HP changes the scenario for workgroup colour printing as the HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M553 delivers a superb range of features and rock-bottom running costs. It’s fast as well and the new toner provides quality output while keeping power consumption to minimum. Workgroups with a real need for printing and a keen eye on costs should pay attention as HP claims to have reinvented the laser printer. Redesigned from the inside out, the new Color LaserJet Enterprise M553 series promises to be smaller, faster and cheaper to run than any other laser in this market sector.
HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M553x Printer Specs
Print capability: 1200 x 1200dpi A4 colour laser. PCL5c, PCL6, PostScript 3 emulation, native PDF
Speed: 38ppm A4 colour/mono
Duty Cycle: 2,000-6,000 pages/month (recommended), 80K pages/month (maximum)
CPU: 1.2GHz
Memory: 1GB RAM (max 2GB)
Interfaces: Gigabit, 3 x USB 2
Paper handling: 550-sheet input tray; 100-sheet MPT, 250-sheet upper output tray
Duplex: Automatic
Dimensions: 458 x 479 x 399mm (WDH)
Weight: 27.5kgs
Power: Auto Off/WoL 1W, Sleep 4W, Standby 34W, Active 617W
Warranty: 1yr on-site
Cost per page: Standard; Mono 1.6p, colour 8.2p: High yield; mono 1p, colour 6.4p
Box Contents
- Printer
- Four preinstalled HP LaserJet toner cartridges (yield ~6000 pages black and ~5000 pages color)
- Toner collection unit
- In-box documentation
- Software CD
- Power Chord
- 100-sheet multipurpose tray 1
- 550-sheet input tray 2
Design, Build Quality and Weight
The printing machine is shaped similar to a cubical box having separate chambers to set up the papers and the cartridges. The design is very simple, nothing fancy to talk about with a design dedicated to quick and easy printing. The build quality is much like the most of HP’s high end printers; finished with a matte glaze, which is again not easy to scratch. The off-white colour may attract a few stains.
The M553 measures 22.9 x 18 x 18.9 inches (HWD), so you’ll want to put it on a table of its own, and it weighs about 27.5 kg, so you’ll need two people to move it. One of its two large paper trays is packaged separately, and you have to set the tray down first and then delicately align the printer on top of it until the printer snaps into place.
Lying flat near the M553x’s front right corner is a 4.3-inch color touch screen, which tilts upward for easy visibility. Between the screen and the printer’s front edge is the contact point where you can touch an NFC-enabled smart phone or tablet to initiate printing.
Connectivity and Speed
The M553x offers USB, Ethernet, NFC, and Wireless Direct connectivity. The latter two options facilitate printing from compatible mobile devices. NFC touch-to-print, which is launched by simply touching a compatible smart phone or tablet to a particular spot on the printer, works with HP ElitePad 900 tablets and most recent Android devices. Though it misses the 802.11 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth bluetooth connectivity.
The M553 delivers in the performance stakes with HP quoting 38ppm for both mono and colour A4 prints. These are no idle claims with a 38-page Word text document hustled quietly into the top output tray in precisely 1 minute.
It is capable to shrug off the challenging 24-page DTP document and its big photos and graphics with this also averaging 38ppm at the top 3600dpi interpolated resolution. Amazingly, duplexing is almost as fast as single-sided printing with our 38-page document printed on both sides in 61 seconds.
Print Quality
The M553x’s overall output quality is great, with excellent graphics and above-par text and photos. Text should be good enough for any business use except perhaps ones who prefer tiny fonts. The M533x doesn’t let the side down for print quality either with razor sharp text right down to the smallest font sizes. Mono photos were impressive and revealed high levels of detail in darker areas.
Colour photos exhibited very good detail with only minor banding in large areas of single colours. The colour performance revealed smooth transitions across complex fades and HP had no problems with the tiny 0.1PT and 0.2PT gaps between blocks of black.
HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M553 Photo Gallery
Conclusion & Price
More revolution than evolution, the Color LaserJet M553x is a superb choice for small businesses and workgroups with a high printing demand.The new HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M553x was awarded a 2015 Red Dot “Best of the best” Award for Product Design by an international jury. HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M553x available at 108,120 INR
This printer’s fine blend of value, low running costs, performance and excellent output quality means we have no hesitation in recommending it. HP changes the landscape for workgroup colour printing as the M553x delivers a superb range of features, though being a little pricey. It’s fast as well and the new toner provides quality output while keeping power consumption to an all-time low.
