How loud is a Canon printer?
Between 40.5 and 56.5 dB(A) while printing plain paper, with most models packed into a band from 46.5 to 49.5.
Ink type barely matters. The cartridge TS4320 and TR7120 list 47.0, and the refillable G3270 lists 48.5.
Two models sit below that band, the TR160 portable at 40.5 and the TS8820 at 44.5. Above it, at 54.0 to 56.5, are the TS302a, the four MAXIFY MB office models and the TR4720.
Canon never says what its Noise Level measures
The figure is approximate and A-weighted, taken while printing on plain paper. Whether it means sound pressure at a listener or sound power from the whole machine is left open.
On the G3270 the row reads "Noise Level: Approx. 48.5 dB(A) (Plain Paper)", and most PIXMA and MegaTank tabs follow that pattern. The MAXIFY MB pages drop the paper and add a footnote: "Acoustic Noise is measured based on ISO7779 standard." The PRO-200S photo printer carries the same footnote under a photo paper figure. Yet neither ISO 7779 nor the dB(A) unit settles which quantity is meant, and HP and Epson print both.
Why one machine can carry two quite different numbers is explained in the power and pressure explainer.
Which Canon inkjet printer is the quietest?
The PIXMA TR160, at approximately 40.5 dB(A). It is a portable, though, so among desk printers the TS8820 leads at 44.5.
| Plain paper Noise Level | Current Canon inkjets |
|---|
| 40.5 dB(A) | PIXMA TR160 |
| 44.5 dB(A) | PIXMA TS8820 |
| 46.5 dB(A) | MAXIFY GX1020, MAXIFY GX2020 |
| 47.0 dB(A) | PIXMA TS4320, PIXMA TR7120 |
| 48.0 dB(A) | PIXMA TS7720, PIXMA TR7820, MegaTank G3272 |
| 48.5 dB(A) | MegaTank G3270 |
| 49.0 dB(A) | G1230, G3290, G4280, GX3020, GX4020, GX5120, GX6120, GX7120 |
| 49.5 dB(A) | PIXMA TS9520a, PIXMA TS9521Ca |
| 54.0 dB(A) | PIXMA TS302a |
| 56.5 dB(A) | PIXMA TR4720 |
Every value is approximate. A half decibel step is about as fine as this table can tell apart.
Are Canon MegaTank printers loud?
No louder than Canon's cartridge PIXMAs, going by Canon's figures: 46.5 to 49.0 dB(A) on plain paper.
At the low end are the MAXIFY GX1020 and GX2020, both at 46.5, with the G3270 and its sister G3272 just above them at 48.5 and 48.0. Every other MegaTank with a figure lists 49.0, from the $189.99 G1230 to the $699.99 GX7120.
Print speed does not seem to move the number, either: the GX5120, GX6120 and GX7120 print 24.0 ipm in black and list 49.0, the same as the 11.0 ipm G3290, and no print mode is named for any of them.
MAXIFY MB office models sit apart at 56.0
Each of the four current MAXIFY MB office inkjets, the MB2120, MB2720, MB5120 and MB5420, lists "Approx. 56.0 dB(A)". No other current Canon document printer cites ISO 7779 beside its figure.
Their row reads "Noise Level (Approx.)" with no paper named, a different stated condition from the plain paper PIXMA and MegaTank rows. Placing them 7 decibels above the MegaTanks would compare two different things, so they are listed on their own.
All four showed in stock in archive copies from January to May 2026. The MB2720 was $149.99 in March.
The PRO-200S is measured on photo paper
Approximately 42.2 dB(A), taken on Canon photo paper while a test pattern prints. With both the paper and the test different, it stays out of the plain paper ranking.
No Canon footnote is more specific than this one: ISO 7779, the "ISO/JIS-SCID N2 pattern" and "Photo Paper Pro Platinum (PT-101)" at default settings. Oddly, the spec row itself names "(Canon PT-201 Paper)", a different paper code, and the mismatch goes unexplained.
The older PRO-200 printed the same 42.2. By April 2026 it was marked discontinued.
Canon USA's imageCLASS spec tabs, from the LBP122dw to the Color imageCLASS MF665Cdw, carry no noise row at all.
Canon Europe sells the same model numbers as i-SENSYS and prints labelled figures for them, which the inkjet rows never are:
| Model | Canon Europe figure |
|---|
| MF275dw | "Sound Pressure" "Active: Simplex 50 dB", "Duplex 51 dB" |
| LBP122dw | "Sound Pressure" "Active: 52 dB" |
| LBP633Cdw | "52 dB or less", a ceiling, unranked |
Both mono models list standby as "Inaudible", defined against background noise "in accordance with ISO 7779". Their sound power reads "69.3 dB or less", another ceiling.
No. "Quiet Mode: Available" appears in the same row as the Noise Level on nearly every current Canon inkjet, with no figure attached.
A few older product pages, such as the PIXMA iP8720's, describe the mode in a sentence about not disturbing others, but none says how much quieter the printer gets or how much slower it prints. That leaves the plain paper figure as the one number to choose on, with Quiet Mode as an extra. For the rest of a quiet desk setup, see the home office explainer.
Several current Canon inkjets show no noise figure on their US spec tab: the MegaTank G6020 and G620, the PIXMA TR8620a and TS6520, and the TS3720 and TS3722, whose row reads "Noise Level: N/A".
Four models with figures were marked "Discontinued" on usa.canon.com in 2026: the MegaTank G7020 at 47.0 dB(A), the MAXIFY GX5020 and GX6021 at 49.0, and the PRO-200 at 42.2 on photo paper. Any store still selling one is clearing remaining stock.
