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Canon vs Epson Printers Comparison: Which is Better?
Canon and EPSON printers are among the top printer brands that are known for their excellent prints, especially in digital printmaking. Each of these brands offers features that will surely amaze you. However, like all other equipment, Canon and EPSON printers also have their own advantages and disadvantages.
Since you came across this article, you might be interested in which of these two printer brands will be worth your money. Look no further because you are in the right place. Today, we will compare Canon and EPSON printers based on their top reviewed printer models. We will also give you an overview of their top all-in-one, inkjet, and laser printers. Keep on reading to know more!
#1 Print Quality
Let us start by discussing the print, copy, and scan quality of the top Canon and EPSON printers.
Prints
Text Prints
Although laser printers produce razor-sharp texts compared to inkjet printers, you will find inkjet printers that can produce a comparable quality like Canon’s Pixma MG3620 and Pixma TS6020. For EPSON, its WF-2760 inkjet printer not only produces sharp texts but also has the fastest text printing speeds among inkjets.
For duplex printing, Epson’s WF-6590 produces equally sharp duplex text prints while Canon’s TS6020 produces lighter ones.
Canon PIXMA MG3620
Canon PIXMA TS6020
PDF Prints
Canon’s TS6020 produces the sharpest and sleekest PDF text prints but EPSON’s WF-2760 can also produce consistently attractive prints.
Epson Workforce WF-2760
Glossy Photo Prints
Canon Printers
- More naturally-looking prints
- Provides more details in shadowy areas compared to EPSON’s XP-640
- Most models (TS6020 and MG3620 included) produce saturation for deep red colors
- All models produce vibrant photos
EPSON Printers
- XP-640 is more ideal for fine details and saturated colors but it makes photos look unnatural
- WF-2760 produces light-colored photos
Copy & Scan
Canon Printers
- Rougher-looking copies
- More impressive scan quality compared to EPSON models
EPSON Printers
- XP-640 produces smooth transitions but WF-6590 and WF-2760 produce darker outputs
- Rough scans on XP-640 while WF-2760 needs to do a preview scan before it can create a quality scan
Overall, Canon wins when it comes to text, PDF, and glossy photo prints as well as in scan quality. The only downside is its rough-looking copies.
OVERALL QUALITY WINNER: CANON
#2 Printing, Copying & Scanning Speed
Next, let us discuss Canon and EPSON’s printing, copying, and scanning speeds.
Printing
Below are the printing speeds of Canon and EPSON printers:
Canon
EPSON
Text Documents (Average)
7.7 PPM
7.9 PPM
Text Documents (Fastest)
9.8 PPM (TS6020)
9.9 PPM (WF-2760)
Graphic Documents (Average)
2.8 PPM
3.1 PPM
Graphic Documents (Fastest)
3.1 PPM (TS6020)
5.1 PPM (XP-640)
PRINTING SPEED WINNER: EPSON
Copying & Scanning
Below are the copying and scanning speeds of Canon and EPSON printers:
Canon
EPSON
Monochrome Copies (Average)
13.4 seconds
11.4 seconds
Colored Copies (Average)
23.3 seconds
27.9 seconds
Black & White PDFs (Fastest)
8.9 seconds (MG3620)
16.1 seconds (XP-640)
Colored High-Resolution Scans (Average)
49.2 seconds
1 minute 10 seconds
Colored High-Resolution Scans (Fastest)
39.4 seconds (MG3620)
41.6 seconds (XP-640)
COPYING & SCANNING SPEED WINNER: CANON
#3 Ink Price
Canon multifunction printers and EPSON all-in-one printers can be cost-effective choices but cheaper does not always mean better. Here is a table showing Canon and EPSON’s average costs per page:
Canon
EPSON
High-Yield Cartridges
6 cents
5 cents
Standard Cartridges
8.3 cents
6.9 cents
Colored High-Yield Cartridges
10.9 cents
14.8 cents
Colored Standard Cartridges
21.1 cents
22.1 cents
INK PRICE WINNER: CANON
Canon PGI-280 XL & CLI-281 XXL
Canon 240 &241 XL
Epson 273XL / T273XL
Epson T288 XL
You can check out YoyoInk’s affordable but high-quality ink cartridges and toner cartridges for your Canon or EPSON printer. Aside from Canon and EPSON, we also offer supplies for other printer brands like HP, Brother, Kodak, Lexmark, and more.
