How switching to a cartridge-free HP Smart Tank printer helps keep costs down
The HP Smart Tank 7602 comes with up to 3 years of ink included in the box, and refills are remarkably affordable
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Most home printers look fine on paper. Then you start using them for more than the occasional print, and the seams start to show. A printer that seemed perfectly adequate for a boarding pass or return label can start to feel pretty limited once it’s handling school packets, forms, color pages, shipping labels, and all the other random paperwork that piles up at home.
That’s usually the point where an upgrade starts to make more sense, not to a traditional office printer, but to something better suited for frequent, everyday printing at home. The HP Smart Tank 7602 is an HP inkjet printer with a refillable tank system, automatic document feeding, perfectly formatted prints with HP AI, and a couple other major upgrades that help keep your printing costs down.
Features
What to expect from the HP Smart Tank 7602
- Refillable ink tanks
- 35-page automatic document feeder
- Automatic two-sided printing
- 3-inch touchscreen
- Smart-guided setup
- Dual-band, self-healing Wi-Fi®
- Wi-Fi Direct and Ethernet
- Built-in fax
- 250-sheet input tray
- Perfectly formatted prints with HP AI
That combination makes a pretty big difference in day-to-day use. Multi-page forms and scan jobs are easier to get through when you don’t have to manually load every single page. Longer print jobs are less annoying. Setup is simpler, and the larger paper tray means less stopping to reload. And with the HP app, you can also print, scan, and manage tasks directly from your phone.
The HP Smart Tank 7602 prints, scans, copies, faxes, and skips disposable cartridges entirely. It comes with up to 3 years of ink included in the box.
Why it’s different from entry-level printers
An entry-level printer is a good option if you print very rarely, but the HP Smart Tank 7602 is aimed at a busier home where printing is part of the regular routine instead of something that only comes up once in a while.
Compared with a simpler refillable model like the HP Smart Tank 6001, this HP inkjet printer is faster with a broader range of capabilities. Black print speeds go up to 15 pages per minute (ppm), and color goes up to 9 ppm (ISO). You also get the automatic document feeder, built-in fax, Ethernet, and a larger paper tray capacity.
Printing in color is a lot less stressful when you aren't worrying about the cost of ink.
Refillable ink printers save you more over time
The biggest cost difference comes from the refillable ink system. The HP Smart Tank 7602 uses refillable ink tanks instead of disposable cartridges, and HP includes up to three years of ink in the box.
That is a very different setup from the usual cartridge cycle. A cartridge printer may cost less at first, but when you’re buying regular ink cartridges every few weeks, saving a little up front may mean spending much more over time.
When you look at how the ink costs break down, it’s a lot easier to see why opting for even an entry-level HP Smart Tank printer can help you reduce long-term printing costs.
| Product | Page Yield | Price |
|---|---|---|
| HP 32XL 135-ml Black Original Ink Bottle | 6,000 pages | $23.99 |
| Brother Genuine LC103BK High-yield Black Ink Cartridge | 600 pages | $26.49 |
| HP 31 Color Original Ink Bottle Combo 3-Pack | 8,000 pages | $65.99 |
| Brother Genuine LC1033PKS High-yield 3 Pack Color Ink Cartridges | 600 pages | $44.29 |
Smarter printing with HP AI
One of the more interesting additions is HP AI page cleanup. On supported Windows 11 setups, it can remove ads, extra formatting, logos, and other clutter from web pages before you print them. On top of saving a lot of effort cropping prints, it can also save paper. Anyone who has tried to print a recipe and ended up with pages of junk knows how welcome a change that is.
HP AI helps ensure clean, perfectly formatted prints by removing unnecessary content before printing, so you get the content without the clutter. Combined with the 35-page automatic document feeder, multi-page jobs take a lot less effort.
What you can use the HP Smart Tank 7602 for
Everyday home printing
Bills, forms, schoolwork, schedules, labels, permission slips, and all the usual life admin are the most obvious use cases here. That larger black page yield is a real advantage for households that print regularly and don’t want to think about ink every few weeks.
Creative projects and photo printing
One of the extra benefits of having ink that lasts so long is you can use your printer for fun things again. Scrapbooking pages, crafts, signs, invitations, and photo projects are easier to do at home when you aren’t constantly waiting for the low-ink warning. And when you do run low, refilling your ink tank is simple. The spill-free ink bottle system makes it quick and easy to refill your tank with a simple, clean process.
Why this HP Smart Tank printer is worth its price
The HP Smart Tank 7602 is not an entry-level printer, and that’s really the point. The upfront price is higher than what you would pay for a basic model like the HP Smart Tank 6001, but the extensive upgrades make it easy to justify the higher price.
For a household that prints often, the savings are not just about buying less ink. It’s also about printing with fewer interruptions, fewer supply runs, and having a printer that you won’t outgrow after a year or two.
Instead of paying for expensive ink cartridges, get a printer that gives you the freedom to print what you want without worrying about cost.