Canon PIXMA TS6420a Review (2026): Honest Pros, Cons & Who Should Buy

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Comparing options? See our roundup of the Best Home Printers Under $100 in 2026 for side-by-side picks.

Quick verdict

The Canon PIXMA TS6420a is one of the few sub-$100 all-in-one printers that includes automatic two-sided printing, a 200-sheet paper capacity, and a rear-feed photo paper path alongside the standard cassette. At $70 with 6,900+ Amazon reviews averaging 3.9 stars, it sits in a sweet spot for households that print a mix of documents and photos and want a printer that does not feel like a stripped-down disposable.

That said, the 3.9-star average tells the story it always does at this price tier: it is a solid printer for people who follow Canon's setup instructions carefully and have a stable 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network. For everyone else, the connectivity complaints in customer reviews are real and worth understanding before you buy.

→ Check the current price of the Canon PIXMA TS6420a on Amazon

At a glance

• Price: $70.00 (used from $66.71 at time of writing)
• Rating: 3.9 ★ across 6,908 Amazon reviews
• Functions: Print, copy, scan (3-in-1, all-in-one)
• Print speed: 13 ipm black / 6.8 ipm color
• Paper capacity: 200 sheets (100 front cassette + 100 rear feed)
• Duplex: Auto two-sided printing (built in)
• Cartridges: Canon PG-260 (black) and CL-261 (tri-color); XL versions available
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz), AirPrint, Mopria, Alexa

Who this printer is for

The TS6420a sits one tier above bare-bones models like the HP DeskJet 2855e. The extra $20-25 buys you three features you will actually use every week:

1. Automatic duplex printing. The printer flips the page for you on long documents. At this price, that is unusual.
2. Twice the paper capacity. 200 sheets total means refilling paper roughly half as often.
3. A rear feed. You can load photo paper or cardstock in the back without disturbing the main paper tray — a small thing that matters every time you print holiday cards or photos.

If you mostly print documents but occasionally print photos, school projects, or greeting cards, this is a printer that will not frustrate you. If you only ever print the occasional shipping label or recipe, the cheaper HP DeskJet 2855e at around $50 will do the job for less.

What people love about it

Sifting through nearly 7,000 verified reviews, the praise lands in a few consistent themes:

• Easy setup with iPhone and Mac. Multiple reviewers note AirPrint just works — no driver hunt, no extra software. Canon's PRINT app handles Android and ChromeOS.
• Photo quality for the price. The five-ink Canon system produces noticeably better photos than competing single-cartridge HP and Brother models in this price band.
• The rear photo paper tray. Reviewers who print photos regularly call this out as the killer feature — you can leave plain paper in the cassette and load 4x6 photo paper in the back as needed.
• Quiet operation. Owners describe it as noticeably quieter than the HP DeskJet line, especially during scanning.

What buyers complain about

The 22% of reviewers who left 1 or 2 stars are remarkably consistent. The same three issues come up repeatedly:

• Wi-Fi connectivity. The TS6420a only supports 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, and reviewers report intermittent drops where the printer falls off the network and has to be re-paired. Households with mesh routers (Eero, Google Nest Wifi) report the most issues.
• Print head clogs after sitting idle. Like all Canon inkjets, the print head needs regular use — a few weeks of inactivity can lead to streaky output that requires a deep clean.
• Ink cost. Standard PG-260 / CL-261 cartridges yield only a few hundred pages. Canon's XL versions help significantly, but ink remains the long-term cost concern.

Cheaper alternative: HP DeskJet 2855e ($49.89)

If $70 is more than you want to spend and you do not need duplex printing or the rear photo tray, the HP DeskJet 2855e is the obvious cheaper option. It is the #1 best-selling inkjet on Amazon (3.8 stars, 17,600+ reviews) and it prints, scans, and copies for around $50. You give up auto-duplex, the rear feed, and Canon's photo quality — but for light text printing it is hard to beat the price. We have written a full review of the 2855e here.

