Reviews

HP Smart Tank Printers: Save Money With Refillable Ink Tank Printing

Discover the numerous benefits HP Smart Tank printers, like the newest HP Smart Tank 580, offer against traditional ink cartridge printers.

Published

1 year ago

July 30, 2023

David Morelo

hp smart tank printers save money with refillable ink tank printing

In the realm of home and office printing, the hunt for a reliable, affordable, and efficient printer can often feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. If you’ve been scouring the market, the HP Smart Tank series of printers might just be your proverbial needle.

Imagine eliminating the need for frequent cartridge replacements and enjoying substantially lower cost per page without sacrificing either print quality or speed. That’s precisely what HP Smart Tank printers offer, and their winning formula boils down to replacing traditional ink cartridges with a high-capacity, refillable ink tank system.

Smart Tank Technology Vs. Ink Cartridges

Factor	Ink Cartridges	Smart Tank Technology
Cost	Higher cost per page due to frequent cartridge replacements.	Substantially lower cost per page with a high-capacity, refillable ink tank system.
Convenience	Needs regular replacements, interrupting workflow and requiring constant monitoring.	Eliminates the need for frequent replacements, providing seamless and continuous printing.
Environmental Impact	Higher waste production due to discarded cartridges.	Eco-friendly solution with significantly reduced waste generation.
Print Volume	Best for small to medium-sized print jobs.	Ideal for high-volume print jobs due to large ink capacity.
Print Quality	High-quality prints, but at a higher cost.	High-quality prints at a lower cost.
Ease of Use	Cartridges need to be replaced when they become empty.	Ink tanks need to be refilled from ink bottles when they become empty.

The basic mechanism of printing technology involves deploying ink onto the paper in a controlled and precise manner. While this may sound simple, the way this is achieved can be the difference between costly vs. inexpensive, slow vs. fast, or wasteful vs. eco-friendly printing.

Traditional ink cartridge printers have been a staple in many homes and offices for years. They utilize small containers or cartridges filled with dye-based ink. Each cartridge is equipped with a nozzle mechanism to disperse the ink onto the paper and houses a microchip that communicates with the printer’s processor. This communication system controls how the ink is released and how much ink is left in the cartridge.

While these printers are versatile and can print high-quality images on various mediums, they have their drawbacks. Typically, an ink cartridge can print around 300 to 400 pages before it needs to be replaced. This requirement for frequent replacements can lead to higher costs per page, workflow interruptions, and increased environmental impact due to discarded cartridges.

Enter HP’s revolutionary Smart Tank technology. Unlike regular cartridge printers, HP Smart Tank printers are refilled by pouring ink from bottles directly into tanks housed within the printer. This means you’re not buying replaceable, pre-filled ink cartridges. Instead, you’re filling up your tanks as needed.

With this one but key difference comes a multitude of advantages:

Lower Costs Over Time: Despite the initial investment being higher for Smart Tank printers, the overall cost of ownership becomes significantly lower due to the large volume of ink each refillable tank holds. In contrast to an ink cartridge’s capacity of around 300 to 400 pages, a full set of ink bottles for a Smart Tank printer can provide up to 8,000 pages for color and 6,000 pages for black, drastically reducing the cost per page.
Increased Productivity: The high-capacity ink tanks of Smart Tank printers significantly reduce the need for frequent ink replacements, allowing you to focus on your work without interruptions. This high-volume printing capability is especially beneficial in office environments and for those who have heavy printing needs.
Eco-Friendly Printing: Traditional ink cartridges can contribute to environmental waste once they’re discarded. In contrast, Smart Tank printers utilize refillable ink tanks, reducing plastic waste and contributing to a more sustainable printing solution. Additionally, HP Smart Tank printers are built with up to 25% recycled plastics, furthering their environmental credentials.
Higher-Quality Prints: Despite the cost-saving measures, there’s no compromise on print quality with Smart Tank printers. HP Original Ink produces bold colors, sharp images, and impressive contrast in a variety of applications. The thermal inkjet technology used ensures high-resolution prints, making Smart Tank printers suitable for both document and photo printing.
Ease Of Use: When it comes to refilling, Smart Tank printers take simplicity to the next level. When the printer indicates low ink, all you need to do is open the cap of the corresponding ink bottle and insert it top-down into the ink tank. There’s no need to squeeze or shake the bottle, and the ink flows naturally into the tank.

