Hello there,
after a few years of being out of the hobby I am starting to get interested again after seeing that a lot of budget printers now are having all the features that my old one were missing. Direct extruder, auto bed leveling, dual z axis, stuff like that. So which one of the budget printers around 300€ would you guys suggest one should get to get started again? Elegoo Neptune 4? Creality Ender 3 V3? Anycubic Kobra 2? Sovol S06? There are so many good looking options that I am interested in your experiences and opinions. Thanks!
I’m biased to say save and get a Prusa. It is what I did. It is not a printer project. The hardware specs are a misnomer. The continuous investment in the community is the real selling point. I spent more initially, but my Prusa is still worth nearly what I put into it even as a MK3S+ when the 4 is a thing. Everyone knows it will still work, and continue to do so, while parts will always be readily available. No one worries that it is some failed project.
Now if I tried to sell my little modified KP3S Kingroon, that thing is pretty much worthless now even though it works okay most of the time. I spent more on it at $200 than I did on the Prusa at just over 3× as much. I barely used the KP3S, wasted $100 on “upgrades” and it is now all loss. I got it after the Prusa knowing it is a project to screw around with. Spending more can often mean spending less when you consider long term value. That is just my personal opinion. I don’t regret buying the Prusa.
Same Bias here. Bought a Prusa Mini and got a working printer. In 3years I did nothing to the machine than cleaning and lubrication, and it still prints like day 1. Last year I got an update that enabled input shaping - on a machine that was out of warranty for close to a year already…
Ditto. My Prusa mini has been great, just an occasional clean. Got the mainly pre built one. And putting it in an enclosure really made it consistent too…
That’s one option and the one I was also thinking about. But it is triple the price for a few of the budget options.
Speaking as someone who wetn cheap and got an ender 3. I’ve spent 90% of my time with printer maintenance and calibration. Not printing…
You buy a budget printer if you want to get into 3d printers. You buy a prusa if you want to get into 3d printing.
If you want to learn how everything works, you should get a kit. After it’s assembled you should be able to print nearly endlessly with nothing more than basic maintenance.
If you value your time more than you like to tinker with your printer, then the cost makes sense.
If you like to do more maintenance and prefer to save the money up front, then the budget printers make sense.
You raise a very excellent point, for what I’ve spent toying and tinkering with my OG ender 3 pro, I very easily could have bought a nice Prusa/ Bamboo/ Voron printer.
That said, I can’t say I regret the thessian ender route either. I’ve learned so much about not just the printer itself and how it works on a fundamental level, but also how to model and design for the materials I’m working with and the capabilities of my machine I’m way more comfortable working with small electronics (wiring/ crimping/ soldering and am even flirting with PCB design) compared to when I first got into the hobby. I tend to be more of a hands on learner, so I enjoy the project printer (to an extent) and the learning experience that comes with it.
It very much depends on what OP is looking to get out of/ do with the printer, I 100% agree if it’s more of a "I just want it to work ", a Prusa or other mid-range printer* is probably the better play than something in the budget range.
* Depending on how OP feels about Bamboo, the A1 may be a good option on that front as well (once the teething problems get worked out)
I’ve got a Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro and found it really easy to setup and get good results printing without having to spend a lot of time fiddling - I guess it depends on your definition of “budget”, cos although it’s cheaper that the equivalent Prusa, there are definitely cheaper options around
As mentioned around the 300€ mark somewhere. So Neptune 4 Pro may be an option.
For your price, Ender 3 I guess but IMO, you should save up for a Prusa because you’ll eventually spend more upgrading the Ender anyways (that was my experience anyways, got a CR10s and spent twice as much upgrading it, but ended up getting an MK3S+ in the long run anyways).
I’ve always wondered where this comes from, the thought that a person would spend a huge amount to upgrade an Ender? I spent maybe $100 upgrading mine until I screwed up and fried my motherboard, but even adding the extra $60 for a decent upgrade I’ve still spent less than the original cost of the printer, and way WAY less than the cost of a Prusa. At this point the main upgrades include a direct drive and dual-Z to handle some NinjaFlex. I’ve always considered ABL a waste of money, and every other upgrade was just things I printed myself. You certainly can’t beat the reliability, I mean my printer has been sitting idle for nearly a year and I just fired it up a couple weeks ago to print some new items – no leveling or anything else, I just loaded up a spool of PLA and off it went. So what exactly are people spending these exorbitant amounts of money on for upgrades?
Partly, time is money but partly IDK, I’ve spent at least $200 upgrading mine with scaffold reinforcements, BL touch, a better hot end, and a few other QOL things and I’ve spent more on the CR10 than I did on the MK3S+ but it still doesn’t work as well as the Prusa. Granted, the print volume is bigger but I hardly ever print anything big enough to take advantage of it.
Agreed that time is money, and I’ve spent a fair amount of time on mine. I think the worst time-sink was after converting to direct drive and basically having to start from scratch on all my slicer settings, and then working out cable management to reclaim my Z height. At one point I was playing with faster speeds (thus the dual-Z upgrade) but eventually I want to switch to a 0.2mm nozzle and try to dial in miniatures (HO scale trains). I would be better off switching to a resin printer for that but I don’t have an option for good ventilation so that’s not really a consideration right now.
The issue is Crealty makes price point products. Maybe you get a good one or an OK one, a kind of bad one, or a dumpster fire. And there is no way to know what you are going to get, to get the results any one user is expecting - even if you consult Tarot Cards…And add in the total lack of support it can be more than a little bit of a gamble to buy.
