HP 5642 e-All-in-One Ink
ENVY 5642 e-All-in-One Ink Cartridges

HP 5642 e-All-in-One Printer Review

With the HP ENVY 5642 e-All-in-One inkjet printer is marketed toward home users and especially families, with easy wireless sharing and mobile printing as its marquee features. Its upfront cost is incredibly affordable, as are the ENVY 5642 printer ink supplies, and it has quick ISO speeds of 12 pages per minute for black and 8 pages per minute for color.

While the 5642 can scan, print, and copy, the lack of an automatic document feeder shows it is designed more for light-duty home use than serious office work. Instead, it has a simple flatbed scanner, which does an adequate job and has a sharp resolution of 1200 dpi. Copies can also be zoomed to 50-400% of their original size. Still, the unit weighs just 15 pounds, even with its two HP 5642 printer ink supplies in place, and it measures just 6.3x17.8x16.1 inches.

With the HP ePrint apps for iOS, Android, and other platforms, users can send photos and documents to be printed very easily, even from outside the home. The apps will also help users keep tabs on the paper supply and remaining HP 5642 ink levels. The 2.65-inch color touchscreen control panel offers easy access to important features and options, and reduces the clutter that otherwise comes from a panel full of buttons.

The inkjet printing system uses two types of HP 5642 ink cartridges: one tricolor and one black. The standard supplies have limited yields of 165 and 200 pages, but high-capacity ENVY 5642 ink cartridges are more cost-effective, offering around 415 and 600 pages of output.

If the mobile printing features and lab-quality photo output aren't enough to entice buyers, the low upfront cost of the HP 5642 just might be. It is a cost-effective solution for home users, and its only lacking feature is an automatic document feeder.