Canon PIXMA TR150 Printer: In-Depth Review and User Opinions

The Canon PIXMA TR150 is an affordable wireless all-in-one inkjet photo printer aimed at home users looking for excellent photo printing combined with scanning and copying functionality. It's a compact unit that can print, copy, and scan over Wi-Fi without taking up too much space.

The TR150 features Canon's famous print engine that produces lab-quality photos and graphics. It uses a 5-ink system with pigment black ink for sharp text and dye-based inks for vivid color output. The printer can handle media up to 5 x 7" in size.

Overall, the PIXMA TR150 is a versatile printer suitable for home and home office use. It provides high-quality photo printing in a compact, wireless-enabled form factor. The following sections will cover the printer's design, features, performance and other details to help assess if it's a good choice for your home printing needs.

Design & Build

The Canon Pixma TR150 has a sleek and compact design perfect for any home, home office or dorm room. Despite its small footprint measuring 14.7 x 12.5 x 5.6 inches, it packs impressive performance into a lightweight body of only 13.2 lbs.

The printer features rounded edges and a two-tone black and grey color scheme giving it an elegant, modern look. The top loading paper cassette adds to the minimalist design by hiding the paper tray inside when not in use.

Constructed out of plastic, the Pixma TR150 is designed to be highly portable. The lightweight build and integrated carry handle on top make it easy to transport the printer between rooms or take with you on the go. While plastic does feel less premium than metal, it helps keep the printer affordable and compact.

Overall the design focuses on convenience with the small size, light weight and portability. The stylish two-tone color scheme also allows the printer to seamlessly blend into any environment.

Print Quality

The Canon PIXMA TR150 delivers excellent print quality for home office use, with sharp text and vivid color graphics. It has a maximum print resolution of 4800 x 1200 dpi using FINE print head technology and 2 pl (picoliter) ink droplets.

Text prints at up to 600 x 600 dpi for sharp, high resolution monochrome documents. Color photos and graphics can print at up to 4800 x 1200 dpi for superb detail and clarity. The 5 individual inks produce excellent color accuracy and saturation.

The printer has decent print speeds for home use. When printing in Fast mode, black text speeds reach 9.2 ipm and color speeds are 5.0 ipm. For higher quality Normal mode, black speeds are 6.4 ipm while color slows slightly to 4.0 ipm. The printer takes 44 seconds to print a borderless 4 x 6 inch photo.

Overall print quality is very good for document printing and home photo printing. Text is razor sharp, web pages look clean and detailed, and photos show vibrant, accurate colors with smooth gradations. The printer produces lab quality photos suitable for framing or albums.

Connectivity

The Canon PIXMA TR150 has excellent wireless connectivity options. It supports standard Wi-Fi printing, allowing you to print from anywhere in your home as long as you are connected to your wireless network.

Setting up the wireless connection is straightforward - just press the WPS button on your router and the Wi-Fi button on the printer and it will connect automatically. The printer creates its own wireless network that you can connect your devices to directly as well.

One of the most useful features is wireless printing from your mobile device. The Canon Print app allows you to print directly from your smartphone or tablet. AirPrint is also supported, enabling wireless printing from Apple devices including iPhones, iPads and Macs.

The printer does not have built-in Ethernet connectivity. However, the wireless connectivity options should satisfy most home users. Connecting multiple devices is easy and printing from anywhere in the home is very convenient.

Printing Features

The Canon PIXMA TR150 has several handy printing features that make high-quality printing easy and convenient.

Borderless Printing

The printer can produce borderless prints on photo paper up to 5 x 7 inches in size. This allows you to print photos, graphics, and documents without any white borders surrounding the image. Borderless printing results in a clean, professional look.

Auto 2-Sided Printing

The TR150 supports automatic duplex printing, allowing you to easily print on both sides of the paper. This saves on paper usage while enabling you to create double-sided documents, brochures, photos and more. The printer handles the flipping internally.

Print from Cloud

You can print directly from popular cloud services with the PIXMA TR150. It supports printing from Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote, OneDrive and more. Just connect the printer to your home WiFi network, then you can access and print your cloud content directly from the printer interface using the 2.7" LCD touchscreen.

Scanning

The Canon PIXMA TR150 has decent scan quality and resolution for a low-cost home printer. It can scan at up to 600 x 1200 dpi optical resolution when using the scanner glass. This should be sufficient for scanning documents and occasional photos or graphics for home use.

