REASONS TO BUY
Intuitive interface
Fast printing
Awesome performance quality
REASONS TO AVOID
Somewhat pricey
Heavy
HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw Review
This hefty powerhouse is a solid choice for quick and high quality printing
Credit: HP
RELATED: Best Home Printers
Our Verdict
Looking for a workhorse that can print quickly with an exceptional level of quality, and is easy to use? Then the HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw may be a good option for you. This is a more than capable powerhouse printer, that may still warrant your consideration if you value ease of use, at a minor tradeoff to performance, or prefer an HP product in your home or office.
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product
HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  |  | | ||
| Price | $399 List Check Price at Amazon | $220 List $158.99 at Amazon | $150 List $147.44 at Amazon | $120 List $119.98 at Amazon | $85 List Check Price at Amazon |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Pros | Intuitive interface, fast printing, awesome performance quality | Sturdy, well-built, awesome interface, strong all-around performance | Fast printing, low operating cost, great text quality | Compact design, good printing speed and quality | Low purchase price, compact size, consistent performance |
| Cons | Somewhat pricey, heavy | Lacks duplex scanning, proprietary ink only | Tiny display screen, moderately responsive buttons | Very limited connectivity (no WiFi or Ethernet and it doesn't come with a USB cable) | Expensive operating costs, manual duplex printing |
| Bottom Line | This hefty powerhouse is a solid choice for quick and high quality printing | A strong all-around printer where photo and graphic printing, cost efficiency, user interface, and print speed all score high | Solid performance, fast printing speed, and accessible operating costs make this printer a winner for monochromatic printing | This printer does a stellar job at high-speed monochrome document printing, but lacks connectivity options, making it less versatile and convenient | A very accessible entry cost and solid performance across the board make this printer a great pick, but its long-term operational costs offset some initial savings |
| Rating Categories | HP Color LaserJet P... | Epson Workforce Pro... | Brother Monochrome... | Brother HL-L2300D | HP DeskJet 2755e |
| Text Quality (25%) | |||||
| Operating Cost (25%) | |||||
| Ease of Use (20%) | |||||
| Graphics and Photos (15%) | |||||
| Printing Speed (15%) | |||||
| Specs | HP Color LaserJet P... | Epson Workforce Pro... | Brother Monochrome... | Brother HL-L2300D | HP DeskJet 2755e |
| Type | laser | all-in-one inkjet | laser | laser | all-in-one inkjet |
| Capabilities | print, scan | print, scan, copy | |||
| Resolution (Black) | 600 x 600 | 4800 x 2400 | 2400 x 600 | 2400 x 600 | 1200 x 1200 |
| Resolution (Color) | 600 x 600 | 4800 x 2400 | unspecified | unspecified | 4800 x 1200 |
| Supported Paper Sizes | Letter(8.5 x 11); Legal(8.5 x 14); Executive(7.2 x 10.5); Oficio 8.5x13(8.5 x 13); 4 x 6(4 x 6); 5 x 8(5 x 8); A4(8.3 x 11.7); A5(5.8 x 8.3); A6(4.1 x 5.8); B5(JIS)(7.2 x 10.1); B6(JIS)(5 x 7.2); 10x15cm (3.9 x 5.9); Oficio 216x340 mm(8.5 x 13.4); 16K 195x270mm(7.6 x 10.6); 16K 184x260mm(7.2 x 10.2); 16K 197x273mm(7.8 x 10.7); Postcard (JIS)(3.9 x 5.8); Double Postcard(JIS)(5.8 x 7.9); Envelope #10(4.1 x 9.5); Envelope Monarch(3.9 x 7.5); Envelope B5(6.9 x 9.8); Envelope C5(6.4 x 9); Envelope DL(4.3 x 8.7); A5-R(8.3 x 5.8); | 3.5 x 5", 4 x 6", 5 x 7", 8 x 10", Letter, Legal, A4, A6, Half Letter, Executive, user-definable (3.5 — 47.2"L), Oficio 9; 8.5 x1 3"; Mexico Oficio | Letter, Legal, Executive, A4, A5, A6, B5, B6 (tray) Envelope, Custom Sizes (3.0-8.5" (w), 5.0-14" (l)) (manual feed) |
Tray 1: A4; A5; A6; B5 (JIS); Oficio; 16K; 16K 16K ; Japanese Postcard; Double Japan Postcard Rotated; Envelope #10; Envelope Monarch; Envelope B5; Envelope C5; Envelope DL; Custom Size; 4 x 6", 5 x 8"; Statement; Tray 2 & Tray 3: A4; A5; A6; B5 (JIS); Oficio; 16K ; 16K ; 16K, Custom Size; A5-R; 4 x 6"; B6 (JIS) | Letter; legal; 4 x 6"; 5 x 7 "; 8 x 10"; No. 10 envelopes, Letter; HP envelopes; HP cards; HP 4 x 6" photo paper |
| Dimensions (excludes extensions) | 15.4" x 16.5" x 9.7 " | 16.7" x 15.3" x 10.9" | 14.0" x 14.2" x 7.2" | 16.5" x 15.4" x 12.7" | 16.7" x 12" x 6" |
| Weight | 32.1 Ibs | 22.5 Ibs | 15.1 Ibs | 27.8 lbs | 7.7 Ibs |
| Paper Handling Input (sheets) | 250 | 250 sheets | 250 | 100-sheet tray 1, 250-sheet input tray 2; 50-sheet Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) | 60 |
| Monthly Duty Cycle | 40,000 | 33,000 | 15,000 | 10,000 | 1,000 |
| 2-Sided Printing | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes (manual, no duplex printing) |
| Ink Cost per Ream: B/W | $25.55 | $28.56 | $13.42 | $16.66 | $49.98 |
| Ink Cost per Ream: Color | $22.65 | $13.40 | NA | NA | $62.48 |
| Estimated Lifetime Cost of Ownership | $774 | $583 | $351 | $410 | $872 |
| Claimed Pages Per Minute | 22 | 25 (black) or 12 (color) | 32 | 27 | 7.5 (black) 5.5 (color) |
| Measured Pages per Minute: Single-Sided B/W | 11 | 10 | 13 | 22 | 4 |
| Connectivity | Hi-Speed USB 2.0 port; built-in Fast Ethernet 10/100Base-TX network port; 802.11n 2.4/5GHz wireless; Walkup host USB port | WiFi, Ethernet, USB 2.0 | Wireless 802.11 b/g/n, Hi-Speed USB 2.0, Wi Fi Direct | USB 2.0 - no wireless connection | Wireless 802.11a/b/g/n; 1 Hi-Speed USB 2.0 |
