Canon Pixma MP150

Canon’s latest multifunction device (MFD) is branded with the Pixma logo, indicating that, like Lexmark, Canon now sees its all-in-one models as being capable of photo printing to high quality. The Pixma MP150 is not much bigger than a high-end inkjet, although it is a little larger than the Lexmark P6350.

An LCD preview screen isn’t included, mainly because of the product’s low price. Instead, a basic single-digit LED display indicates the number of copies to be made in copy mode. It is also used to display other messages, although the codes are not clear and you will find it necessary to flick through the manual in order to find out what they mean.

Photo prints at this low price are never going to be of a perfect quality. They appeared less vibrant than the Lexmark P6350, but most users will find them adequate for borderless 6 x 4 prints.

Text output was a little disappointing – not the laser-type quality we usually see from Canon bubblejets. This problem was absent on dedicated inkjet paper, but it showed up far more than we would expect on standard plain paper.

Print speeds were reasonable, with the Pixma MP150 reaching 7ppm (pages per minute) in our plain-text benchmark, while it took two minutes, 10 seconds to print an A4 colour photo at the highest-quality setting.

However, when it came to scanning, the speed was slow, taking one minute, 11 seconds to scan an A4 page at 150dpi. At 300dpi, though, the same scan took only four seconds longer.

At under £70, the Pixma MP150 sits firmly in the budget MFD category, suiting most home environments and those who don’t require high-quality photo prints. Although it lacks the luxury of a card reader and LCD screen as found on Lexmark’s P6350, this product still represents great value for money.