HP 962XL yellow · XL

The HP 962XL yellow is the high yield yellow for the OfficeJet Pro 9015, 9015e, 9018e, 9025 and 9025e. Our database has the standard size colours fitted only to the two e models, so on the others this is the yellow you buy.

At 1,600 pages for $49.99 it prints at 3.12c a page, against 4.43c for the standard 962 yellow. That is about 29 percent off each page, so the XL is the cheaper ink here as well as the longer interval between changes.

The 1,600 figure is worth reading properly. Page yields on ink cartridges are measured to ISO 24711, which prints a fixed set of test documents at about 5 percent coverage of the page. Ordinary office documents are close enough to that for the number to be useful, but a report with a full width coloured header on every page, or anything with a photograph in it, will not get near 1,600. Treat the rating as a way to compare cartridges with each other, not as a promise.

All five printers are on our firmware lockout list under HP Dynamic Security, and the e models add HP+, where an enrolment accepted at setup permanently limits the printer to Original HP ink. If you intend to run compatibles on a printer that is not enrolled, stop it checking for updates before the first one goes in.

Yellow is often the tank that decides when the printer stops. Very little of a document looks yellow, but the head takes a share from every tank during servicing and composite greys pull it too, so it empties on machines that never print a picture. When it does empty, these printers halt rather than continuing in black, so it is the tank most worth having a spare of.