This inkjet is business-oriented and prints stunning photos.
Canon’s Pixma printers are designed to print great photos. The six-ink Canon Pixma TS8050 , , but the Canon Pixma T8550 is specifically for the home office. It has five ink cartridges (rather than six), and includes a document feeder as well as duplex printing. This machine is among the top four-in-one MFPs, and has a fax function. It is very affordable at around PS199 (approx. US$265,AU$355).
This model is really compact. Canon claims it is 38% smaller that the MX920 it replaces. It also retains two paper trays front-and rear, and a 20-sheet ADF top. Canon’s MFD offers a larger touchscreen interface of 4.3 inches, Bluetooth connectivity, Wi-Fi, and a fifth cartridge to improve the print quality.
Design
The Canon Pixma TR8550 printer is one of the smallest home-office printers. It’s smaller than Canon’s family-oriented photo printers, and it still has a 100-sheet main tray, a 20 sheet rear paper tray for envelopes, and an automatic document feeder (ADF).
The extra-large touchscreen takes up the majority of the front panel. It looks sophisticated and smart. You wouldn’t mind this printer sharing your desk.
Other essential features like duplex printing, connectivity with cloud services such as Dropbox, and connectivity with them are also present. The only things missing are NFC connectivity (although Bluetooth makes this up) and a front USB port.
Operation and setup
Although the 10.8cm colour touchscreen may seem like an extravagance, it is still a very affordable option for a printer. It makes installation and operation much easier than without it. It is easy to get started by following the instructions and printing the test sheets as needed. There are five cartridges available to fit, instead of the usual four.
When you need to enter the password for your Wi-Fi network, the touchscreen is worth its weight in gold. Although it isn’t as sensitive as your smartphone screen, it is faster than the tedious buttons you have to use. It’s great for switching between paper stock or monitoring the status of your current printing job from a glance.
Canon Print is very useful when scanning or printing. Canon also uses the app for its cloud printing service. However, this can take some time to set-up.
Performance
The Canon Pixma TR8550 was slow to print mono-duplex pages of text. However, the pages were well worth the wait. Inks are also available in black pigment. This gives the printed words a deep, rich color, but with a delicate touch. Small point sizes can be just as clear as large letters.
Colour documents also benefit from the extra ink. The colours appear vivid and well contained, and blacks are evenly filled in. Photo paper photographs are especially well-shaded, accurate, and colorful. What could you have expected from a camera manufacturer? It is likely that the Canon PIXMA TS8050’s print resolution is half of the Canon PIXMA TS8050’s, which makes photos appear noticeably softer. It lacks the six-ink system’s grey additional grey cartridge.
The printer’s print quality has been reduced by adding an ADF and fax, while keeping costs low. The Canon Pixma TR8550 produces stunning mono and colour prints.
Final verdict
This printer is small and stylish, which will make it a favorite among those who work in cramped offices. The huge 4.3-inch touchscreen makes everything easy, from setting up to checking your workflow, right at a glance.
The Pixma T8550 has all the features that a home office would need, including duplex printing and separate paper feeds for photo and plain paper. Bluetooth is available in conjunction with Wi-Fi. The extra cartridge also gives text documents a sharp and bold look, while photos are vivid and rich.
The Pixma TR8550, which looks very similar to the Pixma TS8050 picture printer, gains bulk without sacrificing print quality. The additional black pigment cartridge makes it more expensive to run. You will need to purchase five replacements instead of the usual four.
The Pixma TR8550 is a great value for money. We’ve seen significant discounts on this model. Its compact size is a feat considering it has five ink cartridges, three paper feeds, and a large 4.3-inch touchscreen. The companion app allows you to send high-resolution scans directly to the cloud and duplex printing. You can also print mono, colour, and photos with great quality. However, it is more expensive than other cartridge-based inkjets.
- In this roundup, we also highlight the best all in one printers