| Operating System Compatability | Windows 11; Windows 10; Windows 8; Windows 7; Windows Vista; macOS 10.12 Sierra; macOS 10.13 High Sierra; macOS 10.14 Mojave; macOS 10.15 Catalina | Windows® 10, Windows 8, 8.1 (32-bit, 64-bit), Windows 7 (32-bit, 64-bit), Windows Vista® (32-bit, 64-bit), Windows Server® 2003 SP27 — Windows Server 20197 Mac® OS X® 10.6.8 — macOS® 10.15.x8 | Windows® 7 SP1 / 8 / 8.1 1 4 Windows® 10 Home / 10 Pro / 10 Education / 10 Enterprise Windows Server® 2008 Windows Server® 2008 R2 Windows Server® 2012 Windows Server® 2012 R2 Windows Server® 2016 macOS v10.10.5 macOS v10.11.x macOS v10.12.x | Windows Server® 2008 R2 Mac OS X 10.7.x, 10.8.x, 10.9.x Windows® XP Home Edition Windows® XP Professiona |
Windows 11; Windows 10; Windows 7; macOS 10.12 Sierra; macOS 10.14 Mojave; macOS 10.15 Catalina; macOS 11 Big Sur; Chrome OS |
| Google Cloud Print | yes | yes | yes | no | yes |
Show full specification detailsHide full specification details
Our Analysis and Test Results
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
The HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw makes swift work of full color photo printing while maintaining excellent quality.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Text Quality
Our text quality printing metric tested each printer's ability to generate quality text prints in both black and white text as well as maintain a high level of text resolution. Overall, we found the HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw did a consistently above average job compared to its peers.
The text quality of black and white prints was great across all of our tests. However, when it boils down to text resolution, some specialized fonts and certain lighter colors resulted in some text appearing slightly less sharp than standard fonts or darker colors. While not perfect, this printer offers solid resolution across all of its jobs.
The HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw produces sharp legible text.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Operating Cost
The HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw has an about average to slightly above average cost of operation compared to most other home printers we've tested. Both black and white as well as color printing costs are on par with what you can expect from just about any other home printer, with the exception of Epson's incredibly low cost to operate.
Ease of Use
The HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw is a user-friendly printer that is easy to set up and use. The initial printer setup is straightforward. The printer comes with clear instructions. The process is incredibly straightforward. The printer was easy to connect to the WiFi, and our team experienced no glitches or issues in the process. There was also no need to download an app before we could begin printing.
The customer service was also great. The app and the company's website are both easy to use, and the live chat was even helpful. The interface earned an above-average score for a 2.7-inch color touchscreen display, which makes it easy to navigate through the various menus and settings.
This model incorporates an intuitive UI on a color screen to enhance it's overall ease of use.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Graphics and Photos
The HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw performed well in our graphics and photos tests. Photo prints are rich, crisp, and printed exceptionally fast, although the saturation is a little heavy. Graphics are bright, and both black as well as color text are sharp. We found the resolution to be sharp and clear, with very infrequent pixelation that occurs with other printers in these tests.
The HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw produces vibrant color and high quality prints with great fidelity, although some photos may be oversaturated.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Our test team observed beautiful and vivid prints in our color quality tests, although the printer did seem to oversaturate colors like in other sub-metrics.
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.
Head to head these are both fast printers, but the brother ekes out an edge, especially when it comes to duplex printing.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
In our mixed text and photo speed test, the M255dw accomplished the nine page test print in a swift 46 seconds and performed just as well in our high resolution photo speed test, finishing the task in a brisk 14 seconds.
This model also does an above average job at printing both simplex and duplex text prints, completing our 10 page document duplex test with an average of 11 pages per minute and our 10 page text document simple test with an average of eight pages per minute.
A large paper tray will help you keep your print jobs going, as this printer is capable of very fast printing.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Should You Buy the HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw?
The HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw is an excellent all-in-one color laser printer designed for homes and small offices. It produces high-quality prints with sharp text, rich graphics, and vibrant photos. Its performance across all of our testing rivaled some of the top printers we tested and is worth your consideration, but one other model stood out as a better choice.
What Other Printers Should You Consider?
While HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw is a very capable printer, at about the same price point, you can get even greater performance from the all-around exceptional Canon ImageClass MF741Cdw. Or if budget is a concern, you can achieve good and reliable printing performance from the more affordable Epson WorkForce Pro WF-4820.
A great model that almost rivals the performance of the most premium home printer on the market, while offering better ease of use.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
—
Genaveve Bradshaw and Benjamin Hickok
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