HP Photosmart Premium C310 review

When we finish testing a printer and have extensive notes it usually means that there’s plenty to say about it. Unfortunately, in the case of the Photosmart Premium C310 much of it is negative.

It’s a smart MFP that’s a little bigger than average. There’s an extra black ink tank that’s used in darker colour prints. Control is via touches and gestures on a huge 10.9cm touchscreen, which proved to be one of the most frustrating we’ve ever used.

We’ve used touchscreens on other HP printers, but while some seemed unresponsive, the Photosmart Premium’s appeared to be ignoring us altogether. During setup it took several attempts for it to acknowledge our language selection. Things progressed normally for a while after that until we came to set up the wireless network. After a few moments the screen went blank and it became apparent that the printer had hung.

We were able to complete the setup after a restart, but the screen remained slow to respond to most inputs, and sometimes failed to acknowledge them at all. Many of the Premium’s menu elements rely on scrolling and other animations, but these often stuttered rather than moving smoothly. This was noticeable when trying to scroll through the photos on an inserted memory card, where the screen contents didn’t follow a dragged fingertip in a predictable way, leading to frustration and a couple of unintended commands.