Canon PIXMA TR4720/TR4722 Printer Review

The printer's build quality is sub-par. It's entirely plastic, with some parts feeling especially flimsy, like the output tray and the scanner lid hinges. The paper input tray can't hold many sheets and isn't removable, and if you want to store paper in the printer, you need to keep both the input and output trays open. If you need to replace the cartridge in the middle of a print job, the output tray could also get in the way and make replacement difficult. On the bright side, the cable is detachable for easy replacement in case it gets damaged, and the cartridges have an easy-clip system that makes them easy to insert.

The Canon PIXMA TR4720/Canon PIXMA TR4722 requires a fair amount of maintenance. Like most inkjet printers, the printheads can clog if left unused for an extended period. If the printer clogs or the print quality degrades, a few maintenance tasks can help resolve the issue, like printhead nozzle checks, cleaning, deep cleaning, and alignment. There are also sheet roller and bottom plate cleaning routines if you notice smears. Unfortunately, you must change the cartridges often, as they run out quickly. To do so, you must first open the input and output trays and then open the door at the front of the printer. However, you can't fully open this door if you have paper in the input tray.

In case of a paper jam, you can access the sheet rollers via the ink cartridge door by moving the cartridge holder out of the way. Alternatively, you could flip the printer onto its right side, then pinch two tabs to open the rear cover to access paper jams close to the rear. You can lift the button control panel to access any paper jams in the automatic document feeder.

See the user manual here.

The display is bad. It's a 2-line LCD that doesn't allow for tilt or swivel adjustments, so you must stand up and look down at the screen to see the displayed text properly. It's also hard to navigate through the printer's functions. If you're looking for a printer with an actual display screen, consider the Epson WorkForce WF-2930.

This printer has a bad cartridge system. The PG-275 and CL-276 cartridges yield very few black and color prints, so you'll need to replace them often if you print a lot. Additionally, since the CL-276 is a tri-color cartridge, you'll need to replace it even if you run out of one color. Higher-yield XL versions of these cartridges are available.

This printer has a reasonable range of scanner features. The flatbed scanner lid is height adjustable, so you can scan thicker media like spiral notebooks, while the automatic document feeder automatically digitizes multi-page documents like signed invoices or contracts. Canon advertises that the ADF takes only three seconds to scan each page, but even though the printer does scan each page quickly, you have to wait for the computer to finish processing each scanned document before the printer feeds the next sheet. It's slow whether you scan from your computer or the printer itself. It also doesn't support automatic duplex scanning, which can really slow you down if you need to process a large batch of two-sided documents.

This printer has built-in optical character recognition. Scanning directly from the printer using the 'Document' preset will generate a text-searchable PDF. If you use the Canon IJ Scan Utility software and click on the 'OCR' option, it'll output a .txt file from the character recognition system as well as a JPEG version of the same document instead.

The scan quality is mediocre. While text is fairly crisp and legible, more saturated areas are very grainy, and lighter elements are barely visible. Color saturation is also somewhat low, so scanned documents come out looking a little fainter than the source material. When using the Canon IJ Scanning Utility software on a computer, the scan resolution maxes out at 600 DPI by default. To access the full 1200 DPI resolution, you need to click on "ScanGear," go to "Advanced Mode," and then change "Output Resolution" to 1200 DPI. Doing so will create a large scanned file, requiring you to disable the thumbnail in the top-left corner of the ScanGear window. The scanner can then capture finer details as a result.

Note: The default scan resolution is 300 DPI, which creates slightly blurry scans, as seen in the image sample above. However, you can scan at a higher resolution to get higher-quality scans with more fine details. Regardless, if you're looking for a comparably-priced alternative with better scan quality, check out the Epson WorkForce WF-2950.

• Setup Instructions
• Power cord
• Fax cable
• PG-275 black starter cartridge
• CL-276 tri-color starter cartridge

This is a corded printer.

The print quality of black-and-white documents is great. The text looks clear, and most of the fine details are present. However, there are vertical lines and bands, which are very noticeable in colored areas.

The print quality of color documents is excellent. The text is sharp, and the colors look punchy without being oversaturated. Finer details, like the lines in the graph, are present but a little hard to see.

The cost-per-print is high. Although the replacement cartridges aren't expensive, you don't get many pages out of them. Fortunately, there are XL-size replacement cartridges for a better cost-per-print. If you want a similar printer with a lower cost-per-print, check out the Epson Expression Home XP-4200.

This printer is compatible with the Canon Auto Replenishment Service and the PIXMA Print Plan. The PIXMA Print Plan is a standard subscription service that lets you print a set number of pages per month in exchange for a monthly subscription fee. More expensive tiers let you print more pages. In contrast, if you set the printer up with the Canon Auto Replenishment Service, they will order and ship replacement cartridges to you when the printer detects that it's running low on ink.

This printer prints slowly. You'll need to wait a few minutes if you're printing a long essay or research paper and even longer if they're in color. It also takes a while to start printing after going unused for a while, so you'll have to wait even for small print jobs.

The Canon TR4720/Canon TR4722 has a good color gamut. The transition between colors is smooth with no banding, so gradients in photos will look natural. Unfortunately, the printer has trouble reproducing lighter shades of blue and green.

The color accuracy is adequate. It's fine for casual use but isn't suitable for professionals requiring near-perfect accuracy. If you want a printer with better color accuracy, check out the Canon PIXMA MG2522.

This printer is excellent at producing small details, though some finer details in image backgrounds are hard to see due to the halftones (dots).

This printer is compatible with the Canon PRINT Inkjet/SELPHY app. From here, you can print, scan, and copy directly from your phone and even order ink without a subscription. There's cloud integration, so you can print photos from the cloud, as well as scan and save to the cloud without needing to save locally.

You need to manually install drivers to access the full range of features on Windows. There isn't any printing software, although you can optionally use the Canon IJ Scan Utility for scanning purposes if you prefer. You can print and scan without manually installing any drivers or software on macOS or Chrome OS devices.