HP OfficeJet 4630 e-All-in-One review

HP’s OfficeJet 4630 eAiO targets micro-businesses and home offices, combining duplex printing with scan, fax and copy capabilities in a single low-cost device. It’s small enough to sit on a desk and comes with a basic 100-sheet input paper tray.

HP OfficeJet 4630 e-All-in-One review: features and connectivity

At this price you won’t get an Ethernet port, but we had no problem connecting the printer to our 802.11n wireless network using the simple 5cm mono LCD panel and keypad. Apple AirPrint is supported. Using Wi-Fi Direct, we were easily able to link our iPad directly to the 4630, and Google Cloud Print worked once we’d configured the 4630 as a Classic printer. A USB port allows connection to a local PC as well, but there isn’t a host USB port, meaning you can’t print directly from a memory stick – nor is there a card reader for printing directly from other flash media.

Installation on our Windows 7 test PC was swift: HP’s Smart Install downloads the latest drivers, plus utilities for running diagnostics and scanning direct to the desktop. It also helps you to register the printer with HP’s Connected service, assigning it an email address so you can send document attachments to print from anywhere.

HP OfficeJet 4630 e-All-in-One review: print quality

In use we found the 4630 produced reasonably sharp output, with only a slight dusting around smaller fonts. Mono photos showed good detail, and colour output was pleasing – in our tests, the 4630 produced punchy reports and sharp, glossy photos with no banding or bleeding around the edges. Support for borderless printing is a bonus for the occasional promotional print job.

When it comes to scanning and copying, you can use either the flatbed or the 35-sheet ADF to capture pages in a variety of formats, including PDF, JPEG and PNG. Quality is fine – the only hitch is that the scanner hinges don’t lift up, so the lid won’t shut properly if you’re scanning a book or a thick magazine.

Sadly, when it comes to printing, the 4630 is lacking in stamina. In our tests, the HP 301 mono- and tri-colour cartridges were both exhausted after only 110 pages – so if you hit the
4630’s advertised 1,000-page monthly duty cycle, you could find yourself replacing the cartridges twice a week.

HP OfficeJet 4630 e-All-in-One review: speed tests

With HP 301XL high-yield cartridges, mono and colour page costs work out at 3.2p and 7.8p respectively, which is par for the course for an inkjet, so it’s the frequency of cartridge changes that rankles, rather than the price. Regular users can also save by signing up for HP’s Instant Ink service, whereby you pay a set monthly fee based on your expected output, and HP sends out new cartridges before you run out.

The OfficeJet 4630 isn’t a fast printer, either. Our 17-page Word document printed at 14.3ppm and 7.4ppm in draft and normal modes, and switching to duplex mode slowed things down further, with a ten-page document averaging only 5.5ppm.

Worst of all, our test 24-page colour DTP document struggled out at 4ppm in normal mode, and in best mode took 25 minutes – an effective print speed of less than one page per minute. Since the flip-out plastic arm that catches your prints is only 5cm wide, print-outs were often found on the floor.

HP OfficeJet 4630 e-All-in-One review: verdict

The OfficeJet 4630 eAiO packs a lot in for a low upfront price, but mediocre print speed and short-lived cartridges mean it’s suitable only for very light print duties.

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