HP ENVY Photo 6222 Wireless Review

Michael Iaboni Profile image

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Updated June 1, 2023
88 Expert Rating

The HP Envy Photo 6222 All-in-One Printer may have slower than average printing speeds, but it’s still quite good for light or home office use. If you’re looking for a best printer for screen printing, you’ve found one. It also produces stunning printouts of photos and graphics for an entry-level printer which makes it the best printer for crafting too!

Related: For those who prefer relatively older models, read the HP Deskjet 9800 review

Why We Like It – HP ENVY Photo 6222 Wireless

The HP Envy Photo 6222 Wireless is an entry-level all-in-one printer that churns out text documents and photos at mid-level printer quality. And with an HP Ink subscription, your running costs for turning out these photos and text documents will be one of the lowest you’ve ever seen. And if you are in need of a large format printer, read our HP Designjet T120 review.

Pros
  • Still Good For Light Office Use
  • Significant Savings With an Instant Ink Subscription
  • Compatible with Alexa
Cons
  • Prints Slower than Advertised
  • Very High Running Costs if You Buy an Ink Cartridge the Traditional Way
  • No SD Card Support

Related: In case you don’t like the options above, check our HP Laserjet Pro M15W Wireless Printer review

Speed

The HP Envy 6222 Color Printer is rated at about 13ppm for monochrome text pages and about 8ppm for color pages. But these numbers are under ideal conditions, and research have concluded the HP Printer can churn out pages about 2ppm slower than their average. Even with that in mind, though, 11ppm is still a pretty good speed for light office and home use and better than its cousin, the HP OfficeJet 3830. And if you don’t care about print speed at all and just want a very small portable printer, check out our Kodak Mini 2 HD Wireless Portable Mobile Instant Photo Printer Review.

Print Quality

The HP Envy Photo Printer is marketed as exactly that: a photo printer. So its ability to print photos should take precedence over speed, right? Overall, Envy 6222 Photo Printers print above-average graphics and photos for an entry-level printer, and text pages come out crisp and clear down to the smallest point sizes. It struggled a bit when reproducing dark gradients, but almost every printer struggles with those. If you do need something more high-end, consider the Silhouette Crafting Printer.

Efficiency

The HP Envy Photo 6222 Wireless Printer has very high running costs. It’s calculated at six cents per monochrome page and a whopping 16 cents per color page. This shouldn’t be too surprising as almost all all-in-one printers have high running costs. This is where the HP Instant Ink toner business comes in, where HP Support sends you ink when your printer’s ink starts running low (the printer keeps track and informs HP when this happens). By signing up for the program, the running costs are diminished considerably to about 3.5 cents per page, monochrome, and color. You can check out the Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 for another example of a low-running cost printer. If you want a very power-efficient printer, you can check out the Epson WorkForce WF-7720.

Advanced Features

The HP Envy Photo 6222 Wireless’s connection options include dual-band wi-fi, Wireless Direct–HP’s own version of Wi-fi Direct–and USB. Mobile connectivity options include the HP Smart App, Apple AirPrint, and Mopria. The printer is also compatible with Amazon Alexa, making it a handy addition to your smart home. While it does seem that other printers may have more connectivity options, keep in mind this is an entry-level printer that still has all other bases covered whether you have iOS or Android.

Value

The paper capacity on the printer is 140 sheets split between a 125-sheet main tray and a 15-sheet HP photo paper tray inside. This will allow you to churn out a quick photo print should the need arise. It should be noted that, unlike other HD Envy models, the 6222 does not support SD card flash memory and, as such, is impossible to print from a digital camera’s memory.

HP ENVY Photo 6222 Wireless Wrap Up

There are always going to be some setbacks when it comes to entry-level printers, and for the Envy 6222, there’s a lack of SD card support and high running costs. However, an affordable instant ink subscription can rectify the running cost situation. And if you’re not a professional photographer, I doubt you’ll have too many opportunities to have to print photos from your digital camera.