A good-looking multifunction printer that falls short
HP usually only applies its Envy brand name to the more stylish laptops and printers in its range, so it’s no surprise that the curvy Envy 5640 looks good. This inkjet multifunction printer (MFP) can print, scan and copy, but it can’t send or receive faxes. Its paper trays are hidden neatly away behind the smart, curved front when not in use, while the SD card slot - handy for printing photos without using your computer - is behind a tidy oval porthole.
This MFP doesn’t just look good, it has plenty of features too. It supports wireless networking so you can print and scan from Android and iOS devices. It can print automatically on both sides of a sheet of paper, which is a great way to save money and produce professionallooking documents. In addition to the standard paper tray there’s a second one for 6x4in photo paper.
There are some lovely touches to this MFP that give it an expensive feel. These include the paper output tray that extends automatically and scanner bed that pivots on sturdy hinges let you access the interior and insert ink cartridges. However, the bundled cartridges will only manage 200 black pages and 165 colour, according to HP. This is fairly meagre and we only just made it through our tests before the colour needed replacing. It printed a total of 41 pages of colour graphics, three A4 photos at top quality and seven borderless 6x4in photos. Fortunately, you can replace both cartridges with extra large versions rated for 415 and 600 pages respectively. Using these, running costs work out at around 8.6p per page of text and graphics, which is a little expensive, but hardly exorbitant.
The Envy 5640 wasn’t especially fast when connected over USB. It printed text documents at a rate of 8.3 pages per minute (ppm). Switching to draft quality increased the printing speed to 10.9ppm. Colour pages printed more quickly at 4.3ppm. Photos were quick to print, even at the very highest quality - a single borderless 6x4in print took just 80 seconds. Scans were slow though, capturing an A4 sheet at 300dpi took 24 seconds, while scanning a 6x4 in photo at a more detailed 600dpi took 42 seconds.
Print quality was generally very good, with sharp black text and punchy colour graphics. Scans were disappointing, however, with photos in particular looking artificial - due, we suspect, to various image-quality enhancements in HP’s basic scanning software that can’t be turned off.
Despite its attractive design, then, this MFP is a disappointment. The supplied ink is meagre, scan quality is poor and the device itself is a touch expensive. Canon’s PIXMA MG5650 has similar features, generally performs better and costs about £15 less.
VERDICT
It looks great and prints well, but poor scans and high running costs undermine HP's Envy 5640
SPECIFICATIONS
4800x1200dpi maximum print resolution • 8ppm colour/12ppm mono quoted speeds • 1200x1200dpi maximum scan resolution • USB • Wi-Fi • One-year warranty