#4 Paper Handling
If you are going to print two-sided documents often, better go for a printer with a duplexer but make sure that the quality of the two-sides are both sharp as we have mentioned before. Also, it would be more convenient for you if you are going to get a printer with an automatic document feeder.
Learn More
- Canon B200 Error: How to Fix?
- Compare and Shop for Remanufactured Canon CLI-42 Ink Cartridges
- What Causes Printer to Print Blank Pages and How to Resolve It?
- Compare and Shop for Compatible Canon Printer Ink Cartridges
However, not all ADFs are fast. EPSON WF-2760’s ADF is quite slow. It is still better than Canon’s MG3620 and TS6020, though, because these models do not have automatic document feeders. Below are the paper handling capacities of the Canon and EPSON models we have been discussing:
Printer Model
Paper Handling Capacity
Canon Pixma MG3620
100 sheets plain paper OR
20 sheets of 4×6 photo paper
Canon Pixma TS6020
Front Tray: 100 sheets of plain paper
Rear Tray: 100 sheets of plain paper OR 20 sheets of 4×6 photo paper OR 10 sheets of 5×7 photo paper
EPSON XP-640
Front Tray: 100 sheets of plain paper
Rear Tray: 20 sheets of photo paper
EPSON WF-6590
Front Tray: 500 sheets of plain paper
Rear Tray: 80 sheets of plain paper
ADF: 50 sheets of plain paper
EPSON WF-2760
150 sheets of plain paper
EPSON Workforce XP-640
<<< >>>
EPSON T410 XL Ink Cartridges
When it comes to paper handling, EPSON WF-6590 can hold the most number of papers but Canon’s models can hold photo papers which WF-6590 cannot so you judge which of these two models wins.
Comparing the Best Canon & EPSON Printer Types
Let us end our discussion by giving you an overview of the best Canon and EPSON multifunction, inkjet, and laser printers according to PCMag. Below is an overview of each model under each category:
#1 Best Multifunction Printer
Canon imageClass MF746Cdw
EPSON EcoTank Pro ET-5850
Price: $1,595.00 at JTF
Overview:
- It comes with a powerful enterprise-oriented feature set which is suitable for large organizations.
Review by PCMag here.
Price: $849.99 at EPSON US
Overview:
- It offers good quality and inexpensive prints as well as a sufficient input capacity and free unlimited ink for 2 years. It is good for workgroups and small businesses.
Review by PCMag here.
#2 Best InkJet Printers
Canon Pixma G6020 MegaTank Printer
EPSON EcoTank Pro ET-16650
Price: $269.99 at Canon USA
Overview:
- An entry-level, bulk-ink multifunction printer ideal for home office use. It offers excellent output with very low running costs.
Review by PCMag here.
Price: $1,129.99 at EPSON US
Overview:
- A wide-format all-in-one printer with good and inexpensive prints. It comes with free unlimited ink for 2 years which makes it ideal for workgroups and small businesses.
Review by PCMag here.
#3 Best Laser Printers
For laser printers, EPSON has already stopped manufacturing laser printers. Their major products are inkjets which they say offer comparable printing quality and speed to laser printers. Below is the top reviewed Canon printer though:
Canon imageClass LBP226dw
Price: $299.00 at Canon USA
Overview:
- A monochrome laser printer with low operation costs that can produce excellent quality graphics, texts, and grayscale photos at a decent speed.
Review by PCMag here.
The Verdict
Overall, we can say that Canon wins. Canon produces high-quality prints, copies, and scans with cheaper running costs compared to EPSON. However, though Canon wins in terms of copying and scanning speeds, EPSON leads when it comes to printing speed.
For paper handling, EPSON’s top printers offer higher capacities but Canon’s models offer photo paper feed options. Given this review, your final choice will still depend on your budget and needs but we hope that this article was able to help you a lot with your decision.
You can also read about YoyoInk’s other printer comparison articles below: