

The HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw is an excellent color laser printer designed for use in homes and small offices where it excels at document printing. It produces high-quality prints with sharp text and consistent text clarity but isn't quite as exceptional when it comes to printing rich graphics or clear, vibrant, and color-accurate photos. If you are exclusively interested in fast document printing with high text quality and good operating costs, then you'll be pleased with the M255dw.

What Other Printers Should You Consider?

While HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw is a top recommendation and a great choice for document printing, there are printers that offer better photo printing in a more harmonious balance of features and cost, like the lower priced HP OfficeJet 8015e Wireless Color. Of course, if you are interested in the most economical printers, you'll need to consider the Epson EcoTank ET-2800. This offers incredibly low operational costs, making it one of the best long-term investments, even if its upfront price tag is a bit hefty. Lastly, if you are looking to extend the versatility of a home office printer, then it may be worth taking a look at the all-in-one HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M283fdw. The HP adds scanning, copying, and faxing to its feature list while taking up very little space in the home office.