Canon Color imageClass LBP674Cdw

The Canon Color imageClass LBP674Cdw ($629.99) is a single-function color laser printer designed for small to midsized workgroups and offices. It offers excellent print quality, a wide range of connectivity options, and expandable paper input capacity. Its onboard control panel includes a big 5-inch color touch screen that's easy to customize, and this model is considerably faster than the Canon Color imageClass LBP664Cdw that it replaces. Minor drawbacks, including slightly high toner costs and a small output paper bin, don't hold it back from earning Editors' Choice honors.

Design: Faster Prints, Smaller Printer

At 15 by 16.8 by 16.9 inches (HWD), the Color imageClass LBP674Cdw is considerably more compact than the now-discontinued LBP664Cdw. The latter measures 23.3 by 17.5 by 23.1 inches and tips the scales at a hefty 47.8 pounds, while the new printer trims that weight to a less backbreaking 35.5 pounds. It follows the general trend of color lasers becoming smaller and lighter even as print speeds steadily increase.

Speaking of speed, the LBP674Cdw is rated at a brisk 35 pages per minute (ppm), 7ppm faster than its predecessor. Achieving that increase doesn't mean a compromise in paper capacities, as both models have a 250-sheet cassette and 50-sheet override tray and can be expanded to 850 sheets via an optional 550-sheet tray that attaches to the bottom of the printer. The new Canon's optional paper tray (the PF-K1) costs $249.99.

Those capacities should be sufficient for all but the biggest offices or workgroups, though the LBP674Cdw's faster print speed might give you an extra incentive for adding the optional tray. For comparison, both the Ricoh C125 P and the Lexmark C3326dw have 250-sheet cassettes but only a single-sheet override tray. The Ricoh can be expanded to 751 sheets via a 500-sheet extension tray ($174), but the Lexmark doesn't offer an add-on paper tray.

(Credit: David English)

The new imageClass' recommended monthly duty cycle is 4,000 pages, matching the previous model. That also far exceeds the 2,500-page recommended monthly cycle for the Lexmark C3326dw and the 1,500-page cycle of the Ricoh. Canon no longer publishes maximum monthly duty cycles for its printers.

While the LBP674Cdw is otherwise well-equipped, its output capacity is less than generous: The output bin is rated for 75 sheets of standard 20-pound letter paper. That's adequate, but could seem restrictive when paired with the optional 550-sheet tray. For comparison, the C3326dw has a 100-sheet output bin while the C125 P's is 125 sheets. If you tend to do long print runs and leave the printer unattended, this Canon may not be the best model for your needs.

On the connectivity side, the LBP674Cdw ticks all the important boxes. It supports USB, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi connections as well as Wi-Fi Direct. You can access many of the printer's functions via its internal IP address, though the IP-connected device you're using needs to be on the same network. For mobile printing, the Color imageClass supports Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service. You can also display a QR code on the control panel's touch screen to quickly pair the printer with the Canon Print Business app on your iOS or Android device.

(Credit: David English)

The 5-inch touch screen is preconfigured with seven tabs, each having as many as eight icon-based functions. Our review unit came with 15 prefab icons that included paper settings, wireless LAN settings, a mobile portal, a secure print option, a firmware updater, and toner delivery settings. You can swipe left or right to navigate through the tabs. To rearrange icons, simply press and hold one and you'll be able to drag and drop it wherever you like.

Setup: No Wi-Fi Connection Hassles

Canon makes it relatively easy to set up the LBP674Cdw. You can go right to the printed Setup Guide that features well-illustrated step-by-step instructions, plus a QR code on the cover that lets you download a more comprehensive user's guide to your phone.

The printer comes preloaded with toner cartridges, so all you need to do is load some paper, plug in the power cord, and configure a few basic settings. You may be tempted next to attach a USB cable from your PC, but that's not the proper sequence—Canon thoughtfully places a warning strip over the USB port to remind you to install the software on your computer before plugging in the cable.

You can install software for both Windows PCs and Macs using the supplied CD-ROMs, but in the likely event that your computer lacks an optical drive the Setup Guide provides a link to download the software and drivers directly from Canon. Once installed, you may not see any changes on your Windows desktop. Just about everything is handled through the printer driver, though the optional Toner Status utility might be useful.

If you've ever had difficulties introducing a printer to your Wi-Fi network, you'll be especially pleased with Canon's streamlined process. Press the Wireless LAN Settings button on the control panel, select the Wi-Fi network you want to connect to, enter the encryption key or password, and voila.

(Credit: Canon)

Though comparatively light for its capacity and speed, the unit does feel sturdy enough. Like the Canon Color imageClass MF753Cdw, which is basically an all-in-one version of this printer, the override tray doesn't secure quite as tightly as it should when closed (perhaps a couple of built-in magnets would have helped). The placement of the power button is also problematic, in that it's easy to press accidentally when opening or closing the override tray.

As with the MF753Cdw, you access the toner cartridges from the front of the printer; they're cleverly hidden behind the override tray. Open the override tray and press a release button on the left side of the chassis, and the tray mechanism automatically drops down to reveal the cartridges inside. It's a slick design that places the cartridges up front for convenient access.

On the top left of the unit, you'll find a small door that hides a USB port for attaching a thumb drive. You can use the port to print documents quickly with neither a computer nor mobile connection.

(Credit: Canon)

Testing the LBP674Cdw: Significant Speed

Canon rates the LBP674Cdw at 35ppm in simplex (one-sided) mode, which is relatively fast for a medium-volume laser or LED printer. Both the Lexmark C3326dw and Ricoh C125 P are rated at a more leisurely 26ppm.

To see if the Color imageClass could live up to its billing, I tested it over an Ethernet connection with our standard Intel Core i5 desktop testbed running Windows 10 Pro. The LBP674Cdw comes out of the box configured to print two-sided (duplex) pages, so we timed both its simplex and duplex performance. Printing our standard 12-page Microsoft Word text document (excluding the first page), I clocked the Canon at 31.9ppm in duplex mode and 35.1ppm in simplex.

Besides (barely) beating the printer's rated speed, that result was considerably quicker than the 28.7ppm we saw from the older LBP664Cdw in the same test. The new Canon easily outpaced the Lexmark and Ricoh printers, which posted 26.4ppm and 26.3ppm respectively.

Getting away from plain text, I then timed the LBP674Cdw as it printed our collection of colorful and complex business documents—Adobe Acrobat PDFs, PowerPoint handouts, and Excel spreadsheets and graphs. When I combined those results with that from the 12-page Word document, I found it took 70 seconds to print the entire suite.

That time was faster than the other single-function color lasers mentioned here. The C125 P took 171 seconds to complete the same series of tasks, though the C3326dw did somewhat better at 136 seconds. The previous Canon model came in at 88 seconds. The Color imageClass LBP674Cdw is not a photo printer, though I did put a stopwatch on it as it printed some 4-by-6-inch snapshots. It averaged about 6 seconds per image, which is relatively fast for a color laser.

Overall, the LBP674Cdw is considerably swifter than the model it replaces, as well as other similar-capacity color laser printers. This speed advantage is consistent over a wide range of business-related materials, ranging from Word documents and PowerPoint decks to photo-based handouts.

Running Costs: Spring for the High-Yield Cartridge

Canon gives you a choice of regular- or high-yield replacement toner cartridges. You'll definitely want to opt for the latter, as toner costs are a bit of a weak spot for the LBP674Cdw. Even with the high-yield cartridges, your running costs will be about 2.4 cents per black-and-white and 14.7 cents per color page. (With the regular cartridges, those costs will soar to about 4.7 and 23 cents respectively.) On the other hand, you'll have to pay considerably more money up front for the larger cartridges.

For comparison, the older Canon LBP664Cdw, which used a different set of toner cartridges, would cost you slightly more (about 2.5 cents) for a monochrome and slightly less (13.3 cents) for a color page. The otherwise cheaper Lexmark C3326dw will set you back a bit more for both types of pages, at roughly 3 cents for black-and-white and 15 cents for color. The HP Color LaserJet Pro M454dw, which has been discontinued but is still available from some suppliers, saves you some pennies at about 2.2 cents per monochrome and 14.2 cents per color page.

(Credit: Canon)

The Ricoh C125 P is something of a special case for comparison, because that printer doesn't have an option for using high-yield replacement cartridges. It'll cost you about 3.8 and 18.2 cents per monochrome and color page respectively, which is less than you'd pay when using regular-yield cartridges for the LBP674Cdw.

The Canon does have a secret weapon that could help keep your long-term costs down: It doesn't have a dedicated drum unit that needs to be replaced periodically. Instead, each toner cartridge has its own built-in drum mechanism. Drum units aren't usually included in cost-of-page calculations because they tend to have a long life and may never need to be replaced in some light-duty situations, but the LBP674Cdw could save you some cash over time.

Print Quality: Dark Blacks, Consistent Colors

In our tests, the print quality of the LBP674Cdw matched that of Canon's all-in-one MF753Cdw. Like almost any laser-class printer, it produces near-typesetter-quality text that's more than suitable for most business documents. I was able to read typical business fonts down to a very small 4-point size. I saw no stray marks or extraneous lines and everything looked clean and well-defined. The Excel charts and PowerPoint handouts I printed showed consistent colors, smooth gradations, and solid fills. Blacks were appropriately dark and colors were bright and distinct with no bleed-throughs or muddied areas.

Printed photos from the LBP674Cdw looked quite good; colors were dynamic without being oversaturated, and images showed a fair amount of detail with a pleasing but restrained amount of contrast. As with any laser printer, you can't print borderless photo pages as you can with an inkjet, but the Canon's photo quality should be more than adequate for casual business documents such as newsletters, brochures, or real estate flyers.

Verdict: A Fast, High-Quality Office Color Laser

The Canon Color imageClass LBP674Cdw is a fast, expandable single-function color laser printer that's tailor-made for small and medium office settings. It offers excellent print quality, an easy-to-use 5-inch color touch screen, and plenty of connection options including a streamlined Wi-Fi setup. Its running costs are somewhat high, but its output quality takes some of the sting out of that expense. The petite 75-sheet output tray is also a downside, especially since the printer's input capacity can be expanded to an impressive 850 sheets.

If you don't tend to print lengthy documents or leave your printer mostly unattended, however, the modest output tray probably won't be an issue. Your office will benefit from this Editors' Choice award-winning printer.