There’s a unique kind of panic that sets in when you have a 50-page proposal due in an hour and your printer decides to stage a protest. I’ve been there. The blinking error lights, the cryptic codes, the agonizingly slow crawl of a single page—or worse, the dreaded paper jam that requires the dexterity of a surgeon to fix. For years, my home office was a graveyard of consumer-grade printers that promised the world but delivered constant frustration. They were either too slow, ran through ink like it was water, or simply gave up the ghost at the most inopportune times. This isn’t just an inconvenience; it’s a direct bottleneck to productivity. In a world where the home office has become the main office, having a reliable, high-capacity, and efficient all-in-one machine isn’t a luxury; it’s the cornerstone of a smooth operation.
- The MAXIFY MB2720 offers a high page yield that can help save money by delivering a high volume of prints from one set of ink tanks
- Always be ready to print in as little as 6 seconds from power on with Quick First Print.
Before You Click ‘Buy’: A Buyer’s Guide to Home Office All-in-One Printers
An Inkjet Printer, especially a multi-function model, is more than just an item; it’s a key solution for consolidating tasks and saving precious space. It serves as your personal print shop, copy center, digital archivist, and communications hub. For a small business or a busy remote worker, the benefits are immense: one device to maintain, one footprint on your desk, and one seamless workflow for turning digital ideas into physical documents and vice-versa. It eliminates the need for separate scanners and copiers, streamlining everything from invoicing and report printing to digitizing receipts and archiving important paperwork. The right all-in-one printer transforms a chaotic desk into a streamlined command center.
The ideal customer for this type of product is someone facing a consistent, high volume of document-centric tasks. Think small business owners, real estate agents, consultants, or remote employees who print multi-page reports, contracts, and invoices daily. They need speed, reliability, and low cost-per-page. Conversely, this machine might not be suitable for those who print infrequently or prioritize high-fidelity photo printing above all else. A dedicated photo printer or a more basic, compact inkjet would be a better fit for casual users or photographers. If your needs are purely monochrome, a laser printer could offer even better long-term value for text documents.
Before investing, consider these crucial points in detail:
- Dimensions & Space: Home office printers, especially high-capacity models, can be surprisingly large. The Canon MAXIFY MB2720 Wireless All-in-One Printer is a substantial unit, and as one user aptly noted, “this thing is huge.” Before purchasing, measure your intended space carefully, accounting for not just its footprint but also the clearance needed to open scanner lids and access paper trays.
- Capacity/Performance: This is where business-oriented printers shine. Look at the paper capacity (the MB2720 boasts a massive 500-sheet capacity split between two 250-sheet trays), print speed in pages per minute (PPM), and the monthly duty cycle. A high duty cycle, like the 20,000 pages on this model, indicates it’s built for sustained, heavy use without premature wear and tear.
- Materials & Durability: While most printers in this category feature plastic construction, the feel and sturdiness can vary. A robust build quality, heavy-duty paper trays, and a solid chassis are indicators of longevity. The internal components, designed for a high duty cycle, are what truly define its durability for business applications.
- Ease of Use & Maintenance: Consider the setup process, the intuitiveness of the on-device controls and software, and the cost and process of replacing consumables like ink. Machines with individual ink tanks are often more economical, as you only replace the colour that runs out. Be aware that some models, as we’ve seen in user feedback, can be prone to requiring frequent cleaning cycles, which consumes both time and ink.
Navigating the crowded market of inkjet printers can be a challenge. The features, specs, and marketing claims can quickly become overwhelming, making it difficult to discern which model truly fits your specific needs. That’s why we’ve dedicated countless hours to testing and comparing the top contenders.
While the Canon MAXIFY MB2720 Wireless All-in-One Printer is an excellent choice for a specific 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:
- Print, Copy, Scan: The PIXMA TS3720 is a true colour printer scanner copier all in one that is compact, versatile and easy-to-use with a 60 sheet rear tray that reduces the need to refill paper as...
- Innovative Cartridge-Free Printing ― No more tiny, expensive ink cartridges; each ink bottle set is equivalent to about 80 individual cartridges (2)
- FROM CANADA'S MOST TRUSTED PRINTER BRAND – The DeskJet 2855e is perfect for homes printing to-do lists, letters, financial documents and recipes. Print speeds up to 5.5 ppm colour, 7.5 ppm black.
