- Table of Contents
- Intro
- Our Verdict
- Test Results
- Differences
- Compared To Others
- Deals
- Discussions
The Canon PIXMA TS6420 is an all-in-one color printer that produces excellent-looking pictures. It yields a decent number of color pages, and the cost-per-print for color documents and photos is amazingly low. There's a flatbed scanner if you need to digitize delicate photos or scan documents. Sadly, the black page yields are terrible, and it prints documents very slowly, so you might have to wait a while. Colors have mediocre accuracy, and since there's only one color cartridge, you'll need to replace it even if you run out of just one color.
Our Verdict
The Canon PIXMA TS6420 is decent for family use. Photos look excellent, with a nice overall tone. The cost-per-print of color documents is very low, helping keep you within budget. Unfortunately, the cost-per-print for black text documents is mediocre. Also, there's only a flatbed scanner, and the accuracy of produced colors is unremarkable.
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Good value when printing in color.
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Excellent photo printing quality.
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Has flatbed scanner.
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Low-yielding cartridges.
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Unremarkable color accuracy.
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No automatic document feeder.
The Canon PIXMA TS6420 performs poorly as a printer for small or home offices. The overall page yields are poor, so you'll need to replace all the cartridges often if you frequently print in black or color. Also, it prints black text documents very slowly. There's no automatic document feeder or Ethernet port, which can be very limiting for some. Fortunately, it supports automatic duplex printing, and due to its relatively compact size, it can easily fit in smaller rooms.
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XL cartridges available.
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Low-yielding cartridges.
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Mediocre black-only cost-per-print.
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No Ethernet port.
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No automatic document feeder.
The Canon PIXMA TS6420 is an okay printer for students. The cost-per-print for color documents is excellent, useful for printing photos or color-coded reports. There's a flatbed scanner to digitize notes and textbook pages if you need it. Unfortunately, the cost-per-print for black text documents is mediocre, it takes a little while to print the first page, and printing subsequent pages of documents is very slow.
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Good value when printing in color.
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XL cartridges available.
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Has flatbed scanner.
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Low-yielding cartridges.
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Unremarkable color accuracy.
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No automatic document feeder.
The Canon PIXMA TS6420 is disappointing for black and white printing. The page yield is low, meaning you'll have to change cartridges frequently, and the cost-per-print is mediocre at best. It prints at a poor speed, and there's no automatic document feeder. On the bright side, it's compatible with XL-size cartridges, and it supports automatic duplex printing.
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XL cartridges available.
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Low-yielding cartridges.
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Mediocre black-only cost-per-print.
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No Ethernet port.
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No automatic document feeder.
The Canon PIXMA TS6420 is good for casual photo printing. It produces excellent-looking photos, with good detailing and almost no color present in the grayscale. The cost-per-print for photos is amazingly low, which should help you stay on budget. Sadly, the color accuracy is unremarkable, and the build quality of the printer itself feels mediocre.
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Excellent photo printing quality.
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Can print on 4"x 6" and 5" x 7" photo paper.
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Excellent photo cost-per-print.
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Unremarkable color accuracy.
- 7.2 Family
- 4.0 Small/Home Office
- 6.7 Student
- 5.0 Black & White
- 7.6 Casual Photo
- Updated May 11, 2022: While testing another printer, we realized that this model can print on custom sizes. This lets you print on A6 paper, even if that size isn't in the presets, so we changed the result from No to Yes. Also, we updated the Bluetooth result from Yes to No since you can only use Bluetooth to set up the printer, meaning you can't use it to actually print.
- Updated Apr 21, 2022: Corrected the depth measurement as the original result included the paper tray while it was partially extended. Reshot the Design and ISO View photos.
- Updated Oct 09, 2020: Review published.
- Updated Oct 05, 2020: Early access published.
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Test Results
The Canon PIXMA TS6420 has a mediocre design and build quality. It's made entirely of plastic, and there's a smooth finish to it that feels good to the touch. The scanner's hinges extend high enough to accommodate a magazine, and the lid doesn't close on itself while it's fully extended. Also, the power cable is removable, which is handy if it gets damaged. Unfortunately, the rear input tray feels thin and unreliable, while the output tray feels flimsy and springy. Access to paper jams is a tedious three-step process and not user-friendly, and you need to turn the printer on to change the ink cartridges.
