The TR8620a is the photo-and-versatility pick, using a five-ink system with a dedicated photo black that Consumer Reports says prints very good photos on glossy paper, the best of this group. It is a full four-function AIO with a 4.3-inch touchscreen and dual trays. The trade-offs are slow color printing at under 4 ppm and higher running costs from five separate cartridges.
Full review
Photo and Print Quality
The TR8620a's standout trait is photo quality, thanks to a five-ink system with two blacks: a pigment-based black for crisp document text and a dye-based black for glossy photo prints, plus the standard cyan, magenta, and yellow. Consumer Reports found it prints very good photos on glossy paper that most people would be happy with, the best photo output of any printer in this group.
Document quality is strong too. RTINGS noted it generates high-quality documents and photos at up to 4800 x 1200 dpi, and Consumer Reports rated text quality very good and color graphics very good for reports, newsletters, and web pages. Where the Brother MFC-J4335DW and Epson WorkForce Pro WF-3820 are document specialists with weak photos, the Canon is the all-rounder that genuinely does both.
Speed and Performance
Speed is the price you pay for the photo focus. Canon rates the TR8620a at 11.7 ppm black and just 3.97 ppm color, the slowest color speed in this group by a wide margin. For document printing the black speed is acceptable, but anyone printing color graphics or photos in any volume will wait noticeably longer than they would on the Brother MFC-J4335DW or Epson WorkForce Pro WF-3820.
That slow color throughput is inherent to a printer optimized for quality over speed. It is a fine trade for a household that prints occasional high-quality photos and color documents, but a poor one for a high-volume office. The TR8620a rewards patience with output quality the faster document printers here cannot match.
Features and Versatility
The TR8620a is a genuinely versatile machine: print, copy, scan, and fax, with an automatic document feeder, a 4.3-inch color touchscreen, and dual paper trays that together hold up to 200 sheets. The touchscreen is larger than the Brother MFC-J4335DW's basic display and makes on-device tasks easy, and connectivity spans Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and USB.
Reviewers consistently praise its ease of use, compact size for its capability, and simple setup. The dual-tray design lets you keep plain paper in one and photo paper in the other, a convenience for a household that switches between document and photo printing. It packs a lot of capability into a relatively small footprint.
Running Cost
The five-cartridge system that enables the great photos also raises running costs. With five separate inks to replace, including two blacks, ongoing supply costs are higher than the Brother MFC-J4335DW's INKvestment Tank or even the four-cartridge HP OfficeJet Pro 8135e. The upside is that you replace only the color that runs out rather than a combined cartridge, which reduces waste.
For a household that prints photos and color regularly, the cost is justified by the output quality. For pure document printing it is overkill, and the cheaper-to-run Brother MFC-J4335DW or the compact HP Envy 6555e would serve better. The TR8620a's economics make sense specifically when photo quality is part of the requirement.
Where It Falls Short
The TR8620a's weaknesses are slow color printing at under 4 ppm, higher running costs from five cartridges, and a modest 200-sheet combined tray capacity. For a buyer who only prints documents, its photo-optimized design is wasted, and the document-focused Brother MFC-J4335DW, HP OfficeJet Pro 8135e, or Epson WorkForce Pro WF-3820 would be faster and cheaper to run.
It is also not the pick for high-volume offices, where the Epson WorkForce Pro WF-3820's larger tray and faster speed win. The TR8620a's appeal is narrow but distinct: it is the best photo printer in a group otherwise full of document workhorses, and that is exactly who should buy it.
Who It's Best For
Choose the TR8620a if you print a mix of documents and photos at home and want the best glossy photo quality in this group, with the versatility of dual trays and a capable touchscreen. Consumer Reports' very-good-photos verdict and the five-ink system make it the clear photo-and-versatility pick here.
Look elsewhere if you only print documents, where the faster, cheaper-to-run Brother MFC-J4335DW or HP OfficeJet Pro 8135e win, if you need high capacity, where the Epson WorkForce Pro WF-3820 fits, or if you want a compact budget printer, where the HP Envy 6555e is smaller and cheaper. The Canon is for the buyer who values photo output.
Strengths
- +Five-ink system with a dedicated photo black for very good glossy photo prints
- +Versatile: print, copy, scan, fax plus a 4.3-inch touchscreen
- +Dual paper trays and a 4800 x 1200 dpi resolution
- +Good text and color-graphics quality for the price
- +Reviewers praise ease of use and compact size for its capability
Watch-outs
- −Slow color printing at 3.97 ppm, the slowest in this group
- −Five separate cartridges raise running costs versus tank systems
- −200-sheet combined tray capacity is modest
- −Photo focus is overkill if you only print documents
How it compares
The photo-and-versatility pick. Its five-ink system prints better photos than the document-focused Brother MFC-J4335DW, HP OfficeJet Pro 8135e, or Epson WorkForce Pro WF-3820. But its 3.97 ppm color speed is the slowest here, and five cartridges cost more to run than the Brother MFC-J4335DW's INKvestment Tank. The HP Envy 6555e is cheaper and more compact for light document use.
Who this is for
At a glance: home users who print a mix of documents and photos and want the best glossy photo quality here.
Why you’d buy the Canon PIXMA TR8620a
- Five-ink system with a dedicated photo black for very good glossy photo prints.
- Versatile: print, copy, scan, fax plus a 4.3-inch touchscreen.
- Dual paper trays and a 4800 x 1200 dpi resolution.
Why you’d skip it
- Slow color printing at 3.97 ppm, the slowest in this group.
- Five separate cartridges raise running costs versus tank systems.
- 200-sheet combined tray capacity is modest.
Rating sources
“generates high-quality documents and photos at up to 4800 x 1200 dpi resolutions”
“prints very good photos on glossy paper that most people would be happy with”
“a great, affordable all-in-one inkjet for the home”
Our 4.3 score is the average of these published ratings. Ratings marked * were derived from the reviewer’s written analysis or video transcript — the publisher didn’t print an explicit numeric score, so we inferred one from their own words. Click through to verify. More about methodology.