Simply put, HP’s Smart Tank technology is a game-changer in the printing landscape. By combining high-volume printing, lower costs, eco-friendliness, and high-quality prints, Smart Tank printers offer a compelling alternative to traditional cartridge printers.

Recommended Printer: HP Smart Tank 580 Wireless All-In-One

Among the latest offerings in the Smart Tank series is the HP Smart Tank 580 Wireless All-in-One: an excellent choice for both home and small office use.

This versatile printer comes with up to 3 years of Original HP ink included in the box, and it makes it very easy to put the ink to good use thanks to its extensive connectivity, which includes options such as Hi-Speed USB 2.0, Bluetooth Low Energy, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, and Wi-Fi Direct. With this array of options, you can print from almost any device and enjoy a great deal of convenience and flexibility.

One of the standout connectivity features of the HP Smart Tank 580 is its self-healing Wi-Fi. We’ve all experienced the frustration of losing a Wi-Fi connection in the middle of an important task. With self-healing Wi-Fi, the printer automatically detects and resolves connectivity issues, ensuring a smooth, uninterrupted printing experience.

hp smart tank 580 wireless all in one printer

With a duty cycle of up to 3,000 pages per month and print speed of up to 12 or 5 pages per minute for black and color respectively, the HP Smart Tank 580 is more than capable of satisfying the needs of even the busiest home offices or small businesses. Moreover, this printer isn’t just for printing; it also features scanning and copying functionalities, serving as an all-in-one solution for your document-related tasks.

The HP Smart Tank 580 also excels in its commitment to sustainability. It’s constructed with 45% post-consumer recycled content and has both EPEAT Silver and Energy Star certifications. The printer’s auto on/off feature further contributes to energy savings, making it a sound choice for environmentally conscious consumers.

hp smart tank 580 original ink bottle

Setting the printer up is a straightforward process thanks to the HP Smart mobile app, which you can install on any Android or iOS device to enjoy a guided configuration experience. Through the app, you can conveniently order supplies, get support, and manage your HP account. For families, the HP Smart app comes with an added bonus: access to hundreds of printable crafts, cards, and learning activities for free with Printables.

Adding to its ease of use, the HP Smart Tank 580 features a 1.2-inch LCD display and buttons that illuminate to guide you through the printing process. The printer also addresses the common concern of running out of ink at inopportune times with its low-on-ink sensors. These integrated ink sensors help you easily monitor and maintain ink levels, taking the guesswork out of knowing when it’s time to order a refill and guaranteeing your printer is always ready to meet your printing needs.

To learn more about the HP Smart Tank 580 and other models in the Smart Tank series, head to HP’s official website. Your search for a reliable, cost-effective, and environmentally-friendly printer may just end there.

Key Specifications	HP Smart Tank 580
Functions	Print, copy, scan
Print Speed	Up to 12 ppm (black), 5 ppm (color)
Connectivity	Hi-Speed USB 2.0, Bluetooth Low Energy, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct
Display	33 segments + 1.2-inch iCON LCD Display
Mobile Printing	HP Smart App; Apple AirPrint; Mopria Print Service; HP Print Service Plugin; Wi-Fi Direct Printing
Input/Output Capacity	Input: 100-sheet input tray Output: 30-sheet output tray
Print Quality	Up to 4800 x 1200 optimized dpi color
Scan Resolution	Up to 1200 dpi
Weight	5.03 kg
Maximum Dimensions	434.66 x 580.65 x 259.37 mm (W x D x H)

Conclusion

HP’s Smart Tank technology brings a multitude of advantages over traditional ink cartridge systems. By offering high-capacity, refillable ink tanks, printers like the recently released HP Smart Tank 580 significantly lower printing costs, enhance productivity, and promote environmentally friendly practices. With these advantages, they present an equally excellent choice for home users printing family photos, students printing research papers, or small businesses printing documents.

Product Reviews

iFLYTEK Smart Translator 4.0 Review: A Traveler’s Companion

With the iFLYTEK Smart Translator 4.0, traveling to more than 200 countries around the world can be a totally stress-free experience.

