As we pointed out the other day in our review of the Canon Pixma MG7520, Canon recently released a trio of photo-ready all-in-one printers (or AIOs—machines that can print, copy, and scan). This batch includes the $199.99-list Pixma MG7520, the $99.99-list Pixma MG5620 (we’ll be posting a review of this model soon after this one), and the subject of this review, the $149.99-list Pixma MG6620 Photo All-in-One Inkjet Printer. The MG7520 and MG5620 will replace the Pixma MG7120 and Pixma MG5520, respectively, and the MG6620 will put last year’s Pixma MG6320 out to pasture.
These annual updates to the printer giant’s MG line have been going on with regularity for some years now. (The “MG” prefix is Canon’s designation for its consumer-centric photo all-in-ones.) Each year about this time, we see essentially the same machines with a few updates and new feature add-ons. As we said about this year’s MG7520, though, a few notable changes in this round of updates—especially with the MG6620 and MG7520 models’—have made the 2014 updates a bit more interesting than in previous years.
The midrange model of the three, the Pixma MG6620Best Price at Amazon, unlike its 2013 predecessor, uses a five-ink imaging system. Prior to this model, the MG6000-series Pixmas used, like the next models up, the MG7000 series (and the MG8000 series, now defunct), six inks. Beyond the difference in ink colors, the $50 price difference between the Pixma MG6620 and MG7520 nets you a pretty big bunch of useful features.
On the Pixma MG7520, you get twice the maximum possible print resolution (9,600×2,400 dots per inch versus 4,800×1,200dpi); Ethernet connectivity (which the MG6620 lacks); active versus passiveNFC (which we’ll define later); a larger paper tray; CD/DVD labeling; and a bigger LCD on the control panel.
If you have a use for just one or two of these options, $50 is a small premium to pay. The one trade-off here is that because the higher-priced Pixma MG7520 uses one more ink tank than the MG6620, it costs more to use, on a per-page cost-of-ink basis, with certain kinds of documents. In either case, both models’ cost per page (CPP) figures are too high for printing more than just a few business documents (say 100 or so), each month. (That’s typical of most photo printers nowadays.)
Our experience is that, yes, that sixth cartridge does indeed enhance overall print quality. Then again, so does the fifth cartridge in this Pixma versus a four-tank printer, all else being equal. The question is’—can you tell the difference without careful examination? The answer to that question can be long and involved, with all sorts of caveats based on what exactly you’re printing and what kind of stock you’re printing it on. But the short answer is that with most images… probably not.
Overall, the MG6620 is a good little photo printer, with much the same issues we have with all AIO photo printers on the market these days’—their too-high CPPs make them poor choices as document printers for more than a few pages a month. With that in mind, if all you want to do is print photos, with a business document and a random scan or copy thrown in now and then, the Pixma MG6620 should serve you well.
Read the entire review at Computer Shopper.