Canon PIXMA TS5320a Wireless Inkjet All-in-One Printer (White) Review: Style, Substance, and Smartphone Simplicity
Introduction
In the crowded market of home office printers, the Canon PIXMA TS5320a All-in-One stands out, particularly for users who value both aesthetics and functionality. This wireless inkjet device—capable of printing, scanning, and copying—is positioned as a stylish and user-friendly solution for moderate home and family printing needs. The white model, in particular, offers a sleek, compact, and modern look that integrates seamlessly into any contemporary living or office space.
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| Canon PIXMA TS5320a Wireless Inkjet All-in-One Printer (White) Review: Style, Substance, and Smartphone Simplicity |
Design and Build Quality: Aesthetic Appeal Meets Compact Form
One of the most immediate selling points of the PIXMA TS5320a is its Compact & Stylish Design. Unlike bulky, utilitarian printers of the past, the TS5320a boasts an appealing two-tone aesthetic (in the white version) that looks surprisingly elegant. Its small footprint ensures it won't dominate a desk, making it ideal for smaller apartments or home offices.
The printer is equipped with a modern 1.44-inch OLED Display and a built-in LED Status Bar. This small-but-mighty display makes setup and navigation significantly easier than printers that rely solely on cryptic buttons and flashing lights. The LED status bar is a particularly nice touch, offering a quick, at-a-glance indication of the printer’s current status without needing to check an app or computer.
A key structural feature is the Dual-Paper Feeding capability. The TS5320a can hold paper in both a front cassette (100 sheets of plain paper) and a rear paper tray (100 sheets of plain paper or photo paper). This is a major convenience, allowing users to keep plain paper loaded for documents while simultaneously having photo paper ready in the rear feeder, eliminating the need to constantly swap media trays.
Core Features and Performance
The TS5320a is an All-in-One (AIO) device, providing the three core functions essential for any home user:
Printing: The printer utilizes a 2-Cartridge FINE Hybrid Ink System (one pigment black and one color/dye cartridge). This system is designed for ease of use and simple replacement. Print quality is where the Canon shines, especially for photos. Text documents are sharp, well-shaped, and easy to read. Photo output is vibrant, color-accurate, and well-detailed, often surpassing typical drugstore quality for a budget inkjet. It supports borderless printing up to letter size and even popular square photo formats (like 3.5" x 3.5" and 5" x 5")—perfect for smartphone photography enthusiasts. The printer also includes Auto-Duplexing Printing (two-sided printing), a valuable feature often missing in this price segment, which helps save paper.
Scanning: The flatbed scanner offers a good optical resolution of 1200 x 2400 dpi, which is sufficient for high-quality document digitization and photo archiving.
Copying: Copying capabilities are standard, though the copy speed is relatively modest (approx. 4.0 ipm for color documents). It can reduce/enlarge documents from 25% to 400%.
Performance Note: While the print quality is excellent, speed is not the TS5320a's strongest asset. Print speeds are rated at approximately 13.0 ipm for black and 6.8 ipm for color. This places it in the low-to-moderate volume category. Users needing high-speed output for a busy office might find it slightly slow, but it's perfectly adequate for typical family or student usage (estimated at 100 to 200 pages per month).
Connectivity and Mobile Integration: A Smartphone’s Best Friend
This printer is built for the wireless age, offering robust mobile device support.
Wireless Connectivity: With built-in Wi-Fi, users can print from laptops, tablets, and smartphones from any room.
Easy Setup: The Wireless Connect feature streamlines the setup process, allowing users to connect the printer and their smartphone quickly, often without needing a computer.
Mobile Ecosystem: It supports key mobile printing standards like Apple AirPrint and Google Cloud Print. Furthermore, Canon’s own Canon PRINT App provides a user-friendly interface for controlling the AIO functions, performing maintenance, and scanning directly to a smartphone.
Voice Activation: It even supports smart home voice activation for hands-free operation.
The Downside: Ink and Cost Per Page
Like many compact inkjet printers, the primary drawback of the PIXMA TS5320a lies in its operating costs.
Two-Cartridge System: The 2-cartridge system (one black, one tri-color) is convenient but can be somewhat wasteful. If one color (e.g., yellow) runs out, the entire color cartridge must be replaced, even if magenta and cyan still have ink.
Standard Yield: The standard ink cartridges have below-average yields, leading to a high cost per page.
The XL Solution: To mitigate this, users should strongly consider purchasing XL-sized FINE cartridges (PG-260XL / CL-261XL). These XL cartridges offer significantly more ink, making the cost per page much more economical in the long run.
Conclusion: A Recommended AIO for the Modern Home
The Canon PIXMA TS5320a Wireless Inkjet All-in-One in white is an excellent choice for families, students, and home users with moderate printing volumes who prioritize output quality and modern design.
Its key selling points—superior photo quality, automatic duplexing, dual-paper trays, and seamless wireless/mobile connectivity—make it a powerful and convenient AIO for its price point. While the print speed is average and the running costs with standard cartridges can be high, these issues are manageable for a low-volume environment and largely offset by the printer's overall functionality and high-quality output.
For those seeking a beautiful, feature-rich AIO that produces professional-looking documents and stunning photos, especially from a smartphone, the Canon PIXMA TS5320a is a strong contender.