REASONS TO BUY
Realistic color depiction
All-in-one capabilities
REASONS TO AVOID
Costly to maintain
Slow printing speeds
Small display screen
Canon Pixma TR4720 Review
This model produces high quality photo prints but rips through pricey ink
Credit: Canon
RELATED: Best Home Printers of 2024
Our Verdict
The Canon Pixma TR4720 is an all-in-one inkjet printer designed for home and small office use, but we found it was a little underwhelming for document printing while, in stark contrast, it proved to be an exceptional printer for photos. Unfortunately, those beautiful photos are not only going to print slowly, but they'll cost a pretty penny, as this printer had the highest operating cost of all the printers we tested, burning through ink at a rapid pace. Overall, we think there are better options in our best home printer review.
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product
Canon Pixma TR4720 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  | | |||
| Price | $100 List Check Price at Amazon | $160 List $99.99 at Amazon | $220 List $149.99 at Amazon | $120 List | $85 List $84.99 at Amazon |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Bottom Line | Expensive to operate, but it does print some really exceptional photos | A good document printer for home office use | A great budget-friendly printer that performs well in every metric and excels at affordable, high quality photo printing | A fast, monochrome laser printer with a small footprint, but limited in connectivity options | This capable printer has low upfront costs, but its long-term operational costs might upset those initial savings |
| Rating Categories | Canon Pixma TR4720 | HP OfficeJet 8015e... | Epson Workforce Pro... | Brother HL-L2300D | HP DeskJet 2755e |
| Operating Cost (25%) | |||||
| Text Quality (25%) | |||||
| Graphics and Photos (25%) | |||||
| Ease of Use (15%) | |||||
| Printing Speed (10%) | |||||
| Specs | Canon Pixma TR4720 | HP OfficeJet 8015e... | Epson Workforce Pro... | Brother HL-L2300D | HP DeskJet 2755e |
| Type | All-in-one inkjet | All-in-one inkjet | All-in-one inkjet | Laser | All-in-one inkjet |
| Capabilities | Print, scan, copy, fax | Print, scan, copy | Print, scan, copy, fax | Print, scan, copy | |
| Estimated Lifetime Cost of Ownership | $1,449 | $646 | $634 | $370 | $1,269 |
| Resolution (Black) | 4800 x 1200 dpi | 1200 x 1200 dpi | 4800 x 1200 dpi | 2400 x 600 dpi | 1200 x 1200 dpi |
| Resolution (Color) | 4800 x 1200 dpi | 4800 x 1200 dpi | 4800 x 1200 dpi | Unspecified | 4800 x 1200 dpi |
| Supported Paper Sizes | 4" x 6", 5" x 7", 8" x 10", Letter (8.5" x 11"), Legal (8.5" x 14"), U.S. #10 Envelopes Custom Size: Width: 4" - 8.5" / Length: 6" - 26.6" Borderless Printing 11: 4"x6", 5"x7", 8"x 10", Letter (8.5"x11") |
Letter; Legal; Government Legal; Executive; Statement; 4 x 6 in; 5 x 7 in; 13 x 18 cm; 8 x 10 in; 10 x 15 cm; L; Photo 2L; Envelope( #10, Monarch, 5.5 bar); Card (4 x 6 in, 5 x 8 in) | 3.5 x 5", 4 x 6", 5 x 7", 8 x 10",8.5 x 11", 8.5 x 14", A4, A6, half letter, executive | Letter, Legal, Executive, A4, A5, A6, B5, B6 | Letter; legal; 4 x 6 in; 5 x 7 in; 8 x 10 in; No. 10 envelopes |
| Measured Dimensions (excludes extensions) | 17.2" x 11.7" x 7.5" | 18.1" x 13.4" x 9.2" | 14.8" x 13.7" x 9.1" | 14.0" x 14.2" x 7.2" | 16.7" x 12" x 6" |
| Measured Weight | 12.7 lb | 18 lb | 15.0 lb | 15.0 Ib | 7.7 Ib |
| Paper Handling Input | 100 Sheets plain paper photo paper: 20 sheets 4" x 6″ or 10 sheets 5" x 7" |
225 Sheets | 250 Sheets | 250 Sheets | 60 Sheets |
| Monthly Duty Cycle | Not specified | 20,000 Pages | 5,000 Pages | 10,000 Pages | 1,000 Pages |
| Auto 2-Sided Printing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Ink Cost per Ream: B/W | $84.95 | $34.98 | $28.56 | $16.66 | $74.96 |
| Ink Cost per Ream: Color | $109.95 | $22.21 | $23.94 | NA | $94.95 |
| Claimed Pages Per Minute | 9 | 24 | 15 | 27 | 8 (black) 6 (color) |
| Measured Pages per Minute: Single-Sided B/W | 8 | 15 | 24 | 25 | 11 |
| Connectivity | Hi-Speed USB Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n wireless networking, 2.4 GHz)1 Wireless Direct Connection (Access Point Mode Only) Wireless Connect9 |
1 Wireless 802.11a/b/g/n | 100Mbps Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, USB 2.0 | USB 2.0 - no wireless connection | Wireless 802.11a/b/g/n; 1 Hi-Speed USB 2.0 |
| Operating System Compatibility | Windows:20 Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7 SP1 Mac:21 macOS 10.12.6 — 10.15 (Catalina) Chromebook Compatible 22 Mobile Operating Systems:23 iOS, iPadOS, AndroidTM |
Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7,Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit, Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit (SP1), Windows Server 2012 64-bit, Windows Server 2012 R2 64-bit, Windows Server 2016, Chrome OS Windows XP and Windows Vista not supported | Windows 10 Windows 8, 8.1 (32-bit, 64-bit) Windows 7 (32-bit, 64-bit) Mac OS X 10.6 — macOS 10.13.x11 |
Windows Server 2008 R2 Mac OS X 10.7.x, 10.8.x, 10.9.x Windows XP Home Edition Windows XP Professional |
Windows 11; Windows 10; Windows 7; macOS 10.12 Sierra; macOS 10.14 Mojave; macOS 10.15 Catalina; macOS 11 Big Sur; Chrome OS |
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Our Analysis and Test Results
While this printer does really well when printing graphics and photos, it leaves a lot to be desired all around. Check out our top-ranked home printers to see where this unit stood amongst the rest of our test lineup.
