Canon Pixma MG5450 review

£90
Price when reviewed

We’ve become accustomed to Canon’s all-in-ones taking up residence on PC Pro’s A-List, and in 2013 it’s the turn of the affordable Canon Pixma MG5450 to keep standards up.

It makes a good start, with a smart chassis and plenty of connectivity options: you can hook up to the MG5450 via 802.11n wireless or USB 2; there’s a card reader that supports SD, MS and MMC formats; and, just like several of HP’s models, the Pixma MG5450 permits printing from a range of devices. Google Cloud Print and Apple AirPrint are supported, and Canon’s Easy-PhotoPrint app prints files from Android and iOS devices across a Wi-Fi network.

Canon Pixma MG5450

There’s no ADF (automatic document feeder), but the MG5450 can print on CD and DVDs, and there’s automatic duplex printing, too. The 7.5cm colour display isn’t a touchscreen, but the menus are easy to navigate.

The Pixma MG5450 uses a five-ink print engine: the standard CMYK tanks are supplemented with a Pigment Black tank for printing text. We had some bizarre results in our speed tests, with draft-quality prints appearing more slowly than standard-quality ones, but it isn’t worth worrying about. Even at standard quality, mono A4 prints jet out at 14.3ppm, and text is bold and crisp enough that it could almost pass for the output of a laser printer.

Colour A4 prints slow the Pixma’s output to a more modest 5.2ppm, but quality remains excellent. Up the ante with photo prints, and the Pixma is in its element: A4 prints appear in a speedy 2mins 31 secs, and the combination of bold, rich colours and oodles of grain-free detail set the Canon apart.

Canon Pixma MG5450

Scans and copies are just as good. Our 6 x 4in photo took 38 seconds to scan at 600dpi, and the results were unerringly faithful.

The one weakness is that the MG5450 isn’t the cheapest printer to run. Its A4 prints cost 2.8p per mono page and 8.9p per colour page, while 6 x 4in prints are 17.8p. Given the quality, however, this doesn’t seem unreasonable.

It all adds up to a nigh-on perfect package. The Canon MG5450 is fast, well featured and delivers print quality that eclipses most of its inkjet rivals, almost matching mono lasers for text quality. At £90, it’s a bit of a steal.

Details

Speed rating4

Basic Specifications

Colour?yes
Resolution printer final9600 x 2400dpi
Integrated TFT screen?yes
Maximum paper sizeA4
Duplex functionyes

Running costs

Cost per A4 mono page2.8p
Cost per A4 colour page8.9p

Power and noise

Dimensions455 x 369 x 148mm (WDH)

Copier Specification

Fax?no

Performance tests

6x4in photo print time1min 28s
A4 photo print time2min 31s
Mono print speed (measured)14.3ppm
Colour print speed5.2ppm

Media Handling

Borderless printing?yes
CD/DVD printing?yes
Input tray capacity125 sheets

Connectivity

USB connection?yes
Ethernet connection?no
Bluetooth connection?no

Flash media

SD card readeryes
Memory Stick readeryes
Other memory media supportMMC

OS Support

Operating system Windows 7 supported?yes
Operating system Windows Vista supported?yes
Operating system Windows XP supported?yes

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