For anyone setting up or upgrading their home office, finding the right printer scanner is crucial. You need a device that’s not only reliable and efficient but also easy to use and cost-effective. After extensive testing, we’ve found that the HP OfficeJet Pro 9125e stands out as the best inkjet all-in-one printer for your home office needs. It masterfully balances print quality, speed, and user-friendliness, making it a top pick for boosting your productivity at home.
An HP OfficeJet Pro 9125e printer on a desk in a home office setting, showcasing its sleek design.
Setting up new tech for your home office can often be a hassle, but the HP OfficeJet Pro 9125e excels with its remarkably seamless setup process. Forget wrestling with complicated software – this printer offers an on-screen keyboard that makes connecting to your home Wi-Fi network incredibly straightforward. In our tests, we were fully operational, from unboxing to printing, in under 10 minutes, including ink cartridge installation. This smooth, modern experience is a breath of fresh air compared to the often clunky and outdated installers of other printers.
The HP Smart app further simplifies integration into your home office. Available for both Android and iOS, this app allows you to add the printer to your mobile devices in just a few taps. This ease of smartphone connectivity is perfect for today’s mobile home office environment, allowing for printing and scanning directly from your phone or tablet.
While the app-guided setup is generally user-friendly, be aware of the persistent prompts to enroll in HP+ and Instant Ink. These subscription services, while potentially beneficial, are aggressively advertised during setup. It’s wise to research these options beforehand to avoid feeling pressured into a decision you might later regret.
Instant Ink, HP’s tiered subscription program, could be a smart financial move for your home office, depending on your printing volume. Plans range from 10 to 700 pages per month, and a three-month trial is included with your printer purchase when you sign up for HP+.
The real advantage of Instant Ink is its cost structure: you pay for pages, not ink cartridges. This means color printing costs the same as black and white, which can be a significant saving for home offices that frequently print in color. Ink is automatically shipped when levels are low, eliminating last-minute runs to the store. Unused pages roll over, and extra pages are available at a reasonable cost if you exceed your monthly allowance. Plus, enrolling in Instant Ink extends the printer’s warranty to two years, offering added peace of mind for your home office investment.
However, it’s crucial to carefully consider the implications of HP+ and Instant Ink before committing, especially for your home office setup where flexibility is key. HP+ is required to access the Instant Ink trial and offers benefits like an extended warranty and advanced HP Smart app features.
The catch with HP+ is that it locks your printer to using only original HP ink cartridges. This restriction means you can’t use more affordable third-party or remanufactured cartridges, limiting your options and potentially increasing your long-term printing costs for your home office. HP+ also mandates a constant internet connection for your printer to function, which could be problematic if your home office internet is occasionally unstable. Without an internet connection, the printer may stop working entirely, displaying an error message. Furthermore, if you cancel your Instant Ink subscription, any ink remaining in the cartridges you’ve received through the program becomes unusable. For home offices that value flexibility and control over расходables, these limitations are important to consider.
A close-up of the OfficeJet Pro 9125e's menu screen, highlighting its user-friendly interface.
Managing your printer should be the last thing on your mind when working from home. The HP Smart software suite addresses this by providing effortless maintenance monitoring. Through the app on your computer or mobile devices, you can easily check ink levels, order replacements, adjust settings remotely, and access the printer’s comprehensive Embedded Web Server. This all-in-one approach ensures that all essential printer functions are just a click or two away, keeping your home office workflow smooth and uninterrupted.
While the initial cost of the HP OfficeJet Pro 9125e is slightly higher than its predecessor, the long-term value for your home office is undeniable. The printer comes with a generous amount of starter ink, good for approximately 800 black and white pages or 420 color pages. High-yield HP 936e EvoMore cartridges offer even greater economy, printing around 2,500 monochrome or 1,650 color pages at a reasonable per-page cost. Although the older OfficeJet Pro 9015e offered slightly cheaper per-page printing, the 9125e remains a cost-effective choice compared to most other non-ink-tank all-in-one printers in its class, solidifying its position as a smart investment for your home office.
Print quality is paramount for a home office printer scanner, whether you’re producing client documents, reports, or marketing materials. The 9125e delivers consistently sharp and professional results. In our tests, text was dark, crisp, and readable even at very small font sizes. Graphics were vibrant and detailed on default settings, with minimal banding even when printing full-page images on standard copy paper.
For higher quality prints, the “Best quality” setting enhances glossies, making them ideal for presentations or displaying at home. While we noted a slight blueish tint and increased contrast in glossy photo prints compared to the original photos, the overall quality remains impressive for an all-in-one printer, suitable for most home office photo printing needs.
Speed is a critical factor for home office productivity, and the HP OfficeJet Pro 9125e keeps pace with busy workflows. HP claims print speeds of up to 22 ppm for black and white and 18 ppm for color. Our tests confirmed these impressive speeds, with the printer achieving 12 ppm for grayscale and 8.1 ppm for color documents (PDFs). Duplex printing remained efficient, at approximately 8 ppm for both grayscale and color. When printing text-only documents, the 9125e approached its maximum speed, clocking in at a rapid 21.4 ppm.
Scanning is equally fast, averaging 9.2 ppm in grayscale and 6.5 ppm in color. Two-sided scanning naturally reduces speed, but still remains efficient for most home office scanning tasks. While printers with single-pass duplex scanning are available for very high-volume needs, the 9125e’s scan speed is more than adequate for typical home office use. As Wirecutter senior editor Marguerite Preston notes, the duplex printing speed on the similar previous-generation model is “plenty fast” for regular use, and the same holds true for the 9125e in a home office environment.
Reliability is key to a productive home office, and the HP OfficeJet Pro 9125e stands out for its consistent paper handling. Throughout our testing, the printer handled various paper tray levels without issue, scanned crumpled paper without jamming, and consistently fed only one sheet at a time. The automatic document feeder also produced remarkably straight scans, a notable improvement over many other printers, including some HP models. This reliable performance minimizes downtime and frustration, crucial for a smooth home office workflow.
Beyond its performance, the HP OfficeJet Pro 9125e boasts an aesthetically pleasing design that fits seamlessly into modern home offices. Its clean, sharp lines and contemporary look are a welcome departure from bulkier, less attractive office machines. While aesthetics might be secondary to function, having a printer that looks good in your home office environment is a definite plus, especially considering it will likely be a long-term fixture.
Despite its many strengths as the Best Home Office Printer Scanner, the HP OfficeJet Pro 9125e does have a few minor drawbacks.
- The single 250-sheet paper tray, while sufficient for most home offices, can be limiting for those who frequently switch between different paper types. You’ll need to manually swap out letter paper for legal, label, photo paper, or résumé stock.
- The 2.7-inch touchscreen, though functional, is on the smaller side. While the user interface is navigable, tapping smaller on-screen buttons, like the Settings gear icon, can be occasionally finicky.
- Color accuracy isn’t perfect for professional photographers. Glossy photo prints exhibited a slight blue and magenta shift with increased contrast. For critical photo printing, a dedicated photo printer would be a better choice.
- The HP+ ink lock-in and online connectivity requirement, as discussed earlier, are potential downsides for users who prefer more flexibility and control over their printer расходables and usage.
However, these flaws are relatively minor compared to the printer’s overall strengths. For the vast majority of home office users seeking a reliable, high-quality, and easy-to-use all-in-one printer scanner, the HP OfficeJet Pro 9125e remains the best choice, delivering exceptional performance and value.
