The Canon PIXMA iX6820 is a very good casual photo printer. With a large input tray for a wide variety of paper sizes, its exceptional cost-per-print, and its amazing photo printing quality, this printer is acceptable for both families and students alike. Unfortunately, its very wide frame might make it tougher to fit on your common at-home desk or office space. The printer also has disappointing connectivity options, and you can't connect your external storage devices like USB thumb drives or SD cards directly into the printer. It's important to note that the manufacturer indicates in their specifications that this printer is compatible with macOS, however, we were not able to get it to print when tested.
Our Verdict
The Canon PIXMA iX6820 is a satisfactory family printer. Thanks to its excellent photo printing quality, you'll be able to print clear and crisp photos of your family vacations or other activities. The cost-per-print is also low, so it won't cost you very much to replace the cartridges. Unfortunately, with no external storage support, it will be a bit complicated if you want to print them directly from your camera's SD card or a USB thumb drive. Also, the printer doesn't have a scanner.
- Excellent photo printing quality.
- Decent color accuracy.
- Doesn't include a scanner.
The Canon PIXMA iX6820 is a disappointing small or home office printer. It yields few black text pages per cartridge, which leads to frequent replacement of the black ink cartridge. Its build and design quality is inadequate, with a flimsy, plasticky feel and a large width, making it tougher to place on your average desk. It also produces a loud clicking sound when printing multiple pages. It also doesn't have a display screen or a scanner.
- Impressive first page out time.
- Doesn't include a scanner.
- Bad build quality with a flimsy plastic feel.
The Canon PIXMA iX6820 is a reasonable printer for students. It's remarkable for printing black only and basic color documents thanks to its low cost-per-print, so lengthy projects and essays shouldn't be a problem. It has a disappointing overall printing speed, which can be an issue for last-minute students. It doesn't support Bluetooth, external storage devices, or Wi-Fi Direct, which can be a problem for any students who need multiple connectivity options.
- Decent color accuracy.
- Impressive first page out time.
- Doesn't include a scanner.
- Slow printing speed.
The Canon PIXMA iX6820 is a mediocre black and white printer. For the black cartridge specifically, you can purchase extra high yield cartridges if you want to reduce the amount of time between cartridge replacements. This printer can also be slow to print, so if you're in a rush to print off 100 pages, prepare to be patient.
- Impressive first page out time.
- Bad build quality with a flimsy plastic feel.
- No automatic duplex printing.
- Slow printing speed.
The Canon PIXMA iX6820 is a very good casual photo printer. Its photo printing quality is excellent and it produces vibrant photos. It supports most photo sizes, except 2" x 3", and also supports glossy paper. The color accuracy is decent but the build and design quality is disappointing with a cheap, plasticky feel.
- Excellent photo printing quality.
- Decent color accuracy.
Changelog
- Updated Aug 16, 2021: Retested duplex printing and scanning to confirm our results. No changes were made to the review.
- Updated Feb 08, 2021: Fixed error that listed Display Screen overall score as N/A. This score was changed to 0.
- Updated Nov 23, 2020: We mistakenly indicated that the printer doesn't have a photo cartridge. It has been fixed.
- Updated Jul 09, 2020: Review published.
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Popular Printer Comparisons
The Canon iX6820 is a very good casual photo printer. It's one of the rare PIXMA printers that are for printing only and doesn't include features like a fax or scanner. For the cost of the printer, if you do not need the extra features, this is a decent option.
For other options, you can also check out our recommendations for the best all-in-one printers, the best office printers, and the best printers under $100.
The Canon PIXMA iX6820 and the Canon PIXMA TR150 are both inkjet printers with no scanners. Because of its very compact size, the TR150 is ideal for people who need to print documents while traveling. It comes with a battery so you can print even when a power outlet isn't nearby, and it supports printing via several different wireless methods. On the other hand, the iX6820 is larger but yields significantly more pages, resulting in a lower cost-per-print for black and color documents. However, the cost of photo printing is slightly higher than on the TR150.
The Canon PIXMA iX6820 is better for photo printing than the Epson EcoTank ET-3760. The Canon prints photos much faster, and it has significantly better photo printing quality. Also, it can even print on 11" × 17" tabloid paper. However, the Epson has significantly better page yields, costs-per-print, and print speeds for black-only and color documents. It also feels better built, with a display screen and a scanner, and supports Wi-Fi Direct and Mopria Print Service.
The Brother MFC-J995DW is a better casual photo printer than the Canon PIXMA iX6820. The Brother has one of the best cost-per-prints that we have tested. It also includes a scanner and has a much more solid build quality. They both have very good photo printing qualities, but the Brother has a much better cartridge system.
The Canon PIXMA TR8520 is a better printer than the Canon PIXMA iX6820. The TR8520 has a slightly better photo printing quality and color accuracy, it includes a scanner and has a much better build. It is less wide than the iX6820, so it should fit on your desk or workspace easier. It also has better connectivity options including external storage support and Mopria Print Services.
Test Results
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