The Canon Pixma MG3250 is a new-and-improved version of the Pixma MG3150. The engine and ink cartridges are identical, and the print speed and quality are exactly the same. What's changed is the addition of two new integrated software solutions and AirPlay.
When you run out of ink, you can still "force" the machine to print by holding down the Stop/Reset button for a few seconds. However, only use this as a fallback solution because the quality will be considerably degraded.
Artistic effect in My Image Garden
My Image Garden allows users to touch up, pivot, crop and reverse photos directly in the editing bin. As beginners will surely appreciate, edited images are automatically re-sized to 10 x 15 cm.
Creative Park widens the user's possibilities even further by providing cut-and-paste tools and templates for cards, calendars and artistic designs on card stock. Art lovers can choose from works of art that are ready to print directly from the machine. Unfortunately, the MG3250's print quality may disappoint (visible ink droplets and questionable colour accuracy...).
Another novel feature that Canon boasts is the ability to print photos straight from Facebook, but the Print Your Days app has strides to make in user-friendliness and just can't compete with HP's version featured on the Photosmart 7510 e-All-In-One.
In the end, it all smacks more of marketing strategy than real innovation.
As expected, the print speeds don't beat any records—by far. We were floored when we looked at our timer, and yet we followed the exact same testing procedure we always do. And despite the higher price tag and Canon's claims of faster printing, we got the exact same speeds as on the MG3150 when printing both photos and documents.
So the verdict's the same. The MG3250's speeds are comparable to its low-end counterparts: 8 pages per minute (ppm) in colour and 6 ppm in B&W, compared to the 5 ppm and 9.2 ppm, respectively, that Canon claims in the specifications. These are nearly the opposite figures as the Epson Stylus SX420W (4 ppm in colour and 8 ppm in B&W). Canon's black ink always takes longer to dry.
The Pixma MG3250 prints photographs much faster than the Epson Stylus SX420W. The Canon takes 2 minutes and 44 seconds to print one A4-size photograph, compared to 4 whole minutes on the Epson Stylus. And in 10 x 15 cm, Canon holds the advantage with 1 minute and 5 seconds, compared to Epson's 1 minute and 24 seconds.
The MG3250 gives exactly the same print quality as the MG3150. Wanna know why? Easy: because they use the same ink cartridges. All-text documents are well rendered, as always with Canon. The main flaw comes with graphical elements, as seen in the picture below, where the ink droplets are visible in areas of solid colouring. The overall effect is middling. The letters are visible and the shading is accurate, but the characters in the yellow legend bleed, making the whole look more like a rough draft.
Same thing goes for photographs. The ink droplets are visible in places and the colours are fairly saturated. This was intentional on Canon's part, though not appreciated by all users (including us), to make the photographs look more flashy. In the end, the result is perfectly adequate for casual users who just want to print a family photo from time to time—it's even better in some ways than many more expensive office printers.
The white button on the hood of the machine prints B&W copies and the green button prints colour. It takes 20 seconds to copy a B&W document and 47 seconds for colour, which is twice as long as your average professional printer. Then again, it's neither the same price nor the same targeted consumer base as the MG3150. The copy quality will do for text only.
The MG3250 consumes less than 1 watt in sleep mode and 13 watts at work. That's about as low as it goes, at least among the printers we've tested. And it's quiet, too, maxing out at 48 dB(A).
Only two ink cartridges are required for this printer, one for black and one for all the other colours. And there are two cartridge sizes, standard and high yield. As always, the cost per page is cheaper with high-yield (XL) cartridges: 10.8 pence. That's slightly below average as inkjets go, and well below the 22.8 pence per page that the standard cartridges yield. XL cartridges have the added benefit of reducing maintenance.
ISO lifespan for text (XL cartridges)
ISO lifespan for text (standard size cartridges)
Hardware
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The Pixma MG3250 is all about elegance and compactness, measuring 44.9 x 30.4 x 15.2 cm and weighing 5 kg. It was designed to fit easily on an office shelf: with Canon's FastFront system the paper goes in and out from the front, as do the ink cartridges.
Paper goes in and comes out through the front
Ink cartridge slots
When you run out of ink, you can still "force" the machine to print by holding down the Stop/Reset button for a few seconds. However, only use this as a fallback solution because the quality will be considerably degraded.
Software Solutions: My Image Garden
My Image Garden is a platform that merges the softwares Canon has developed for its Pixma line. For example, it features a dedicated space for browsing photo directories and editing images. Like with Photoshop, you can choose from a range of filters (soft focus, shrink, etc.) and automatic and manual tools for correcting contrast, brightness, sharpness, and so on. In the advanced settings you can set the colour tones and balance.Artistic effect in My Image Garden
Creative Park widens the user's possibilities even further by providing cut-and-paste tools and templates for cards, calendars and artistic designs on card stock. Art lovers can choose from works of art that are ready to print directly from the machine. Unfortunately, the MG3250's print quality may disappoint (visible ink droplets and questionable colour accuracy...).
