HP Color LaserJet Enterprise 4701 laser printer review

The HP Color LaserJet Enterprise 4701 is a powerful and expandable A4 office printer able to serve teams of up to ten coworkers.

It ships with a reasonable amount of TerraJet toner and HP’s strongest ever security.

The specification sheet is strong too, with more memory and processor speed than your average print-only device and a top speed of 35ppm (pages per minute).

It printed well, even on pretty thick card.

However, there’s no touchscreen on this US$730 (£590) device and I found the user interface frustrating, so read this in-depth review before you buy.

HP Color LaserJet Enterprise 4701: Design and build (Image credit: Future) Specs Type: color laser printer Functions: Print only Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi, Ethernet Data storage slots: USB Host Max print speed: 35ppm Max paper size: Letter/A4 Print quality: 600x600dpi; 1200x1200dpi (enhanced) Memory: 2GB Apple AirPrint: yes Consumables included: 4 cartridges (2,300 black or 2,000 color pages) Dimensions/Weight: 421 x 427 x 297 mm (WxDxH)/36lb/16.3kg HP’s Color LaserJet Enterprise 4000/X400 Series printers and multifunction devices replace the outgoing 400 Series and with their blue livery and crisp design, it’s certainly an aesthetic improvement.

The HP Color LaserJet Enterprise 4701dw is the base model in this Letter/A4-size range and it’s also the most compact.

It’s reassuringly heavy at 36 pounds, yet small enough to share the desk in my home office without crowding me out.

The dw at the end of the model name indicates that the printer I tested can auto-duplex and has Wi-Fi built in, but in other respects, variants on this model are the same, so I’ll dispense with the suffix going forward.

It looks much like the cheaper HP Color LaserJet Pro 4201 and I found the print quality to be comparable.

But what the enterprise-level 4701 brings is a higher spec with a faster processor, more memory and security tough enough for big business.

It’s more upgradeable because you can add not just one, like the Pro, but two optional paper trays.

It also replaces the awkward rotary dial interface with a regular keypad.

The main paper drawer has a standard capacity of 250 sheets, but you can expand this by adding up to two high-capacity 550-sheet paper cassettes which cost around US$370 each.