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Canon vs HP Printer: The Showdown
Canon and Hewlett-Packard (HP) are among the two major players when it comes to printers. They are the top brands that are highly-recognized by consumers. Whether you are looking for an inkjet or laser printer, choosing between Canon or HP can be a challenging task since both offer both types of printers.
Though Canon has been proven to produce incredible print speed and quality, how is it compared to HP printers? If you are asking the same question, then this article will be helpful to you. In this article, we are going to compare Canon and HP printers based on a few aspects such as speed and quality, ink price, and paper handling. We will also compare their inkjet, laser, and multifunction/all-in-one printer versions.
Let us begin with the Canon vs HP showdown!
#1 Quality
First, let us check Canon and HP’s print, copy, and scan qualities.
Prints
- Text Prints
Regardless of the brand, laser printers always do better jobs compared to inkjet printers when it comes to text prints. However, recent inkjet printers (like Canon PIXMA TS6020) can print text documents that are comparable with laser printers. The majority of HP printers can also produce sharp text prints.
- PDF Prints
Canon’s TS6020 is your best option when it comes to sharp and sleek PDF prints, although HP can also consistently print sharp PDF texts. When it comes to graphics, HP printers are better than Canon.
- Glossy Photo Prints
All Canon and HP printers can produce superb glossy photos but Canon printers produce more natural-looking photos compared to warmer HP prints. In this case, Canon is more preferred when printing exceptional and natural glossy photos.
Canon Pixma TS 6020
HP Envy 5540
Copy & Scan
If you will be copying and scanning often, then HP printers (like Envy 5540) would be your best options. They produce detailed and seamless transitions that are more evident on plain papers.
Contrastingly, Canon printers produce rougher copies. Although Canon’s TS6020 model can produce natural-looking prints, they cannot produce detailed copies of darker areas. However, when it comes to quality and speed, Canon beats HP printers.
OVERALL QUALITY WINNER: CANON
#2 Speed
Let us now proceed to Canon and HP’s printing and copying/scanning speeds.
Printing
Canon printers can produce amazing prints at high speeds up to 10 pages/minute while HP printers can only print up to 9 pages/minute when it comes to text prints. For graphic prints, Canon still wins at an average of 2.8 pages/minute while HP can only reach up to 2.1 pages/minute. Again, Canon wins when it comes to fast text, photo, and graphic prints.
Copying & Scanning
Below are the average copying and printing speeds of Canon and HP printers:
Canon
HP
Plain Copies
13.4 seconds
24.2 seconds
Colored Copies
23.3 seconds
25.3 seconds
Black & White PDFs
8.9 seconds
9.7 seconds
Colored High-Resolution Scans
42.2 seconds
1 minute 30 seconds
As you can see, Canon still wins against HP when it comes to copying and printing speeds..
OVERALL SPEED WINNER: CANON
#3 Ink Price
When it comes to expenses, cheaper models (like Canon all-in-one printers and HP printers all in one) are not always cost-effective because they can consume a lot of ink in the long run. Below is a table showing the estimated costs per page for Canon and HP:
Canon
HP
High-Yield Cartridges
6 cents
7.2 cents
Standard Cartridges
8.3 cents
9.2 cents
Colored High-Yield Cartridges
10.9 cents
18.5 cents
Colored Standard Cartridges
21.1 cents
23.3 cents
Learn More
- Find cheapest Canon PG210XL & CL211XL Remanufactured Ink Cartridges
- Find cheapest Remanufactured Canon PGI-72 Multipack Ink Cartridge
- Why Is My Printer Printing Blank Pages and How To Fix It?
- How to Fix a Canon Printer Error b200
Based on the table above, it is evident that Canon offers the lowest overall expenses when it comes to ink usage. You can greatly reduce your ink cartridge expenses by opting for ink subscription plans. You can ask the company you bought your printer from if they offer these plans.
Canon PG- 240 XL & CL- 241 XL
HP 62XL
OVERALL INK PRICE WINNER: CANON
#4 Paper Handling
The last factor we are going to discuss is paper handling which describes a printer’s consistency, efficiency, and smoothness in moving papers from its loading tray to the final print. Canon handles paper better compared to HP with fewer repairs and paper jams but if you want to print on two-sided papers, HP would be the best choice.
PAPER HANDLING PRICE WINNER: CANON
Comparing the Best Canon & HP Printer Types
Now, let us compare Canon and HP’s most popular printer models based on the printer type.
#1 Laser Printers
Canon Laser Printer
HP LaserJet Printer
- Best Canon Laser Printer: Canon Color imageCLASS LBP7660Cdn
- Price: Around $500
- Print Speed: 21 pages/minute for black & white, colored, and double-sided pages
- Can hold 250 sheets
- Holds 50 sheets
- Best HP LaserJet Printer: HP Color Laserjet CP2025n
- Price: $350 – $600
- Can produce excellent text and graphic prints but not that good photo prints
- Holds 250 sheets
- Does not have memory card slots, PictBridge capability, and LCD viewer
#2 Inkjet Printers
Canon Inkjet Printer
HP Inkjet Printer
- Best Canon Inkjet Printer: Canon Pixma iP4820
- Price: $84
- Has a PickBridge capability
- Has a money-saving app for individual color ink cartridges
- Can print at 9600 x 2400 DPI 4×6 photos
- Can produce good-quality text prints
- Does not have networking capabilities, LCD viewer, and a memory card reader
- Best HP Inkjet Printer: HP Officejet 6000
- Price: $64.12 – $154.41
- Does not have a PickBridge capability
- Has individual color ink cartridges, internal Ethernet, and wireless capabilities
- Can produce decent prints at 4800 x 1200 DPI.
- Does not have an LCD viewer and memory card slots
- Slightly expensive for a compact printer with many limits
#3 Multifunction/All-in-One Printers
Canon Multifunction Printer
HP All-in-One Printer
- Best Canon Multifunction Printer: Canon Pixma MG8120
- Price: $229.84 – $346.55
- Holds 150 papers
- A wireless printer that prints, copies, and scans
- Does not have a FAX capability
- Two-sided print at 9600 x 2400 DPI
- You can preview as well as edit photos
- Works on Mac and Windows
- Best HP All-in-One Printer: HP Officejet Pro 8500A e-All-in-One A910a
- Average Price: $180
- Holds 250 papers
- Prints, copies, scans, and faxes
- Prints at 4800 x 1200 DPI
- Main downside is that it will not work if a single cartridge runs out
PictBridge connection
Reads standard memory cards
Built-in Ethernet and Wi-Fi
Can print directly from iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch
The Verdict
Though Canon and HP are both popular in the printing industry, Canon outshines HP in all aspects as you have seen in our comparisons. However, HP printers are cheaper compared to Canon printers but do not base your buying decision on price only. Your printer will be your “partner” for a couple of years so you have to choose wisely. You can also check out our Canon vs Brother printer and Canon vs EPSON printer articles.
OVERALL WINNER: CANON
Where you able to choose which printer is best suited for you? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.
Make sure to check out YoyoInk’s other printer comparison articles below:
- Canon vs Brother Printer: A Comparison of the Best Printer Models
- Canon vs EPSON Printer: The Showdown
If you want more Canon and HP printer reviews, you can read the comparisons below:
Ravi
Thanks for this comparison, helps me decide which printer to choose for home use.
Van Nguyen
Thanks for your advice! Very useful it is!
ELaine
This article is clearly showing Canon is the best all around. That helps!! My HP is not working with my computer, need one that will recognize and work with my Computers!Thanks