Performance Comparison
We wish the Canon Pixma TR4720 offered a better balance of performance, speeds, and operating costs.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Text Quality
The text quality of documents printed by Canon Pixma TR4720 left us underwhelmed. We observed spotty and inconsistent blacks that looked more gray, as well as some bleed through and smearing on duplex prints. We also observed oversaturated bold lettering and a frequent lack of sharpness at the edges of the text. The surprising poor document printing performance makes this model a poor candidate for those who frequently print large documents where text quality matters.
Text quality is lackluster when compared to this printers ability to produce amazing photographic prints.
Credit: Lesley Robinson
Graphics and Photos
The Canon Pixma TR4720 exhibits impressive photo quality, surpassing other great printers with richer and more vibrant colors. It boasts above-average photo resolution compared to its counterparts, excelling in color accuracy for skin tones and clothing. Notably, it realistically captures skin tones with warm undertones, accentuating subtle details. While black text may appear slightly gray, the overall legibility of graphics is clear.
It may be expensive to operate long-term, but it produces stunning photo prints.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Textures are distinctly highlighted through well-defined contrasts and shadows, and nuanced details, such as fabric textures, stand out distinctly. Across various images, details remain crisp, and the printer delivers a gorgeous display for a broad spectrum of colors.
This printer produces a high level of detail.
Credit: Lesley Robinson
Handily, the Canon Pixma TR4720 outperforms the competition with stunning and realistic prints. So, if operating costs, text quality, and speed are of no concern, you might consider this model.
Image quality holds up under some intense scrutiny.
Credit: Lesley Robinson
Operating Cost
The Canon Pixma TR4720 is an expensive printer to operate. In our operating cost testing, it consumed significantly more ink than other printers that we tested. The results were a per-page cost of 17 cents for black and white prints and 22 cents per page for color prints, or nearly four times the average for the test group.
Ease of Use
Unboxing and setting up the Canon Pixma TR4720 by installing ink and paper was a straightforward process, taking approximately 6 minutes. The provided quick start guide consisted of a QR code, leading to a website with a step-by-step setup guide for ink and paper installation, as well as recommending a print app that simplified the printer's connection to WiFi.
An accompanying app improves this model's usability.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
The Canon Pixma TR4720 features a small 2-line LCD screen that is not adjustable, along with a variety of buttons, including a number keypad for faxing and buttons for color and black copying. Indicator lights on the front provide status information, and both the input and output paper trays are conveniently located in the front. Overall, this model is easy enough to use but has some room for improvement.
The small screen on this model isn't nearly as good as the larger touchscreens present on many other printers.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Printing Speed
The Canon Pixma TR4720 is not the fastest printer we tested, averaging 38 seconds for a two page document, 4 minutes and 52 seconds for a full page photo, and a humble 5 pages per minute and 8 pages per minute printing duplex and simplex documents.
As you can see above, this is one of the slowest printers in our lineup.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Should You Buy the Canon Pixma TR4720?
If you couldn't care less about operating costs, speed, or text quality but want exceptional graphic and photo printing, then you might consider the Canon Pixma TR4720. Otherwise, there are a lot of other printers that offer a more well-rounded performance. See our top-ranked printers review for better home and photo printer options.
What Other Printers Should You Consider?
For optimal performance, the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M283fdw stands out as the best choice among the printers we tested, which alsoe includes copying, scanning, and faxing in its abilities. However, if your primary focus is on typical document printing, the HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw should be at the top of your list. Or if you're on a tighter budget, then the HP OfficeJet 8015e Wireless Color is a noteworthy alternative with a fairly low operating cost at 7 cents per black and white page and 4 cents per colored page.
Not an amazing printer all-around, but photo prints really are quite stunning.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
—
Lesley Robinson and Benjamin Hickok
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