Canon Pixma TS5150: family and affordable inkjet printer

Presentation

The Canon Pixma TS5150 is an inkjet printer which provides, in addition to printing, the functions of scanner and copier. Sold at the recommended price of € 79.99, it is installed under the excellent TS6150 in the mid-range of the manufacturer's multifunction family printers.

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Ergonomics

The Pixma TS5150 from Canon is a perfect mix between the Pixma TS5050 (from which it borrows its control panel) and TS6050 (from which it takes identical design). As such, it benefits from a particularly compact design for a 3-in-1 multifunction (37.2 x 31.5 x 13.9 cm for 6.2 kg). This size means all shutters closed. However, as soon as you load A4 size paper in its cassette, the latter slides to protrude slightly, adding 5 cm deep. Canon has in any case been able to effectively optimize its Pixma during the last redesign and we still appreciate this format as much.

Compared to the TS5050, this Pixma TS5150 is evolving favorably in its paper handling, now integrating a real dedicated tray accessible on the front with a capacity of 100 sheets. The folding rear module is always there and will allow you to juggle easily between the print media. On the other hand, we lose the card reader, which was present on the TS5050.

In terms of handling, we find the limits of a control panel that lacks generosity. Here, no touch screen, you have to settle for a small color LCD display of 6.2 cm diagonal, and have the patience to navigate the printer menus using a small directional pad incorporating the validation. It is not fundamentally unpleasant, but not optimal either as regards the convenience of use. You will also need to know how to do it without a USB host port.

It is however fashionable to note that a hatch is present at the rear of the printer to allow easy intervention in the event of a paper jam. As for the connection, it is done either by wire via USB to a computer, or by Wi-Fi, which makes it easy to share the printer on the local network. Wi-Fi Direct is also there to connect a mobile terminal to the Pixma TS5150 without an intermediate gateway. Unsurprisingly, the Canon Print application that we are getting to know is efficient and easy to understand, whether it is to configure, monitor or use the printer. Good news, most of the major cloud printing services are supported.

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Consumption

In terms of energy consumption, the Canon Pixma TS5150 is at the expected level: only 0.8 watt in standby, and 16 watts during the printing of a photo in A4 format. It also proves to be particularly silent in operation, our sound level meter having noted values of 45 dB in peak when printing a document of several pages and 43 dB in full photo work.

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Cost per page

Big change for the Pixma TS5150 compared to the TS5050: while the latter works with five separate cartridges from the Canon 570/571 series, the TS5150 only ships two cartridges, namely the PG540 and CL541. We'll see what impact this has on photo prints, knowing that it doesn't make much difference to the cost per page - despite what we might have thought. Indeed, the Pixma TS5150 displays a cost per page of 3.7 euro cents in black and white (0.037 €) and 9.2 euro cents (0.092 €) in color, against respectively 3 and 9, 3 euro cents for the TS5050. We stay very slightly below 10 euro cents, cost per page of inkjet printers of this ilk.

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Scanner and copies

The Pixma TS5150 has a flatbed scanner with a resolution of 1200 x 2400 dpi with 16-bit sampling. Fast, it can scan an A4 document at 100 dpi in just 11 seconds, and a 10 x 15 cm photo at 300 dpi in 12 seconds. The copier is also efficient. It takes 11 seconds to photocopy an A4 document in black and white and 19 seconds to perform the same operation in color.

However, we must warn you about the rather poor quality of the copies, more in color than in black and white: they lack precision and the colors are very washed out.

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Photo

Unlike the Pixma TS5050 which managed to establish itself as a rational choice for printing quality photos on a tight budget, the TS5150 suffers from a slightly lower photo rendering and, above all, a fairly marked lack of fidelity in terms of colors.

A relatively marked drift on blue (delta E of 10), yellow (9.6) and red (9.5) which penalizes the average dE established at 7.2. We are almost at the level of an Epson Expression Home XP-445 (7.4), which is not particularly gifted in photos. Recall that beyond a delta E of 3, the human eye is able to perceive a difference in hue between the ideal color and the printed color.

The printing speed of the TS5150 in photos is respectable. It only takes 55 seconds to output a borderless 10 x 15 cm photo and 2 minutes to perform the same operation in A4. The TS5050 put 53 seconds and 1 min 34 s in the same exercise.

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Office

In office automation, the Pixma TS5150 suffers from the same illness as its sisters: to avoid unwanted ink transfers, Canon limits the black and white printing rate by forcing the printer to pause every 2 or 3 pages, allowing time for the ink to dry. Result, in black and white, it does not exceed 7.6 pages per minute (ppm), while it is capable of printing up to 11.1 ppm in color. It's better than an Epson XP-445 in color (7.1 ppm), but much worse in black and white (15.4 ppm). If it is not very fast in automatic two-sided printing (4.8 ppm), the TS5150 has the advantage of offering this printing mode.

The printing quality in office automation is very good. The texts are precise on a white background as on heavier backgrounds, while the blotting effect is perfectly mastered. Documents - even loaded with graphic information - thus remain perfectly clear and legible.

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Conclusion

Despite beneficial changes to its ergonomics compared to the Pixma TS5050, this TS5150 suffers from inferior photo skills and a copier function with problematic rendering. We therefore continue to prefer its little sister - as long as it is marketed.

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