Canon Pixma MG5350 review

Canon's Pixma MFPs rarely provide many surprises, but that's no bad thing: they've been producing our favourite balance of photo quality, text quality and usability for years. This model has a 7.5cm colour screen and support for printing from either Google Picasa or Canon's own Image Gateway. By the time you read this, Canon should have added support for Google's Cloud Print standard, which allows you to send documents from Google's web services directly to the printer from anywhere in the world.

The MG5350's four-colour print engine includes both pigment and dye-based black inks, which are used for text and photo printing respectively. Text prints on plain paper are among the sharpest we've seen from any printer, while our illustrated colour business document emerged with sharp text and vivid diagrams. Photo prints are stunning, with warm, vivid colour and clean, untinted reproduction of pale tones. Although the MG5350 lacks a grey cartridge, monochrome prints suffer only the slightest of greenish tints. Copy quality is also excellent, with sharp text, accurate colours and brilliant shading, even on mono copies of complex illustrations.

Print speeds aren't the fastest around, but the quality is worth the wait. There's little point in using draft mode; although they look good, draft text prints emerge at just 4.6ppm versus 4.4ppm for a standard quality mono document. Colour is slower: 2.4ppm if you're printing single-sided and 2ppm for duplex. Double-sided prints look very professional, but you'll want to avoid the very thinnest papers (75gsm and below) to prevent ink from bleeding through or making the paper wrinkle as it dries. Print costs are reasonable for a colour inkjet. A mono page costs 2.7p, while a page of mixed black and colour printing comes in at a relatively low 7.5p. A 6x4in photo on Canon Photo Paper Plus II will cost around 29p.

We were also impressed by the MFP's scan quality: scanned text is pin-sharp and colours are accurate, even when it comes to low-contrast images or areas of fine gradation. Scan speeds are quick, too - a 300dpi 14 scan takes just 13 seconds, while a 600dpi scan of a 6x4in photo comes in at 52 seconds. The scanner lid hinges lift up to make it easier to scan thick objects, which is handy if you want to capture content from a book.

Canon's scanner interface gives you plenty of options for image adjustment, sharpening and correcting flaws such as dust, scratches and fading. A text entry box allows you to enter resolutions up to the scanner's maximum 2,400dpi optical resolution. Preview scans and settings are retained between scans and you can create your own scan profiles. You can also choose to have the interface remain open between scans, and a thumbnail preview mode isolates different items on the platen so they can be scanned as separate images.

The Pixma MG5350 is an excellent home printer. Its scan, photo and document quality are outstanding and its running costs are reasonable, but slow print speeds keep it from winning a full five stars. The Canon Pixma MG6250 costs a bit more, but is much faster, making it a better buy.

Basic Specifications

Rating****
Maximum native print resolution9,600x2,400dpi
Max optical resolution2,400x4,800dpi
Output bit depth24-bit

Quoted Speeds

Quoted speed, mono A413ppm
Quoted speed, colour A410ppm

Tested Print Speeds

Time for two 10x8in photos 1.03m 34s
Time for six 6x4in photos 1.05m 32s

Physical and Environmental

Standard printer interfacesUSB, 802.11n wireless
Optional printer interfaces£55
Size166x450x366mm
Weight8.3kg
Noise (in normal use)47dB(A)

Paper Handling

Maximum paper sizeA4/legal
Maximum paper weight300gsm
Standard paper inputs2
Standard paper input capacity300
Maximum paper inputs2
Maximum paper input capacity300
Duplex (code, cost if option)Yes

General

Printer technologyN/A
Supported operating systemsWindows XP/Vista/7, Mac OS X 10.4.11 - 10.6
Other inkjet features7.5cm colour screen, automatic print head alignment, replaceable print head
Other inkjet optionsnone

Buying Information

Price£118
Consumable parts and prices£8.24
Price per colour A4 page4.8p
Quoted life of supplied black cartridge339 pages (ISO/IEC 24734)
Quoted life of supplied colour cartridge(s)530 cyan, 486 magenta, 525 yellow pages (ISO/IEC 24734)
Quoted life of supplied photo cartridge(s)555 black, 202 cyan, 201 magenta, 199 yellow
Warrantyone year RTB
Supplierhttp://www.dabs.com
Detailswww.canon.co.uk

Print Quality

Number of ink colours4
Number of ink cartridges5
Maximum number of ink colours4
Maximum number of cartridges5
Quoted photo durability30 years
Quoted photo durability sourceCanon

Tested Scan Speeds

Full scan area preview10s
A4 document at 150dpi13s
A4 document at 300dpi44s
6x4in photo at 600dpi52s
6x4in photo at 1200dpi2m 57s

Tested Copy Speeds

Time for single A4 mono copy 1.026s
Time for single A4 colour copy 1.031s
Time for 10 A4 copies using feeder 2.0N/A

Photo Features

PictBridge supportYes
Borderless printingup to A4
Direct (PC-less) printingYes
Supported memory cardsSD, SDHC, Memory Stick Pro/Duo, MMC
CD printingYes

Copy Features

Maximum number of copies99

Fax Features

Max mono fax resolutionN/A
Fax memory (maximum mono pages)N/A

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