The HP Designjet T120 Printer makes for a best large format printer because of its ability to print documents up to D size, or 24 inches. It also sports fast graphic printing, which makes it an ideal printer for screen printing as well. But we’ll acknowledge that it does have some issues with large-scale monochrome printing as some of the colors will run into the darkness. Nonetheless, it still performs better than some of the best printers out there.
Related: If you would rather buy a different unit, check our HP Color Laserjet Pro MFP M479fdw review
Why We Like It – HP DesignJet T120
The HP DesignJet T120 is an engineering, architecture, and construction dedicated printer that averages very fast print speeds compared to other printers in its class. But if you need it to print text documents, it can still do that quite well too. And the while sporting a basic CMYK ink cartridge configuration.
- Fast Graphic Printing
- Great Looking Photos and Graphics
- Print from Phones or Tablets
- Small Fonts May Be Hard to Read
- Monochrome Printing Does Look Color Traces
- Running Costs Can Be High Without Ink Subscription
Related: We also recommend the HP Deskjet 2622 Printer review
Speed
The HP Designjet T120 Large Format Printer is a near-dedicated graphics and arts printer designed for architects and engineers. Knowing this, quality should trump speed. Still, print speed is a factor and the HP Designjet T120 averages one minute per 4×6 print and one minute 39 seconds for 8×10 prints. This is on the higher end of printing times. If you want something faster, or don’t need a graphics printer, make sure you check out the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015.
Print Quality
You won’t really be using the HP DesignJet T120 to print text documents, like you would the Canon Pixma MG3620, but its text printouts can be used for any sort of business with the exception of really small fonts. Graphics output is above par with some minor, but hardly noticeable, banding. Photo printing was bright and well saturated, but monochrome photo printing does show traces of spurious colors.
Efficiency
The HP DesignJet T120 sports only the basic black, cyan, magenta, and yellow ink cartridges while most other printers in its class can have up to 10 with various shades of black and grey. Still, the ability to get as high quality printouts as it does with only four ink cartridges is impressive. But in terms of running costs the HP DesignJet T120 still uses standard ink cartridges, so, without HP Support via the Instant Ink program running costs can be insanely high (especially if you print a lot of photos). Check out the Brother Inkjet Printer MFC-J985DW for running costs which are more manageable.
Advanced Features
The printer can connect via USB, Ethernet, and wi fi. Unfortunately, it doesn’t support Wi-Fi Direct. But with HP EPrint the HP DesignJet T120 can print from third party sources like Apple and Android phones or Apple and Android tablets. The printer can print diagrams and photos up to D size which is 24 inches and also supports printing from paper roll feed or cut sheets.
Value
The HP DesignJet T120 does come with a stand, but it’s, unfortunately, sold separately. And at $250, it’s not exactly cheap either. Still, if you’re expecting to print a lot of paper rolls it’s an accessory you’ll want to get because of the cloth basket to catch the cut paper. And while on the stand it can be easily moved around and locked into place thanks to the wheels.
HP Designjet T120 Wrap Up
The HP DesignJet T120 will allow you to print quickly and with high quality from a computer or wirelessly from a phone or tablet. It can also support text printing if you need it to, though really small point sizes may be hard to read. Running costs can also be high, especially if you print a lot of photos, so getting an instant ink subscription would be beneficial.
