HP 962XL cyan · XL

The HP 962XL cyan is the high yield cyan for the OfficeJet Pro 9015, 9015e, 9018e, 9025 and 9025e. It goes in as a single tank, so an empty cyan is a one cartridge problem.

The XL earns its name on this family. It is rated at 1,600 pages for $49.99, which is 3.12c a page, where the standard 962 cyan costs 4.43c at 700 pages for $30.99. That is about 29 percent off each page, and 900 more pages between cartridge changes on top. The catch is the $49.99 up front on a tank a light user may not finish.

On three of these printers the question does not come up at all. Our database lists the standard size colours as fitted only to the 9015e and the 9025e, so on a 9015, 9018e or 9025 the XL is what you buy.

Every printer here is on our firmware lockout list under HP Dynamic Security, and the e models carry the extra HP+ condition, where accepting the enrolment at setup ties the printer to Original HP ink permanently. On a printer that is not enrolled, a compatible 962XL cyan can work, but keep automatic updates off so the decision stays yours.

If cyan drops out of prints, look at the printer before the cartridge. The print head is fixed in the machine on this family, so a blocked cyan nozzle stays blocked through a cartridge swap. Run a nozzle check, then a single cleaning cycle, then check again, and stop when the pattern stops improving. Every cycle spends ink from all four tanks, which is an expensive way to chase a fault that a fresh cartridge was never going to fix.