The Canon PIXMA TS8220 is a good all-in-one inkjet printer for everyday home use. Although it's already been replaced by its successor, the Canon PIXMA TS8320, it still outshines it in certain aspects. It has a sleek design and its compact size is well-suited for tight spaces. It prints great photos, it has decent color accuracy, and its connectivity options are outstanding. The black ink cartridge does run out rather quickly, which means that you have to replace it regularly; however, the color cartridges can last much longer. Its printing speed is a bit middling, as it can print photos very quickly but it's slow at printing black and color documents. Unfortunately, the scanner is pretty basic, as it lacks an automatic document feeder, so it's not the best option for those who need to scan long documents.
Our Verdict
The Canon PIXMA TS8220 is a good family printer. It's able to print great photos full of vibrant colors and it has pretty decent color accuracy. Although it doesn't yield a lot of black pages, its color page yield is much better, and its overall cost-per-print is great. It has wide connectivity options and it's compatible with Canon's outstanding mobile app.
- Great overall cost-per-print.
- Great photo printing quality.
- Wide connectivity options.
- Exceptional mobile app support.
- Slow printing speed for black and color documents.
- Low black page yield.
The Canon PIXMA TS8220 is a bad printer for small or home offices. It doesn't yield many black pages, so the black ink cartridge needs frequent replacement. That said, its color page yield is significantly better. Unfortunately, it's very slow at printing black and color documents, and the scanner lacks an automatic document feeder.
- Great overall cost-per-print.
- Wide connectivity options.
- Slow printing speed for black and color documents.
- Low black page yield.
- No automatic document feeder.
The Canon PIXMA TS8220 is an excellent printer for students. It's relatively inexpensive to print in black and in color, which is great for students who are on a budget. It has outstanding connectivity options, including support for SD cards, and it supports printing from mobile devices. Sadly, it takes a while to print out the first page of a document, and it doesn't get much faster after that.
- Great overall cost-per-print.
- Wide connectivity options.
- Exceptional mobile app support.
- Slow printing speed for black and color documents.
- Low black page yield.
The Canon PIXMA TS8220 is a sub-par printer for printing black and white documents. While it's fairly cost-effective to print in black, you still have to change the black ink cartridge often due to its low yield. It's also quite slow at printing black documents.
- Great overall cost-per-print.
- Wide connectivity options.
- Slow printing speed for black and color documents.
- Low black page yield.
- No automatic document feeder.
The Canon PIXMA TS8220 is a good printer for printing photos. Printed photos look great and the printer's color accuracy is quite decent. It can print on glossy photo paper and most sizes are supported, except for 2" x 3". It has a very good color page yield, so it doesn't get overly expensive to print over time. Also, it prints photos exceptionally fast.
- Great overall cost-per-print.
- Great photo printing quality.
- Can't print on 2" x 3".
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Canon PIXMA TS8220 is the predecessor of the PIXMA TS8320, which we have also reviewed. In Europe, it's known as the PIXMA TS8250, or TS8251 for the white variant. The TS8220 and the TS8320 have nearly identical features and perform similarly overall.
Popular Printer Comparisons
The Canon PIXMA TS8220 is a good printer for home use. Compared to other similarly priced inkjet printers, it performs quite well. And since it's an older model that has already been replaced by the PIXMA TS8320, you can often find it at a reduced price. The red and white variants have been discontinued already, although some retailers may still carry a few.
For other options, you can also check out our recommendations for the best all-in-one printers, the best home printers, and the best printers under $100.
The Canon PIXMA TS8220 and the Canon PIXMA TS9120 are very much alike. The TS8220 has a slightly higher yield for black and color documents, it has better color accuracy, and is much faster at printing color documents and photos. However, the TS9120 has an ethernet port and it's faster at printing black and white documents.
The Canon PIXMA TS8220 is much better than the Epson WorkForce WF-2830. The Canon has a higher page yield, especially with the color cartridges, so the cost-per-print is much lower for this printer. It also has better color accuracy and much better photo printing quality. However, the Epson has a sheetfed scanner with an Automatic Document Feeder, and it also serves as a fax machine.
Although the Canon PIXMA TR7520 and the Canon PIXMA TS8220 have very different designs, they have remarkably similar performance for most uses. The main differences are that the TS8220 has a better display screen, it has a higher page yield, and it has more connectivity options. However, the TR7520 has an automatic document feeder to process multi-page documents, making it more suitable for office use.
The Canon PIXMA TS8220 is much better than the Epson Expression Premium XP-6100. The Canon has a better display screen, it has more connectivity options, and its higher color page yield results in a much lower cost-per-print. The Canon prints better-looking photos and prints them faster, but it's slower at printing documents than the Epson.