My personal opinion is, if money is that tight that’s the best you can afford, then you can’t really afford cheap - let alone the ongoing costs of 3D printing, (upgrades, repairs, and filament ain’t free). And since it’s very often new users looking to get into the hobby, (which is great), they have no idea just what the learning curve is like when things go wrong. And how fussy it can be to make those failures go away. That shiny new cheap printer that provided that quick dopamine hit when you first unboxed it, can quickly become a point of never ending frustration and a bit of a money sink for a new user.
Overall, buy what you like. I’m certainly not paying for it. But not a lot of people have ever regretted the “Buy once, cry one” approach.
Hmm I know there used to be the issue with the aluminum beds being warped – mine is like that but was resolved with some layers of aluminum foil under the glass to flatten it out. And I do hear occasionally of someone getting a unit with an incorrectly cut rail length, but they’ve always just called Creality and gotten a replacement without any hassle. I haven’t heard of anyone having trouble with their customer service though, so I’m not sure what changed there, but that’s unfortunate that you had trouble with them.
I do agree about the hit-or-miss quality though. My own experience was the first glass bed I got from them was absolutely fantastic, nothing else beats the adhesion I had there. Then after a few years when the coating wore out I ordered a new one from them… and nothing will stick to that bed without using hairspray/glue/etc, so what’s the point? I finally settled on a slab of G10 with a PEI sticker which has worked well, but just the fact that the two glass beds which should have been identical says a lot about their quality control. I would say anyone getting an order from them should not expect a working machine right out of the box, however replacement parts have been easy to obtain for most people. And since you have to assemble these yourself, you definitely need to pay close attention to the online videos (I used the one from Tomb of 3D Horrors) to make sure everything is properly squared up, otherwise you’ll have nothing but trouble if you just slap them together.
Ender 3 v3 KE has everything you’d want
Or Bambu A1 mini lose surface but get to steer it from your phone
If you’re looking toward “budget” printers, the one I seem to see the least complaints about would be the Sovol. The ender v3 seems to have most of the v2 issues solved, but I still think creality’s qa is all over the map. Ideally, I’d bank that money and look for a better printer, Prusa, Bambu, Quidi, etc.
Best budget printer is one someone is selling.
Buy it, then if you have to, upgrade it into what you need.
I agree IF you know where it’s coming from. You could be (likely are) buying someone else’s problem(s). You lessen the risk by getting a higher quality printer (Prusa, Bambu, etc) but NEVER buy a used one without seeing it print firsthand
I’m happy with my Ender 3 Pro. I paid $200 but you can get it cheaper. I think there is a coupon sometimes for $100 at Micro Center. It’s common enough that replacement parts and upgrades (both printed and purchased) are readily available. Runs open source Marlin firmware and the design itself is also open source. Print quality is good for the price. For the price I’m OK with it not having direct extruder or dual Z axis, and adding auto bed leveling is easy enough with a BLTouch or CRTouch.
I grabbed a 3 v2 neo and it’s got all the upgrades already done.
If you told me you could buy a passable 3D printer for $200 when I started building my printers 15 years ago, I’d have laughed in your face.
Same. I put together a knock off Prusa i3 kit in 2014 that cost me like $600 and most of the parts were themselves 3D printed. Not a bad thing but they were really rough prints. It printed OK for the time but was an endless source of annoyance. In comparison, the Ender 3 Pro just basically worked out of the box with minor bed leveling tweaks and everything else has just been minor quality of life improvements. It’s great.
I would say it depends on where you get joy from in the hobby. I like working on my printer and making it better, so I’d buy a low end model and upgrade it. If that’s not your jam, I would recommend a Prusa or Bambu. I have no experience with them, but I hear good things. I bought a biqu B1 and added upgrades myself. I’ve had days where I wanna pull my hair out, but I have somehow enjoyed the challenge.
And that can be a very valid reason to enjoy the hobby.
I have a Elegoo and I really love it. Going 2 years and no problems, didn’t even change the fep yet
My Sovol SV07 stopped extruding and I wasn’t able to fix it.
The Bamboo A1 mini is seriously good, but keep in mind that it’s closed source, so no modifying. It’s also very quiet.
I got a Sovol SV06 Plus and during the time I left it stock, it was excellent out of the box. I have started tinkering /upgrading and it is even better now (when it decides we are on speaking terms, lol).
I have no experience with any of them, but I would give advantage to ender 3 v3 and sovol sv06 because they have smooth rods while neptune and kobra use wheels. You have to be ready to thinker, tune, upgrade and fix because you are buying super cheap bed slinger, but I guess you know that already. I dont know if you can get voron v0.2 kit for around 300€, but that might be beter investment if you are ok with smaller print volume.
What are your goals? Do you want it to just work (and be more expensive) or do you mind tinkering with it (and it being cheaper)? Do you want to print fast (more expensive) or is slower ok (and cheaper)?
Personally, I wanted cheaper and medium functionality. I don’t want a pure-tinker situation (no voron or ender 3), but I don’t wanna pay for Bambu features or Prusa features/quality. I went with Sovol SV06 Plus. It’s a 4/5 *'s printer for me. I don’t think I like the volcano style hotend, it’s too stringy for me, but I like the big build area. The filament runout sensor location is a poor design decision, but that’s easily fixed with a 15 min print. There’s something with the ABL that I’ve not fully figured out (perfect in center, but worse the further it gets away from center), but it might be twist in the X gantry. I’ve read reports on that, but haven’t verified it on my machine. (I solved that by printing fat 1st layers, 0.6mm width on a 0.4mm nozzle.)
Sovol or machines like it are good for mid-range, IMO.
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