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Canon Color imageCLASS MF741Cdw Review

A standout all-in-one printer that makes for an excellent choice for a home or small office with a need for high output and high quality
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canon color imageclass mf741cdw home printer review
The Canon ImageClass MF741Cdw is a giant, but excellent machine.
Credit: Laura Casner
Price:  $549 List
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Manufacturer:   Canon
By Alex Hocevar-Smith and Genaveve Bradshaw  ⋅  Jun 14, 2022
88
OVERALL
SCORE


RANKED
#1 of 12
  • Text Quality - 25% 9.0
  • Operating Cost - 25% 8.0
  • Ease of Use - 20% 8.4
  • Graphics and Photos - 15% 9.1
  • Printing Speed - 15% 9.9

Our Verdict

For the home or small office that does it all–photos, documents, graphics–and does it often, or for the tech geek that needs to have the best of everything, the Canon Color imageCLASS MF741Cdw is an amazing option in our printer review. At 26 simplex pages per minute and 6 seconds per full-page color photo, this printer can pump out high-quality text and images at an incredible rate. It has a simple and intuitive interface, and its operating costs are relatively low for the overall quality it demonstrates. Its biggest drawbacks are its mammoth size, clocking in at 64 pounds, and its initial purchase price. However, if the size doesn't bother you, and you see the value in this printer for your needs, you cannot go wrong with this machine. Get the scoop on how it stands up to the competition in our review of the best home printers.
REASONS TO BUY
Super fast
Great text quality and photo quality
Good user interface with lots of customizable settings
Multiple connectivity options
High capacity toner cartridges
REASONS TO AVOID
Giant size and quite heavy
No autoduplexing ADF or scanning ADF
Editor's Note: We updated this review for the Canon Color imageCLASS MF741Cdw on June 14, 2022, with additional data from our in-depth testing process, an unbiased take on value, and a section that highlights other products that may better suit your needs and budget.

