HP OfficeJet 250 Review: The Portable All-in-One Printer That Actually Delivers

Quick Verdict

The HP OfficeJet 250 is the most capable portable all-in-one printer on the market for road warriors who genuinely need to scan and copy as well as print. The battery performance impressed me during a client site visit last month—I finished a full pitch deck and three signed contracts before the low-ink warning even appeared. It's not fast, and running costs sting if you print heavily, but the flexibility of true untethered operation is worth the trade-offs for mobile professionals. Rated 4.2 out of 5 — a strong choice if your workflow demands portability over throughput.

What Is the HP OfficeJet 250?

The HP OfficeJet 250 is a battery-powered all-in-one inkjet printer designed for professionals who work outside a fixed office. It prints, scans, and copies from a single unit that fits into a carry bag. Unlike many "portable" competitors that only print, this model includes a small flatbed scanner and produces standalone copies without any connected device. The wireless stack is the real story here: Wi-Fi Direct means you can print directly from a phone or tablet without hunting for a hotel router, and HP Auto Wireless Connect handles the initial setup in minutes rather than the usual driver-hunting frustration.

HP bundles a lithium-ion battery (estimated value $119) that charges in roughly 90 minutes via HP Fast Charge when the printer is off. The chassis is matte black plastic with a slight texture that resists scratches better than glossy finishes I've tested on competing models. It weighs about 6.5 pounds with the battery installed—light enough to carry daily, heavy enough to feel like it belongs on a desk rather than rattling around in a bag.

Key Features

• Print, scan, and copy from a single 6.5-pound portable unit
• Built-in lithium-ion battery with HP Fast Charge (90-minute full recharge)
• Wi-Fi Direct for direct device connection without a router or network
• HP Auto Wireless Connect for quick first-time setup
• HP Smart app enables printing and scanning from iOS and Android
• Supports letter, legal, photo sizes up to 8x10, and multiple envelope formats
• Original HP 62 cartridges deliver high page yields for the class
• One-year limited hardware warranty included

Hands-On Review

I unboxed the HP OfficeJet 250 on a rainy Tuesday morning with zero instructions and a deadline three hours away—classic. HP Auto Wireless Connect genuinely delivered on its promise: my iPhone connected in under four minutes without touching the router or entering a Wi-Fi password on the printer's tiny 2-inch display. That display, by the way, is functional but cramped—changing Wi-Fi networks requires navigating a menu system that feels borrowed from 2009. It works, but don't expect a touchscreen experience.

Print quality on standard office paper surprised me. Text came out crisp at the default setting, and even small fonts looked readable down to about 8-point. Color documents—charts, logos, a client presentation—looked professional enough to hand directly to a prospect. The one area I'd call middling is photo printing: I ran off a 4x6 snapshot on HP's own photo paper and the color saturation was acceptable but lacked the depth I'd expect from a dedicated photo printer. Fine for a quick receipt or reference copy; not a replacement for a dedicated photo workflow.

What surprised me was the noise level. I'd braced for the typical jet-engine scream of a portable inkjet, but the OfficeJet 250 is genuinely quiet during standby and produces only a moderate hum during printing. I used it in a small meeting room while a colleague was on a phone call without disrupting them—a detail HP doesn't advertise but matters more than you'd think in practice.

Scanning works as advertised for single-page documents. The flatbed sits flush and the lid closes firmly, which helps with thinner originals like receipts. Multi-page scanning requires flipping each page manually, which becomes tedious past five or six sheets. If you're archiving a full contract packet, budget an extra ten minutes and some patience. Copy function was reliable; I made five copies of a one-page letter and all five looked identical to the original within the tolerance I'd expect from a portable device.

By day five I noticed the battery indicator dropping faster than I expected during idle wireless standby. Turning Wi-Fi off between sessions extended the interval meaningfully, which is worth knowing if you're leaving it in a bag for days between uses. HP's estimate of 225 pages per charge felt roughly accurate under my printing pattern of mixed black-and-white documents with occasional color pages.

Who Should Buy It?

• Field sales and service teams who need to print quotes, invoices, or contracts at client sites without hunting for a business center
• Traveling executives and consultants who regularly work from hotels, co-working spaces, or temporary offices and need a reliable print-and-scan setup
• Real estate agents and inspectors who collect signed documents on-site and need copies for all parties immediately
• Healthcare or social service professionals operating in mobile or home-visit contexts where forms need printing on demand

Skip this if you primarily print from a home or office with a stationary printer—this model's running costs and slower speeds make it a poor substitute for a dedicated desktop unit. Also skip it if you regularly need to scan stacks of more than five pages at a time; the lack of an ADF makes batch scanning a chore you'd grow to resent.

Alternatives Worth Considering

• Canon PIXMA TR150: Lighter and cheaper, but lacks scanning and copying entirely—only worth considering if you genuinely only need to print
• Epson WorkForce WF-110W: Slightly faster print speeds and excellent battery efficiency, though it also lacks an integrated scanner
• HP OfficeJet 200: The stripped-down sibling without the flatbed scanner—saves about $80 but gives up the ability to copy or scan physical documents entirely

FAQ

Final Verdict

The HP OfficeJet 250 earns its place in a mobile professional's kit through genuine versatility rather than marketing fluff. Being able to print, scan, and copy without hunting for a network or power outlet solved a real problem during my testing, and the build quality feels like it will survive regular travel. The trade-offs—slower speeds, expensive ink, and no automatic document feeder—are acceptable compromises given what this device is built to do. If your work regularly takes you away from a fixed office and involves handling physical documents, the HP OfficeJet 250 is the most complete portable solution currently available at this price point.