From the specs, it's a workhorse: The Canon imageFormula DR-C350 desktop document scanner pairs fast scan speeds with a large paper capacity. On the input side, this model has a dedicated mode for accommodating thicker documents, such as passports or embossed cards. It also provides advanced support for handling double-feed errors and can automatically detect a document’s color, resolution, page size, and rotation. On the output side, it can save its scans in a broad range of file formats.

While those capabilities are impressive, the $599.99 DR-C350 is limited in connectivity, offering neither Wi-Fi nor Ethernet, just wired USB. And its small, non-backlit monochrome LCD seems almost like a throwback to a previous generation of desktop scanners. That said, if you don’t need network connectivity or a leading-edge control panel, the DR-C350 could be the right choice for you. It's certainly speedy. Otherwise, our document-scanner pick for homes and small offices remains the excellent and cheaper Ricoh ScanSnap iX2500.

Design: A Practical, Efficient Pedestal

At 8.6 by 11.2 by 8.8 inches (HWD), the DR-C350 is somewhat larger than the competition, though it’s still relatively compact given its fast speeds and generous paper capacity. For comparison with similar speed-and-capacity models, the Ricoh ScanSnap iX2500 and the Epson DS-770 II are about two inches shorter and two inches shallower than the DR-C350. The Brother ADS-4900W, on the other hand, measures about 2 inches less front to back but about a half-inch taller than the DR-C350.

(Credit: David English)

Keep in mind that these measurements are for the scanners when they’re closed. They can expand by as much as two to three times that when you extend the plastic guides upward and outward to accommodate your documents. The one constant measurement for these models is their width, and here the DR-C350 has a slight advantage: At 11.2 inches wide, it's the narrowest scanner in the group. (And I do mean narrow, by a narrow margin: The DR-C350 beats the ScanSnap iX2500's width by a mere 0.3 inch.)

The DR-C350 also manages to slide in just below the other models in weight. At 7.1 pounds, it’s well below the 8.1-pound heft of the Epson DS-770 II, and considerably lighter than the 7.7-pound ScanSnap iX2500 or 7.8-pound Brother ADS-4900W.

(Credit: David English)

All these models have a 100-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF). For fast desktop scanners, that’s almost essential, unless you want to be constantly loading and unloading documents. All four models also have a high recommended peak daily duty cycle rating, though there’s some variation among the group. The DR-C350 is rated at an impressive 8,000 sheets. You'd have to reload the ADF 80 times during the day to hit that maximum. That stacks up nicely against the Epson DS-770 II and ScanSnap iX2500, both with 7,000-sheet ratings, but none can approach the Brother ADS-4900W's daunting 9,000-sheet rating.

So far, the four models have roughly matched up. That begins to change when you compare their control panels and connectivity options. The DR-C350’s non-touch, non-backlit monochrome LCD screen measures about two inches diagonally. That’s a step up from the complete lack of an LCD screen on the Epson DS-770 II, but it’s decidedly underwhelming next to the 4.3-inch color touch screen on the Brother ADS-4900W and the ScanSnap iX2500's 5-inch display.

(Credit: David English)

Then there's connectivity: the DR-C350 is USB-only, with no provision for network connectivity, whether Ethernet or Wi-Fi. In contrast, the Epson DS-770 II also goes the strict USB route but offers an optional (albeit pricey) Ethernet module. The ScanSnap iX2500, meanwhile, supports both USB and Wi-Fi connectivity, and the Brother ADS-4900W goes the full distance with USB, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi support all aboard.

On top of that, Canon only supplies a USB cable with a Type-C connector on both ends. If your computer has only Type-A sockets free, you'll need to supply your own wire. (Canon, take note: Other companies these days are including both types.) The company says the DR-C350’s interface supports USB 2.0, not the faster USB 3.0, so there shouldn’t be a speed drop if you use a high-end USB 2.0 cable.

You're also out of luck if you plan to scan your documents directly onto a thumb drive. The DR-C350, like many other Canon models, lacks the feature. If you need that option, consider the Brother ADS-4900W, the Epson DS-800WN, or one of many other office scanners with a so-enabled USB port.

If you want to stick with the Canon brand but need features that the DR-350 lacks, you might consider the Canon imageFormula DR-S350NW. It’s more expensive than the DR-C350 and has only a 60-sheet ADF, but it combines the DR-C350’s fast scan speeds with a 4.3-inch color touch screen and Wi-Fi connectivity.

