Canon PIXMA TR160 Review – A Solid Portable Printer for On-the-Go

Quick Verdict

The Canon PIXMA TR160 is a genuinely useful portable printer for anyone who needs to print documents or photos outside a home or office. It isn't perfect — the lack of a built-in battery is the most obvious compromise — but its print quality, OLED interface, and flexible wireless options make it the best option in its class for professionals who move around. I'd rate it a 4.2 out of 5.

What Is the Canon PIXMA TR160?

I pulled the TR160 out of its box on a rainy Tuesday morning in early November. The packaging is compact — almost phone-box small — and the printer itself sits at just under 4.5 pounds. Canon has clearly designed this for someone who already owns a backpack and wants printing capability without a dedicated bag. The body is matte black plastic with a clean, almost office-equipment aesthetic.

At its core, the PIXMA TR160 is a standard inkjet colour printer shrunk down to roughly the size of a thick novel. It handles paper up to 8.5 by 11 inches, prints borderless photos, and connects wirelessly in several ways: through the Canon PRINT app, Apple AirPrint, Mopria Print Service, or Canon's Wireless Direct mode. The 1.44-inch monochrome OLED panel on the front is the feature I didn't expect to care about but ended up relying on constantly — it shows ink levels, Wi-Fi status, and error codes without needing to dig into an app.

Key Features

• Weighs 4.5 lbs — fits in standard laptop backpacks
• Prints up to 8.5" x 11" including borderless and square formats
• 5-Color Hybrid Ink System for sharp text and vivid photos
• 1.44" OLED display for ink levels and status at a glance
• Wireless Direct Mode — no router required
• Apple AirPrint and Mopria support for iOS and Android
• 50-sheet rear paper tray capacity

Hands-On Review

My first real test was printing a 12-page contract at a coffee shop. I unfolded the small rear tray, connected my phone via AirPrint, and hit print. The document came out clean — the pigment black ink held crisp even on the cheap 20-lb copy paper the shop had. By the third page I was already appreciating how quiet this thing is. Canon rates it around 10 ppm for black, and in practice it felt faster than many office inkjets I've used.

Photo printing was the real question mark. I printed a 4x6 borderless test shot on Canon's own Photo Paper Plus Glossy II, and the colours surprised me. The cyan saturation was punchy without tipping into oversaturated, and skin tones looked natural rather than magenta-bloated. The 5-Color Hybrid Ink System clearly makes a difference — I'm not a professional photographer, but I've reviewed enough printers to know when a portable model cheats on photo quality.

Setup took about fifteen minutes, most of which was just connecting to Wi-Fi and installing the Canon PRINT app. The app itself is solid — you can scan from your phone using the printer's flatbed if you buy the optional scanner accessory, or just send print jobs directly. One thing nobody mentions in the listings: the ink cartridges that come in the box are lower-capacity starter tanks. After my photo tests and about thirty contract pages, I was already seeing the yellow cartridge dip.

What about the battery situation? Honestly, I expected to be more annoyed by the lack of a built-in battery. The TR160 ships with a standard AC adapter, and Canon sells the LK-72 battery pack separately for around $100. On my third week with the unit, I ended up printing in two hotel rooms and a co-working space. Every single one had an accessible outlet. If you're a true field journalist or outdoor photographer, the battery gap is real. For everyone else — the AC requirement barely registers.

Who Should Buy It?

Remote workers and digital nomads who need to print client contracts, proposals, or boarding passes without finding a print shop.

Real estate agents and field sales who visit properties or client homes and need to print on the spot.

Travel photographers who want to deliver printed proof sheets or small photo prints to clients during a shoot.

College students in dorms or shared housing where a full-size printer is impractical.

Skip this if you regularly need to print in places without power outlets, or if you're primarily printing high-volume documents — the 50-sheet tray and small starter cartridges will frustrate you. A compact office inkjet like the Brother Work Smart series is a better fit for daily heavy use.

Alternatives Worth Considering

Epson Workforce WF-110 — Offers a built-in rechargeable battery and slightly smaller footprint. Print quality is comparable, but the display is a basic LCD instead of OLED, and it lacks borderless photo printing.

HP OfficeJet 250 — Includes an integrated battery and a colour touchscreen. It scans and copies too, but it's heavier and pricier than the TR160, and HP's ink costs tend to run higher over time.

Brother PocketJet 773 — A thermal printer with zero ink costs and military-grade durability. However, it only prints monochrome on thermal paper, so it's not a real option if you need colour or photo printing.

FAQ

Final Verdict

The Canon PIXMA TR160 earns its place as the top portable printer recommendation for most people because it gets the fundamentals right: solid print quality, flexible wireless options, and an interface that doesn't make you feel like you're fighting the device. The missing battery is a real trade-off — but one most users can work around. For anyone who needs colour printing capability in a genuinely portable form factor, this is the model to beat in 2024.