Design

The all-black MX492 measures 7.5 by 17.2 by 11.7 inches (HWD) and weighs 13 pounds, enough for one person to move in space. If you have a mid-big desk, it will fit into the space, otherwise, you’ll want to put it on your table. Its paper tray can hold up to 100 letter-sized sheets, which is fine for a micro-office, along with an auto document feeder (ADF) that holds 20 sheets. As expected, it does not support auto duplex scan, nor does it have an auto-duplexer for printing on both sides. There is a hinge at the top which, when raised, exposes a glass scan platen.

Basic MFP features include printing, faxing, and scanning to a PC or mobile device over a network. Similarly, it works as a standalone copier and fax machine. It’s now easy to print and scan photos or documents from mobile devices wirelessly using the Canon Print app, while other tasks can be done via physical buttons and screens on the top panel. It uses 802.11bgn to connect to your Wi-Fi network.

Setup

Setting up a printer these days is a matter of unpacking, installing cartridges and software, and setting up a few routines, voila! This printer uses two ink cartridges (black and tricolor), which helps keep manufacturing costs down as the tricolor cartridges contain cyan, magenta, and yellow inks. However, the approach increases running costs because when one color in a tricolor cartridge expires, you’ll need to replace the cartridge before the other colors expire.

Running Costs

Perhaps the main draw on the MX492 should be its low running cost, and high-yield cartridge for moderately priced inkjets. The standard PG-245 cartridge and CL-246 tricolor cartridge each produce approximately 180 pages, while the PG-245XL and CL-246XL cartridges produce approximately 300 pages. Black ink is essentially a pigment, not a dye, which is good because it produces deep blacks. Still, there are printers in the same category that offer better paper yield but most lack the wireless printing facility.

Epson and HP are known for high-capacity ink cartridges that result in lower running costs, especially laser-class inkjets. This is true for high-end inkjets, for the lower-priced models, the running cost is almost the same as with other manufacturers.

Printing Speed And Quality

For a small office, print speed is sometimes a concern and the Canon MX492 will print around 7.3 pages per minute (black) and 3.8 pages per minute (color), although Canon does this at 8.8 ppm and 4.4 ppm respectively. keeps. The Brother MFC-J985DW makes 4.6 ppm, while the HP Officejet Pro 6978 delivers 3.5 ppm, but both cost a bit more.

The MX492 offers smart output quality for an inkjet, slightly higher text and graphics, and above-par photos for a budget inkjet. Still, the text is good enough for a small office, except for those who need smaller fonts for business purposes. The graphics are clear enough for internal business use and PowerPoint handouts, but may not be the best for formal handouts. Plus, it works well with colors, although they tend to be a bit darker than the original reference prints. Overall, image quality and text output are good, but not perfect.