# Canon LiDE 300

Source: https://www.ranked10.co.uk/home-office/best-document-scanner/canon-lide-300
Ranked #9 in "Best Document Scanner 2026: 10 Ranked": https://www.ranked10.co.uk/home-office/best-document-scanner

- Price: £54.99 (checked on Amazon UK on 2026-10-10)
- Amazon rating: 4.3 from 4,244 ratings
- Buy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07G1W8SHN?tag=ranked10-21

## Is the Canon LiDE 300 worth buying?

Yes, the Canon LiDE 300 is worth buying if you scan a few letters, forms or receipts a week at home and want to spend no more than £54.99. It draws 4.5 watts, plugs into a USB port with no mains adapter anywhere, and 4,244 buyers rate it 4.3, so you are joining a very well-worn path rather than gambling on an unknown brand.

It stops being the right buy the moment volume enters the room. Ten seconds per page means six pages a minute, so a 60-page bank statement set is ten minutes of lifting the lid and repositioning paper. Anyone scanning that much will want a feeder, and there is none here at any point.

## What do 2400 dpi and 10 seconds a page actually give you?

2400 dpi is the resolution that matters here, and it is roughly double what a text document needs. Invoices, contracts and letters scan cleanly at a fraction of that figure, which means the extra detail goes mostly into photographs, receipts with fine print and anything you plan to run through OCR.

The time side of the deal is 10 seconds per A4 page, which is six pages a minute, and at £54.99 that works out at £9.17 for every page per minute of throughput. It is a slow scanner and a very cheap one, and the two facts come from the same place.

One detail that surprises people: this £54.99 flatbed captures colour at 48-bit depth, where the dearer Canon LiDE 400 works at 24-bit. If you scan old photographs and want the widest colour information off the page, the cheaper Canon flatbed has the deeper sensor.

## What comes in the box and how does it fit on a desk?

You get a flatbed that measures 36.8 cm deep, 25.2 cm wide and 4.3 cm high, and it weighs 1.7 kg. That is a footprint close to an A4 sheet plus its border, so it wants a clear patch of desk rather than a shelf edge, and it lies flat because there is no upright stand with this model.

The cable is a USB 2.0 High-Speed Mini-B, and that is the only connection it has. Mini-B is an older plug shape, so if the original goes missing you are ordering a specific cable rather than borrowing the USB-C one from a phone.

On the software side, Canon supplies ScanGear for Windows, a TWAIN V1.9 driver that works with the Data Source Manager already inside Windows or macOS. The scanner is covered by a 12-month warranty and is built in Japan.

## Where does the Canon LiDE 300 fall short?

Ten seconds a page is the slowest figure on this page, and it is a flatbed, so every sheet is placed by hand and the lid comes down before every scan. There is no automatic document feeder, no duplex and no way to walk away while a stack goes through.

The driver story leans Windows: ScanGear is the Windows package, and Canon names Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 SP1 on the supported list alongside macOS 10.11.6, 10.12 and 10.13. A Mac will scan, but the one-touch convenience lives on the PC side.

Living with it also means living with its size. At 25.2 cm wide and 4.3 cm tall it takes a permanent patch of desk, and unlike the LiDE 400 it cannot be flipped up on a stand when you need the space back.

## Canon LiDE 300 vs LiDE 400 and Brother DS-640: which one?

The Canon LiDE 400 costs £74.99, so £20.00 more, and buys 4800 dpi instead of 2400 dpi, an 8-second page instead of 10 seconds, five EZ buttons and a stand that lets it work upright. If photographs matter or desk space is tight, the extra £20.00 is easy to justify; if you scan plain text, the LiDE 300 does the same job for less.

The Brother DS-640 costs £94.83, which is £39.84 more, and it feeds itself at 15 pages per minute in a 390 g body. It captures one side at a time and tops out at 1200 dpi, so it is the right answer for a desk that sees a steady trickle of invoices and the wrong one for photo albums.

Choose the LiDE 300 for photographs and the occasional page, the LiDE 400 for the same work with more resolution and less desk, and the DS-640 once the paperwork arrives in stacks rather than singles.

## Specification

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Listing title | Canon LiDE 300 / USB-Powered / Fast 10s Scan / Easy Setup |
| Scanner type | Document |
| Brand | Canon |
| Model name | LIDE 300 |
| Connectivity technology | USB |
| Product dimensions | 36.8D x 25.2W x 4.3H centimetres |
| Resolution | 2400 dpi |
| Item weight | 1.7 kg |
| Wattage | 4.5 watts |
| Colour depth | 48 bits |
| Standard sheet capacity | 4 |
| Network Connectivity Technology | USB |
| Color Depth | 48 bits |
| Optical Sensor Technology | CIS |
| Media Type | USB |
| Item Dimensions D x W x H | 36.8D x 25.2W x 4.3H centimetres |
| Minimum System Requirements | Windows or macOS |
| Country of Origin | Japan |
| Global Trade Identification Number | 04549292119770 |
| Item Type Name | Colour Flatbed Scanner |
| Manufacturer | Canon (UK) Ltd |
| Product Warranty | 12 Month Warranty |

## Questions people ask

**Does the Canon LiDE 300 need a power cable?**

No. It runs entirely from the USB connection, drawing 4.5 watts, so there is no mains adapter in the box and nothing to find a socket for. The port is a USB 2.0 High-Speed Mini-B.

**Is the Canon LiDE 300 compatible with a Mac?**

Yes, it works with macOS 10.11.6, 10.12 and 10.13. The ScanGear software is the Windows package, so on a Mac you scan through the TWAIN driver and the Data Source Manager that comes with the operating system.

**What resolution does the Canon LiDE 300 scan at?**

It scans at 2400 dpi and captures colour at 48-bit depth. That is plenty for text documents and gives you real detail on photographs, though it is half the 4800 dpi of the Canon LiDE 400.

**How big and heavy is the Canon LiDE 300?**

It measures 36.8 cm deep, 25.2 cm wide and 4.3 cm high, and it weighs 1.7 kg. It sits flat on the desk, since this model has no upright stand.

**How long is the Canon LiDE 300 warranty?**

It comes with a 12-month warranty. The unit is manufactured in Japan and supplied through Canon's UK operation.

**Can the Canon LiDE 300 scan without a computer?**

No. It connects by USB and needs a Windows PC or a Mac to drive it, so there are no one-touch standalone buttons of the kind the Canon LiDE 400 carries.