Initially, in the ISO View picture above and in the Depth test result, the input tray was partially extended. This occurs when you set the input tray to the Letter size paper format, which increases the printer's depth to 14.2" (36.0 cm). The updated results and image now describe the printer with the input tray fully inserted.
The Canon TS6420's OLED display screen is only okay. The menu is easy to navigate, and the entire front panel can tilt upwards to improve visibility. Unfortunately, the screen has no touch capabilities and is pretty small.
- Power cord
- User manual
- 1x Canon PG-260 Black ink cartridge
- 1x Canon CL-261 Color ink cartridge
The Canon TS6420 has a poor cartridge system. Both the black and color cartridges have a low yield, so they need to be frequently replaced if you print a lot. Fortunately, there are high-yield cartridges available should you need them.
We couldn't find any third-party ink cartridges for testing. If you come across them, let us know in the discussions. Note that third-party ink can void the manufacturer's warranty.
The scanning features on the Canon TS6420 are mediocre. The hinges of the flatbed can extend to accommodate smaller books or manuals, but it doesn't have an automatic document feeder, which means you'll have to manually scan each page of a document. If you need a printer that has an automatic document feeder, check out the HP ENVY Pro 6475.
When using the Canon IJ Scanning Utility software, you're limited to a 600 DPI scan resolution by default. To access the full 1200 DPI resolution using IJ Scanning Utility, you need to click on "ScanGear", go to "Advanced Mode", then change "Output Resolution" to 1200 DPI. Doing so will create a large scanned file, which will require you to disable the thumbnail. You can disable it using an option in the top-left corner of the ScanGear window. The scanner will then be able to capture finer details as a result.
The Canon PIXMA TS6420's cost-per-print is decent. That said, due to the low yield of the cartridges, costs rise quickly the more you print. Fortunately, they aren't expensive. If you want a printer with a significantly lower cost-per-print, check out the Canon PIXMA G1220. Keep in mind that even if you only print in black, most inkjet printers continue using the color cartridge for servicing tasks, so you'll likely still need to replace it eventually.
The Canon TS6420 has mediocre printing speed. It's slow regardless of what you're printing, but fortunately, it can automatically perform duplex printing. It has one front and one rear input tray, which hold 200 sheets of paper combined.
The Canon TS6420 has mediocre color accuracy. Most colors are noticeably inaccurate, and while this may not be an issue for casual photo printing, we don't recommend it for those who require accurate color reproduction as part of their profession. If you want a similarly-priced printer with better color accuracy, consider the Canon PIXMA TR7020 or the HP DeskJet 4155e.
The Canon TS6420 printer has excellent photo printing quality. Colors have a nice tone overall with good detailing. There's almost no color present in the grayscale, but there's a small amount of green visible in the black tone. We base these results on the actual physical photo, not the scanned image provided for reference above, which may not represent the printer's photo print quality.
Like its updated version, the Canon PIXMA TR6420a, this model supports custom sizes. This lets you print on paper that's different than the presets, including A6 paper, but you need to write in the measurements manually.
Unlike the updated and nearly identical Canon PIXMA TS6420a, this model supports Bluetooth for setup. However, you can't print via Bluetooth after you've set up the printer.
The Canon TS6420 is compatible with the outstanding Canon PRINT Inkjet/SELPHY app. You can scan, print, and copy from the app and order ink directly from Canon.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Canon PIXMA TS6420 is available in black and white variants. This model is replaced by the Canon PIXMA TS6420a, which looks nearly identical but doesn't support Bluetooth LE for easy setup. You can see the label of our unit here.
Compared To Other Printers
The Canon PIXMA TS6420 is a decent all-in-one inkjet printer. It's a mid-tier offering in Canon's TS lineup and is a step above the near-identical–looking Canon PIXMA TS5320, but it can yield a marginally higher number of color pages before the cartridges need replacing. It offers excellent photo quality at a cheap price, but its two cartridge-system is disappointing considering similarly priced printers with better cartridge systems are available.
