HP PageWide Pro 452dw, we've tested it

Speed . That's the keyword around which HP's next-generation office printers revolve . Its HP PageWide Pro ink machines are the evolution of the OfficeJet Pro X , with slightly higher speeds and even less paper and energy consumption. The HP PageWide Pro 452dw is one of the most balanced and affordable propositions. With a price of 400 euros , this team reaches speeds of up to 40 pages per minute in both color and black and white. It is designed so that we can achieve a printing cycle of up to 50,000 pages per month, although the recommendation is to stay within a range of4,500 pages to ensure proper operation throughout its useful life. In addition, it opts for a fairly compact and elegant design that facilitates its placement in the office. And all this with numerous connectivity and mobile printing options , one of the hallmarks of HP in recent years. We have had the opportunity to test this printer, we tell you our impressions.

Cruising speeds

We already said it at the beginning. It is impossible to talk about this printer without mentioning its speed. HP has continued the good work it did with its OfficeJet Pro Xs and offers very high speeds. Specifically, with the HP PageWide Pro 452dw figures of up to 40 pages per minute in both color and black and white can be achieved . In case of using the draft mode (called general office printing), this speed goes up to 55 pages per minute. As for the times to carry out the first impression, it is placed in 6.5 seconds in black and white and in 7 secondsin case of printing in color. Another function that manufacturers are promoting a lot in times of crisis should also be highlighted. We are talking about automatic double-sided printing , a way that allows us to save on paper costs. Without a doubt, a very fast printer that more than meets the usual office needs.

The HP PageWide Pro 452dw is geared towards SMBs and workgroups with medium workloads. Specifically, this model is capable of taking impressions up to 50,000 per month. Of course, it is always recommended to stay at lower figures to ensure a good operation of the printer throughout its life time. In this case, the recommended cycle is between 750 and 4,500 impressions per month. By the way, to work longer without having to buy consumables (and to save on costs) the best solution is to bet on one of HP's high-capacity cartridges . With these cartridges you get up to 10,000 monthly impressionsblack and white and up to 7,000 color prints .

Professional finish ... but not laser

HP is improving the quality of prints made with its ink printers. But, to this day, the difference between ink printers and laser printers is still appreciated . This is one of the great handicaps that can still be wielded when considering PageWide technology instead of a laser printer. Of course, if we don't have to constantly work with graphics or illustrations, we won't have to notice the difference. The maximum resolution of the HP PageWide Pro 452dw is 1,200 x 1,200 dots per inch.

Paper design and management

The HP PageWide Pro 452dw stands out for a design with less height but with enough width and depth . It is a model that is easy to install in the office, although it is preferable to find a place away from the desk. Like the previous Pro X models , it looks quite stylish and modern. HP combines the white color both on the front and on the top, with the rest in black . In fact, a slanted ledge in black is what serves as the output tray. It is a much more stylish solution than having an extendable plastic tray, and also more practical.Its capacity is situated at 300 pages.

The dimensions of the Pro 452dw are placed in  530 x 407 x 378.9 mm , with a weight of 16.3 kilos.

The main input tray of this model has a capacity of 500 sheets. We also have a manual feed slot on the left side of the equipment, which is accessed by opening a tab that is clearly visible . Curiously, this access is marked with the name "Tray 1" , although it is the one that we will use the least on a day-to-day basis. This can be confusing when working with the printer, although the numbers are clearly marked in each case. Users who need a larger paper capacity can be done with an additional tray with capacity for 500 more sheets.

Display and interface

Here we come to one of the great handicaps of this team. Instead of the touch screen of the more advanced models of the PageWide range , users who get this equipment will have to settle for a small 2-inch monochrome non-touch screen . And the change is radical. At the HP presentation that took place a few weeks ago, we were able to make use of this new interface that has a really good performance, and the change in feeling regarding the screen of the HP PageWide Pro 452dw is abysmal. To move around the screen, two arrows and a button are used to accept (OK). We also have a house-shaped button to return to the main screen and another button to go back in the options. Perhaps the highlight of this system is the button to configure the WiFi network , which makes this process faster and easier. The button just below is also interesting, as it opens the HP ePrint panel (in the next section we will tell you how this technology works).

Mobile printing and connections

As for the connections of the HP PageWide Pro 452dw , this printer can be connected to the network both via cable (via Ethernet) and via WiFi. That gives us greater flexibility to place this equipment in any corner of the office. By the way, an interesting function to increase the security of the printer is the fact that it asks us to enter a PIN code on the computer or mobile when we install access to the printer for the first time. In this way, we ensure that no one without authorization can access this resource.

HP ePrint is a technology that, despite all the advances in recent times, is very useful. This technology can be used to print documents from anywhere in the world and from practically any smart device. Its operation is as follows. Each printer has a unique email address (which can then be customized). To print, just send an email to that address with the document as an email attachment. This process can take anywhere from half a minute to several minutes, depending on how busy the server is. However, its great advantage is that it can be printed from any device, be it a PC, a laptop, a tablet or a smartphone. The only requirement is that you can send emails with attachments. One of the main limitations of this service is that it does not include automatic two-sided printing.

The HP PageWide Pro 452dw also incorporates WiFi Direct . In this case, the printer creates its own WiFi network to which we can connect directly, without having to go through the company's local network. This makes it easier to carry out these printing tasks. Moreover, it is also Mopria certified . This technology is used to print documents and web pages directly from our Android mobile apps (from Android 4.4 KitKat) without the need to install any type of additional app. However, getting the HP ePrint app is not such a bad idea, a very useful tool with a very clear interface to access the different functions of the printer. In fact, nothing else is installed, the application automatically detects if there is an HP printer installed on the same WiFi network as the phone. A concept similar to Mopria is AirPrint , but in this case focused on both the iPhone and the iPad .

Price and reviews

The HP PageWide Pro 452dw Printer is a printer for professionals who need fast and consistent printing . In this case, no additional functions such as copier or scanner have been included . This decision takes away some of the versatility but avoids the additional features in companies that already have other computers handling scanning or copying (or don't need these features). The speeds of up to 40 pages per minute of this printer and the fact that it stays very fast even when using the duplex function make it a very reliable printer for everyday use. In addition, it has a more moderate price of 400 euroscompared to advanced PageWide models . Of course, we have missed the advances of the touch interface of models like the HP PageWide Pro 477dw .

HP PageWide Pro 452dw

performance

Design

Other functions

Paper handling

Connections

Power and consumables 

+ info

Price 400 euros