Compare to Similar Products

 
Awards Editors' Choice Award Best Buy Award Top Pick Award  Best Buy Award 
Price $549 List
$509.00 at Amazon
$220 List
$149.99 at Amazon
$150 List
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$120 List
$116.00 at Amazon
$85 List
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Bottom Line A great do-it-all printer for busy home or small offices, but may be overkill for the the average consumerA great budget-friendly printer that performs well in every metric and excels at affordable, high quality photo printingFast black and white printing, reasonable operating costs, and solid performance make this a great choice for a homes and small officesA fast, monochrome laser printer with a small footprint, but limited in connectivity optionsEasy on the wallet up front will get you very capable printer, but long-term operational costs might upset those initial savings
Rating Categories Canon Color imageCL... Epson Workforce Pro... Brother Monochrome... Brother HL-L2300D HP DeskJet 2755e
Text Quality (25%)
9.0
8.0
7.8
7.8
8.3
Operating Cost (25%)
8.0
7.5
9.0
8.0
3.0
Ease of Use (20%)
8.4
7.9
5.8
4.6
7.8
Graphics and Photos (15%)
9.1
8.7
6.3
5.7
7.3
Printing Speed (15%)
9.9
8.5
9.3
9.3
6.8
Specs Canon Color imageCL... Epson Workforce Pro... Brother Monochrome... Brother HL-L2300D HP DeskJet 2755e
Type laser all-in-one inkjet laser laser all-in-one inkjet
Capabilities print, scan, copy, email print, scan print print print, scan, copy
Resolution (Black) 600 x 600 4800 x 2400 2400 x 600 2400 x 600 1200 x 1200
Resolution (Color) 600 x 600 4800 x 2400 unspecified unspecified 4800 x 1200
Supported Paper Sizes Letter, A4, Legal, Mexico Legal, India Legal, Folio, Executive, A5, A6, Envelopes (C5, Com-10, DL, Monarch), Photo (4 x 6"), Photo L (3.5 x 5"), Photo 2L (5 x 7"), Index card (5 x 8") 3.5 x 5", 4 x 6", 5 x 7", 8 x 10", Letter, Legal, A4, A6, Half Letter, Executive, user-definable (3.5 — 47.2"L), Oficio 9; 8.5 x1 3"; Mexico Oficio Letter, Legal, Executive, A4, A5, A6, B5, B6 (tray)
Envelope, Custom Sizes (3.0-8.5" (w), 5.0-14" (l)) (manual feed)
Tray 1: A4; A5; A6; B5 (JIS); Oficio; 16K; 16K 16K ; Japanese Postcard; Double Japan Postcard Rotated; Envelope #10; Envelope Monarch; Envelope B5; Envelope C5; Envelope DL; Custom Size; 4 x 6", 5 x 8"; Statement; Tray 2 & Tray 3: A4; A5; A6; B5 (JIS); Oficio; 16K ; 16K ; 16K, Custom Size; A5-R; 4 x 6"; B6 (JIS) Letter; legal; 4 x 6"; 5 x 7 "; 8 x 10"; No. 10 envelopes, Letter; HP envelopes; HP cards; HP 4 x 6" photo paper
Dimensions (excludes extensions) 17.1" x 14.2" x 7.1" 16.7" x 15.3" x 10.9" 14.0" x 14.2" x 7.2" 16.5" x 15.4" x 12.7" 16.7" x 12" x 6"
Weight 19.8 lbs 22.5 Ibs 15.1 Ibs 27.8 lbs 7.7 Ibs
Paper Handling Input (sheets) 150 250 sheets 250 100-sheet tray 1, 250-sheet input tray 2; 50-sheet Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) 60
Monthly Duty Cycle 4,000 33,000 15,000 10,000 1,000
2-Sided Printing yes yes yes yes yes (manual, no duplex printing)
Ink Cost per Ream: B/W $18.91 $28.56 $13.42 $16.66 $49.98
Ink Cost per Ream: Color $24.76 $13.40 NA NA $62.48
Estimated Lifetime Cost of Ownership $790 $583 $351 $410 $872
Claimed Pages Per Minute 28 25 (black) or 12 (color) 32 27 7.5 (black)
5.5 (color)
Measured Pages per Minute: Single-Sided B/W 25 10 13 22 4
Connectivity USB 2.0 x2 (Host), USB 2.0 x1 (Device) High-Speed, 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet (Network), Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Wi-Fi® Direct Connection WiFi, Ethernet, USB 2.0 Wireless 802.11 b/g/n, Hi-Speed USB 2.0, Wi Fi Direct USB 2.0 - no wireless connection Wireless 802.11a/b/g/n; 1 Hi-Speed USB 2.0
Operating System Compatability Windows 7/Windows 8.1/Windows 10/Windows Server 2008/Windows Server 2008 R2/Windows Server 2012/ Windows Server 2012 R2/Windows Server 2016 / Mac OS X v10.9.5 (or later) Windows® 10, Windows 8, 8.1 (32-bit, 64-bit), Windows 7 (32-bit, 64-bit), Windows Vista® (32-bit, 64-bit), Windows Server® 2003 SP27 — Windows Server 20197 Mac® OS X® 10.6.8 — macOS® 10.15.x8 Windows® 7 SP1 / 8 / 8.1 1 4 Windows® 10 Home / 10 Pro / 10 Education / 10 Enterprise Windows Server® 2008 Windows Server® 2008 R2 Windows Server® 2012 Windows Server® 2012 R2 Windows Server® 2016 macOS v10.10.5 macOS v10.11.x macOS v10.12.x Windows Server®
2008 R2 Mac OS X
10.7.x, 10.8.x,
10.9.x Windows® XP
Home Edition
Windows® XP
Professiona
Windows 11; Windows 10; Windows 7; macOS 10.12 Sierra; macOS 10.14 Mojave; macOS 10.15 Catalina; macOS 11 Big Sur; Chrome OS
Google Cloud Print yes yes yes no yes

Our Analysis and Test Results

The Canon ImageClass MF741Cdw is our go-to printer for the home or small office that prints a lot and needs those prints to be of the highest quality. With its high-capacity toner cartridges, you won't worry about upkeep costs. What separates the MF741Cdw from the pack is its overall speed and quality package. Many lasers can print fast, but the overall quality falls behind. The MF741Cdw excels at speedily producing high-quality text and photos, the latter being unique for a laser printer (many lasers struggle with printing color images).

Performance Comparison


canon color imageclass mf741cdw home printer review - displaying the top paper tray of the canon imageclass mf741cdw.
Displaying the top paper tray of the Canon ImageClass MF741Cdw.
Credit: Laura Casner

Text Quality


The Canon ImageClass MF741Cdw tied for the best text quality score in our testing. We saw consistently great quality and sharp text during our text quality analysis — all fonts and font sizes were clear with crisp edges.


The resolution was standout throughout text and graphics. There was no significant blurring or fuzzing prevalent in some of the lower initial cost printers on the market. No other printers in our lineup outperformed the MF741Cdw in this metric.

canon color imageclass mf741cdw home printer review - you can see here, compared to other printers in our lineup, the...
You can see here, compared to other printers in our lineup, the MF741Cdw produces nice, crisp edges for text and high-resolution graphics.
Credit: Laura Casner

This performance is particularly impressive for a fast laser printer. Many of the other fast lasers in our lineup prioritized speed over general print quality, but the MF741Cdw sacrifices nothing. It can print fantastic-looking text quickly and accurately, a feat worth noting.

canon color imageclass mf741cdw home printer review - the canon mf741cdw supports a huge variety of paper sizes.
The Canon MF741Cdw supports a huge variety of paper sizes.
Credit: Laura Casner

Operating Cost


The MF741Cdw does have a high initial buying price; however, its actual day-to-day operating costs are relatively low compared to other printers on the market.


