Canon is a well-known brand in the world of photography and printing. They have a large catalog of printers to meet the needs of general consumers and businesses, with their PIXMA and imageCLASS lines being the most popular. They make both inkjet and laser printers, color and monochrome, and have a large selection of budget options. With their experience in photography, their printers are usually the go-to option for casual and professional photo printing.
Updates
- 03/21/2023 Canon Color imageCLASS MF753Cdw/MF751Cdw reviewed
- 01/30/2023 Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-300 updated
- 01/25/2023 Canon PIXMA MG3620 updated
- 01/23/2023 Canon imageCLASS MF743Cdw updated
- 01/18/2023 Canon IVY Mini Photo Printer updated
Best Canon Printers
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Best Canon Printer
Family8.1Small/Home Office9.2Student8.5Black & White8.8Photo4.7The best Canon printer we've tested is the Canon imageCLASS MF743Cdw. This laser model has plenty of features to satisfy most office needs, including high page yields and fast printing speeds. Though large and bulky, it feels amazingly well built, with a design that allows easy access to the toner cartridges and paper jams. You can connect to the printer via Wi-Fi, USB, or Ethernet or print directly from a USB flash drive. There's even NFC support, allowing you to connect by tapping your NFC-enabled device against the printer. It has an ADF-equipped scanner with single-pass duplex scanning capability, so you can easily digitize multi-page and double-sided documents. It isn't the fastest scanner, as it only processes five pages per minute, but it still beats scanning each page manually.
Printing-wise, it produces exceptionally sharp documents and prints quickly at up to 29 pages per minute. The toner cartridges are good for around 3000 black and 2000 color prints, so they don't need replacing often, making the printer cheap to maintain over time. Plus, the drum is built into the cartridge, which makes maintenance more convenient. It isn't ideal for photo printing, as printed pictures look grainy, flat, and lacking in detail, although that's the case with most laser printers.
A final note about this printer: this model is only one of many variants in the lineup, so if you don't need features like duplex scanning or NFC support, you can go with a cheaper variant like the Canon imageCLASS MF741Cdw. There are cheaper variants if you're willing to compromise slightly on performance, like the Canon imageCLASS MF644Cdw, which yields fewer pages and prints slightly slower. You can see more details about the variants in the full review.
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Best Upper Mid-Range Canon Printer
Family8.1Small/Home Office8.0Student8.4Black & White7.8Photo7.9If you don't need all the bells and whistles of a high-end model like the Canon imageCLASS MF743Cdw, you can save some money with the Canon PIXMA G7020, one of the best Canon all-in-one printers we've tested. It's a great option if you want to keep your maintenance costs low because it uses a refillable ink tank that yields a large number of prints, around 5400 black and 4700 color. Plus, the ink bottles are cheap, so you won't have to worry about high maintenance costs if you print a lot. It produces very high-quality black and color documents; it's just a little slow, as it only prints eight black or three color pages per minute. It has a good color range and produces very fine details in pictures. It doesn't have the best color accuracy, but it isn't bad enough to make photos look unnatural or bad.
Its overall build quality is great, and its design allows easy access to the ink tanks and paper jams. It does require a little more maintenance than laser printers, as the printheads can clog after extended use, and refilling the tanks can be messy if you aren't careful. The scanner has an automatic feeder; however, it can only process up to four pages per minute and doesn't support duplex scanning. You get the usual Wi-Fi, USB, and Ethernet connectivity options, and it's compatible with Canon's mobile app. If you want the absolute best Canon PIXMA printer, that would be the Canon PIXMA GX7020. It has duplex scanning, yields more color prints, and prints much faster. However, it's significantly more expensive, so it may or may not be worth it, depending on your needs.
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Best Mid-Range Canon Printer
Family7.7Small/Home Office7.2Student7.9Black & White7.1Photo8.0Our best mid-range pick is the Canon PIXMA TR8620a. It's an all-in-one color inkjet printer with plenty of features to meet every family member's needs. It feels decently well-built and has wide connectivity options, including wireless printing via Wi-Fi, Apple AirPrint, and Mopria Print Service, making it easily accessible to everyone in the household. The flatbed scanner's lid can extend slightly to accommodate thicker books and documents, and there's an automatic document feeder to make scanning long documents easier. It also has an optical character recognition feature that lets you scan documents into a text file, meaning you can edit the text.
