HP 962XL black · XL

The HP 962XL black is the high yield black for five printers in our database: the OfficeJet Pro 9015, 9015e, 9018e, 9025 and 9025e. The same cartridge covers the plain and the e versions of each model.

It is rated at 2,000 pages for $63.99, which is 3.20c a page against 4.40c for the standard 962 black. That is about 27 percent off every page, plus half as many cartridge changes.

The colours repay the upgrade too, which is worth knowing before you order a mixed set. A 962XL colour saves about 29 percent a page over the standard size, so a full XL restock at $213.96 lowers the cost of every page as well as cutting the cartridge changes. The standard set costs $136.96, so the question is whether you print enough to finish the bigger cartridges before the money is worth tying up.

All five printers sit on our firmware lockout list under HP Dynamic Security. On the e models the sharper problem is HP+ rather than any later update: a printer enrolled at setup takes Original HP cartridges for good, with no way back. Where HP+ was declined, or on a 9015 or 9025 that never offered it, compatibles can work if you stop the printer installing firmware on its own.

Because the print head belongs to the printer here and not to the cartridge, HP's guidance for this class is that the machine stops printing when any single tank empties, even if all you wanted was black text. Plan restocks around whichever colour runs down first, and do not let a tank run completely dry, since the head draws ink from all of them during its servicing routines.