Canon PIXMA iP4700 review

Straightforward printing with the emphasis on speed and quality, rather than frills

Canon pixma ip4700
Can you lose features but maintain quality?

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Canon pixma ip4700

Compact, neatly styled and solidly built, the iP4700 is an inkjet printer pure and simple, without the all-in-one extras that currently seem to be in vogue. But unless you really need your printer to be a photocopier or fax machine as well, it's got a great deal to offer.

We liked

Dual input trays save swapping between plain paper and photo paper, the CD/DVD printing tray works really well, auto duplexing is a tree-hugging bonus, print speeds are positively racy and quality is immaculate for both document printing and photo output.

The iP4700 is easy to live with. We've been using ours for several months now and we've not once suffered a single blocked print head nozzle. The printer just goes about its business quickly, quietly and efficiently, every time.

We disliked

Built around the new generation of Canon ink cartridges, running costs are higher than some previous models but are still in line with inkjet printers from the likes of Brother, Epson, HP and Lexmark.

Other than that, the only missed trick is that there's no Wi-Fi compatibility, which would have been nice.

Verdict

For reliability, ease of use, speed, versatility and sheer quality, the iP4700 is currently the best bare-bones printer on the market.