When scanning over the wireless network, the maximum scan resolution is reduced to 300 dpi. The scanner can handle letter and legal sized originals. There is no automatic document feeder for scanning multiple pages hands-free. Scanning is done via the Canon PRINT app or software included with the printer.

Overall the scanning capabilities are fairly basic but get the job done for general home use. The scan quality is reasonably good though may not match more expensive scanners or all-in-ones. For only occasional scanning needs, the Canon PIXMA TR150 provides adequate performance.

Ink System

The Canon PIXMA TR150 uses 2 individual ink cartridges - one black and one tri-color. This allows you to replace colors separately as they run out.

The printer comes with starter cartridges that yield around 100 pages for black and 300 pages for color. Standard yield black cartridges provide approximately 400 pages, while standard color cartridges yield around 300 pages.

High yield options are also available for heavier printing volumes - the XL black cartridge can print up to 1200 pages, and the XL color lasts around 400 pages.

Original Canon cartridges are quite pricey. Standard black cartridges cost around $21, standard color is $29, XL black is $33, and XL color is $42. Compatible and remanufactured alternatives can offer significant savings, but may have tradeoffs in quality or yields.

Overall the ink costs are quite high, especially for color printing. This is typical for most consumer inkjet printers though, and not unique to the Canon PIXMA series. Limiting color pages and switching to XL cartridges can help maximize value when printing heavily.

Software

The Canon PIXMA TR150 comes with a robust set of software to enhance your printing experience.

Printer Drivers

It utilizes Canon's user-friendly printer drivers that allow you to adjust print settings like media type, print quality, color adjustments, and more. The drivers make printing easy from Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices.

Canon Print App

Canon's Print app for mobile devices allows you to print photos, scans, PDFs, and documents directly from your smartphone or tablet. You can preview files before printing and adjust settings like page layout.

Easy-PhotoPrint Editor

Canon includes their Easy-PhotoPrint Editor software for Windows and Mac. This full-featured photo editing program lets you enhance photos with filters and effects before printing. You can also create collages, calendars, and other photo projects.

PosterArtist Lite

The PosterArtist Lite software allows you to easily create posters, banners, and signage. You can customize the layout and add text and images for professional quality prints up to 48 x 100 inches.

Scanner Software

For scanning directly from the TR150, it comes with IJ Scan Utility software. This provides an interface to scan documents and photos and save them as PDFs or JPEGs. You can adjust scan settings and initiate scans directly from your computer.

Mobile Printing Apps

In addition to Canon's Print app, the printer is also compatible with AirPrint for Apple devices and Mopria Print Service for printing from Android phones and tablets. This gives you several options for wireless mobile printing.

Overall, the included software provides robust print and scan capabilities for both desktop and mobile devices. The printer drivers and utilities help you get the most out of the Canon PIXMA TR150.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Compact and lightweight design makes it easy to place anywhere and move around
• Fast printing speeds up to 8.8 ipm for black and 4.4 ipm for color
• Built-in wireless connectivity for printing wirelessly from mobile devices
• AirPrint support enables wireless printing from Apple devices
• Prints up to 4800 x 1200 dpi for vivid detail and clarity
• Auto 2-sided printing helps save paper
• 150-sheet plain paper capacity
• Easy photo printing directly from SD cards
• Scanning and copying capabilities in a small form factor
• XL ink cartridges available for high-volume printing
• Canon PRINT app provides extra print customization

Cons

• Small paper capacity may require frequent refilling
• Lack of Ethernet port limits connectivity for networks without wireless
• Manual 2-sided printing can be inconvenient
• No LCD display to directly interact with printer menus
• Only compatible with Canon GI-590 ink cartridges

Conclusion

Overall, the Canon PIXMA TR150 is a solid performer for a home or small office printer. It has a compact and sleek design with a user-friendly built-in LCD panel for simple operation. While it's not the fastest printer around, it prints with good quality at a decent pace. It also offers convenient wireless connectivity through WiFi, Bluetooth, and Canon PRINT app as well as compatibility with AirPrint and Mopria.

The TR150 has handy features like auto 2-sided printing and ability to print from USB thumb drives. It can handle everyday printing, copying and scanning needs easily. The ink system uses 2 separate cartridges which helps lower cost of replacing colors individually.

With its affordable price point, the Canon PIXMA TR150 will work well for students, home users, and small offices looking for an all-in-one printer for basic day-to-day printing and scanning tasks. It's easy to set up and use with minimal maintenance required aside from periodic cartridge replacement. The compact size also makes it suitable for tight desk spaces. Overall it's a reliable choice for a starter printer.