Canon PIXMA TS3350 Series All-in-One Printer Review: The Budget Home Office Workhorse Under Scrutiny

There’s a specific kind of modern-day frustration that only a bad printer can induce. We’ve all been there. You need to print a single, crucial document—a concert ticket, a signed contract, your child’s last-minute school assignment—and suddenly, you’re locked in a baffling battle with a machine that refuses to cooperate. Cryptic error codes flash, Wi-Fi connections mysteriously drop, and the cost of ink cartridges begins to feel like a subscription to a luxury service. For years, my old printer was the champion of this kind of inconvenience. It was a bulky, expensive beast that promised the world but delivered constant paper jams and connectivity headaches. The search for a replacement wasn’t for a powerhouse office machine, but for something simple, affordable, and reliable for the light, occasional tasks that define modern home printing. The challenge is finding a device that delivers on this promise without hidden costs or technical nightmares, a machine that quietly does its job in the corner until it’s needed. This is the very niche the Canon PIXMA TS3350 Series All-in-One Printer aims to fill.

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

An All-In-One Printer is more than just an item to tick off a home office checklist; it’s a key solution for consolidating tasks and saving space. By combining the functionalities of a printer, scanner, and copier into a single, compact footprint, it declutters your workspace and simplifies your workflow. For home users, students, and small business owners, the benefits are immediate: no need to find space for three separate devices, no wrestling with multiple drivers and software suites, and a single point of maintenance. It’s the central hub for turning digital files into physical copies and vice versa, handling everything from photo prints and essays to scanning important receipts and copying identification.

The ideal customer for this type of product is someone facing the classic home-use dilemma: they need to print, scan, and copy, but not often enough to justify a large, commercial-grade machine. This includes students printing assignments, families printing photos and travel documents, or freelancers who need to scan contracts. However, this category might not be suitable for those who run a busy office from home or require high-volume, rapid printing. If you need features like an automatic document feeder (ADF) for scanning multi-page documents, automatic double-sided (duplex) printing, or lightning-fast output, a more robust, business-oriented model would be a better investment. For those users, the compromises made in budget all-in-one models can quickly become daily frustrations.

Before investing, consider these crucial points in detail:

• Dimensions & Space: While often marketed as “compact,” all-in-one printers still require a dedicated space. You must account for not only the device’s footprint but also the clearance needed for paper trays to extend, the scanner lid to open fully, and access to the rear for clearing potential paper jams. Measure your intended desk or shelf space carefully to ensure a comfortable fit.
• Capacity/Performance: Look beyond the initial purchase price to the performance specs. Pages per minute (PPM) will tell you how fast it prints, but be aware that manufacturer specs are often for draft mode. Print resolution, measured in dots per inch (DPI), is crucial for photo quality. Finally, consider paper capacity; a small 60-sheet tray, like the one on the Canon PIXMA TS3350, is fine for occasional use but will require constant refilling for larger jobs.
• Materials & Durability: Budget-friendly printers are typically constructed from lightweight plastic. While this keeps the cost down, it can impact long-term durability, especially for moving parts like paper trays and feed rollers. Scrutinise user feedback for common complaints about mechanical failures or flimsy components, as this can be an indicator of the product’s expected lifespan under regular use.
• Ease of Use & Maintenance: A printer’s usability is defined by its setup process, software interface, and ongoing maintenance. Wireless setup can be a major hurdle for non-technical users, especially with network limitations. Consider the cost and availability of ink cartridges; opting for high-yield (XL) cartridges can often save significant money in the long run, and understanding how to clean print heads or resolve errors is key to a frustration-free ownership experience.

Keeping these factors in mind, the Canon PIXMA TS3350 Series All-in-One Printer stands out in several areas, particularly for its low upfront cost and compact design. You can explore its detailed specifications here.

While the Canon PIXMA TS3350 Series All-in-One Printer is an excellent choice for a certain type of user, 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: Unboxing a Budget-Friendly Competitor

Unboxing the Canon PIXMA TS3350 Series All-in-One Printer was a straightforward affair. The packaging is efficient, and the printer itself is surprisingly lightweight at just under 4kg, making it easy to lift and position on a desk without any help. Inside the box, we found the main printer unit, a power cord, and a set of starter ink cartridges: one PG-545 Black and one CL-546 Colour. One immediate and notable omission, a point of frustration echoed in many user reports, is the lack of a USB-B cable. While the printer is designed primarily for wireless use, a USB cable is the ultimate fallback for troubleshooting connection issues, and not including one feels like an unnecessary cost-cutting measure.

The unit itself is finished in a simple matte black plastic that is functional, if not premium. Its dimensions (43.5W x 31.6D x 14.5H cm) make it relatively compact for an all-in-one, fitting neatly onto a small desk or shelf. The design is minimalist, featuring a small 1.5-inch mono LCD screen and a simple array of physical buttons for navigation and basic functions. The rear paper feed and front output tray feel a bit flimsy, a clear reminder of the printer’s budget price point. However, for a device intended for light home use, the build quality feels adequate and in line with expectations.

