1. Introduction & Overview
The Canon Pixma TR8620a is an all-in-one inkjet printer designed for the ultimate hybrid user. If you are someone who works from home during the day—needing to scan invoices and print double-sided reports—but also loves printing high-quality borderless family photos on the weekends, this printer aims to be your perfect match.
What sets the TR8620a apart from standard office printers is its 5-color individual ink system, which includes a dedicated photo black cartridge alongside the standard pigment black and colors. Combined with robust features like an Automatic Document Feeder (ADF), an SD card slot, and a massive touchscreen, it offers a level of versatility that is hard to beat in its price bracket.
2. Design and Build Quality
Canon has managed to pack a surprising amount of hardware into a relatively compact footprint. Measuring roughly 17.3 x 13.8 x 7.5 inches and weighing around 17.4 lbs, it sits comfortably on a desk without demanding too much real estate. The black, squared-off chassis is unassuming but professional.
The front panel features a tilting 4.3-inch color LCD touchscreen. It is highly responsive and makes navigating menus, setting up Wi-Fi, or printing directly from an SD card incredibly simple. Paper handling is uniquely versatile: it features a 100-sheet front paper cassette (ideal for standard copy paper) and a 100-sheet rear paper tray (perfect for feeding rigid photo paper, envelopes, or cardstock without bending them around internal rollers).
3. Setup Process and Connectivity
Unboxing and Power-Up
Remove the printer from the box and peel away all orange transport tapes. Plug it into power and press the power button on the tilting front panel.
Install Cartridges
Lift the scanner unit to access the printhead carriage. Install the 5 individual ink cartridges (PGI-280 Pigment Black, CLI-281 Photo Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow) into their color-coded slots until they click and their red LEDs light up.
Printhead Alignment
Follow the on-screen prompts on the 4.3" touchscreen to run the automatic printhead alignment using a sheet of plain paper loaded in the front cassette.
Wireless & Mobile Pairing
Connect directly via the Wi-Fi wizard on the touchscreen, or pair instantly via the Canon PRINT app, Apple AirPrint, or Mopria.
Connectivity options are exhaustive. It supports standard Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n), Ethernet LAN for wired office networks, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, and Hi-Speed USB to a single computer. Mobile users can effortlessly print via Apple AirPrint, Mopria, and the Canon PRINT app. The built-in SD Memory Card Reader is a massive bonus for photographers, allowing direct photo review and printing straight from camera memory cards without touching a computer.
4. Print Quality and Performance
This is where the Canon Pixma TR8620a truly shines:
- Text Documents: Thanks to the pigment-based PGI-280 black cartridge, text documents are laser-sharp, highly legible, and resistant to highlighter smudging.
- Photo Printing: The inclusion of a dye-based "Photo Black" (CLI-281) cartridge gives photos a depth, contrast, and shadow detail that 4-color office printers simply cannot replicate. Borderless photos printed on glossy paper are vivid, natural, and gallery-worthy.
- Speed: It pushes out documents at approximately 15 images per minute (ipm) in black and 10 ipm in color. While not the fastest in the commercial arena, it is more than sufficient for everyday home office tasks.
- Auto-Duplexing: The printer handles automatic two-sided printing effortlessly, helping you save paper on large document runs.
5. Scanning, Copying, and Faxing
For administrative duties, the printer comes equipped with a 20-sheet Automatic Document Feeder (ADF). This allows you to stack multi-page documents for rapid copying or scanning to PDF. However, there is a catch: the ADF does not auto-duplex scan. If you need to copy a two-sided document, you will have to manually flip the stack and run it through the feeder again. For scanning fragile items or thick books, the standard flatbed scanner works perfectly at up to 1200 x 2400 optical dpi.
The printer also retains full Super G3 fax capabilities with up to 250-page transmission memory, meeting compliance requirements for remote medical, real estate, and legal paperwork.
6. Running Costs & Cartridge Economics (The Catch)
The TR8620a is a traditional cartridge-based printer, and this is its biggest drawback. It requires 5 separate ink cartridges. The standard capacity cartridges that come in the box run out relatively quickly. If you print frequently, replacing 5 cartridges will become expensive fast, driving your cost-per-page quite high.
Canon does offer XL and XXL (extra extra high yield) cartridges, which noticeably improve the economy of the printer, but it will never compete with an EcoTank or Smart Tank in terms of raw volume running costs. This printer is best suited for users who print in low-to-medium volumes (under 200 pages a month) but demand absolute premium quality when they do print.
Cartridge Yield & Running Cost Comparison
| Cartridge Type | MSRP Price Range | Estimated Page Yield | Cost-Per-Page (Black / Color) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Capacity (PGI-280 / CLI-281) | ~$65 (Full 5-pack) | ~200 - 250 pages | 7.5¢ text / 18.5¢ color |
| XL High Yield Set | ~$95 (Full 5-pack) | ~400 - 500 pages | 5.2¢ text / 13.0¢ color |
| XXL Extra High Yield Set | ~$135 (Full 5-pack) | ~600 - 800 pages | 3.8¢ text / 9.5¢ color |