Check the HP DeskJet 2855e on Amazon →

Upgrade pick: Canon PIXMA TR4720 ($79)

If you want everything the TS6420a offers plus a 20-sheet automatic document feeder and a built-in fax — useful for small home offices, scanning multi-page forms, or sending the occasional medical or legal fax — the Canon PIXMA TR4720 is only $9 more. It uses different cartridges (PG-275 / CL-276) but otherwise plays in the same band. Our full Canon PIXMA TR4720 review has the details.

Check the Canon PIXMA TR4720 on Amazon →

If you print a lot, skip all three and get an EcoTank

One important caveat: every printer in this $50-80 range uses cartridges that get expensive fast if you print regularly. If you print more than about 25-30 pages a week, you will spend more on ink in a year than the printer itself costs. The Epson EcoTank ET-2803 at $189 ships with enough ink in the box for roughly two years of average household use — see our EcoTank ET-2803 review for the math.

Ink and ongoing cost

The TS6420a uses Canon PG-260 (black) and CL-261 (tri-color) cartridges. Standard cartridges yield about 180 pages black and 165 pages color — enough for very light use but expensive per page. The XL versions (PG-260XL / CL-261XL) roughly triple yield and cut cost-per-page by more than half. If you intend to use this printer regularly, buy XL cartridges from day one.

Canon's PIXMA Print Plan subscription is also an option — it ships ink automatically based on your usage and claims up to 70% savings versus retail cartridges. It is only worth it if your print volume is predictable; light, bursty users can pay for months they barely use.

Setup tips that prevent the most common complaints

The single biggest cause of one-star reviews on this printer is Wi-Fi setup gone wrong. Three things will save you most of the trouble:

1. Connect to your 2.4 GHz network specifically. If your router broadcasts a single SSID for both 2.4 and 5 GHz, log into the router admin and temporarily disable 5 GHz during setup, or create a 2.4-only guest network just for printers and IoT devices.
2. Use the Canon PRINT app, not WPS. The PRINT app handles setup more reliably than push-button WPS pairing, especially on mesh networks.
3. Assign a static IP after setup. Most "the printer disappeared from the network" complaints trace back to DHCP changing the IP. A reserved IP in your router's DHCP table prevents this.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Canon PIXMA TS6420a print double-sided automatically?

Yes. Auto-duplex is built in. You can set it as the default in the printer driver so every long document prints front and back without manual flipping.

What cartridges does the TS6420a use?

Canon PG-260 (pigment black) and CL-261 (tri-color). The XL versions (PG-260XL / CL-261XL) are the better buy for anyone printing regularly.

Does it support 5 GHz Wi-Fi?

No. The TS6420a is 2.4 GHz only. If your network is configured to push 5 GHz first, you will need to either use a dedicated 2.4 GHz SSID or temporarily disable 5 GHz during setup.

Can it print from an iPhone, Android, or Chromebook?

Yes. AirPrint, Mopria, and ChromeOS print are all supported. Canon's PRINT app provides additional features on iOS and Android.

Is there an automatic document feeder (ADF)?

No. The TS6420a has a flatbed scanner only. If you need an ADF for scanning or copying multi-page documents, step up to the Canon PIXMA TR4720 ($79) which adds a 20-sheet ADF and built-in fax.

How long does the printer typically last?

Owners report 3-5 years of reliable use with regular printing. The most common cause of early failure is sitting unused for months at a time — inkjet print heads dry out. Print at least one page every two weeks to keep the heads healthy.

Bottom line

The Canon PIXMA TS6420a is a smart pick for households that want a real all-in-one printer with auto-duplex, a separate photo paper tray, and decent capacity — not a stripped-down $50 model. At $70 it is genuinely good value, with the standard caveats about Wi-Fi setup and cartridge cost.

Three rules to know before you buy: connect it to 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi specifically, buy the XL cartridges from day one, and print at least one page every two weeks to keep the print head from drying out. Do those things and the 3.9-star average is closer to 4.3 in real-world use.

→ Check the current price of the Canon PIXMA TS6420a on Amazon

This article contains Amazon affiliate links. Castle Ink may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. We only recommend printers we have reviewed in depth and that have a long, public track record of owner feedback.