Published

3 weeks ago

November 4, 2024

David Morelo

iFLYTEK

In this review, we’re taking a look at the iFLYTEK Smart Translator 4.0, an artificial intelligence-powered translator that promises to break down language barriers across the globe with its support for 60 languages.

But wait a minute – don’t you already have a smart translator with you wherever you travel in the form of your smartphone? That’s a great question, and my goal with this review is to answer it as comprehensively as possible to help you decide if the iFLYTEK Smart Translator 4.0 is a good investment for you.

Winning First Impressions

iflytek smart translator 4.0 first impressions

Unboxing the iFLYTEK Smart Translator 4.0 sets a premium tone right from the start. Inside the clean, minimalist packaging, you’ll find a USB-C charging cable, a SIM tray removal tool, comprehensive user documentation in multiple languages, and, of course, the translator itself.

At just 130 grams and measuring 140.6 x 56.5 x 10.4mm, the iFLYTEK Smart Translator 4.0 sports a sleek, pocket-friendly design. It’s slightly lighter and smaller than the average smartphone (the iPhone 16, for example, weighs 170 grams and measures 147.6 x 71.6 x 7.8mm), so it nicely disappears in just about any pocket. The build quality feels solid and premium, with a comfortable matte finish that resists fingerprints.

The 5.05-inch display dominates the front of the device. The screen is bright enough to be clearly visible outdoors, and the viewing angles are also good, which is an important feature when you’re showing translations to someone standing next to or across from you.

The edges of the iFLYTEK Smart Translator 4.0 house a thoughtfully laid out array of controls and slots: a power button and volume rocker on one side, a SIM card slot on the other, and a USB-C charging port at the bottom. The top edge houses the device’s secret weapon — a U-shaped quad-microphone array that enables accurate translation even in noisy environments. On the back, there’s a modest 5 MP camera with autofocus for photo translation.

Under the hood, the device is powered by a 2000 mAh battery that delivers impressive endurance of up to 6 hours of continuous translation use or 10 days in standby mode when not connected to the internet. There’s also an octa-core processor from Mediatek, which certainly isn’t the latest or greatest, especially compared to the latest flagship smartphone chips, but I find it to be well-matched to the device’s needs, as evidenced by the device’s real-time translation performance.

Key Technical Specifications

Feature	Specification
Display:	5.05-inch screen
Storage:	2 GB RAM + 16 GB ROM
Battery:	2000 mAh
Processor:	MTK 6762 (Octa-core)
Weight:	130 g
Camera:	5 MP with autofocus
Connectivity:	Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, eSIM, Nano SIM

A User Interface That Makes Sense

If you’ve ever used your smartphone as a translator, you might have concluded that the user experience leaves a lot to be desired. I personally experienced this when I traveled to Serbia this summer. My bus home was about to leave in 10 minutes, but I couldn’t find the bus station. What’s worse, it was very early in the morning, and there were only a few people in sight. Starting to panic, I ran to the nearest person and took out my phone to open Google Translate so I could ask them for help.

First, I had issues unlocking my phone. Then I couldn’t find the Google Translate app. By then, the person was visibly annoyed, probably thinking that I was just wasting their time. Once I finally found the Google Translate app and said the sentence I wanted to translate, it took forever because the internet connection was spotty, and I hadn’t downloaded the language beforehand.

If I had the iFLYTEK Smart Translator 4.0, the experience would have been much more pleasant for both me and the person I was asking for help because it’s designed specifically for these real-world scenarios.

Thanks to the stripped-down, task-optimized version of Android that powers the translator, there’s no fumbling through apps or dealing with phone unlocking — just press the power button, and you’re ready to translate. Alternatively, you can activate one of its three main modes through simple swipes: voice translation (default screen), camera translation (swipe left), and face-to-face translation (swipe right).

Even the familiar Android settings menu has been simplified to its bare essentials. Gone are the overwhelming lists of options you’ll find on your smartphone – instead, you get just four straightforward categories: Network and Connection (for managing Wi-Fi, mobile data, and Bluetooth), Display (brightness and screen settings, such as font size), Sound and Vibration (volume controls and haptic feedback), and Systems and Updates (software updates and privacy settings).

