For most owners of an HP Color LaserJet Pro M454 or M479, or an Enterprise M455 or M480, the clearest buy is not four separate cartridges. It is the high-yield 414X four-color set. This guide explains why, when a single cartridge makes more sense, and the one unusual pricing fact you should understand before choosing the standard-yield 414A instead.
Buy the Compatible HP 414X 4-Color Set for $151.97 if more than one cartridge is running low. It costs $48.23 less than buying the four 414X singles separately, carries HP-rated yields of about 7,500 pages for black and 6,000 pages for each color, and arrives with the latest-generation chip fitted. Buy a $50.05 single only when one color is empty and the other three still have useful life.
The 5-second decision
The set is the economical way to refresh the whole printer. Each cartridge has its own latest-generation chip, so installation is the familiar process: remove the empty cartridge, insert the replacement, and print. There is no chip to transfer from an old cartridge.
View the 414X 4-Color Set →
The honest one-liner: this set costs more than the 414X set while offering substantially lower rated capacity. Consider it only if standard yield is a deliberate requirement.
View the 414A Set →The short verdict
The 414X set wins on arithmetic before it wins on convenience. Four individual 414X cartridges cost $50.05 each, or $200.20 together. The set puts the same four high-yield cartridges in one box for $151.97. That is a direct $48.23 saving, with no reduction in the rated page yield of any color.
The comparison with 414A is stranger, and we would rather state it plainly than bury it: at the prices checked for this guide, our 414X high-yield set costs $98.71 less than our 414A standard-yield set, even though the 414X black cartridge is rated for roughly 3.1 times as many pages and each 414X color is rated for roughly 2.9 times as many. That pricing makes the 414X set the sensible default for nearly everyone. The 414A set remains a narrow choice for a very light-use printer whose owner specifically prefers the standard-yield class; it is not the lower-cost route in our store today.
This guide is based on the cartridges' listed prices, HP's rated yields, chip configuration, and Clever Supplies policies. It is not presented as a laboratory test or a roundup of customer ratings, and we do not add review counts or stars that are not part of the buying facts.
HP 414 options compared
| Option | Price checked | HP-rated yield | Why choose it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 414X 4-color set BEST VALUE | $151.97 | Black 7,500; colors 6,000 each | Best overall value; $48.23 below four separate 414X singles. |
| Four 414X singles bought separately | $200.20 total | Black 7,500; colors 6,000 each | Useful only when purchases need to be spread out; each cartridge is $50.05. |
| 414X black single | $50.05 | Black 7,500 | Best targeted replacement for black-heavy printing; about 0.67¢ per rated black page. |
| 414X color single | $50.05 each | 6,000 for cyan, yellow, or magenta | Replace only the empty color; each color works out to about 0.83¢ per rated page. |
| 414A 4-color set | $250.68 | Black 2,400; colors 2,100 each | A narrow standard-yield preference; at current store pricing it costs more and carries lower rated yields. |
Rated yields are HP's ISO/IEC 19798 figures. Real output varies with page coverage, graphics, printer settings, and how much color a document uses.
Best HP 414X picks by priority
Best overall: the 414X four-color set
Choose the set when two or more supplies are low, when you are stocking a shared office printer, or when you do not want to track four separate replacement dates. It offers the family's longest rated life at the lowest complete-set price in this comparison. The set also avoids the common mismatch in which a fresh black cartridge goes into a printer whose colors are nearly finished. Open the 414X four-color set to confirm the current product-page price before ordering.
Best for one empty color: the matching 414X single
A set is not automatically the smart buy. If cyan is empty but black, yellow, and magenta remain healthy, replace cyan only. The same rule applies to every slot: toner does not expire as a group just because one cartridge has reached the end of its rated life.
Best for black-heavy work: 414X black
Invoices, shipping paperwork, reports, and text documents usually consume black long before they consume the colors. The W2020X black single keeps that workload at about 0.67¢ per rated page. If the colors are also approaching replacement, step up to the set instead of buying black now and paying separate single prices for the other three later.
