Mac Creative > Reviews > A3+ photo printers group test > HP Photosmart Pro B8550

HP Photosmart Pro B8550

Manufacturer: HP (http://www.hp.co.uk)
Manufacturer: HP (http://www.hp.co.uk)
Pros: Built-in LCD screen, memory card slots, light and portable, vivid and vibrant prints
Cons: Flimsy build, poorer quality output, clunky media trays
Price: £265
Star rating:

Price is, indeed, relative. Buying one of the ubiquitous all-in-one ‘photo quality’ printers that are a staple at Staples will still leave you with change out of 50 quid for chips on the way home – but you can pay between £500 and £700 for a great A3+ printer.

In the context of this test, the HP Photosmart B8550 is almost a budget model, with an RRP of just £265. Does it have budget output though? Our tests suggest not – with crisp prints making the most of the machine’s five ink tanks.

Colours came out vivid and vibrant, greys looked properly grey rather than shades of green or red. Our only real issue with the B8550’s prints was at the bottom end of the spectrum, where the darkest greys and blacks merged into each other. Not the best in the test at handling shadow or subtlety.

Although a full £220 cheaper than its nearest rival, the B8550 wasn’t the slowest printer in our test either, clocking up a better output speed than the mighty Pixma Pro9500 and coming in a mere 15 seconds slower than the Pixma Pro9000.

With its focus on a different type of customer, the B8550 ships with some hardware features the other printers here seem to deem too frivolous to include. For example, a built-in LCD screen helps you to configure the machine, as well as print direct from your camera through PictBridge or from a memory card. The printer also has a special loading tray for A5 and below photo prints, making it the ideal machine for running off a few holiday snaps.

At just 7.5kg, the B8550 is half the weight of the heaviest printer in this round-up (that’s the B9180, HP’s other entry). In contrast to the chunky Canon and Epson machines, the outer case might almost be described as fragile.

At this price and with these features, the B8550 is aimed squarely at everyday consumers – holiday snappers and poster makers – rather than at enthustiastic creatives. But with budgets squeezed hard for everyone, it wouldn’t be too much of a compromise for serious amateur photographers to plump for this model.

This product is part of our A3+ photo printers group test group product review. Other products in this group are:

Canon Pixma Pro9000 Mk II

Star rating:

Canon Pixma Pro9500 Mk II

Star rating:

Epson Stylus Photo R1900

Star rating:

Epson Stylus Photo R2880

Star rating:

HP Photosmart Pro B9180

Star rating:

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