Canon PIXMA TR4650 Multifunctional Inkjet Printer Review: The Home Office Workhorse Under Scrutiny

The modern home office is a delicate ecosystem. Space is at a premium, budgets are often tight, and the need for efficiency is paramount. I remember the early days of my own remote work journey, cobbling together solutions. A clunky old printer for documents, my smartphone for “scanning” invoices (which always came out skewed and unprofessional), and a trip to a local shop for any copying needs. It was a disjointed, time-consuming mess. The dream was always a single, compact device that could handle everything—printing crisp reports, scanning multi-page contracts, and making quick copies—without demanding a huge chunk of my desk or my wallet. This search for a unified, affordable, and reliable office hub is what leads so many of us to the doorstep of the all-in-one printer, and it’s precisely the problem the Canon PIXMA TR4650 Multifunctional Inkjet Printer aims to solve.

What to Consider Before Buying an All-In-One Printer

An All-In-One Printer is more than just an item; it’s a key solution for consolidating your workflow and reclaiming valuable desk space. For home offices, students, and small businesses, it solves the logistical nightmare of needing separate machines for printing, scanning, copying, and even faxing. The primary benefit is convenience and efficiency. Instead of wrestling with multiple devices, drivers, and power cords, you have a single, central hub for all your document management needs. This integration streamlines tasks, saving you time and reducing clutter, which is invaluable in a productive workspace.

The ideal customer for this type of product is someone facing a moderate but varied workload. Think of the remote worker who needs to print shipping labels, scan signed contracts, and copy expense receipts. Or the student who needs to print essays, digitise research notes, and copy textbook pages. It’s for those who value versatility over sheer volume. Conversely, this might not be the right fit for those with highly specialised or high-volume needs. A professional photographer would be better served by a dedicated photo printer with a wider colour gamut. A busy office that prints thousands of monochrome pages a month would find a dedicated laser printer far more cost-effective and faster. For them, an all-in-one inkjet can feel slow and the ink costs can quickly add up.

Before investing, consider these crucial points in detail:

• Dimensions & Space: Don’t underestimate the footprint of an “all-in-one”. Measure your available desk or shelf space carefully. The Canon PIXMA TR4650 Multifunctional Inkjet Printer measures 43.5 cm in width and 29.5 cm in depth, which is relatively compact, but you’ll also need clearance above for the scanner lid and in front for the paper output tray.
• Capacity/Performance: Look beyond the initial purchase price to the performance specs. Print speed, measured in pages per minute (PPM), is critical. This model’s 8.8 PPM for black and 4.4 PPM for colour is suitable for light use but would create a bottleneck in a busier environment. Also, consider the paper tray capacity (100 sheets is standard for this class) and the Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) capacity (20 sheets), which dictates how many pages you can scan or copy unattended.
• Materials & Durability: Most consumer-grade printers are made of plastic to keep costs down. While functional, the build quality can vary. We noticed the plastics on the TR4650 feel a little lightweight, and some users have described it as feeling “wobbly.” This is a common trade-off for affordability, but it’s something to be aware of if the printer will be in a high-traffic area.
• Ease of Use & Maintenance: A printer should simplify your life, not complicate it. Look for features like wireless setup, intuitive controls, and an easy-to-use companion app. For maintenance, consider the ink system. This model uses a two-cartridge system (one black, one tri-colour), which is simple to replace but can be wasteful if you use one colour more than the others.

Keeping these factors in mind, the Canon PIXMA TR4650 Multifunctional Inkjet Printer stands out in several areas, particularly its feature set for the price. You can explore its detailed specifications here.

While the Canon PIXMA TR4650 Multifunctional Inkjet Printer is an excellent choice, it’s always wise to see how it stacks up against the competition. For a broader look at all the top models, we highly recommend checking out our complete, in-depth guide:

First Impressions: A Feature-Packed but Fickle Friend

Unboxing the Canon PIXMA TR4650 Multifunctional Inkjet Printer, the first thing we noted was Canon’s effort in reducing plastic packaging—a commendable step. Inside the box, the essentials are present: the printer itself, a power cable, and a set of starter ink cartridges (PG-545 Black and CL-546 Colour). Notably absent are a USB cable for wired connection and a full printed manual, directing you to online resources for setup. This is standard practice now but can be a small hurdle for the less tech-savvy. The printer has a clean, matte black finish and a compact design that looks smart on a desk. However, upon handling it, the build quality feels adequate for the price but certainly not premium. The paper trays and lids have a noticeable lightness and flex, confirming our initial assessment and aligning with feedback from some users who found it a bit “wackelig” or wobbly.

The control panel is minimalist, centred around a small monochrome LCD. This screen is functional but its small size and low contrast can make navigating the menus a bit of a strain on the eyes. The real star of the show, on paper, is the feature set: 4-in-1 functionality (print, scan, copy, fax), Wi-Fi and Cloud connectivity, automatic 2-sided printing (auto duplex), and a 20-sheet Automatic Document Feeder (ADF). Finding an ADF and auto duplex in a printer at this price point is a significant value proposition and a major draw for any home office user.

