The HP ENVY Inspire 7920e is the printer to buy when colour and photos matter to you. It has a dedicated photo tray, noticeably richer output than the all-rounders here, and HP's slick app. Here is what it does well, and the running-cost caveat you must factor in.
Most printers treat photos as an afterthought. The HP ENVY Inspire 7920e is built the other way round, with colour and photo printing front and centre and a separate photo paper tray so you do not have to keep swapping paper. For a household that prints family snaps, craft projects and colourful documents, that focus is exactly the point. The honest trade-off is the running cost, which is why HP's Instant Ink plan is part of the conversation from the start.
| Model | Price | Type | Functions | Connectivity | Rating | Link | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ★ Top pick HP ENVY Inspire 7920e All-in-One Printer | £139.99 | Inkjet, cartridge | Print, scan, copy (3-in-1) | Wi-Fi, USB, HP Smart app, photo tray | ★ 4.2 | View → |
£139.99
Inkjet, cartridge · Print, scan, copy (3-in-1) · Wi-Fi, USB, HP Smart app, photo tray
The verdict from Daniel Whitfield, home office and printing tester
The best choice for photos. The HP ENVY Inspire 7920e is built around colour and photo printing, with a separate photo tray and noticeably richer output than the all-rounders here. The HP Smart app makes setup and mobile printing painless. The honest caveat is running cost: it makes most sense on an HP Instant Ink plan. If your printing is mostly photos and colour, it earns its place; if it is mostly black text, save your money.
Turns out glossy 6x4 prints that genuinely look like photos rather than printouts.
This is the right printer if colour and photos are a real part of how you print. The buyer it suits prints holiday photos, kids' artwork, greetings cards and bright, image-heavy documents, and wants those to look good rather than merely acceptable. With a dedicated photo tray and HP's photo-tuned printing, it turns out glossy prints that genuinely look like photos, which the document-first printers here cannot match.
It is the wrong printer if you mostly print black text. Its photo strengths are wasted on plain documents, and running it for text-heavy work costs more than it should, so a text household is far better off with the HP LaserJet M110we or an Epson EcoTank. Buy the ENVY Inspire for what it is best at, and skip it if photos are not your thing.
This is its calling card. Colour is rich and accurate, and photo prints have the depth and gloss you actually want from a printed picture rather than the flat, washed look of a document printer pressed into photo duty. The dedicated photo tray means you can keep photo paper loaded alongside plain paper, so printing a 6x4 is a quick, no-fuss job rather than a paper swap.
HP's software is the most polished here. Setup over Wi-Fi is guided and painless, and the HP Smart app makes printing from a phone, scanning to your device and ordering supplies genuinely easy. For a household where people print from whatever device is nearest, that smoothness is a real, daily benefit, and it is the kind of thing that turns a printer from a chore into a tool.
As a 3-in-1 it prints, scans and copies, covering everyday home-office needs alongside its photo skills, and the styling is smart enough to sit out in a living room or study rather than be hidden away. It is a capable all-rounder that happens to be especially good at colour, rather than a one-trick photo box.
Be clear-eyed here. Colour and photo printing on a cartridge inkjet is the most ink-hungry kind of printing there is, so the ENVY Inspire makes most financial sense on an HP Instant Ink plan, which charges by the number of pages rather than by cartridge. On a plan, the per-page cost becomes sensible even with lots of colour. Without one, the bills can mount, so treat the subscription as part of the purchase decision and read our cheapest printer to run guide before you commit.
The ENVY Inspire's one real weakness is that its strengths are specialised. If you do not print photos or colour, you are paying for capability you will not use, and running it for plain text is needlessly expensive. That is not a fault, it is a question of fit: this is a photo printer first. Match it to a colour-printing household on an ink plan and it is excellent; buy it for black documents and you have bought the wrong tool.
Yes, that is its strength. It has a dedicated photo paper tray and produces noticeably richer colour and glossy photo prints than the all-rounders here. If you regularly print photos at home, it is the pick of our comparison.
You do not have to, but the running cost makes far more sense on an Instant Ink plan, which charges by the number of pages rather than by cartridge. Without a plan, colour and photo printing on a cartridge inkjet can get expensive, so factor the subscription into your decision.
Probably not. Its photo and colour focus is wasted if you mainly print black documents, and you would pay more to run it than a mono laser. If your printing is mostly text, the HP LaserJet M110we or an EcoTank will serve you better and cheaper.
The ENVY Inspire 7920e is our pick for photos because it does the one thing the all-rounders here cannot: print genuinely good colour and photos, easily, thanks to its photo tray and HP's excellent app. For a household that prints images regularly and is happy on an Instant Ink plan, it is the right buy. If your printing is mostly documents, save your money: the Epson EcoTank ET-2850 covers colour and text at a far lower running cost, and the HP LaserJet M110we is the cheapest way to print black text. Our inkjet vs laser guide and buying guide can help you decide whether photos really justify this printer for you.