Real-World Translation Performance

iflytek smart translator 4.0 performance

iFLYTEK isn’t just another company jumping on the AI bandwagon. They are widely recognized for their continued innovation in AI, including speech recognition and natural language processing.

iFLYTEK’s flagship large language model, Spark (launched in May 2023) has evolved into a sophisticated system that handles everything from business translations to scientific research thanks to its enhanced understanding of complex concepts and specialized knowledge, which enables highly accurate and rapid translations across various domains.

The iFLYTEK Smart Translator 4.0 essentially puts all of this experience and expertise in your pocket. It supports an impressive 60 languages for voice translation, covering more than 200 countries and regions worldwide. What’s particularly noteworthy is that 18 of these languages work completely offline, including major ones like English, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, French, German, and Spanish.

Best of all, the iFLYTEK Smart Translator 4.0 comes with a two-year global data package that provides free connectivity in 148 countries worldwide. This means no hunting for local SIM cards or relying on spotty Wi-Fi connections in foreign countries. You can simply turn on the device and start translating.

Voice Translation

The voice translation mode serves as the default screen, and for a good reason — it’s likely to be your most-used feature. You can use this mode in several ways: press and hold to speak, use the physical volume buttons (color-coded for each language), or activate gesture controls where you simply pick up the device to speak and put it down to translate.

The U-shaped quad-microphone array I mentioned earlier in this review really shows its value by picking up speech clearly, even in a challenging environment like a noisy restaurant.

The microphone array is assisted by a noise-canceling algorithm that does an impressive job of isolating voices from background noise, something that traditional smartphone microphones often struggle with.

Face-To-Face Translation

The face-to-face translation mode is where the iFLYTEK Smart Translator 4.0 truly shines, and it’s clear that iFLYTEK has put a lot of thought into making this feature as natural as possible.

The screen splits into two sections, with each person’s language displayed on their respective side, and you can flip the screen orientation so the person you’re talking to can read their side comfortably.

The octa-core MTK 6762 processor really proves that it’s still very capable here, delivering translations in less than half a second, so you don’t have to worry about conversations flowing naturally, whether you’re haggling at a market or having an in-depth business discussion.

Camera Translation

While the 5-megapixel camera might seem underwhelming by today’s smartphone standards (the iPhone 16 Pro boasts a 48 MP main sensor, and the affordable Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro has a 200 MP camera), it’s actually perfectly suited for its intended purpose because it’s responsive and capable of delivering great low-light performance.

The real star of the show is the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology baked into the camera app. It confidently handles everything from restaurant menus to street signs, and even handwritten notes (though, as with all OCR systems, your mileage may vary with particularly messy handwriting).

The translation appears overlaid on the original text in real-time to maintain the original formatting and layout. This really helps when translating more complex documents or menus as you can easily understand the context and relationship between different sections.

Should You Buy The iFLYTEK Smart Translator 4.0?

iflytek smart translator 4.0 price

At the beginning of this review, I presented a simple question: in an age where everyone has a capable translator in their pocket in the form of a smartphone, is there still a place for a dedicated translation device? After testing the iFLYTEK Smart Translator 4.0, I can confidently answer this question — but the answer depends entirely on who you are and how you travel.

If you’re someone who goes on vacation once or twice a year, the iFLYTEK Smart Translator 4.0’s AED 1,799 / $429.99 price tag (at the time of writing this review) is difficult to justify. Yes, it would make your travel experience smoother and more comfortable than relying on your smartphone, but for occasional use, you can probably manage with Google Translate or similar apps even if it means dealing with occasional frustrations.

However, if you’re a frequent traveler — whether for business, extended leisure trips, or digital nomading — the iFLYTEK Smart Translator 4.0 becomes one of the best investments you can make. The included two years of unlimited global data coverage alone could save you hundreds of dollars in international roaming fees or local SIM card purchases across 148 countries. When you factor in the convenience of having a dedicated device that’s always ready to translate, the value proposition becomes clear.

Final Verdict

The iFLYTEK Smart Translator 4.0 is a purpose-built device that excels at its single task: breaking down language barriers. While its AED 1,799 / $429.99 price tag might seem steep at first, the combination of dedicated hardware, streamlined software, and two years of global connectivity makes it a compelling investment for frequent travelers. The device is available for purchase through iFLYTEK’s official website or at Sharaf DG.

Pros: