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Canon Maxify MB5370 review: An inkjet printer tailored to business needs

By Ng Chong Seng - 10 Mar 2015
Launch SRP: S$459

Performance & Conclusion

Performance

To recap, the Maxify MB5370 is a 4-in-1 device that prints, copies, scans, and faxes. It uses the same print engine as the rest of the models in the Maxify series, which explain their identical print speeds (in simplex mode at A4 size) of 23ipm for B&W and 15ipm for color printing. (In draft mode, we’re looking at an even faster 32.5ppm and 24ppm for B&W and color respectively.) In duplex mode, the speed drops to 8ipm for color. You can find Canon’s print speeds measurement report here.

Here at HardwareZone, our test patterns, which consist of Word, Excel, and PDF documents, each 4 pages long, closely mimic the ISO/IEC 24734 standard. As such, even though we use pages per minute (PPM) as our unit of measurement, we believe our results are a fair comparison to Canon’s IPM numbers. We exclude the first printout (because it includes processing time) when we calculate our average print speed - in other words, we’re measuring the print engine in full flow.

 

Print speed results

Using the MB5370’s default Standard quality mode, here are our print speed results:

Our simplex tests returned print speeds of 24.1ppm for B&W and 15.5ppm for color printing. For duplex, we measured 11.2ppm for B&W and 7.8ppm for color. In short, Canon isn’t lying about the print speeds, which is expected since it follows the ISO/IEC 24734 international standard. Another thing that contributes to the quick rate is the overlapping paper feed mechanism, which would draw the next sheet even when the current sheet is still being printed.

The first page out timings are looking good too: it can be as quick as 8.6 seconds for B&W and 9.5 seconds for color.

It’s worth pointing out here that these average print speeds will vary depending on your system’s configuration, software used, as well as the document’s complexity. To give an example, for our Excel document test, the B&W print speed in simplex mode is 20.8ppm; but for the Word document, it hit as high as 28.8ppm.

Here are the breakdowns of our print speeds based on the various document formats:

 

 

Copy speed results

A printer’s print speed only tells half the copy speed story. That’s because for copy tasks, the rate is affected by the scanner’s speed as well. It also depends on whether you’re using the scanner glass or the ADF. Once again, you can find Canon’s MB5370 copy speeds measurement report based on ISO/IEC29183 and 24735 here.

For our simplex copy speed tests, we rely on our 4-page PDF document printed in multiple sets to calculate the estimated throughput. ADF duplex scan and 2-sided printing settings were enabled during duplex copy tests.

Using the MB5370’s default Standard quality mode, here are our copy speed results:

 

Our simplex tests using the ADF returned copy speeds of 21.5ppm for B&W and 9.1ppm for color copying. These compare favorably to Canon’s claims of 21ipm and 10ipm respectively. For duplex, we got 9.2ppm for B&W and 6ppm for color, versus Canon’s 8ipm and 5ipm speeds.

To give another data point, it took about 28.4 seconds to get the first set (4 pages) of simplex color copy, and 45.8 seconds for the first set (4 pages) of duplex color copy.

With the flatbed scanner, we averaged 9.1 seconds for a 1-page B&W copy, and 13.4 seconds for a 1-page color copy.

In a nutshell, the MB5370 is a pretty fast copier, and that’s in large part due to its fast print engine. And because its twin-CIS (contact image sensor) ADF allows for double-sided scanning in a single pass, it’s also quite quick when copying two-sided documents.

Of course, in addition to physical copies, the scanner also allows you to make digital duplicates. The one on the MB5370 has an optical resolution of 1,200 x 1,200dpi, which is low compared to the Pixma MX927’s 2,400 x 4,800dpi, though it’s on a par with most laser-based multi-function devices. Perhaps Canon feels that Maxify’s target audience don’t enlarge that much, or a higher sampling resolution isn’t needed since the printer prints at a maximum of 600 x 1,200dpi. Whichever is the case, this is evidence of how Maxify differs from the Pixma series: more documents and less photos focused. That said, interpolated resolution goes up to 19,200dpi, which can be useful for niche cases like line art.