A Deep Dive into the Canon PIXMA TS3350’s Real-World Performance

A printer’s value is not determined on its spec sheet, but in the day-to-day reality of using it. Over several weeks, we put the Canon PIXMA TS3350 Series All-in-One Printer through its paces, testing everything from its notoriously tricky setup process to its print quality, speed, and running costs. Our findings reveal a device of stark contrasts: one capable of surprising quality but demanding significant patience and a little technical know-how.

Setup and Wireless Connectivity: The Make-or-Break Moment

Let’s address the elephant in the room first: the wireless setup. This is, by far, the most polarising aspect of the Canon PIXMA TS3350 Series All-in-One Printer. The core issue, as one user astutely pointed out, is that this printer is single-band and operates only on the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi frequency. Many modern home routers are dual-band, broadcasting on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks, often under a single network name (SSID). During setup, if your phone is connected to the 5GHz band, it can struggle immensely to communicate setup instructions to the 2.4GHz-only printer. This is not a fault of the printer per se, but an incompatibility with modern network convenience that can, as one user put it, “have you tearing your hair out in minutes.”

Our initial attempt using the Canon PRINT app was indeed frustrating. The app failed to find the printer several times. The solution required manually going into our router’s settings to temporarily disable the 5GHz band, forcing our phone onto the 2.4GHz network. Once we did that, the setup process via the app completed smoothly. For a non-technical user, this is a significant and potentially insurmountable hurdle. For those who can navigate this, the wireless functionality, once established, is quite reliable. We printed documents seamlessly from an iPhone using AirPrint and an Android tablet via Mopria without needing to open the Canon app every time, though some users reported needing the app for consistent iOS support.

Print Quality and Speed: A Game of Patience and Expectations

Once connected, the printer’s core function comes into focus. When it comes to print quality, the results are genuinely impressive for a device at this price. Using standard 75gsm A4 paper, black text documents were sharp and clear, perfectly suitable for schoolwork, reports, or letters. The specified speed of 7.7 pages per minute (PPM) for monochrome is achievable in draft mode, but for standard quality, we found it closer to 5-6 PPM. The colour printing speed of 4 PPM is, to be blunt, slow. Printing a 10-page colour presentation felt like an exercise in patience.

Where the Canon PIXMA TS3350 Series All-in-One Printer truly shines, however, is in photo printing. Leveraging its 4800 dpi maximum resolution and ChromaLife100 ink system, it produced some fantastic 4×6 borderless prints on glossy photo paper. Colours were vibrant and accurate, with a level of detail that defied its budget price tag. This is a huge plus for families or hobbyists who want to print occasional photos without a trip to a print shop. The catch? It’s incredibly slow, taking several minutes to produce a single high-quality photo. This performance profile perfectly defines the printer: it can deliver quality, but you cannot be in a hurry.

Scanning, Copying, and the Perils of Paper Handling

The all-in-one features are basic but functional. The flatbed scanner offers an optical resolution of 600 x 1200 dpi, which is more than sufficient for digitising old photos, scanning documents for email, or making digital copies of receipts. The process is initiated either from the Canon desktop software or directly from the mobile app, which we found very convenient. Copying is just as simple, handled directly from the printer’s control panel. You can make up to 20 copies at a time, and the results are crisp and faithful to the original.

However, the praise for its functionality must be tempered by a discussion of its mechanical reliability, specifically paper handling. The rear paper tray holds only 60 sheets and feels quite delicate. Throughout our testing, we experienced a couple of paper jams, especially when the tray was filled to its maximum capacity. This lines up perfectly with numerous user complaints about “E3 paper feed jams” after only light use. Several users reported the printer would print one sheet fine, then struggle with the next, sometimes printing half a page before throwing an error. This suggests the paper feed mechanism is a weak point and reinforces that this printer is truly built for light, single-sheet jobs rather than multi-page reports.

The True Cost of Ownership: Ink Consumption and Longevity

A cheap printer can quickly become an expensive one if its ink costs are high. The Canon PIXMA TS3350 Series All-in-One Printer uses the PG-545 (black) and CL-546 (colour) cartridges. The starter cartridges included in the box have a very low yield, designed to get you up and running and little more. We found that after printing about 20 mixed text and colour pages and a handful of photos, the printer’s software began issuing low ink warnings, a frustrating experience noted by many users.

To get any real value, purchasing the high-yield PG-545XL and CL-546XL cartridges is essential. While more expensive upfront, they offer a significantly lower cost per page. Even so, this is not an ink-efficient machine. If you plan to print more than 30-40 pages a month, the ink costs will quickly add up and may exceed the initial cost of the printer itself within a year. Coupled with reports of the device breaking down within weeks or months of purchase, the total cost of ownership becomes a serious concern. It is a budget device with potentially high running costs and questionable longevity, a trade-off every potential buyer must carefully consider.

What Other Users Are Saying

Feedback on the Canon PIXMA TS3350 Series All-in-One Printer is sharply divided, painting a picture of a product that works well for some but proves to be a source of immense frustration for others. This division seems to hinge on user expectations and technical proficiency.

On the positive side, many users praise its value and performance relative to its low cost. One user, happy to be rid of a more expensive and troublesome HP printer, noted, “Very easy to set up… Worked first time of use, excellent print clarity… Definitely good value and does the job well.” Another highlighted the convenience, stating it was “Easy to install, prints from my mobile with an easy app download.” These comments reflect the experience of users with basic needs and perhaps a bit of luck with the Wi-Fi setup, who found the printer to be a perfectly adequate and affordable solution.

However, the negative feedback is specific and severe. The most common complaint revolves around the difficult 2.4GHz Wi-Fi setup. Beyond that, reliability is a major concern. One user reported that after purchasing two units, “Both have had paper feed problems after light use. Resulting in E3 paper feed jams.” Another called it “Absolute rubbish,” describing how it showed error codes straight out of the box. Reports of the printer printing half a page and stopping, or breaking down entirely within weeks, are common. This consistent feedback on mechanical failures and frustrating setup issues suggests that while the printer is cheap, it comes with a significant risk of becoming a piece of electronic waste.

How Does the Canon PIXMA TS3350 Compare to the Alternatives?

The Canon PIXMA TS3350 Series All-in-One Printer exists in a crowded market. To understand its place, it’s crucial to see how it stacks up against key competitors that offer different features and cater to different needs.

1. HP Officejet 250 Mobile All-in-One Printer

The HP Officejet 250 is not a direct competitor but rather a solution for a completely different use case: portability. This printer is designed for professionals who need to print, scan, and copy on the go. It features a built-in rechargeable battery, a much smaller and more robust form factor, and a 10-page automatic document feeder. It completely outclasses the Canon in terms of convenience for mobile work. However, this portability comes at a significantly higher price. A user might prefer the HP Officejet 250 if their work takes them out of the office frequently and they need a reliable, self-powered device in their car or at client sites. For a stationary home setup, its cost is difficult to justify over the Canon.

2. HP OfficeJet Pro 7740 Wide Format All-in-One Printer

If the Canon PIXMA TS3350 is for the casual home user, the HP OfficeJet Pro 7740 is for the demanding small business owner or prosumer. Its standout feature is the ability to print, scan, and copy in wide format, up to A3 size, making it ideal for spreadsheets, architectural drawings, or marketing materials. It also boasts features the Canon lacks, such as a 35-page automatic document feeder, automatic two-sided printing, and much faster print speeds. Someone would choose the HP 7740 if their printing needs are heavy, varied, and require features that boost productivity. It is larger, more expensive, and aimed at users for whom the Canon’s limitations would be a daily bottleneck.

3. HP Envy 6420e All in One Printer with ADF

The HP Envy 6420e is arguably the most direct and compelling alternative to the Canon PIXMA TS3350. It occupies a similar “home office” space but offers a significant upgrade in features for a modest increase in price. Key advantages include automatic two-sided printing, a 35-page automatic document feeder for easy multi-page scanning, and a sleeker design. Crucially, it’s compatible with HP’s Instant Ink subscription service, which can solve the problem of high ink costs for those who print regularly. A user would prefer the HP Envy 6420e if they want to avoid the limitations of the Canon—specifically the lack of an ADF and auto-duplexing—and are looking for a more predictable, potentially lower long-term cost of ink.

Final Verdict: A Budget Printer for the Patient and Tech-Savvy

After extensive testing and analysis, our verdict on the Canon PIXMA TS3350 Series All-in-One Printer is that it is a budget printer in the truest sense of the term. It delivers on its core promise of providing print, scan, and copy functionality at an exceptionally low initial price point. For users who print very infrequently—a few pages a month—and are comfortable navigating a potentially tricky wireless setup, it can represent a fantastic value, capable of producing surprisingly high-quality photos and sharp text documents.

However, we cannot recommend it for everyone. The single-band 2.4GHz Wi-Fi is a significant hurdle that will frustrate many less technical users. The slow print speeds, small paper capacity, and lack of automatic duplexing make it unsuitable for anything beyond the lightest of duties. Most importantly, the consistent user reports of paper feed errors and premature hardware failure raise serious questions about its long-term reliability. For most people, the small upfront saving is not worth the potential for future frustration. A slightly more expensive but feature-rich alternative like the HP Envy 6420e would be a much wiser investment for a smooth and reliable home printing experience.

If you’ve weighed the pros and cons and decided the Canon PIXMA TS3350 Series All-in-One Printer is the right fit for your specific, light-use needs, you can check its current price and purchase it here.