A Deep Dive into the Canon PIXMA TR4650’s Performance

A feature list is one thing; real-world performance is another entirely. We put the Canon PIXMA TR4650 Multifunctional Inkjet Printer through its paces over several weeks, using it for everything from printing dense reports and high-resolution photos to scanning stacks of old documents. Our experience was a mix of genuine appreciation for its capabilities and moments of sheer frustration, painting a picture of a device that is brilliant when it works, but maddening when it doesn’t.

Setup and Connectivity: A Tale of Two Experiences

Getting a new printer connected to your network can often be the first and most significant hurdle. With the TR4650, we found this to be a polarising experience, one that seems to depend heavily on your existing setup and technical comfort level. The recommended path is using the Canon PRINT app on your smartphone. Following this route, the process was remarkably smooth. The app quickly found the printer, guided us through connecting it to our Wi-Fi network, and had us printing a test page from our phone in under 15 minutes. For users who live on their mobile devices, this is a fantastic, modern approach to setup. We found the Wi-Fi connection to be stable, echoing one user’s feedback of a “virtually instant response” when sending jobs to print.

However, the experience of setting it up on a Windows PC was more challenging. This is where we encountered a significant pitfall highlighted by several users: if you have had a Canon printer before, residual drivers can create conflicts. The online manual doesn’t explicitly warn you to uninstall all previous Canon software, which led to a frustrating hour of troubleshooting until we discovered this fix ourselves. Furthermore, attempting to manually connect to Wi-Fi using the printer’s tiny, non-backlit LCD screen and physical buttons is a tedious exercise in patience. The menu is clunky to navigate, and the screen is difficult to read in anything but perfect lighting. This dichotomy is crucial: for some, setup was “super easy,” while for others, it was a genuine headache. It’s a capable wireless machine, but be prepared to potentially wrestle with software conflicts on a PC.

Print, Scan, and Copy Quality: Delivering on the Essentials?

Once connected, the core function of an all-in-one is its output quality. Here, the Canon PIXMA TR4650 Multifunctional Inkjet Printer performs admirably for its class. Text documents, thanks to the pigment-based black ink, are sharp, crisp, and easily readable even at small font sizes. They are perfectly suitable for professional reports, schoolwork, and correspondence. Colour prints, using the dye-based colour ink, are vibrant and well-saturated. We printed several A4 documents with charts and graphics, and the results were bright and engaging. We even tested it with glossy photo paper, and while it won’t challenge a dedicated photo printer, it produces pleasing 4×6″ borderless prints that are great for family albums.

The trade-off for this quality at a budget price is speed. The official specs of 8.8 ppm (black) and 4.4 ppm (colour) felt accurate in our testing, which is to say, it’s quite slow. Printing a 20-page report felt like an exercise in patience. However, the inclusion of automatic 2-sided printing is a game-changer for efficiency and environmental consciousness. It worked flawlessly in our tests, smoothly flipping pages and helping to cut our paper consumption in half.

The scanner and copier functions are greatly enhanced by the 20-sheet Automatic Document Feeder (ADF). Being able to place a stack of invoices on the top tray and have the machine scan them all to a single PDF is a feature usually reserved for more expensive office machines. When it worked, it was a massive time-saver. Unfortunately, this is where we ran into the printer’s most significant reliability issues. On several occasions, the scanner would report a paper jam error even when the ADF was completely empty, requiring a full power cycle to resolve. This phantom error was echoed by users who found scanning impossible due to these false positives, a frustrating flaw in an otherwise standout feature.

Reliability and Build Quality: The Achilles’ Heel?

This is the section that gives us the most pause in recommending the Canon PIXMA TR4650 Multifunctional Inkjet Printer without reservation. Throughout our testing, and corroborated by a significant number of user reviews, the printer’s paper handling mechanism proved to be its weakest link. The most common and infuriating issue is the paper jam. This wasn’t the occasional jam caused by a crumpled sheet; it felt systemic. On multiple occasions, the printer would feed a sheet of paper, begin printing, and then inexplicably try to pull the paper back in, causing it to buckle and jam internally. One user described this perfectly, noting it “prints a page but instead of outputting it, it pulls the paper back all in,” often getting stuck. Another user reported having the exact same issue on two separate units, suggesting a potential design flaw rather than a one-off faulty machine.

Clearing these jams sometimes required accessing a panel at the rear, but often the paper was mangled beyond easy removal. For one user, it reached the point where it would “destroy paper sheet” on “every single time,” rendering the printer utterly useless. This level of unreliability is a major concern for a device meant to be a dependable office tool. If you need to print an urgent document, the last thing you want is to spend 20 minutes wrestling with a paper jam. This mechanical fragility extends to the overall build. As mentioned, the plastics feel light, and one German user’s description of it being “billig und wackelig” (cheap and wobbly) feels apt. It doesn’t inspire confidence in its long-term durability, and small design choices, like the front output tray not being able to close when loaded with paper, feel like oversights. The impressive feature set is severely undermined by these fundamental reliability problems. If you’re considering this printer, its excellent value is a gamble against its potential for frustration, a gamble you can investigate further by viewing the product and user feedback directly.

What Other Users Are Saying

Looking at the broader landscape of user feedback, it’s clear our mixed experience with the Canon PIXMA TR4650 Multifunctional Inkjet Printer is not unique. The device is polarizing, earning both high praise and scathing criticism. On the positive side, many users champion its incredible value. One happy customer noted, “I honestly can’t believe you can buy this for less than 100 pounds,” praising its ability to print on both sides, scan, and handle photo paper. Another simply stated that setup was “super easy, and printing is very straightforward,” highlighting that when the printer works as intended, it’s a very user-friendly machine.

However, the negative feedback is consistent and focuses squarely on the reliability issues we encountered. The paper jam problem is the most cited complaint, with one user stating, “I try to print and… Paper jam. Every. Single. Time.” Another user, who returned their first unit only to find the second had the same fault, reinforces the idea of a potential design flaw. Beyond jams, others reported issues with blurred or doubled printing that couldn’t be fixed with alignment tools, and setup woes, particularly the need to “uninstall all the drivers from your PC” if you’ve owned a Canon before, a step not mentioned in the manual. This feedback paints a picture of a product that is brilliant in concept but flawed in execution for a significant number of buyers.

Competing for Your Desktop: Top Alternatives

No product exists in a vacuum. If the potential reliability issues of the Canon PIXMA TR4650 Multifunctional Inkjet Printer give you pause, there are several excellent alternatives to consider, each with its own strengths.

1. Brother MFC-L2835DW All-in-one Mono Laser Printer

If your printing needs are primarily text-based—reports, invoices, letters—and you value speed and reliability above all else, the Brother MFC-L2835DW is a formidable alternative. As a monochrome laser printer, it sacrifices colour printing capabilities entirely. In return, you get significantly faster print speeds, much lower cost-per-page, and the rock-solid reliability for which Brother’s laser printers are renowned. It still offers all-in-one functionality with scanning, copying, and faxing, along with an ADF and auto-duplex printing. This is the choice for a serious home office that prioritises document workflow over creative colour prints.

2. Brother DCP-1612W Mono Laser Printer

Think of the Brother DCP-1612W as a more compact and streamlined version of the laser alternative. It’s also a monochrome laser all-in-one, focusing on delivering crisp black and white prints, scans, and copies reliably and affordably. It lacks some of the advanced features of the TR4650, such as an Automatic Document Feeder and auto-duplexing. However, for users whose primary need is for a dependable, no-fuss machine for single-sided documents and who don’t need to scan multi-page contracts often, its simplicity is its strength. It’s a workhorse built for basic, high-reliability tasks.

3. Canon PIXMA MG2550S All-in-One Printer

If your main attraction to the TR4650 was the low purchase price, and you can live without its advanced features, the Canon PIXMA MG2550S is worth a look. This is an ultra-budget, entry-level inkjet all-in-one. It strips away all the luxuries: there is no Wi-Fi, no ADF, no auto-duplex printing, and no LCD screen. It connects via a USB cable only. What it does offer is basic colour printing, scanning, and copying capabilities at the lowest possible price point. This is a suitable choice for very infrequent users, such as someone who only needs to print a few pages a month and values upfront cost above all else.

Final Verdict: A Capable but Flawed Contender

The Canon PIXMA TR4650 Multifunctional Inkjet Printer is a device of contradictions. On paper, it is one of the best value propositions in the home office market, packing features like an ADF and automatic 2-sided printing into a price point where they are rarely seen. When it is operating correctly, it produces high-quality text and vibrant colour prints, and the wireless connectivity via the mobile app is seamless and modern.

However, this incredible potential is severely hampered by what appears to be a fundamental flaw in its paper-handling mechanism. The high frequency of paper jams and scanner errors reported by both our team and numerous users is too significant to ignore. A printer, above all else, must be reliable. The frustration of dealing with constant errors can quickly overshadow the convenience of its feature set. Therefore, we can only recommend this printer with a strong caveat. If you’re on a very tight budget, need its specific features, and are willing to take a gamble on getting a “good one” or troubleshooting potential issues, it might be worth the risk. For anyone who needs a dependable daily driver for their home office or small business, the risk of downtime and frustration may be too high a price to pay.

If you’ve weighed the pros and cons and decided the Canon PIXMA TR4650 Multifunctional Inkjet Printer is the right fit for your needs, you can check its current price and availability here.