Hands-On Competitive Test Report and Videos: Canon MAXIFY vs. HP Officejet Pro Inkjet AiO’s — Which Brand is Best for Your Business?

 With their rich feature sets and low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and energy consumption, we’ve always maintained that in many way, business-inkjet printers represent the cutting edge in a sea of change. More recently, inkjet printers have attained a level of performance and manageability to the point where they can replace laser printers for micro- and small workgroup use in nearly any office, business, or enterprise. While these products are available from multiple vendors such as Brother, Canon, Epson, and Hewlett-Packard, we decided to test and compare three pairs of competitive models from the two vendors with the most experience in the business world, Canon and HP.

Naturally, there’s more to business-class printers than feeds-and-speeds or a rich feature set – they must also be easy to use, deploy, manage, and support as well as be able to withstand the rigors of daily use by casual users. This means that maintenance must also be top-notch, with easy media handling procedures (loading/changing media and accessing/removing of misfeeds), with easy-to-change high-capacity supplies.

Canon MAXIFY or HP Officejet Pro for your office? Click to view or download the full Hands-On Competitive Test Report.

About Business-Class Inkjet

Hewlett Packard Company (HP) introduced its first inkjet printer (Thinkjet) in 1984, and has been producing desktop and console inkjet printers and All-in-Ones (AiOs) targeted at the office environment for over 10 years. In fact, based on HP internal sales figures, two out of three Fortune 500 companies use HP Officejet Pro printers and AiOs for their office-printing needs.

Canon, Inc. introduced its first desktop inkjet printer (BJ-80 [Bubble Jet]) in 1985, and until the introduction of its MAXIFY series of printers and AiOs in late 2014, has concentrated for the most part on the consumer market with its PIXMA series of inkjet printers and AiOs. The MAXIFY series is Canon’s first entry into the office desktop-inkjet printer market, and the imaging technology it employs is largely based on existing PIXMA designs. While its desktop inkjet-printing technology offers no new innovation or technology, the MAXIFY line is supplemented by marketing and support plans that are tailored for the U.S. business market.

Printer Models Tested

Following are the key specifications of the models that we chose for this Hands-On Competitive Test. For more details including Total Cost of Ownership, Cost Per Page, test results, and a detailed feature-set comparison, you can view or download the full Hands-On Competitive Test Report here.

SpecificationMAXIFY MB2020Officejet Pro 6830MAXIFY MB2320Officejet Pro 8610MAXIFY MB5020Officejet Pro 8620
MSRP$179.99$179.99$199.99$199.99$299.99$299.99
Mo. Duty Cycle15,000 pages15,000 pages15,000 pages25,000 pages30,000 pages30,000 pages
Inking SystemThermal inkjetThermal inkjetThermal inkjetThermal inkjetThermal inkjetThermal inkjet
Ink TypePigment CYMKPigment CYMKPigment CYMKPigment CYMKPigment CYMKPigment CYMK
Max. Resolution600 x 1,200 dpi4,800 x 1,200 dpi600 x 1,200 dpi4,800 x 1,200 dpi600 x 1,200 dpi4,800 x 1,200 dpi
ISO Print Speed (Black/Color)16.0/11.0 ppm18.0/18.0 ppm23.0/15.0 ppm18.0/13.0 ppm23.0/15.0 ppm21.0/16.5 ppm
Duplex PrintingYesYesYesYesYesYes
Borderless PrintingNoYesNoYesNoYes
Draft ModeNoYesNoYesNoYes
Mobile/Remote PrintingYes/YesYes/YesYes/YesYes/YesYes/YesYes/Yes
Mobile ScanningYesYesYesYesYesYes
Duplex ScanningNoNoNoNoNoYes
Flatbed Size8.5” x 11.7” (A4)8.5” x 11.7” (A4)8.5″ x 11.7″ (A4)8.5” x 14” (Legal)8.5” x 11.7” (A4)8.5” x 14” (Legal)
Scan to CloudYesYesYesYesYesYes