Test Results
The Canon PIXMA TS8220's design is passable. It feels pretty sturdy overall and there are no obvious issues with the construction. The power cord is removable and is easily replaceable should it get damaged. The scanner's lid can stay open without needing to be held, which prevents it from slamming down, and it can also extend slightly if you need to scan thicker documents. The display panel needs to be raised manually to start printing, to allow the output tray to extend outwards.
Unfortunately, the printer does need to be on when changing the ink cartridges, and paper jams are a little difficult to get to, as it requires lifting the rear input tray and the printer's back panel before you can get to them. Lastly, the rear input tray and the output tray feel a bit flimsy and of inferior quality.
The Canon TS8220 is a compact printer. It's nearly identical to its successor, the Canon PIXMA TS8320.
The Canon PIXMA TS8220 has an excellent display screen. It's large and it has great viewing angles, so you can see it easily whether you're standing or sitting. The menus are easy to navigate and there are instructional videos to show you how to load paper and change the ink cartridges.
- Power cable
- Setup CD
- User guide
- Sample pack of 5" x 5" photo paper (3 sheets)
- Set of starter ink cartridges:
- 1 x PGI-280 Black
- 1 x CLI-281 Black
- 1 x CLI-281 Cyan
- 1 x CLI-281 Magenta
- 1 x CLI-281 Yellow
- 1 x CLI-281 Photo Blue
Canon indicates on their website that the multipurpose tray is included in the box as a separate piece. Our unit came with the tray already installed; however, your experience may vary.
Update 05/20/2021: We initially noted that there are four color cartridges, but there are actually five: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, and Photo Blue. We updated the review accordingly.
The Canon PIXMA TS8220's cartridge system is okay. The black page yield is quite bad, so you'll likely need to replace the PGI-280 black ink cartridge often, as it's the default black ink cartridge for printing black documents. On the other hand, the color page yield is significantly better. If you print a lot, there are high-yield cartridges available.
This printer accepts third-party cartridges, but using them may void the manufacturer's warranty. Additionally, special attention must be paid as this printer uses a combination of dye and pigment-based inks.
The Canon TS8220 has mediocre scanning features. It lacks an automatic document feeder, so it's not the best option if you need to scan long multi-page documents regularly. The lid can extend slightly to make it easier to scan thicker documents. If you want a printer with an Automatic Document Feeder, consider the Canon PIXMA TR8520 or Canon PIXMA TS9520.
Note that when using Canon's IJ software to scan, the resolution is set to 600 DPI by default. To scan at a higher resolution, you have to change the output resolution manually under the 'Advanced Mode' settings tab.
The Canon PIXMA TS8220's overall cost-per-print is great. The black cartridge needs frequent replacement due to its low yield. However, black ink cartridges are relatively cheap, which helps to keep the cost of black-only printing from rising too quickly. For color printing, the cartridges are more expensive, but they don't need to be replaced as often, so color printing ends up only being slightly more expensive than printing in black in the long run.
Keep in mind that even if you print only in black, most inkjet printers continue using the color cartridges for servicing tasks, so you'll likely still need to replace them eventually.
The Canon TS8220's printing speed is okay. It's pretty slow at printing both black and color documents; however, it's very fast at printing photos compared to other printers.
The Canon PIXMA TS8220 has decent color accuracy. There are inaccuracies with all colors, and like most printers, greens and blues are the most inaccurate. That said, it shouldn't be an issue if you're just using a bit of color in a document.
The Canon TS8220's photo printing quality is great. Colors look good and there's very little graininess, but there's some presence of color in the grayscale.
These results are based on the actual physical photo, not the scanned image provided for reference above, which may not be representative of the printer's photo print quality.
If you want a printer with better photo printing quality, check out the Canon PIXMA TS6320 or the Canon PIXMA TS6420.
The Canon PIXMA TS8220 has two input trays that can hold up to 200 sheets of paper combined. Most common paper sizes are supported up to the standard legal size.
The Canon PIXMA TS8220 has outstanding connectivity options. It supports various wireless connections, including printing from mobile devices using AirPrint or Mopria. For external storage devices, it supports SD cards but not USB thumb drives. If you're looking for a similar printer with an ethernet port, check out the Canon PIXMA TS9120.
The Canon PRINT Inkjet/SELPHY is an exceptional mobile app. It allows you to perform all the basic tasks such as printing, scanning, and copying. You can also order replacement ink directly from Canon. To print CDs and DVDs, you need to install a separate app called Canon Easy-PhotoPrint Editor.