As for its printing performance, it can print excellent-looking photos with plenty of fine details and vibrant colors. Its black page yield isn't that great, so you'll have to replace the black ink cartridge fairly often, but its color page yield is good as it can print over 300 color pages before the ink runs low. The ink cartridges are inexpensive, so it doesn't cost much to maintain. Its printing speed is okay; it churns out about 12 black and white or four color pages per minute and can perform automatic double-sided printing. Overall, it's a versatile all-in-one and one of the best Canon printers for home use we've tested.
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Best Budget Canon Printer
Family7.6Small/Home Office6.2Student7.3Black & White6.7Photo7.7If you have a tight budget, we recommend the Canon PIXMA MG3620. It's a basic all-in-one inkjet printer with a flatbed scanner, Wi-Fi and USB connectivity, and a two-cartridge system. However, it still produces good-quality documents and photos, so if you're only looking for a printer for the occasional one-off project, this printer can get the job done without costing you too much. The scanner also produces high-quality scans; it just doesn't have an automatic feeder or fax functionality.
The main downside of this printer is its page yield. Its black and tri-color cartridges yield only around 200 black and color prints, meaning you'll have to replace them often. Maintenance cost isn't a problem because the ink cartridges are cheap; it's more of an inconvenience because it requires a lot of maintenance, meaning you may need to interrupt print jobs to change the cartridges. Also, since it uses a tri-color cartridge, you have to replace the entire cartridge if only a single color runs out, which is wasteful. Again, it's a good option if you only print once in a blue moon, but if you print often, it's better to get a printer with better page yields, like the Canon PIXMA G7020.
Compared to other brands
- Good photo printing quality. Most of Canon's printers have good photo printing quality, even the budget options.
- Higher color page yield. While most printers from other brands yield more black pages than color pages, Canon's printers tend to have a higher color page yield.
- Many affordable options. Canon tends to have more budget options than other brands.
- Inkjet printers have low black page yield. Most of Canon's home inkjet printers have a lower black page yield.
Canon vs Brother
Brother and Canon are both major printer manufacturers that offer a wide variety of printers. Canon is generally better when it comes to photo printing quality, and they also have a wider range of professional and portable photo printers. Canon generally makes better color laser printers, but Brother usually makes better monochrome laser printers.
Canon vs Epson
Canon and Epson are very similar overall. The main difference is that Canon still makes laser printers, whereas Epson largely focuses on inkjets. Canon printers are usually better for photo printing, but they don't yield as many pages as Epson's EcoTank printers.
Compared to other brands, Canon is arguably the best for photo printing. Their inkjet printers tend to have a better color page yield, making them more cost-effective for printing photos. Also, their photo printing quality is usually better, as even the most basic budget option can print good-looking photos. Compared to Brother or Epson, Canon has more options in the budget range. However, if you mainly print in black, it's better to go with one of their laser models, as their inkjet printers tend to have a lower black page yield than other brands.
Lineup
Canon's printer lineup is large and diverse, ranging from consumer-level all-in-ones to large enterprise-grade printers. This list isn't exhaustive and only contains printers available to general consumers.
- PIXMA: Consumer-level printers for personal and home use, also includes photo printers.
- PIXMA G-Series: Refillable ink tank (MegaTank) printers.
- PIXMA PRO: Professional inkjet printers.
- SELPHY/IVY: Compact photo printers.
- MAXIFY: High-yield inkjet printers for small offices.
- imageCLASS: Laser printers for home or small offices.
Recent Updates
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Feb 27, 2023: Minor text changes to provide more information regarding the Canon imageCLASS MF743Cdw's variants.
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Nov 29, 2022: Replaced the Canon PIXMA TS6420a with the Canon PIXMA MG3620 because the MG3620 performs better and is cheaper.
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Aug 31, 2022: Restructured article to better match user expectations. Removed the Canon MAXIFY GX7020 and added the Canon imageCLASS MF743Cdw as the top pick. Added the Canon PIXMA G7020 as an upper mid-range pick and the Canon PIXMA TS6420a as a budget pick.
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Apr 29, 2022: Verified accuracy of picks; no change in recommendations.
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Jan 31, 2022: Made minor text changes based on new test bench update.
Conclusion
Canon is one of the top companies when it comes to printers. They're also one of the best, if not the best, for photo printing; this isn't surprising, given their long history in photography. They have a large selection of printers at all price points, so you can find what you need with ease.