The narrow case for 414A
Standard-yield W2020A–W2023A cartridges are rated to about 2,400 pages in black and 2,100 pages per color. They fit the same printers, but the current price relationship is impossible to dress up: the 414A set costs more than the 414X set while offering substantially lower rated capacity. Consider it only if standard yield is a deliberate requirement for a lightly used machine. Otherwise, the 414X set is both the lower-price and longer-life choice in our store. View the 414A Set →
Which printers use HP 414X?
The 414X family fits the HP Color LaserJet Pro M454dn and M454dw; the Color LaserJet Pro MFP M479dw, M479fdn, and M479fdw; the Color LaserJet Enterprise M455dn; and the Color LaserJet Enterprise MFP M480f. The standard-yield 414A cartridges use the same slots, so class selection is about yield and current price—not about a different physical fit.
Browse the model-specific toner pages for the M454dn, M454dw, M479fdn, M479fdw, M455dn, and M480f. Always match the full model name on the printer label; a similar-looking HP series may use an entirely different cartridge family.
What a 414X page really costs
Cost per page starts with one cartridge at a time. For black, divide the $50.05 W2020X single price by its 7,500-page rated yield: about 0.67¢ per page. Each color single is also $50.05, but its rated yield is 6,000 pages, so cyan, yellow, and magenta each contribute about 0.83¢ when that color is used at the rated coverage assumption.
A full-color page draws from all four cartridges. Add the components—0.67¢ for black plus 0.83¢ for each of the three colors—and the result is about 3.2¢ per full-color page. Do not add all four page yields together and divide a set price by that combined figure. The colors do not pool their capacity: a page that uses magenta cannot spend unused yellow yield. The set's separate $48.23 saving lowers the purchase price, while the single-cartridge calculation above is the cleanest way to understand the underlying rated cost.
Chip fit and firmware: the direct answer
Every 414X cartridge we sell has the latest-generation chip fitted before it ships. You do not remove a chip from the spent cartridge, and you do not need a separate chip tool. Clever Supplies has had no chip problems reported with the cartridges it sells to date.
One limit belongs in every compatible-toner guide: no seller can honestly guarantee that HP will never change future firmware behavior. HP controls the printer software. Our responsibility is to supply the current-generation chip, explain the present fit clearly, and support the cartridge after the sale. A family-by-family firmware and chip guide is in preparation for this site; until it appears, the chip note on each product page carries the current guidance for that family.
Buying checklist
Frequently asked questions
For most buyers, yes in the ways that affect cost and replacement frequency. Both classes fit the same listed printers, but 414X raises the HP-rated yield from about 2,400 to 7,500 pages for black and from about 2,100 to 6,000 pages for each color. In our store, the 414X set is also currently priced below the 414A set. A deliberate preference for standard yield is the only clear reason to choose 414A here.
That is the current listed relationship between these two Clever Supplies products: $151.97 for the 414X set and $250.68 for the 414A set. We are not going to invent a tidy explanation for it. Check the product page at checkout because prices can change; while this relationship lasts, it makes the recommendation unusually straightforward.
Replace one cartridge when only one is empty and the rest still have meaningful life. Buy the set when several are low, when downtime is more costly than planning ahead, or when you want a complete matched refresh. The set saves $48.23 compared with buying all four 414X singles separately, but that saving matters only if you actually need all four.
No. The latest-generation chip is already fitted. Installation is a normal cartridge change, not a parts swap. That distinction matters because a cartridge sold without a usable chip can shift the hardest part of installation onto the buyer.
No honest seller can guarantee that it will not. HP can change its firmware. What can be stated today is narrower and more useful: these cartridges use the latest-generation chip, they are made to install and print without a chip transfer, and Clever Supplies has had no chip problems reported to date.
Clever Supplies compatible toner carries a 1-year warranty and 1-year returns. Support is available Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM CST. Orders are shipped from warehouses in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and California.