Another novel feature that Canon boasts is the ability to print photos straight from Facebook, but the Print Your Days app has strides to make in user-friendliness and just can't compete with HP's version featured on the Photosmart 7510 e-All-In-One.
In the end, it all smacks more of marketing strategy than real innovation.
Speeds
As expected, the print speeds don't beat any records—by far. We were floored when we looked at our timer, and yet we followed the exact same testing procedure we always do. And despite the higher price tag and Canon's claims of faster printing, we got the exact same speeds as on the MG3150 when printing both photos and documents.So the verdict's the same. The MG3250's speeds are comparable to its low-end counterparts: 8 pages per minute (ppm) in colour and 6 ppm in B&W, compared to the 5 ppm and 9.2 ppm, respectively, that Canon claims in the specifications. These are nearly the opposite figures as the Epson Stylus SX420W (4 ppm in colour and 8 ppm in B&W). Canon's black ink always takes longer to dry.
The Pixma MG3250 prints photographs much faster than the Epson Stylus SX420W. The Canon takes 2 minutes and 44 seconds to print one A4-size photograph, compared to 4 whole minutes on the Epson Stylus. And in 10 x 15 cm, Canon holds the advantage with 1 minute and 5 seconds, compared to Epson's 1 minute and 24 seconds.
Quality
The MG3250 gives exactly the same print quality as the MG3150. Wanna know why? Easy: because they use the same ink cartridges. All-text documents are well rendered, as always with Canon. The main flaw comes with graphical elements, as seen in the picture below, where the ink droplets are visible in areas of solid colouring. The overall effect is middling. The letters are visible and the shading is accurate, but the characters in the yellow legend bleed, making the whole look more like a rough draft.
The Delta E 94 colour difference graph below shows inaccuracies mainly in the blues and greys, which leave room for improvement—though that may not be a problem if you're only printing for personal use.
Average Delta E 94 (colour difference): 12.1
The higher the bar, the less accurate the colour.
The average for printers we've tested is 7.
The higher the bar, the less accurate the colour.
The average for printers we've tested is 7.
Same thing goes for photographs. The ink droplets are visible in places and the colours are fairly saturated. This was intentional on Canon's part, though not appreciated by all users (including us), to make the photographs look more flashy. In the end, the result is perfectly adequate for casual users who just want to print a family photo from time to time—it's even better in some ways than many more expensive office printers.
Average Delta E 94 (colour difference): 5.1
Scanner & Copier
The white button on the hood of the machine prints B&W copies and the green button prints colour. It takes 20 seconds to copy a B&W document and 47 seconds for colour, which is twice as long as your average professional printer. Then again, it's neither the same price nor the same targeted consumer base as the MG3150. The copy quality will do for text only.Average Delta E 94 (colour difference): 7.7
Energy Consumption & Noise Levels
The MG3250 consumes less than 1 watt in sleep mode and 13 watts at work. That's about as low as it goes, at least among the printers we've tested. And it's quiet, too, maxing out at 48 dB(A).
Cost Per Page: 10.8 pence
Only two ink cartridges are required for this printer, one for black and one for all the other colours. And there are two cartridge sizes, standard and high yield. As always, the cost per page is cheaper with high-yield (XL) cartridges: 10.8 pence. That's slightly below average as inkjets go, and well below the 22.8 pence per page that the standard cartridges yield. XL cartridges have the added benefit of reducing maintenance.ISO lifespan for text (XL cartridges)
| Cartridge | Price (starting at) | ISO lifespan | Cost per page |
| PG-540XL (black) | £26 | 600 | 4.3 pence |
| CL-541XL (cyan) | £26 | 400 | 6.5 pence |
ISO lifespan for text (standard size cartridges)
| Cartridge | Price (starting at) | ISO lifespan | Cost per page |
| PG-540 (black) | £18 | 180 | 10 pence |
| CL-541 (cyan) | £23 | 180 | 12.8 pence |
Pros
- Price
- Wi-Fi and duplex
- Low energy consumption
- Quiet
- Elegant
- Compact
- AirPrint
Cons
- No card reader
- Slow print speeds
- Software suite more of a marketing gimmick than a functional tool
Conclusion
Barring the software features, this three-in-one inkjet is exactly the same as the previous model, the MG3150. It isn't fully equipped or ultra-fast, but it should be a good backup. We weren't that impressed with the software suite, which is what's supposed to make the MG3250 better than the last model. Want our advice? Get the MG3150. It'll save you some cash.
OUR SCORE
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