Canon Pixma MG4270 Review

An inkjet multifunction device (MFD) is the most affordable solution if you want to print, scan and take photocopies at home—you can buy one for under Rs 4,000. The more advanced models feature a card reader, LCD display and built-in Wi-Fi adapter. So, the bonus features include wireless printing capability and the option to print photos directly from memory cards. The Canon Pixma MG4270 is one such premium inkjet MFD for home and office use. Let’s find out whether it’s a worthy investment.

A compact multifunction device with wireless capability

Design and features

The Pixma MG4270 sports a space-saving design. It’s about as large as an entry-level MFD, and the feed and output trays are designed to be folded up when not in use. In addition to minimising the footprint, it also helps prevent dust from entering the printer. The shell is all-black and thankfully, there are no glossy surfaces. So there is no question of surfaces getting stained with fingerprints or scratched. The only glossy bit is the screen of the tilting 2.5-inch LCD display. Along with the card reader that reads MS Duo and SD memory cards, the display comes in handy to preview photos before printing them. In addition to direct printing, the card reader also makes it possible to scan photos directly to memory cards.

The MG4270 uses two cartridges – CMY (colour) and Black

The MG4270 uses two print cartridges (CMY and Black) and the maximum print resolution is 4800 x 1200 dpi. The optical resolution of the flatbed scanner is 1200 x 2400 dpi. Now, we have to see whether such a resolution translates into crisp results. At Rs 799 and Rs 1,199 for the black and colour cartridges respectively, the cost of the consumables isn’t too high.

An LCD display and navigation aids make operation easy

Thanks to the LCD display, the user interface of the printer is graphical. This makes it easy to make changes to the print, scanning and copying settings. The navigation comprises three buttons below the display to choose functions/options, a 5-way D-pad and Home and Back buttons. The UI is snappy and very intuitive—tinker with the UI for a few minutes and you’ll be well-versed with what this printer is capable of. Some of the interesting features include Quiet mode, which sobers down the mechanisms to reduce noise, two-sided printing aid and the ability to print web templates and photos from online albums courtesy the built-in Wi-Fi adapter. The WLAN setup menu helps configure the wireless network settings in detail.

The Eco and Quiet settings configurable from the menu

Depending on what you wish to install, it takes up to 15 minutes to install the drivers and setup the printer. A notable addition to the package is the My Image Garden application that makes it easy to manage photos, enhance them using filters, print calendars and so on. Canon’s website also has a link to Creative Park from where you can download content for printing greeting cards, paper craft, scrapbook and more.

Performance

It’s ultimately the performance that matters most—a good feature set should ideally translate into pristine photo prints, crisp formation of text and flawless reproduction of colours and contrast, especially with a premium inkjet multifunction device such as this one.

Speed: The print speed isn’t exceptional, but just above average. On an average, it takes around 8 seconds to buffer the print job before it pulls in the first sheet and starts printing. The MG4270 printed 5 percent text document at 8 pages per minute (ppm) in both Fast and Normal mode. The only difference is the amount of ink used to print in the two modes; the latter is darker and crisper. With quiet mode activated, the speed drops to 5 ppm. The black and white text copying speed is about the same—it takes about 8 seconds to scan and buffer the page and then it prints at 9 ppm in fast mode. Colour copying is much slower. We copied a magazine page that had a mix of black text and colour photos. After scanning and buffering, it printed at 3 ppm in normal mode. So, if you copy a single page in colour, it will take around 40 seconds for the print to roll out from the time you press the Start button. Photo prints of 4x6 size is the slowest, because the focus is on print quality. In Standard mode, it takes around 50 seconds to print a borderless 4x6 colour photo, and the same job takes 1 minute and 43 seconds with the quality set to Best.

Quality: We started with text prints. The quality of text printing is very good if you use good quality paper (bond or alabaster paper). Even very fine text in 3 point size was legible.

Print quality – text

We printed a few 4x6 photos on 240 gsm glossy photo paper of very high quality. The results weren’t too impressive. The results lacked contrast because the colours were a bit drab. Also, with the quality set to Standard, the prints were quite grainy. The High quality mode yielded slightly less grainy results, but the colours and contrast didn’t improve. The same was the case with copying pages with text and colour photos. The output was grainy in Fast mode and slightly better off in Normal mode. The quality of scanning is just about average—the results are a bit noisy and lack contrast. However, noise reduction and increasing the black level in a photo editing application should give scanned results a facelift.

Copying quality – Magazine page used

Print quality – 4x6 photos

We weren’t quite impressed with the overall performance.

Verdict and Price in India

Considering the Pixma MG2270, which has an almost identical feature set minus the built-in Wi-Fi adapter, card reader and LCD display, and retails for less than half the price, the Canon Pixma MG4270 is quite overpriced at Rs 8,760. At this price, it’s fair to expect flawless print quality and more features such as PictBridge support. But sadly, the print speed isn’t exceptional and the quality of printing is just about average. Consider this printer only if the support for wireless printing is a priority and your print jobs mainly involve printing text and minimal graphics.