HP Deskjet 2710e review: A cheap compact printer that won’t exceed your expectations

Designs don't really get more simplistic than the HP Deskjet 2710e, with its 7.6ppm 1200dpi print engine and single sheet 12-dpi A4 flatbed scanner. This is an office machine with all the bells and whistles taken off, leaving a faff-free, no frills printer.

However, the budget device is more of a home office buddy – something for little-to-medium printing requirements – despite its 'all-in-one' billing. The 2710e can get through monthly duty cycles of up to 1,000 pages, according to HP, though it's only recommended for a page volume of 50 to 100.

HP Deskjet 2710e review: Design

It's compact design is a big part of the appeal and largely the reason it's so well suited to a home office. At just 425 x 30 x 15.4cm, it is a machine small enough for a little corner or cubby hole. However, take note of the way the unit tapers; there's an extra 42 x 23cm on the end which will take up some desk space. The Deskjet 2710e is, however, one of the smallest all-in-one printers around.

Simplicity has been a hallmark of HP’s setup process over the last couple of years, and the Deskjet 2710e takes the same app-based approach as most of its recent stablemates.

The idea is that you simply turn the printer on, install the two cartridges, and then add the printer to the network from the Windows or smartphone HP Smart app. This has worked brilliantly on other HP printers we’ve tested, but with our test 2710e things fell apart.

We managed to complete the setup process after the fourth attempt – in reality, a point at which many users will have given up or assumed there was a fault with the machine. Three of our attempts were stalled by wireless disconnection at different stages of the process while using the Android version of the HP Smart app.

The same issues popped up on the Windows app on the first two attempts, despite the fact the printer was already connected to the network.

This is unfortunate given that HP highlights wireless network stability as a key feature of the printer, supporting both dual-band and automatic reset if a Wi-Fi signal is lost. While we saw some of this in action when testing the printer, it seems to be missing during the setup phase.

HP Deskjet 2710e review: Performance

You won’t be surprised to hear that the Deskjet 2710e is no speed demon. With our 24-page monochrome document, it took nearly 19 seconds for the first page to hit the output tray, with subsequent pages appearing at a rate of 9.87ppm. This improved to 15.9ppm with the print quality switched from Better to Draft, but the wait for the first page was still over 16 seconds.

Color performance is worse, with the first page taking up to 50 seconds to put in an appearance, and the page rate from there hovered around 5.7ppm. These results put the 2710e behind even its stablemate, the Deskjet 4120 – itself a fairly slow printer.

As for the print quality, it’s fine for the price but nothing more. In Better and Best quality modes you get sharp black text, but the definition isn’t as fine or as consistent as you’ll get from models further up the HP range like the Envy Inspire 7920e, while draft text is greyer with a slightly fuzzy look.

Color business graphics are punchy, but you can see slight signs of banding and dithering on gradients, while text overlaid on a blue or yellow box looks somewhat murky. The output is good enough for casual use or a quick draft for checking and proofreading purposes, but if you’re after professional-quality printing then you’re going to want to spend more.

It's a similar story for mono and colour copying. Speeds aren’t great, at around 20 seconds for a mono A4 page or 34 seconds for colour, and the reproduction is patchy in areas, with the printer delivering thicker, darker text than you’ll find in the original or struggling to match vibrant greens and reds.

The Deskjet 2710e will also print photos, though we found it touch and go working with heavier photo papers, often refusing to feed them in on the first try and waiting until we’d pulled them out and reinserted them. Photo printing speeds aren’t painfully slow, at around 80 seconds for an A5 photo or two minutes for an A4 photo print with quality set to high, but the prints themselves are more usable than impressive. 

Brighter colours reproduce quite well, but softer tones tend to look faded and you don’t get the clarity or detail you’ll find on prints from more expensive models like the Envy Inspire 7224e. The output’s good enough for a quick print of a smartphone snap, but you wouldn’t want to frame it.

As for scanning, there’s little wrong with the scans or the time taken to scan them – roughly 24 seconds for an A4 page at 300dpi. However, the lightweight lid makes it hard to scan, say, a magazine or book without keeping one hand on the lid to stop it slipping or too much light getting in.

HP Deskjet 2710e review: Is it worth it? 

For the minimal fee of £55 ($70), the 2710e is a very affordable machine, however, when it comes to printers, the upfront fee is often sullied by its long-term supply costs. The Deskjet 2710e is just $70 (£55) however HP's XL color cartridges cost £19 and £21 for black and those yield 200 pages and 240 pages respectively. That is almost 9p per black and white page and up to 20p for color.

What that suggests is that a business that is likely to print more than 50 pages per month might be better in the long run with a more expensive printer, one with cheaper running costs, such as the Epson EcoTank ET-1810.

As an alternative, you could look into an HP+ Instant Ink subscription. The Deskjet 2710e does come with a six-month subscription bundled in, however when that runs out you'll have to pay £2.99 for up to 50 pages or £4.49 per month for 100. 

HP Deskjet 2710e specifications