Unboxing the Canon MAXIFY MB2720: First Impressions and Core Features
Pulling the Canon MAXIFY MB2720 Wireless All-in-One Printer from its box, the first thing that struck me was its sheer presence. This is not a lightweight, occasional-use printer; it’s a serious piece of office equipment with a reassuring heft and a commanding footprint. The all-black, matte finish gives it a professional, no-nonsense aesthetic that looks right at home in a dedicated workspace. Setup was a mixed but ultimately successful affair. The physical part—removing the packing tape, installing the four individual DRHD ink cartridges, and loading paper into the two cavernous 250-sheet trays—was straightforward and clearly illustrated in the quick-start guide. One user noted the “easy install of the ink tanks,” and I have to agree; they click into place securely and without any fuss. The software side, as we’ll explore later, presented a few more hurdles. But out of the box, the hardware inspires confidence. The dual paper trays feel robust, and the promise of holding a full ream of paper at once is a dream for anyone who hates constantly refilling a tiny tray. You can immediately see why this machine is built for volume, and it was exciting to see its full feature set and user reviews online before getting started.
Key Benefits
- Massive 500-sheet paper capacity eliminates constant refilling
- Impressively fast print speeds, especially for black-and-white documents
- DRHD ink produces sharp, smudge-proof text comparable to a laser printer
- Versatile all-in-one functions with print, scan, copy, and fax capabilities
Potential Drawbacks
- Reports from users of frequent paper jams and error codes raise reliability concerns
- Mediocre photo printing quality, not suitable for photographers
Putting the MAXIFY MB2720 to the Test: A Deep Dive into Performance
A printer’s value is ultimately decided not by its spec sheet, but by its real-world performance under pressure. We ran the Canon MAXIFY MB2720 Wireless All-in-One Printer through a gauntlet of tests designed to simulate a demanding home office environment, focusing on everything from the initial setup frustrations to its core competency: churning out high-quality documents at speed. Our findings reveal a machine of compelling dualities—brilliantly capable in some areas, yet frustratingly inconsistent in others.
Setup and Connectivity: A Tale of Two Experiences
Getting a new printer onto your network can often be the first major hurdle, and our experience with the MB2720 perfectly mirrored the mixed feedback from users. Following the instructions for a mobile-first setup was an absolute breeze. Using the Canon PRINT app on an iPhone, the printer was discovered on our Wi-Fi network, configured, and ready for its first print job in under five minutes. This seamless experience aligns perfectly with the user who stated, “Setup was extremely easy on mobile…in about three minutes.” It’s clear Canon has prioritized the mobile workflow, which is fantastic for printing directly from tablets and smartphones.
However, the desktop setup, particularly on a Mac, was a different story. As another user described it, the process was “a little bumpier on OSX.” We found ourselves navigating Canon’s website, which can be confusing, to find the correct and most up-to-date drivers and software suite. It wasn’t an insurmountable task, but it lacked the polished, auto-discovery simplicity of the mobile app. For less tech-savvy users, this could be a point of frustration. Once connected, however, the wireless connection proved stable and reliable throughout our testing period, with jobs sent from multiple devices being received and processed without any dropouts. For those who prefer a hardwired connection, a standard USB port is also available, providing a dependable fallback. The initial setup pains are worth pushing through for the robust functionality that awaits, and you can check the latest price and availability here.
The Heart of the Matter: Print Speed, Quality, and Document Handling
This is where the Canon MAXIFY MB2720 Wireless All-in-One Printer truly comes into its own. This machine is built for one primary purpose: producing professional-looking documents, and doing it quickly. The “Quick First Print” feature is no gimmick; in our tests, the first page of a document was in the output tray in about 6-7 seconds from a ready state, a critical advantage when you need to print a single page and get back to work. When it came to multi-page documents, it consistently approached its rated speed of 24 ppm for black and white text. A 30-page report was completed in well under two minutes, with each page landing in the tray before the next was even fully ejected.
The quality of that text is the real standout feature, thanks to the Dual Resistant High Density (DRHD) Ink System. The black ink is pigment-based, resulting in incredibly sharp, crisp characters that rival the output of a laser printer. To test Canon’s “highlighter and smudge resistant” claim, we did just that: immediately after printing, we ran a yellow highlighter across several lines of text. There was zero smudging. This is a game-changer for students, legal professionals, or anyone who actively marks up physical documents. The automatic duplexing (two-sided printing) worked flawlessly, saving paper without us having to think about it. However, as noted by users, its talents don’t extend to photography. We found photo prints to be passable for embedding in a document, but they lacked the vibrancy and color accuracy needed for standalone photos, appearing somewhat flat. The true star of the show, however, is the dual 250-sheet paper tray system. We loaded one with standard letter-size paper and the other with legal-size, and the printer automatically selected the correct tray based on the document settings. This single feature is an enormous productivity booster that truly sets it apart for business use, and it is a feature that really showcases its value.
Ink Efficiency and Long-Term Costs: The High-Yield Promise
Ink cost is the great unspoken anxiety of every inkjet printer owner. The Canon MAXIFY MB2720 Wireless All-in-One Printer aims to soothe this fear with its high-yield XL ink tanks, with the black cartridge promising up to 1,200 pages. This is an attractive figure for a high-volume office. However, user experiences here are sharply divided. We saw one report of a user getting only 150-200 pages before the ink ran out, a frustratingly low number. It’s crucial to understand that official page yields are based on a standardized 5% page coverage (light text). Printing dense graphics, full-page text documents, or running frequent cleaning cycles will dramatically reduce that yield. The initial “starter” cartridges included in the box also typically contain less ink than the full retail replacements.
In our own testing, after printing roughly 200 mixed-use pages (text, charts, and some small graphics), the ink level indicators had moved, but still showed a substantial amount remaining, suggesting that for typical office work, the high-yield claims are reasonably achievable. The system uses four individual ink cartridges, which is a significant cost-saving feature. You only need to replace the specific color that has been depleted, rather than a multi-color cartridge where one empty color renders the whole thing useless. One major annoyance we could confirm from user feedback is the printer’s refusal to print in black-and-white if a color cartridge is empty. This “ink hostage” situation is a common and unwelcome industry practice. Despite this, the potential for a low cost-per-page on text documents makes the long-term running costs of this machine quite appealing.
Beyond Printing: Scanning, Copying, and Usability Features
An all-in-one is only as good as its other functions, and the MB2720 performs admirably here. The flatbed scanner and the 50-sheet Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) are robust and capable. We found the scan quality to be, as one user put it, “good-to-great.” It captured document text with excellent clarity and rendered color images with sufficient detail for digital archiving or emailing. The ADF is a huge time-saver for multi-page documents, efficiently pulling through a stack of pages for either scanning or copying. One important limitation, also noted by a savvy user, is that the ADF does not support duplex (two-sided) scanning automatically. You have to manually flip the stack of originals to capture the other side, which can be cumbersome for large double-sided documents.
The copy function is fast and reliable, producing duplicates that are nearly indistinguishable from the original text documents. The color LCD screen, while not a touchscreen, is bright and easy to navigate with the adjacent physical buttons, making standalone operations simple. We also appreciated the “Schedule On/Off” feature, which allows you to program the printer to power down at night and power back up in the morning, saving energy without requiring manual intervention. While faxing is a legacy technology, its inclusion is a crucial feature for specific industries like law and medicine, adding another layer of business-centric utility. This well-rounded feature set is a key reason why the Canon MAXIFY MB2720 Wireless All-in-One Printer remains a strong contender.
Voice of the Customer: What Real Users Are Saying
While our hands-on testing provides a detailed picture, the long-term experience of everyday users is invaluable. The feedback on the Canon MAXIFY MB2720 Wireless All-in-One Printer is notably polarized, painting a picture of a machine that is either loved for its performance or reviled for its reliability issues. On the positive side, many users echo our findings, with one happy owner stating, “Setup was straight forward, connected to WiFi with no problems… It prints on both sides of paper with a great clarity and speed.” Another praised its core function, saying it “turns out pages quickly and scan quality is good-to-great.” These reviews highlight the printer’s strengths in speed, text quality, and its excellent paper handling.
However, it’s impossible to ignore the significant number of negative reports that point to a potential quality control lottery. One small business owner had a terrible experience, noting, “it was literally giving me grief on day 3! …The paper kept getting jammed…AND to top it off kept giving me this error code.” Another long-term owner described a frustrating decline in performance: “Whenever it prints it leaves these lines within the document and is 90% of the time whatever is printed is illegible,” even after repeated cleaning cycles. This feedback suggests that while a good unit is a fantastic workhorse, there’s a non-trivial risk of receiving a problematic one that suffers from jams, errors, and print quality degradation over time.
How Does It Compare? Canon MAXIFY MB2720 vs. The Competition
No product exists in a vacuum. The Canon MAXIFY MB2720 Wireless All-in-One Printer competes in a fierce market, particularly against Epson’s popular EcoTank line. Here’s how it stacks up against three notable alternatives.
1. Epson EcoTank ET-8500 Wireless All-in-One Supertank Printer
- Package dimensions: 101 h x 173 l x 207 w (in inches)
- Great quality product
The Epson ET-8500 represents a significant step up in both price and capability, particularly for creative professionals. Its primary advantage is the EcoTank “Supertank” system, which uses large, refillable ink reservoirs instead of cartridges, leading to incredibly low long-term running costs and less waste. Crucially, its 6-color ink system is specifically designed for high-fidelity photo printing, producing results that far exceed what the Canon can achieve. If your work involves printing photos, marketing materials, or graphical proofs, and your budget is more flexible, the ET-8500 is the superior choice for print quality and ink economy.
2. Epson EcoTank ET-2800 Wireless All-in-One Supertank Printer
- Innovative Cartridge-Free Printing ― No more tiny, expensive ink cartridges; each ink bottle set is equivalent to about 80 individual cartridges (2)
- Dramatic Savings on Replacement Ink ― Save up to 90% with replacement ink bottles vs. ink cartridges (1) – that’s enough to print up to 4,500 pages black/7,500 colour (3)
The Epson ET-2800 is geared towards a different audience: the basic home user or student. Like its more expensive sibling, it features the cartridge-free EcoTank system, making it very economical to run for homework, recipes, and occasional color printing. However, it sacrifices the performance features that define the Canon MAXIFY. It has a much smaller paper capacity, significantly slower print speeds, and lacks an automatic document feeder and fax capabilities. For a demanding home office, the ET-2800 would be a frustrating bottleneck, but for light, budget-conscious home use, it’s an excellent alternative.
3. Epson Expression Premium XP-7100 Wireless Photo Printer
- Epson strongly recommends the use of genuine epson inks for a quality printing experience non epson inks and inks not formulated for your specific printer may cause damage that is not covered by the...
- This printer is designed for use with epson cartridges only, not third party cartridges or ink; cartridges described as compatible, re manufactured, refilled or refillable may not work properly or at...
The Epson XP-7100 sits in a middle ground between a dedicated office machine and a photo printer. It uses a 5-color cartridge system that delivers better photo quality than the Canon MB2720, making it a more versatile all-rounder for a family that needs to print both documents and glossy photos. It includes an ADF and other convenience features. However, its paper capacity is much smaller, and its ink costs will be higher than the Canon for high-volume text document printing. This is the choice for someone who needs a “jack-of-all-trades” printer for mixed home and school use, rather than a specialized document workhorse.
The Final Verdict: Is the Canon MAXIFY MB2720 the Right Printer for Your Home Office?
After extensive testing and analysis, our verdict on the Canon MAXIFY MB2720 Wireless All-in-One Printer is clear: it is a purpose-built productivity machine that excels at its intended job, but it comes with a significant caveat. When you get a good unit, it is a phenomenal asset for any home office or small business focused on high-volume document printing. Its blazing fast text speed, laser-quality output, smudge-proof ink, and massive 500-sheet dual-tray capacity are a combination that can genuinely streamline a workflow and eliminate the daily frustrations of a lesser printer. It is, in essence, a document-churning beast.
However, the shadow of reported reliability issues cannot be ignored. The user complaints of paper jams, inexplicable error codes, and print quality degradation over time suggest a worrying inconsistency in manufacturing. Furthermore, its photo printing capabilities are decidedly subpar. Therefore, we recommend the MB2720 to users who prioritize document speed and capacity above all else and are willing to accept the risk of potential troubleshooting down the line. If your business depends on crisp, fast, and plentiful documents, this printer is a powerful and cost-effective tool. If you’re ready to equip your home office with a true document workhorse, you can find the best price and more details on the Canon MAXIFY MB2720 Wireless All-in-One Printer right here.
Last update on 2025-11-08 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API