HP Color LaserJet Pro M452dn: wired color duplex with 300 included sheets review

A wired color printer for prepared office documents

The HP Color LaserJet Pro M452dn suits an office that already has finished electronic documents and wants automatic two-sided color printing through USB or Ethernet. It includes two paper feeds and the duplex mechanism. The deciding limits are its print-only hardware, lack of a wireless radio and extra storage needed for PIN-held jobs.

The exact US product is CF389A#BGJ, and HP explicitly marks it discontinued. This assessment covers the documented 110–127-volt, 60-Hz configuration. A separately coded 220–240-volt edition also appears in the specifications; the supply is expressly not dual voltage. Check the rating of the particular machine when considering an older unit.

HP declares up to 28 one-sided Letter pages per minute in black or color, separately 27 A4 in the original guide. Those are manufacturer figures rather than a speed test here. Its recommended monthly range is 750–4,000 printed pages. The separate 50,000-page maximum duty rating does not turn that recommendation into a sustained monthly target.

Count 300 included sheets before considering accessories

The included input is a 50-sheet multipurpose tray and a 250-sheet cassette. The exact US media table lists Letter, Legal and A4 in both, so the ordinary-paper arrangement can supply 300 sheets of the selected supported size. A separate 550-sheet feeder raises capacity to the advertised 850, but it is optional and adds to the machine's height and weight.

Automatic duplex positively includes Letter, Legal and A4 for this dn. Use a compatible HP computer driver, matching the loaded paper's size, type and source. In the original Windows routine, the Finishing section enables two-sided printing; the original macOS HP driver uses the Two-Sided binding control. Choose the correct edge for the way readers should turn the finished document.

Preprinted stock needs attention to orientation. In tray 2, the original instructions load letterhead face up with its top toward the printer for one-sided output, but face down with the top away for duplex. A quick orientation check prevents a batch of forms from receiving text on the wrong side.

Envelopes have their own feed routine. Select the actual envelope size, Envelope type and chosen tray in the driver. Load them face up, short postage end leading. Tray 1 permits a stack no thicker than 5mm, approximately four to six envelopes; tray 2 permits ten. This is not an automatic two-sided envelope promise. Named heavy or glossy media exceptions also do not remove the duplex path's media restrictions.

USB, Ethernet and mobile printing have different conditions

The included computer connections are USB 2.0 and Gigabit Ethernet. The dn uses a two-line control panel and has no Wi-Fi radio, Wi-Fi Direct or NFC. The original exact-model table also excludes the front walk-up USB printing supplied on the dw. A rear host socket for optional job storage should not be confused with the USB computer connection or a front file-printing feature.

HP lists AirPrint and Mopria for the dn. A supported phone or tablet can print to the Ethernet-connected machine through the same suitable network. The original AirPrint instructions require the same subnet as the Apple device; the printer itself does not need a Wi-Fi radio for that arrangement.

However, the original macOS section warns that the HP driver's automatic duplex option might not be available through AirPrint. The mobile route is therefore kept separate from confirmed desktop-driver duplex. An essential combination of mobile protocol and automatic two-sided output needs confirmation in that actual app rather than borrowing a desktop control.

There is no scanner, feeder, flatbed, standalone copier or fax. Generic software wording about scan applications in the family material does not supply capture hardware. Historical cloud-service names are also not a guarantee of present service availability.

PIN release requires added USB storage

The original manual documents job storage and optional PIN protection, but the normal configuration does not include the required storage device. It requires a dedicated rear USB 2.0 flash drive with at least 16GB free space, formatting during setup and a compatible driver. If using HP Universal Print Driver, the original minimum version is 5.9.0.

After that optional setup, a Personal Job can wait for release through Job Storage on the control panel. Removing the drive disables storage. A printer administrator password is not the same feature, so an included-PIN requirement fails for the standard machine.

Allow for four supplies and working clearance

US 410A replacements are declared at approximately 2,300 pages for each color. The 410X black cartridge is approximately 6,500 pages, while cyan, yellow and magenta are approximately 5,000 each under HP's ISO/IEC 19798 continuous-printing declarations. Supplied introductory cartridges are approximately 1,200 pages each. None of these figures establishes remaining toner or a current cost per page.

The closed height is approximately 11.6 inches and weight with cartridges approximately 41.7lb. Width and depth differ slightly between the current US listing and original dimensions, so strict width/depth limits remain unconfirmed. Legal paper extends its tray, and full access needs considerably more space than the closed body. Choose the dn for its wired desktop color-duplex routine; a need for document capture or native wireless requires different documented hardware.