Verdict
The Canon MAXIFY GX4050 is a great inkjet multifunction , with all the features a modest office might reasonably call for . It come with generous ink supplies , and even when they ’re live it ’s still very cheap to run . It ’s a ignominy , then , that it ’s so expensive to corrupt in the first place .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Canon MAXIFY GX4050 printer sits just above theGX3050and below theGX5050 . The GX4050 comes with a colour touchscreen , fax modem and wired networking .
The GX4050 also come with an reflex papers eater ( ADF ) that speeds up multi - page transcript , scan and fax .
It ’s an inkjet multifunction peripheral ( MFP ) with unashamedly office - focus feature , include robotlike duplex apartment ( double - sided ) printing and refillable ink cooler for low - cost printing .
Design and features
If you ’re count for a stocky MFP to do everything in a small office , the Canon MAXIFY GX4050 could be perfect for the line of work . It ’s a well - specified machine , with features suited to puzzle out from home or in a small group .
It covers what I ’d call the requirement for an office – duplex printing and an ADF – and adds handy extra including a second paper tray , which saves fuss if you often print on head paper or other strange medium .
There ’s not much wrong with the push button ascendancy on the MAXIFY GX3050 , but the GX4050 upgrade them with a reasonably large color touchscreen . It ’s loosely a little easy to practice .
This MFP also offers the flexibility of wired networking , giving you the option of cabling it to your wireless router or a Homeplug if your Wi - Fi is patchy . And while fax increasingly seems like a relic from the 1980s , it ’s still deserving having for sealed industries , clients and suppliers .
One feature that ’s rush up to date is the refillable ink cooler visible on this MFP ’s front dialog box . The Canon MAXIFY GX4050 arrives with bottled ink that ’s good for a claimed 6,000 opprobrious or 14,000 colour page ( minus a small amount drop off to the one - off ink primer process ) .
Even once you ’ve used this up , surrogate ink work out at less than 0.7p per colouring page , generate this MFP exceptionally low running game costs .
I ’m a big sports fan of refillable inkjets , and the GX4050 is a nice example . Canon ’s update its MegaTank setup cognitive process so you no longer need to worry about installing mark mind , and the ink filling routine is unfailing . This pressman ’s chalky see pigment inks are ideal for bold , fade - resistant impression on plain newspaper .
As with all ink storage tank printer , however , you pay more upfront in comeback for the savings you ’ll make on ink . Here , the GX4050 is less convincing . It ’s very expensive – about £ 250 more than I ’d ask to devote for an equivalent , magazine - based inkjet MFP . And while there ’s no doubt it would bear witness cheaper to own within just a few thousand page , it might take more free-and-easy exploiter several eld to impress the necessary volume .
Despite this , canyon offer only a one - year warranty . Confusingly , this rises to two geezerhood if you corrupt the MFP forthwith from its own on-line store , and irrespective there ’s a promotion whereby you may register it and claim an upgrade to three year .
Print speed and quality
The Canon MAXIFY GX4050 look like to the GX3050 and , in testing , it quickly became clear that they ’re essentially the same under the skin . That ’s no spoiled thing – both proffer reasonably immobile printing , scan and copying , with warm character in most jobs .
The GX4050 could deliver the first page of black school text in 18 seconds , and it lead on to reach 5.2 pages per minute ( ppm ) on our shorter written document psychometric test . It was much quick to print reprize copies of the same page , remove 16.0ppm over 25 written matter . In color , this pretermit to 6.3ppm , which is still private-enterprise for an inkjet , though it dropped further to 4.3ppm on our more complex , graphics - intensive line .
Duplex printing process is always slightly slower , as each pageboy needs to be shepherded doubly through the printer so the insolent side can be publish . This MFP could impress 5.9 images ( side ) per minute in blackened only , or 3.3ipm in coloring , which is reasonable for this machine stratum .
Pigment ink are cracking on plain report , but not so much on glossy photo report , where they tend to ride on the surface and ruin the culture . The Canon MAXIFY GX4050 does n’t even pretend to be concerned in photo impression , with no borderless option , but its prints were astonishingly good given the limitations of its ink . I timed six post card - sized photo for three and a one-half minutes .
As I ’ve come to expect from Canon , the GX4050 has a potent image scanner , paired with user - well-disposed scan computer software . Connected over Wi - Fi , it needed nine seconds to conquer a preview image , and 14 seconds to scan an A4 document at a low 150 dots per column inch ( dpi ) resolution . It demand 31 arcsecond to scan a postal card - sized exposure at a gamey - ish 600dpi , and 104 second to repeat the line at the maximal 1,200dpi .
With a speedy pressman and scanner , it ’s not surprising this MFP was a flying copier . A undivided black copy took 14 secondment , while in colour it was 20 second . Using the ADF , a 10 - varlet copy took just under a moment and a half , or two minute in color . The ADF does n’t support automatic duplex scanning , but it can make out a duplex house copy by scan first one side , then the other of double - sided archetype – it ’s a estimable compromise . I also value the low lip on the scanner platen , which attain it easy to call back the documents you ’ve put there .
Just as with the GX3050 , there ’s minuscule to criticize about the results from this MFP . I experienced a strange job where the first preview scan was skewed slenderly , even though the source text file was n’t , but repeating the trailer cure the glitch . Other than that , scan quality was more than good enough for an office - focused equipment . Photocopies were also honorable , with accurate colour reproduction and well - try exposure .
I would n’t prefer this MFP for photograph printing , but its plain paper print are extremely good . Its pigment ink are classic and strong on the pageboy , even if the colours in graphics were a touch modality less saturated than I usually choose . bleak text was about as undecomposed as you ’ll get from an inkjet , with the add together bonus that pigment ink tend to be resistant to smearing from water system or highlighter pen .
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Should you buy it?
:
This is a swift and capable office MFP , enhanced by low running price and honest specifications
It ’s an expensive machine , and you ’ll need to impress M of pages to get the welfare compared to a cartridge - based printer
Final Thoughts
There ’s not much to choose between the Canon MAXIFY GX4050 and theMAXIFY GX3050 . The former costs around £ 40 more and that buys you a touchscreen , wire Ethernet link , ADF and facsimile machine modem .
I ’d argue that makes the GX4050 better value overall , and certainly worth the extra if you need one or more of those features . Despite this , it ’s expensive even by the monetary standard of refillable pressman , and hard to recommend without reservation .
Trusted Score
How we test
Every printing machine we brush up goes through a serial publication of uniform checks designed to gauge primal things let in print lineament , speed and price .
We ’ll also equate the features with other printers at the same price point to see if you ’re sire skillful note value for your money .
FAQs
They can take a piddling more mount up , particularly if you necessitate to fit out their print head . However , once place up they usually require less maintenance . Often a single charge of ink will last for yard of page , whereas you ’ll be lucky to get a few hundred from a set of cartridges .
MAXIFY pressman are primarily mean for position utilisation . PIXMA machine are focussed on at - home usage .
