When I bought these, I decided that I was willing to take a chance on them. Turns out that I made a good choice!
Points:
1. They cost a lot less than the canon cartridges
2. The print quality appears just as good. (I made a few test prints with genuine canon cartridges a while ago. Later, I printed the same text and images with the sophia cartridges (after they had been installed for a while, as to make sure that there was no canon ink left in the print-head). I could not notice any discernable differences, except that the sophia cartridges might be just a hint darker (which I think is a good thing!). Also, I do want to mention that I have been an amateur photographer for years and I've done quite a bit of my own film/print darkroom processing, in both color and black and white. So I think I have a pretty good eye for quality and color balance. HOWEVER, I do want to caution that I do not know how the ink will hold up over time (but then again, do we know how the canon ink will hold up?).
a. If you're printing critical photos and archival documents, it might be safer to go with the canon cartridges (I'm sure this is just a psychological worry).
b. If you're just printing everyday stuff, then these should far exceed your expectations.
3. They have chips, so the printer should recognize them the same as the canon cartridges and show you ink levels.
4. I have not had any issues with the printer head clogging or decline in print quality; I've been using these cartridges for a little over 2 months now.
5. My only real concern is that the large black cartridges are not pigment based, like the canon ones. But I don't think it's been an issue so far.
I'll be sure to update if things should change, but again, I'm running on 2 months with these and I'm quite satisfied!
Also, I calculated how much the canon equivalents would cost, based on amazon pricing and the same number of tanks: the canon cartridges end up costing almost 4 times as much money!!