For those interested, it took about 32 seconds to scan a 4-page color document to the PC in PDF format at 300dpi. In B&W, it took 25 seconds.

 

Print and copy quality

We’ve already established that the MB5370 is a fast printer and copier, but is the quality any good?

Print quality setting at Standard.

Copy quality setting at Standard.

Print quality setting at Standard.

At an arm’s length, it’s not easy to see the difference between the outputs of the Maxify MB5370 and a laser printer. Upon closer inspection though, it’s clear that a laser printer still produces sharper and more full-bodied text more consistently. The gap between inkjet and laser still exists, but it’s closing; and for the MB5370, we think that most users would be reasonably happy with its print quality. Color text, graphics, and photos fared a tad worse, with print dots often visible and less smooth gradations, possibly due to the lower resolution and larger ink droplet size.

Copy quality is also about average, though it’s again on a par with what we’ve seen from most inkjet and laser multi-function devices equipped with a contact image sensor.

If you aren't in a rush, you can print using the High quality setting to achieve better image quality.

Another piece of good news is that the Maxify printers use a new pigment-based ink that's resistant to marker ink and water spills. We've gone over the text with highlighters and even poured a cup of water over the printouts, and they came away unscathed.

 

Conclusion

Here's the all-important question: Is it worth getting the Maxify MB5370?

In our opinion, the greatest strength of the MB5370 is its fast print speeds and very decent image quality. And its appeal gets stronger if its business features (e.g., Settings Restrictions, Operation Restrictions, scan/fax to network folder) are exactly what you're looking for. The way we see it, the MB5370 is catered for businesses who print mostly documents; so if your business prints more photos than documents, or you're a SOHO user who frequently prints family vacation photos, the Pixma series (or other brands' photo-focused inkjets) is what you should be looking at.

For comparison, the MB5370's 24ppm B&W print speed is comparable to the Imageclass MF217w, which is a S$329 mono laser printer that prints at 23ppm. While the MF217w is cheaper, it’s lacking several features of the MB5370, like color printing, the single-pass duplex ADF, the ability to print from or scan to USB, and Google Cloud Print support, among others.

Versus the Imageclass MF8580Cdw, a 20ppm color laser multi-function printer that costs S$899, the MB5370 looks like a steal. Sure, the MF8580Cdw is a more robust machine, with a higher recommended print volume (up to 2,000 pages vs. 1,500 pages for the MB5370), support for UFR II LT and PCL 5C/6 print languages (the MB5370 is host-based), and likely to have a sharper text quality, they don’t mask the fact that the MB5370 provides a great feature set and performance for its price.

Versus the inkjet-based Pixma MX927 (15ipm B&W, 10ipm color), which is also a 4-in-1 device and costs S$369, the MB5370 is also faster. Of course, if photo printing is your topmost priority, the Pixma is a better choice due to its high 9,600 x 2,400dpi maximum resolution.

The Canon Maxify MB5370 is now out in stores, and is going for S$459. Supplies-wise, the PGI-2700 black ink cartridge that it uses is going for S$37 and the color ones (cyan, magenta, yellow) are going for S$22 each. They have a page yield of 1,000 and 700 pages respectively. If you print a lot, there are XL cartridges (S$56 for black and S$37 for each color) that print up to 2,500 pages in black-and-white and 1,500 pages in color.

(Image source: Canon.)

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8.5
  • Design 7.5
  • Performance 8.5
  • Features 8.5
  • Value 8.5
The Good
Fast print speeds
ADF with single-pass, 2-sided scan
Water-resistant pigment ink
Useful cloud connectivity features
Sensibly priced
The Bad
Plastic look and feel
Depth increases when trays are extended
Print quality is above average, but acceptable for its intended usergroup
Scanner could do with a higher resolution
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