WebUser 01 May 2019

24 1 - 14 May 2019

Product Test HP Tango X

The HPTa ngo X offersyou

two buying choices: the

straight-upTa ngofor £129,

which is the same printer

but doesn’t include the

wraparoundcover; or the

full discreetly camouflaged

Ta ngo X, whichcosts an

extra £51.Thatmay seema

lotfor a piece offabric, but

it really does look a lot

better than thestandard

hulk ofconventional

all-in-one machines. HP’s

latestinnovation doesn’t

come cheap, but it delivers

on its promise ofrethinking

home printing.

HP Tango X

PRODUCT INFO

HPTango X

Price: £179.99

Buy from HP:

bit.ly/hptx4 74

SPECIFICATIONS

■4,800 x1,200dpi printresolution

■802.11n Wi-Fi

■Bluetooth LE

■A4 maximum paper size

■377 x 206 x 91mm

■3kg

■1 year warran ty

FOR

✓Quiet andcompact

✓High-quality prints

✓Subscription photo prints

AGAINST

✗No USBconnection

✗Slow performance

OUR VERDICT HHHH

FEATURES HHHHH

PERFORMANCE HHHHH

EASE OF USE HHHHH

VALUE FOR MONEY HHHHH

HP’s new multifunction printer is a refreshing change from

the usual ink-guzzling desktop behemoths

HP will automatically send

you replacement cartridges

whenyour printer needs

them.There are afew rules

andregulations, though, so

check the detailsatbit.ly/

hpink4 74 beforeyou commit.

The Ta ngo also supports

copying and scanning, which

is done viayour smartphone.

When you open the HP Smart

app and press theCopy

button,you’re promptedto

take a photo ofyour target

document, which is

go. Meanwhile, because

the printer only operates

wirelessly,wefound it tricky

to position: itstill needs

a power supply, soyou can’t

just put it anywhere, and

perhaps because it uses

802.11nWi-Fi

rather than

802.11ac,

wefound the

Ta ngo fussy about

where itwas located.

You need a solidWi-Fi

connection because there’s

no USB portto connectto

if itstopsworking.

Nor shouldyou expectfast

print speeds. HP claims the

Ta ngo X produces 20ppm

(pages per minute) mono

printing and 11ppm incolour,

but those figures arefor draft

mode. Inreality,you’ll have

to wait around 30 seconds

for the first pageto print and

canexpect,at most, three

or four pages per minute.

But that’s not a problemfor

a printer thatyou only use

occasionally.

Print quality and ink

The good news is that the

print quality isexcellent.

Text is solid with no

feathering, while the three-

colour ink cartridge produces

strong graphics andexcellent

photos. Print on HP photo

paper and thecompany

promises theresults will last

you a lifetime, andto the

nakedeye they look as good

as professional prints.The

only slight flaw is a 1mm-thick

white border on one edge.

That brings usto one of the

Ta ngo’s big innovations: an

ink subscription service that

promises free photo printsfor

the printer’s lifetime. From

£1.99for 50 pages per month,

sharpened andstraightened

before being sentto the

printer.You can“scanto

email” in a similarway.

While the app integrates

with both Dropbox and

Google Drive, you can only

print PDFs and JPEG photos

from within it.This isa

frustratingrestriction, which

meansyou have to startyour

PCto print other types of

document from there or,

slightly bizarrely, email a file

to the printer instead.

T

he HPTa ngo X is not

your typical home

printer.There are no

cables(other than the power

lead)for connecting itto

other devices, andyou set it

up usingyour smartphone

rather thanyour PC. It’s quiet

andcompact, with atextured

wraparoundcover that

converts into an output tray,

so you can camouflage it

when it’s not in use.If that

sounds like a gimmick, it’s

surprisingly effective in

practice: duringtesting,

we kept the HPTa ngo X in our

livingroom and, when itwas

folded up and putaway, it

looked more like a thick

hardback book than a printer.

The main drawbackcomes

when someonewantsto print

something, because thecover

hasto be unfolded and paper

inserted before it’s readyto

The ink subscription service promises

free photo prints for the printer’s lifetime