It can print a ream of black and white text for about $18.91 or $0.04 per page, and its color costs are barely more at $24.76 per ream or $0.05 per page.


As far as short-term value goes, the MF741Cdw isn't necessarily the best bang for your buck — there are certainly less expensive printers in our lineup.


Though, if you're in a high-output office setting, the overall cost of this machine is quite economical for the high-quality package it provides.


Keep in mind, if you're not printing a lot and don't need the best quality prints when you do, the MF741Cdw is probably overkill for you, for factors other than just high overall operating cost.

canon color imageclass mf741cdw home printer review - though larger and less affordable than other printers, the overall...
Though larger and less affordable than other printers, the overall build quality, ease of use, and performance of this machine are excellent.
Credit: Laura Casner

Ease of Use


The MF741Cdw led the pack as the easiest printer to set up and use. Aside from its hefty unboxing weight of 64 pounds (you'll probably want to enlist some help getting this printer into place), everything about this printer was a pleasure to use.


It boasts a large touch screen with built-in adjusters to help you dial in your print jobs, from saturation to sharpness. Its WiFi setup requires no supplementary app or software support. The Canon website provides clear, easily navigable help information. We particularly appreciated the completion noise it emanates when finishing a print job. This feature makes it easy to multitask, knowing that your printer will tell you when it's done.


For all of its performance, this printer doesn't support a very impressive monthly duty cycle — which is the maximum number of pages you can print per month without any maintenance issues. But overall, aside from its enormous size and processing power, the MF741Cdw provides a great, streamlined, intuitive package if you're willing to spend the money.

canon color imageclass mf741cdw home printer review - troubleshooting is a breeze with this large, intuitive touch display.
Troubleshooting is a breeze with this large, intuitive touch display.
Credit: Laura Casner

Graphics/Photos


The MF741Cdw was one of the best printers we tested when it came to graphics and photos. This printer excelled at producing all images, regardless of their content. From stunning color photos with deep shading and textures to high-resolution graphics, this printer performed wonderfully.


This is particularly impressive for a laser printer that also boasts super-fast print times. Inkjets have tended to produce better color images in the past, but the MF741Cdw outperformed all of the inkjets in our lineup. The only minor issue we had when testing was that we noticed the occasional fuzz on text within business graphics. Occasionally, skin tones exhibited red hues that did not exist in the original image. However, these detractors were minor relative to the MF741Cdw's overall graphic and photo performance.

canon color imageclass mf741cdw home printer review - you can see that once we made some initial adjustment to its...
You can see that once we made some initial adjustment to its settings, the MF741Cdw's images greatly improved.
Credit: Laura Casner

Printing Speed


Coming in second by only a fraction of a percent, the MF741Cdw clocked 13 duplex and 26 simplex pages per minute. For our 9-page composite color image and document test, we saw wicked fast speeds of about 24 seconds per print job. The images in these mixed documents were slightly lighter than their digital counterparts, though not enough to detract from the MF741Cdw's score.


The MF741Cdw also produces gorgeous, high resolution, full-page photos in just 6 seconds. That's worth taking in: the MF741Cdw is a laser printer that excels at printing gorgeous color photos in the blink of an eye.


A decade ago, no laser printer on the market could produce memorable color photos whatsoever. While injects normally dominate when it comes to print speed, the king of fast color production is now a laser printer.

canon color imageclass mf741cdw home printer review - you can print images and control settings through the canon printer...
You can print images and control settings through the Canon printer app.
Credit: Laura Casner

Should You Buy the Canon MF741Cdw?


The Canon imageClass MF741Cdw is one of the best printers we tested in this lineup, but its use cases may be limited to operations larger than your average home office. Although the MF741Cdw has a high upfront cost, its daily operating costs are economical. We think this printer will be valuable to those who print a lot, value printing speed, and need those prints to look great every time.

What Other Printers Should You Consider?


Although the Canon MF741Cdw presents top-of-the-line performance, this is probably not the ideal printer for the small home office or dorm room. This printer is pricey and hefty, and a printer like the Epson Workforce Pro WF-4820 is smaller and more budget-friendly.

Alex Hocevar-Smith and Genaveve Bradshaw