Review: The Canon PIXMA TS6420a All-in-One Wireless Inkjet Printer – A Reliable Workhorse for the Modern Home
In today's hybrid work and home-schooling environment, a reliable, multi-functional printer is no longer a luxury—it's a necessity. The Canon PIXMA TS6420a All-in-One Wireless Inkjet Printer steps into this space, offering printing, copying, and scanning capabilities packed into a sleek, compact design. Marketed towards home users and light-duty home offices, the TS6420a aims to strike a perfect balance between performance, features, and affordability. This comprehensive review dives into what makes this All-in-One (AIO) printer a compelling choice, including its stand-out connectivity feature: Works with Alexa.
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| Review: The Canon PIXMA TS6420a All-in-One Wireless Inkjet Printer – A Reliable Workhorse for the Modern Home |
Design and Hardware: Compact and Functional
The first thing you notice about the PIXMA TS6420a is its surprisingly compact footprint. Measuring approximately $15.9$ by $12.5$ by $5.9$ inches (WHD) with trays closed, it's small enough to fit comfortably on a crowded desk or shelf. Available in colors like black and white, its modern aesthetic ensures it blends seamlessly into any home office decor.
Despite its size, the printer doesn't skimp on essential features. It boasts a 1.44-inch OLED display, which, while small, is clear and provides an intuitive interface for navigating menus, checking ink levels, and troubleshooting. Crucially, the TS6420a features a two-way paper feed: a front cassette that holds up to 100 sheets of plain paper and a rear tray that can accommodate another 100 sheets of plain paper or up to 20 sheets of photo paper. This dual-input system is a significant advantage, allowing users to keep plain paper loaded for documents while quickly switching to photo paper for creative projects without a full paper swap.
Performance: Print Quality and Speed
The core function of any printer is its output quality, and the TS6420a largely impresses, especially considering its budget-friendly positioning.
Document Printing
The printer employs a Hybrid Ink System, utilizing a pigment-based black cartridge for sharp, laser-like text and a dye-based color cartridge for vibrant images and graphics. Text documents are crisp, clear, and well-detailed, even at smaller font sizes, making it perfectly suitable for contracts, reports, and everyday schoolwork.
Photo Printing
Where Canon truly shines is in photo output. When paired with Canon's glossy or semi-gloss photo paper, the TS6420a produces high-quality, vibrant photos with accurate colors and deep blacks, thanks to its high maximum print resolution of $4800 \times 1200$ dpi. For family photos and casual creative printing, the results are superb and often exceed expectations for a printer in this class.
Speed
While not a speed demon, the TS6420a offers adequate speeds for light-duty use. It's rated at approximately 13.0 ipm (images per minute) for black documents and 6.8 ipm for color. This is sufficient for printing a few documents or photos at a time, though high-volume users might find the pace a bit slow. A major plus is the Auto Duplex Printing feature, which automatically prints on both sides of the paper, saving time and reducing paper consumption.
Connectivity and Smart Features: The Wireless Advantage
The "Wireless" and "All-in-One" aspects are where the TS6420a truly earns its stripes.
Wireless Standard: The printer connects easily to your home network via Wi-Fi.
Mobile Printing: Support for the Canon PRINT app, Apple AirPrint, and Mopria Print Service allows for effortless printing and scanning directly from smartphones, tablets, and laptops without needing a PC.
The Alexa Integration: A key modern feature is its "Works with Alexa" compatibility. This allows users to initiate printing tasks using simple voice commands, such as "Alexa, ask Canon Printer to print a coloring page" or "Alexa, ask Canon Printer to print my calendar." This hands-free operation adds a layer of convenience perfect for busy households.
Copying and Scanning
As an AIO, the TS6420a includes a flatbed scanner with an optical resolution of up to $1200 \times 2400$ dpi. This is excellent for scanning documents and photos with high fidelity. The copier function offers basic features like preset copy ratios and fitting to page, though the absence of an Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) means multi-page scanning and copying must be done manually, one sheet at a time.
The Bottom Line: Who is the Canon PIXMA TS6420a For?
The Canon PIXMA TS6420a is an excellent, well-rounded All-in-One printer for the home user or a small home office with light to moderate printing needs.
Pros:
Excellent Print Quality: Produces sharp text and high-quality, vibrant photos.
Dual Paper Input: Front cassette and rear tray allow for versatile media handling.
Smart Features: Includes seamless wireless connectivity and Alexa voice-command support.
Auto-Duplexing: Saves paper and time with automatic two-sided printing.
Compact Size: Easy to fit into small spaces.
Cons:
No ADF: Lacks an Automatic Document Feeder, making large scanning/copying jobs tedious.
Setup Difficulty (for some users): Some initial setup and Wi-Fi connection issues have been reported, although the Canon PRINT app generally simplifies the process.
Small Display: The 1.44-inch OLED is functional but minimal.
For its price point, the Canon PIXMA TS6420a delivers a powerful combination of quality and convenience. If you prioritize superb photo prints, value the flexibility of a two-way paper feed, and appreciate the modern integration of voice commands via Alexa, the TS6420a is a very solid, worthwhile investment.