Setup and Use: Easy Does It, on Both Accounts

The DR-C350 comes with a printed setup guide that includes a link to download Canon’s software installer.

(Credit: Canon)

The software package includes the CaptureOnTouch V5 Pro application, the Canon imageFormula Driver Setting Tool, a system configuration utility, and a user manual. When you first run the CaptureOnTouch V5 Pro app, its home screen shows two document options (Full Auto and Text) and two output options (Desktop and Pictures Folder).

Full Auto lets the scanner automatically set the color mode (24-bit color, grayscale, or black and white), page size, dots per inch (from 200dpi to 600dpi), and scanning side (skip blank page, simplex, or duplex). It also offers options to automatically straighten skewed images and rotate images to match the orientation of text.

So, Full Auto will likely be your go-to for most documents, especially ones that include a mix of text and graphics. The Text option, designed for scanning you-know-what, is configured for grayscale scans at the faster, but lower-resolution 200dpi.

You can create additional document options. For instance, if OCR accuracy is a priority, you could create a grayscale-text setting at 300dpi or 600dpi. Or you may want a version of the Full Auto option that always initiates a simplex scan.

(Credit: Canon)

Among the output choices, the Desktop option saves your scans as a PDF file to the Windows desktop, while Pictures Folder drops them into the eponymous spot. You can choose different file locations or types, including DOCX (*.docx), XLSX (*.xlsx), PPTX (*.pptx), PDF (*.pdf), JPG (*.jpg), TIFF (*.tif), PNG (*.png), and BMP (*.bmp). That’s a broad selection and could be valuable to businesses.

You can initiate a scan from within the CaptureOnTouch app or from the scanner itself. In addition to the usual Start and Stop buttons, the unit has a double-feed release (DFR) button that lights up whenever it detects a double feed. When that happens, a Rapid Recovery System screen appears in Windows with a preview of the misfeed, and offers you three choices: save it and continue, discard it and stop, or discard it and continue. You can also hit the scanner's DFR button to cancel detection and continue with the scan.

Like the DR-S350NW, the DR-C350 has a feed-selector lever on the front of the unit. Push it down, and you get Normal mode, which you can use for either single-page or multiple-page scans. Push the lever up for documents that are fastened together, such as invoices. That’s the Bypass mode.

Canon suggests using Bypass for extra protection when scanning cards with an embossed surface (also known as bumpy cards), as well as passports and fragile documents in carrier sheets. (Canon sells its own sheets compatible with the scanner.)

Speed and Performance Testing: Blitzing Through Sheets

Canon gives the DR-C350 a speed rating of 50 simplex (one-sided) pages per minute (ppm) or 100 two-sided (duplex) images per minute (ipm, where each page side is counted as an image). Those are the same rated speeds as the DR-S350NW, and they’re faster than the rated 45ppm/90ipm for the Epson DS-770 II and Ricoh ScanSnap iX2500. However, they can't match the Brother ADS-4900W's 60ppm/120ipm ratings.

To see whether the DR-C350 could match or even surpass its manufacturer’s ratings, I used CaptureOnTouch V5 Pro to initiate scans over a USB connection on our Intel Core i5 testbed PC running Windows 10 Pro. The DR-C350 performed significantly better than its official 50ppm/100ipm rating in our stopwatch tests, scanning our standard 25-page single-sided document at 54.4ppm and our 25-page (50-image) duplex document at 107.3ipm. Those scores narrowly beat the ScanSnap iX2500’s 51.2ppm and 102.2ipm test results. And the DR-C350 easily beat the Epson DS-770 II’s 46.2ppm and 92.7ipm results. But none of them could keep up with the Brother ADS-4900W, which posted a whopping 61.2ppm and 124.4ipm.

That said, scanning speed is important, but only if it doesn't hurt accuracy. Fortunately, that’s not the case with the DR-C350. It was able to convert printed pages to error-free, editable text down to 6 points in both our Arial (sans serif) and Times New Roman (serif) font tests. That matches the Epson DS-770 II, and is fairly typical these days for high-quality document scanners.

The Brother ADS-4900W performed slightly better with its 5-point Arial and 6-point Times New Roman font accuracy, but the ScanSnap iX2500 whomped them all, with its accuracy down to 4-point Arial and 5-point Times New Roman. Those 1- or 2-point differences between models aren't likely to matter much, as you'll rarely encounter text smaller than 10 points in most real-world business settings.