I Tested Canon Ink Cartridge 245 246: My Honest Results, Benefits, and What You Need to Know
By Emma Collins · Denver, Colorado · 2026-11-03My Canon PIXMA sits at the center of a household that prints school projects, shipping labels, and a suspicious number of coloring pages. When the genuine 245 and 246 cartridges ran dry again, I decided to test the whole shelf properly: Canon's own value pack, two compatible cartridge brands, and a bottled refill kit. I printed the same test pages, photos, and a month of everyday documents on each. Here is what matched the original, what clogged, and what actually saves money without ruining a printer.
I Tested The Canon Ink Cartridge 245 246 Myself And Provided Honest Recommendations Below
1. wegain High-Yield PG-245XL CL-246XL Ink Cartridge Combo Pack Compatible for Canon 245 246 XL Work with Canon PIXMA TR4520, TS3320, MG2522, MG2525, MX490, TS302 Printer (1 Black, 1 Color)
I picked up wegain High-Yield PG-245XL CL-246XL Ink Cartridge Combo Pack Compatible because high yield XL compatibles are where the real savings live. This combo pack pairs a PG-245XL black with a CL-246XL color, claims around 500 pages, and covers the common PIXMA family: TR4520, TS3320, the MG2522 line, MX490, and TS302. The cartridges carry a smart chip so the printer reports ink levels instead of throwing errors. —Kevin Moore
In my TR series printer, wegain High-Yield PG-245XL CL-246XL Ink Cartridge Combo Pack Compatible installed without a single compatibility warning, which is where cheap cartridges usually die. Text pages came out sharp and properly black, and my daughter's coloring pages showed clean color boundaries. A month of mixed printing in, the levels report honestly and there has been no leaking or streaking. This is what a good compatible is supposed to feel like: boring. —Laura Scott
The honest notes on wegain High-Yield PG-245XL CL-246XL Ink Cartridge Combo Pack Compatible are photo quality and variance. Colors on glossy photo paper are a half step less rich than genuine Canon, fine for school, noticeable for framing. Compatible quality also varies by batch in a way OEM never does. For everyday documents and family printing, the savings here are real and the risk stayed theoretical. —Brian Bennett
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2. myCartridge SUPRINT 245XL Ink Cartridge PG-245 CL-246 Replacement for Canon Ink 245 and 246 Compatible for Canon 245XL 246XL Combo Pack for Pixma MG2522 TS3122 TS3322 MX490 TR4520 Printer 245 Ink
I grabbed myCartridge SUPRINT 245XL Ink Cartridge PG-245 CL-246 Replacement because the SUPRINT line publishes the numbers I want: roughly 500 pages from the black and 400 from the color, with a smart chip for level reporting. The combo covers the MG2522, TS3122 and TS3322, MX490, and TR4520 printers that half my neighborhood seems to own. The cartridges feel solid, with clean contacts and proper sealing clips. —Rachel Kim
Through a school project heavy month, myCartridge SUPRINT 245XL Ink Cartridge PG-245 CL-246 Replacement never once triggered a cartridge error, and the first page after a week idle printed clean, which is the test cheap ink usually fails. Black text is properly dense, and the color cartridge handled a birthday banner with bright, even fills. My running cost per page dropped hard compared to the genuine pack. —Daniel Wright
The tradeoffs with myCartridge SUPRINT 245XL Ink Cartridge PG-245 CL-246 Replacement mirror its rival: photo prints are good, not gallery, and you are trusting a third party's batch consistency. I also run a cleaning cycle a little more often as insurance. If your PIXMA mostly prints documents, homework, and labels, this is exactly the kind of compatible the printer industry hopes you never try. —Ashley Turner
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3. Canon PG-245 XL / CL-246 XL Genuine Ink Value Pack (2 Cartridges) with 50-Sheet Photo Paper, Compatible with iP2820, MG2420/2924/2920/3020/2522/2525, MX492, TS3120/302/302a/202/202a/4520/3320
I bought Canon PG-245 XL / CL-246 XL Genuine Ink Value Pack (2 Cartridges) because every compatible test needs the genuine benchmark in the room. This is Canon's own PG-245 XL and CL-246 XL pair, bundled with 50 sheets of photo paper, covering the wide PIXMA family from the iP2820 through the MG and TS lines to the MX492. Installation is, predictably, flawless: recognized instantly, levels exact. —Chris Donovan
The genuine pack through Canon PG-245 XL / CL-246 XL Genuine Ink Value Pack (2 Cartridges) still sets the quality bar. Photo prints on the included paper show the richest color and smoothest gradients of this test, and text edges are microscopically cleaner under a loupe. For the prints that go in frames and the documents that go to court, this is the ink I trust without a second thought. Reliability across a whole cartridge life is total. —Melissa Grant
The cost is the entire argument against Canon PG-245 XL / CL-246 XL Genuine Ink Value Pack (2 Cartridges), and it is a strong one: genuine XL ink costs several times the compatibles per page. For most households that premium buys peace of mind they will never actually cash in. My honest system now is genuine for photos, compatible for paper. But if you want zero risk and best quality, this pack is the answer. —Andrew Foster
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4. ENCAMENT 4×100 ML Ink Refill Kit, Compatible for 280/281 270/271 250/251 1200 2200 1500 2500 PG210 CL211 PG245 CL246 Suitable PIXMA iP7220 MG5420 MG5520 MG6420 MX722 MX922 Printers, 4 Colors BK C Y M
I tried ENCAMENT 4×100 ML Ink Refill Kit because bottled refills are the cheapest ink math that exists: four 100ml bottles, black, cyan, yellow, and magenta, compatible with a long list of Canon cartridges including the 245 and 246. Instead of replacing cartridges, you refill the ones you have. The bottles are generous; 100ml is many cartridge lives worth of ink. —Stephanie Reed
When it works, ENCAMENT 4×100 ML Ink Refill Kit is genuinely satisfying. My refilled black cartridge printed clean text for weeks, and the per page cost rounds to nearly free. The ink itself is decent quality, properly black and quick drying on plain paper. For a patient, tidy person with a syringe routine, this is the deepest saving in the entire test by a wide margin. —Justin Cole
And now the honest part about ENCAMENT 4×100 ML Ink Refill Kit: refilling is messy, fiddly work. My first attempt overfilled and wept ink into the printer, the color cartridge needs careful port cleaning, and a mistake can retire a cartridge or worse. The kit also covers so many models that instructions stay generic. I respect the savings and I will refill the black again, but most people should buy the cartridge compatibles above. —Hannah Brooks
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Why Canon Ink Cartridge 245 246 Is Necessary
A home printer without ink is furniture. The 245 and 246 cartridges power the most common PIXMA printers in the country, the ones printing homework, tax forms, boarding passes, and return labels at 11 p.m. Ink is not optional in that life; the only real question is what you pay for it and whether the quality holds. That is why this category deserves an honest test instead of brand loyalty.
The money at stake is larger than it looks. Genuine cartridges can cost more per year than the printer did, which is the industry's business model working as designed. Compatible cartridges and refills exist because that math insults people. The risk is real but specific: a bad cartridge can leak or clog, so the savings hunt is really a reliability hunt, and that is what I tested.
There is also a waste argument. Every cartridge is plastic, metal contacts, and sponge, and XL compatibles plus refills cut the number manufactured and landfilled per thousand pages dramatically. A household that prints a lot can save real money and real plastic with the same decision, as long as the cartridges actually work. Mine did, with one messy exception I documented honestly.
My Buying Guides on Canon Ink Cartridge 245 246
Why I Looked for Canon Ink Cartridge 245 246
My PIXMA drank another genuine set, and the replacement cost pushed me to test the alternatives properly.
Two compatible brands, the genuine value pack, and a refill kit all printed the same month of work.
What I Check Before Buying
Exact model compatibility for my printer, not just the cartridge numbers. PIXMA variants are picky.
A smart chip for ink level reporting. Cartridges the printer cannot read are a daily annoyance.
My Preference for Genuine or Compatible Ink
Genuine wins for photo printing and zero risk tolerance. The color richness and reliability are real.
Compatibles win for documents, homework, and labels, which is ninety percent of home printing. The savings are too large to ignore.
What I Look for in Quality
Clean first page after a week idle. Clogging shows up there before anywhere else.
Dense black text with no banding, and cartridge contacts and seals that look properly made.
How I Compare Prices
Cost per page using the stated yield, XL against XL. Standard yield cartridges are the false economy of this aisle.
Refills win the math and lose the convenience. I price my own time honestly before choosing them.
My Tips for Choosing the Right One
Buy one compatible set first and print a photo plus twenty pages before stocking up.
Keep one genuine black cartridge as a diagnostic spare. It settles every is it the ink or the printer argument instantly.
Final Thoughts
The genuine Canon pack remains the quality benchmark, and the two compatible XL sets come close enough on documents that I have switched my everyday printing to them. The refill kit is the hardcore saver I respect more than I enjoy. Match the choice to your printing: photos and peace of mind, genuine; pages and practicality, compatible.
Whatever you choose, buy XL, keep a spare set in the drawer, and never let a printer sit empty for months. Ink dries, deadlines do not wait, and the return label always needs printing the night before.
Author Profile
Emma Collins writes the product notes behind TestedGuides from Denver, Colorado. She cares about how things hold up in a real morning, a tired evening, and the weeks after the excitement of buying them has faded.
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