Shocking! Prints Look Exactly the Same, and Off-Brand Ink Costs 1/5 as Much as HP Ink - My Personal Lab Tests

HP and re-manufactured ink appears to be identical in these mixed prints.

I have a relatively compact family. My wife, my son, our dog, two birds, and two HP photo printers. But it seems that of all, it's the HP printer that always wants something, and what it wants is expensive. One of its six ink cartridges is always empty. When printing photos, not a day goes by without popping in another $10 piece of plastic with ink in it. I've saved all of these little gems since I bought the two HP printers (A D7360 and C6180) and the photo above shows 92 cartridges, or about $920 worth of spent ink!

In an effort stem the micro-BP gusher of milliliters of spilt ink money, I started getting HP's "combo pack" cartridges with all 5 color inks. With free shipping, that comes to $8.60 each.

Then, when ordering these on Amazon, I saw the ad below. $6.60, and for the high yield version (50% more ink). Costs $4.99 for shipping, and you get a black cartridge as well. Just comparing apples to apples, (ie only the 5 color cartridges) this comes out to $2.32 per cartridge. (Actually, if they really are high yield, the cost comparison goes to $1.53. (And you get a black cartridge for free...even though I seldom need these.)

I figured I just had to test these and see how bad they were. They couldn't be even close to HP, but for a factor of 5.6 in cost, I just had to find out, and then I'd have to decide how much the absolutely beautiful HP prints were worth to me. Could I compromise a little, or maybe even a lot if $920 became $164? What's $756 of unspent money on ink worth to me? What's my price in quality?

I found a nice test print photo here. I downloaded it and printed it first with the ink cartridges that were already in the printer, the HP ones. Then I put in the re-manufactured cartridges and printed again. I could see no difference! Worried that maybe some old HP ink was still in the printer, I printed 5 more prints using the cartridges from "Sophia Global" (SG) in Lawrence Kansas. They were all identical and the same quality as the HP ink.

Closeup of the comparison print. I used a paper cutter, and cut a border between the two prints. You can see the two borders in this zoom of the scan. But which ones are what kind of ink?

The "SG" on the left are cartridges from "Sophia Global" (785-865-3725) info@sophiaglobal.com that I ordered through Amazon

This is a scan of the HP ink print using HP Premium Plus Paper, and the "normal" quality setting. I tried one one "best" and could see no difference, but I do believe it aids HP's profits by using a lot more ink.

Here is the SG ink, HP Premium Plus Paper, and the "normal" quality setting. I was unable to see any difference at all between the two prints.

Here are the 5 SG cartridges. They come wrapped in a vacuum-seal plastic, and no other junk. Simple. The HP cartridges have a blizzard of packaging for each one.

My HP D7360 printer loaded with HP cartridges. Note that the fatter ones on the left are the "XL" "High Yield" cartridges. They hold 50% more and cost about 50% more, but at least you don't have to change them as often.

Here's the same printer loaded with the Sophia Global remanufactured cartridges. They don't look fat like the HP XL's, but the Amazon listing says they are High Yield.

No, the printer doesn't say "Genuine HP cartridge loaded" on the screen after you put these in, but it doesn't complain either. And the ink levels read full. And it only cost me $6.60 for the bunch of cartridges. (okay and another 4.99 to get them from Kansas to Boston). I wonder if I went to Kansas, could I pick up a pile of cartridges? It could be worth the plane flight!)

Hmmm. Sometimes you DON'T get what you pay for. Maybe sometimes something that seems too too good to be true, isn't. Does anyone out there have experience with this? Please add your comments below.
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6 responses
Bill,

Interesting test, but you're only half done. Now you need to put a set out in the open and put the other in a good(ish) frame, mounted, and protected by good glass but in a place that sees a healthy amount of ambient light. I'd be interested in the comparison after 6 months, 12 months, 2 years, 5 years ... You get the picture. They (HP, Canon, and especially Epson) like to tout the duration of color fidelity. I wonder if their claims hold any water.

-Tom

— Tom Monaghan
Tom - Actually, I don't think the issue is the ink. I know that if I print on HP Advanced Photo Paper... the cheaper stuff...and hang the photo, it fades quickly if there is any sunlight. On the other hand, with the more expensive HP Premium Plus Photo Paper, the same ink seems never to fade. My belief is that the paper has a way of absorbing and protecting the ink. I'm guessing that the Premium Plus Photo Paper prints will last, regardless of the ink used. Anyone have actual test results?
— Bill Warner
Thanks for doing this....we are constantly amazed and frustrated at how fast those little cartridges need to be replaced.....we've been saving the empties, thinking of getting them refilled. Have you ever tried that? Is it a good way to cut costs? Next time I order, I'll try the ones from Kansas!
— Kat
Actually, lots of places, including Staples, will take back the old cartridges. Staples gives you a $2 credit for the real HP cartridges. Maybe SG will take them back. Check their website at www.sophiaglobal.com
— Bill Warner
For general printing needs I long ago bought a color laser printer from Dell. The toner cartridges last practically forever, the per-page cost is much lower than inkjet and it prints much faster. $400 when I bought it; they've probably come down since. Downsides are: noisy when printing and not suitable for photos.
— Joe Rice
Joe - I have one color laser that I got when I started working on my book. It's amazing how fast they can print, and the cartridges do last a long time. My passion, however, is printing photos. I still find it magic that I can edit a photo on the computer, and then print a gorgeous print in a few minutes with no darkroom. Way back when, I had a black and white darkroom, and I coveted a color one. But the process was so tedious, and the temperature ranges so exacting, that color developing was beyond the means of all but the most determined photographers. Now its amazing that anyone can do it.
— Bill Warner
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