Canon PIXMA 5270 Inkjet Multi Function Printer

We reviewed the Canon PIXMA 6170 back in May, this year. We felt that the 6170 was an average performer, but what it brought to the table was a huge list of features. Today, we look at the PIXMA 5270, which on first glimpse is very similar to the PIXMA 6170 albeit a little low on features and price as well.

Design, Build Quality and Interface
The PIXMA 5270 looks quite attractive in its black glossy finish that the entire printer is made up of. The glossiness unfortunately also means that it’s a fingerprint magnet, cleaning dust off it is simpler. While the lid looks good overall, it has a very flimsy and loose feel. The same cannot be said of the tray that opens up for printed documents though - it’s quite solid and sturdy. The front and back loading paper trays are pretty loose as well and they feel quite cheap.

Well designed with a nice looking interface

The 5270 has an interface panel right next to the lid at the top. There’s a 2.4-inch colour LCD display, which can be tilted to a 90-degree angle. Below the display there are buttons for navigation and selecting different options. For navigation in particular, the printer has a movable dial that also has four-way keys to move between menus and options. There’s a key at the centre to select options and there are specific buttons for Home, Return, Menu and buttons to select copying/scanning for black and white or colour prints. The interface is quite simple and intuitive, making it easy to use as well.

Features
The PIXMA 5270 has a flap at the front, that once opened, reveals the memory card slots. This is handy as it enables users to print pictures directly without the need of a PC to print it from. There’s a MemoryStick, MS Duo and an SD card slot. Below the flap, Canon has provided a USB 2.0 port for reading data from pen drives and flash drives. The printer has Wi-Fi 802.11n capabilities which work pretty well and it’s quite easy to setup the printer to a network wirelessly.

USB 2.0 port adds to a nice list of connectivity options

The 5270 is an MFP (Multi Function Printer) that’s supposed to do a host of jobs other than just print. It can scan, copy but misses out on fax. Nevertheless, it can also function as a photo printer and can print on glossy and normal 4R and A4 sized sheets of paper. The scanner has a resolution of 2400 x 4800 dpi which can directly be saved on a pen drive or memory card in JPG or PDF formats. The 5270 uses a total of five cartridges of Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and a special Black for photos. The printer can print photos straight from your iPhone or PlayStation 3 console.

Performance
First, taking a look at the standard text printouts, we found that the edges of the text weren’t very sharp and there was some blotting noticed in the text. Alongside straight lines, there was a faint bordering line as well.However, without using a magnifying glass, these details are barely visible. The prints taken with economy mode of printing are clearly a lot less denser in nature. This is clearly visible even without a magnifying glass. The standard print mode tends to blot a little more (and is clearly visible) than the fast printing modes. Warmup  times are really low and typically a single print predominantly filled with text takes no longer than 13 seconds. A very dense sheet filled with text takes around 18 seconds to print.

The front tray like the back tray is quite flimsy and loose

Scanning and copying quality and speed is reasonably decent. We were able to copy an A4 sheet of paper in 26 seconds, which is reasonably quick for a printer that’s priced this low. Coloured prints look just okay but the colours are quite natural. The banding issues that we’ve noticed with some prints was noticable as well. Bands, a centimetre in width could be noticed. The standard printing quality produces way better prints. The bands that were visible in the ink saving speed modes are no longer visible.

Printing speed isn’t too shabby either. Ten prints of standard PDF documents take 3 minutes and 16 seconds. The economy mode only speeds up this by process by some 30 seconds for the same 10 prints.

Suitable for entry-level users but has nothing special to offer

Verdict
The Canon PIXMA 5270 brings a whole bunch of features including Wi-Fi connectivity and memory card readers. For most entry-level users, this is more than sufficient. Priced at Rs. 9,955, it’s also pretty affordable. For home users who are looking for a device to print, scan, copy and print photos every now and then, this should make a good purchase.