The Canon PIXMA TR8520 is an all-in-one printer that's very versatile for printing everything from term papers to family photos from your camera. It has excellent connectivity and scanning options. For those on a budget, its cost-to-print ratio is excellent, too. On the downside, its slow print time might not be the best for those in a rush. People who print a lot of photos might also find the long wait time and just decent color accuracy especially disappointing. However, this printer is well-suited for families or students who need the occasional file printed.
Note 05/07/2021: There are no printer drivers available from Canon for the latest macOS version.
Our Verdict
Great for family printing. The Canon PIXMA TR8520 has excellent photo printing quality for all of your family photos. Its cost-to-print ratio is low for both black and color ink, making it an affordable option for whatever files you want to print off. Its integrated scanner also makes it easy for you to copy more sensitive or fragile documents such as old photographs. You can even print from your camera's SD card by plugging it directly into the printer.
- Excellent cost-to-print ratio.
- Exceptional connectivity options.
- Automatic document feeding for easy scanning and copying.
- Low black ink yield.
- Slow black, color, and photo printing speed.
Mediocre for home or small offices. While the Canon PIXMA TR8520 yields very low black text pages per cartridge, its cost per print ratio in black is great. Color also performs well, which is great if you like to add a pop of color to your work graphs. However, this printer is slow in printing off both black and color documents and it can be frustrating if you need to print off a lot of pages. Still, those working from home may appreciate this printer's automatic document feeding feature which makes it easy to process large amounts of documents. The fax feature is also a nice touch for a home office setup.
- Excellent cost-to-print ratio.
- Exceptional connectivity options.
- Automatic document feeding for easy scanning and copying.
- Low black ink yield.
- Slow black, color, and photo printing speed.
Very good for students. The Canon PIXMA TR8520's cost-to-print ratio for black text documents is great. Those who like to add a splash of color to their text documents will also find the cost-to-print ratio for color ink to be quite affordable. However, this printer has a slow print time for both black and color documents. Still, other features like an integrated flatbed and sheetfed scanner can be great when you need to copy a friend's lab notes.
- Excellent cost-to-print ratio.
- Exceptional connectivity options.
- Automatic document feeding for easy scanning and copying.
- Low black ink yield.
- Slow black, color, and photo printing speed.
Acceptable for black and white. The Canon PIXMA TR8520 has a great cost to print ratio for black ink, although you'll have to change the cartridge more often as it doesn't yield a lot of pages. You can purchase high yield cartridges if you want to reduce the amount of time between cartridge replacements though. This printer can also be slow to print, so if you're in a rush to print off 100 pages, prepare to be patient.
- Excellent cost-to-print ratio.
- Exceptional connectivity options.
- Automatic document feeding for easy scanning and copying.
- Low black ink yield.
- Slow black, color, and photo printing speed.
The Canon PIXMA TR8520 is very good for printing photos. The photo printing quality is excellent, and colors look vibrant. The color page yield is good and the cartridges aren't very expensive either, so printing photos over time is cost-effective.
- Excellent cost-to-print ratio.
- Exceptional connectivity options.
- Automatic document feeding for easy scanning and copying.
- Low black ink yield.
- Slow black, color, and photo printing speed.
- Excellent cost-to-print ratio.
- Exceptional connectivity options.
- Automatic document feeding for easy scanning and copying.
- Low black ink yield.
- Slow black, color, and photo printing speed.
- Excellent cost-to-print ratio.
- Exceptional connectivity options.
- Automatic document feeding for easy scanning and copying.
- Low black ink yield.
- Slow black, color, and photo printing speed.
- Excellent cost-to-print ratio.
- Exceptional connectivity options.
- Automatic document feeding for easy scanning and copying.
- Low black ink yield.
- Slow black, color, and photo printing speed.
- Excellent cost-to-print ratio.
- Exceptional connectivity options.
- Automatic document feeding for easy scanning and copying.
- Low black ink yield.
- Slow black, color, and photo printing speed.
- Excellent cost-to-print ratio.
- Exceptional connectivity options.
- Automatic document feeding for easy scanning and copying.
- Low black ink yield.
- Slow black, color, and photo printing speed.
Performance Usages
Changelog
- Updated Sep 23, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
- Updated Sep 09, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 1.1.
- Updated Apr 06, 2022: Updated the Bluetooth printing result in the Connectivity box from Yes to No. While we initially thought that Bluetooth printing worked only when using the mobile app, we discovered that Bluetooth printing actually doesn't work at all. Also, updated the Wi-Fi Direct test result from No to Yes, since this printer does support Wi-Fi Direct.
- Updated Jan 21, 2022: Updated ChromeOS Compatibility and fixed error in Mobile App box.
Check Price
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Canon PIXMA TR8520 has no variants. It's now discontinued and has been replaced with the Canon PIXMA TR8620, which is nearly identical but has worse color accuracy and a lower color page yield.
Popular Printer Comparisons
The Canon PIXMA TR8520 is a great printer for family use. Like many Canon printers, its cost-to-print ratio is affordable however, the photo printing quality is much better on the Canon TR8520. On top of this, this printer offers a variety of features such as an integrated sheetfed and flatbed scanner with fax capabilities, as well as several connectivity options. On the downside, its print speed in black and in color isn't the fastest, especially when compared with other printers such as the Brother MFC-J995DW or Brother HL-L2395DW. Also see our recommendations for the best photo printers, the best home printers, and the best printers for small businesses.
Overall, the Canon TR8520 is much better than the Canon PIXMA TS8320. The TR8520 has a sheetfed scanner, it prints higher quality photos, and it's more cost-effective due to its higher page yield and cheaper replacement ink. However, the TS8320 prints faster, especially when printing color documents and photos.
Overall, the Canon PIXMA TR8520 performs significantly better than the Canon PIXMA TS8220. The TR8520 is better-built, it has an automatic document feeder, and it prints much better photos. The TR8520 prints out black documents faster, but the TS8220 is significantly faster at printing color documents and photos.
The Canon PIXMA TR8520 and the Canon PIXMA TR8620a look nearly identical since they have the same chassis. They also perform very similarly. The only major difference is that the TR8520 is discontinued, so it's a lot harder to find available.
The Canon PIXMA TR8520 and the HP OfficeJet Pro 6978 are designed for small or home office printers, but the Canon is better overall. The Canon has a higher page yield and a lower cost-per-print. If you intend on printing photos as well, it has better color accuracy and a wider color gamut. On the other hand, the HP has an ADF that scans double-sided sheets automatically in two passes. Also, its paper input tray can hold more sheets, so you won't have to worry about the paper as often.
Test Results
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