HP Smart Tank 5100: Specs, Features, Pros & Cons
This review measures the HP Smart Tank 5100 against the full 24-spec sheet we track for printers, comparing it like for like with the 50 other models in our database. It earns a VS Score of 35 out of 100 — the weighted result of every verified specification measured against the class average.
On the spec sheet it is strongest in connectivity and weakest in scanning & copying. Its clearest single advantage over the class average: a lighter build — 5.03 kg vs 9.07 kg (avg). None of our retail partners currently lists the HP Smart Tank 5100, so availability may be limited; a missing price never affects the VS Score.
Category strengths
Where the HP Smart Tank 5100 beats the average
- Has supertank / refillable ink ?
- Has color printing ?
- A lighter build ?5.03 kg vs 9.07 kg (avg)
- Has all-in-one ?
- A higher print resolution ?4,800 dpi vs 4,041.94 dpi (avg)
- Has Wi-Fi Direct ?
- Has Apple AirPrint ?
- Has Wi-Fi ?
Where the HP Smart Tank 5100 trails the average
- No automatic duplex printing ?
- A lower print speed (black) ?12 ppm vs 17.21 ppm (avg)
- A much lower print speed (color) ?5 ppm vs 12.51 ppm (avg)
- No automatic document feeder ?
- A much lower input tray capacity ?100 sheets vs 182.02 sheets (avg)
- A much lower monthly duty cycle ?3,000 pages vs 19,346.15 pages (avg)
- No ethernet ?
- No touchscreen display ?
- A much lower output tray capacity ?30 sheets vs 68.95 sheets (avg)
- No duplex scanning ?
Editor’s note
The Smart Tank 5100 is the entry point to HP's refillable-tank range, and it is built to one brief: the cheapest possible page from a small, quiet printer. In the box are an HP 32XL black bottle (135 ml) and 31-series cyan, magenta and yellow bottles (50 ml each), which HP rates at roughly 6,000 pages black and 6,000 pages colour composite — years of household printing before you buy ink again.
Everything else is subordinate to that. Print speed is 12 ppm black and 5 ppm colour by ISO measurement, which is slow; the 30 and 24 ppm figures on the box are draft-mode numbers and describe a different quality setting. There is no automatic duplex — two-sided printing is a manual flip through the driver — no document feeder, since the scanner is flatbed only, and no fax. The control panel is a 1.2-inch icon LCD with physical buttons rather than a touchscreen.
Paper handling is domestic in scale: 100 sheets in, 30 sheets out, Letter and Legal sizes, and a 3,000-page monthly duty cycle that tells you plainly what HP intends this for. Connectivity is Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Direct with AirPrint, Mopria and the HP app; there is no Ethernet port, so it lives on your wireless network or not at all.
Measured against what it costs to run, none of that is really a complaint — it is the deal on offer. You accept a slow, manual, feature-light printer and in exchange you stop thinking about ink for a very long time. If those omissions would irritate you weekly rather than annually, the money is better spent one tier up.
Specifications
Quality bars are generated automatically against 50 other printers.
Printing
Laser prints crisp text fast; inkjet handles photos and colour better.
Prints in colour, not just black and white.
Black-and-white pages per minute; higher is faster.
Colour pages per minute; higher is faster.
A higher dot density produces sharper prints.
Prints both sides of the page without manual flipping.
Refillable ink tanks cut the cost per page dramatically.
The maximum recommended pages per month.
Scanning & copying
Scans and copies as well as prints.
Feeds multi-page documents through the scanner unattended.
How many pages the document feeder holds at once.
Scans both sides of a page automatically.
Sends and receives faxes.
Paper handling
A larger tray needs refilling less often.
How many printed pages the output tray holds.
The largest paper format supported (e.g. Letter, Legal, A3).
Connectivity
Print wirelessly over the home network.
Connect devices directly without a router.
A wired network port for reliable office use.
A direct USB connection to a computer.
Print from iPhone, iPad and Mac without extra drivers.
Print and manage the printer from a phone app.
Design
An onboard touchscreen makes standalone tasks easier.
A lighter printer is easier to place and move.
How the VS Score works — and what it can’t tell you
Every measurable spec is scored against the average of all the printers we track: matching the class average scores 50, clearly beating it climbs towards 100, and each spec counts according to an editorial weight that reflects real-world impact — a battery-capacity gap moves the score far more than a colour-options list. The quality bars on the spec cards above show where this model sits inside the full range for its class, and the overall VS Score rolls every weighted result into one number.
Unknown values are never estimated. A spec this product doesn’t report simply drops out of its scoring — it isn’t penalised with a guess — but a thinner spec sheet does mean a score built on fewer data points, which is why completeness is disclosed under About this data.
Most importantly: a spec-sheet lead is not the same as a better product. Megapixels, gigahertz and benchmark points describe capacity, not experience — image processing, software optimisation, thermals, haptics and ergonomics decide how a device actually feels, and no table captures reliability or long-term support quality. Treat the VS Score as a structured summary of what can be measured, not a substitute for your own priorities.
About this data
- Specifications are compiled from each manufacturer’s official spec sheet, cross-checked against trusted specification databases, and normalised into one schema so identical things are compared identically.
- Specifications last verified August 21, 2026.
- Data completeness: 23 of the 24 specs in this category are verified (96%). Anything we could not verify is shown as Unknown — never estimated — and is excluded from the score.
- Prices and availability come from live retailer feeds via our shopping partners and refresh throughout the day; a missing price means no partner currently lists the product, not that it is discontinued.
- Want the full picture? Our editorial guidelines explain how we research products, weight the scores and stay independent.
- Spotted an error in a spec? Tell us and we will correct the sheet.
Printers with similar specs to the HP Smart Tank 5100
Ratings & reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to share your experience.
The bottom line
The HP Smart Tank 5100 earns a VS Score of 35, trailing most of the 51 printers we compare here, at least on the spec sheet.
- Who it’s for
- Households and home offices that print in bursts and resent buying ink — the bottles in the box cover roughly 6,000 pages black and colour, and refills are cheap.
- Who should look elsewhere
- Anyone printing two-sided regularly (duplex is manual), scanning stacks (flatbed only, no ADF), or needing Ethernet, fax or a touchscreen.
- The trade-off that matters
- The lowest running cost in HP's range in exchange for 12/5 ppm ISO speeds and a printer stripped of almost every convenience feature.
- The main alternative
- Epson EcoTank ET-2400 — the same refill-and-forget logic at 10/5 ppm ISO, if you prefer Epson's bottle system and supply prices.
The VS Score is generated automatically from the weighted specifications above, measured against all other printers in our database. Treat it as a shortlisting guide — not a substitute for your own priorities.