For more options, see our recommendations for the best photo printers, the best laser printers, and the best all-in-one printers.
The Canon PIXMA TS6320 and the Canon PIXMA TS6420 are all-in-one color inkjet printers, but the TS6320 is better overall. The TS6320 feels better built, has a lower cost-per-print and higher page yields, prints faster, and produces photos with vibrant, more accurate colors.
The Canon PIXMA TS3520 and the Canon PIXMA TS6420 are both all-in-one color inkjet printers, but the TS6420 is better overall. The TS6420 has higher page yields and a much lower cost-per-print, prints faster, and produces nicer-looking photos. Also, it has a better display, and it can automatically print double-sided.
The Canon PIXMA TS6420a is the updated version of the Canon PIXMA TS6420. They look nearly identical, but there are a few performance differences. The biggest difference is that the TS6420 lets you use Bluetooth to set up your printer with the app, but the TS6420a doesn't support Bluetooth at all anymore. Also, the TS6420a comes with glossy photo paper samples, which the older TS6420 didn't.
The Canon PIXMA MG3620 and the Canon PIXMA TS6420 are both decent family printers. If you intend on printing a lot of photos, the TS6420 is a better choice because it has a high color page yield, resulting in a lower cost-per-print for color documents and photos, and it produces significantly nicer-looking images. On the other hand, the MG3620 has a higher black page yield and costs less per print for black documents.
The Canon PIXMA TS6420 is a better printer for most uses compared to the Canon PIXMA TR4720. The TS6420 yields much more pages, has a significantly cheaper cost-per-print, prints much faster, and produces somewhat better-looking photos. On the other hand, the TR4720 has an automatic document feeder and built-in fax.
The HP OfficeJet Pro 8025 and the Canon PIXMA TS6420 are both all-in-one color inkjets, but the HP is much better for small or home office use. The HP yields far more pages at a cheaper cost-per-print, it prints much faster, and it has an ADF that makes scanning multi-page documents much easier. On the other hand, the Canon is better for photo prints as it produces far superior-quality photos.
The Canon PIXMA TR8520 is a better printer overall compared to the Canon PIXMA TS6420. The TR8520 yields more pages, has a much cheaper cost-per-print, prints black text documents much faster, and produces somewhat better-looking photos with much more accurate colors. Also, it has an automatic document feeder, built-in fax, an Ethernet port, and can print directly from SD cards. On the other hand, the TS6420 has a larger paper input tray.
The Canon PIXMA TS6420 is the higher-end model of the Canon PIXMA TS5320. The two printers perform nearly identically, except that the TS6420 can yield more color pages before the cartridges need replacing, making it cheaper for color printing.
The Canon PIXMA TR7520 and the Canon PIXMA TS6420 are both all-in-one color inkjet printers, but the TR7520 is better for families and students. The TR7520 has higher page yields and a lower cost-per-print, it prints much faster, and it produces much more accurate colors. It also has an automatic document feeder and can fax. On the other hand, the TS6420 produces better-looking photos.
The Canon PIXMA TS8220 is a better printer overall compared to the Canon PIXMA TS6420. The TS8220 yields much more pages, has a much cheaper cost-per-print, and prints color documents and photos much faster. Also, it reproduces colors much more accurately and can print directly from SD cards. On the other hand, the TS6420 prints much better-detailed photos.
The Canon PIXMA TS6420 is a much better printer overall compared to the HP ENVY 5055. The Canon yields many more pages at a significantly cheaper cost-per-print, and it produces significantly better-looking photos. On the other hand, the HP produces far more accurate highly-saturated colors, which might be better for people who print logos or designs.
The Canon PIXMA TR4520 and the Canon PIXMA TS6420 are both all-in-one color inkjets that are good for casual photo prints, but the TS6420 is better for students. The TS6420 has better page yields, a much cheaper cost-per-print, prints much faster, produces somewhat better-looking photos, and has an Ethernet port. On the other hand, the TR4520 produces much more accurate colors, has an automatic document feeder, and can fax.