HP Smart Tank 7603: Specs, Price, Pros & Cons
This review measures the HP Smart Tank 7603 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 59 out of 100 — the weighted result of every verified specification measured against the class average.
On the spec sheet it is strongest in design and weakest in printing. Its clearest single advantage over the class average: a higher input tray capacity — 250 sheets vs 182.02 sheets (avg). Street prices currently start at $ 349.99 for the HP Smart Tank 7603.
Category strengths
Where the HP Smart Tank 7603 beats the average
- Has automatic document feeder ?
- A higher input tray capacity ?250 sheets vs 182.02 sheets (avg)
- Has supertank / refillable ink ?
- Has automatic duplex printing ?
- Has touchscreen display ?
- Has ethernet ?
- Has color printing ?
- A much higher output tray capacity ?100 sheets vs 68.95 sheets (avg)
- Has all-in-one ?
- Has fax ?
Where the HP Smart Tank 7603 trails the average
- A lower print speed (color) ?9 ppm vs 12.51 ppm (avg)
- A lower print speed (black) ?15 ppm vs 17.21 ppm (avg)
- A much lower monthly duty cycle ?6,000 pages vs 19,346.15 pages (avg)
- No duplex scanning ?
Editor’s note
The Smart Tank 7603 is what happens when HP fits its bottle-fed tank system into an actual home-office machine rather than a stripped-down starter. It is the only printer in HP's current tank group with automatic duplex printing, a 35-sheet document feeder, fax, Ethernet, a 250-sheet paper tray and a touchscreen. Combined with sub-cent bottle economics – roughly 6,000 pages from a black bottle, 8,000 from each colour – it reads like the complete package.
Two omissions keep it from actually being one, and both matter at this price. The document feeder is single-sided: the printer prints two-sided beautifully, but it cannot scan or copy a two-sided original unattended, which is precisely the workflow a small office buys an ADF for. And the 3-inch touchscreen is a monochrome graphics panel, not the colour display the price bracket suggests. HP also states outright that the machine does not multitask – it does one job at a time.
The price needs care too. Regular retail sits near $470 while Amazon has carried it around $340-350; that is a wide spread, and at the upper end Epson's EcoTank ET-4950 and Canon's MegaTank G-series are direct, well-established alternatives. Check the day's price before assuming.
The review base is thin – 3.7 stars from just thirty ratings – which for a machine this expensive means you are partly buying on faith in HP's platform rather than accumulated owner experience.
I would buy the 7603 for a home office that prints a lot, in duplex, from a real paper tray, and occasionally faxes. It does all of that with cheap ink. I would not buy it expecting a duplex scanner or a premium screen, because at this price those absences are legitimate complaints.
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 19, 2026.
- Data completeness: 24 of the 24 specs in this category are verified (100%). 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.
Where to buy
Prices and availability may change. Check the retailer before buying. We may earn a commission on purchases.
Price history
Printers with similar specs to the HP Smart Tank 7603
Ratings & reviews
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The bottom line
The HP Smart Tank 7603 earns a VS Score of 59, comfortably above average among the 51 printers we compare here.
- Who it’s for
- A home office that prints in volume, two-sided, from a real 250-sheet tray, wants fax and Ethernet, and intends to feed it cheap bottles for years.
- Who should look elsewhere
- Anyone needing to copy two-sided originals unattended – the ADF is single-sided – or expecting a colour touchscreen at a price that elsewhere buys one.
- The trade-off that matters
- Full office plumbing with sub-cent ink, undercut by a simplex feeder and a mono screen – the two corners HP cut are exactly where office buyers look first.
- The main alternative
- Epson EcoTank ET-4950 is the direct rival at similar street prices, with a longer track record and clearer pricing than this model's $340-470 swing.
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.
