If you’re in the market for an affordable 3D printer, this article might be very useful for you. many resin-based 3D printers that offer good print quality often priced in thousands and designed only for professionals and hardcore enthusiasts. But the situation is now different, thanks to the steady improvement in resin-based 3D printers in recent years.
For the first time in years now people can afford their own 3D printer that can print with high quality results at a fraction of the cost. Among many 3D printers out there, we stumbled upon these two printers: Anycubic Photon S and Elegoo Mars. These printers are not only affordable but also highly praised by many hobbyists. These printers can print 3D objects at high quality and complete with LCD.
Now the problem is which one of these printers is better for you? To help you decide, we’re going to review both printers and come up with a verdict to see which one is better or perhaps both are equal to each other.
Anycubic Photon S Review
Anycubic Photon S is among the first desktop LCD 3D printers on the market that is priced under $500, and with the constant deal with see on Amazon, this printer can go as low as $350. Perhaps the price tag alone makes this printer worth a buy. Read also: Canon IVY vs Kodak Mini 2
Anycubic Photon S is an upgrade of its predecessor. It has a rigid plastic chassis that allows it to be lighter compared to metal body. Anycubic Photon S uses a threaded rod and a smooth rod on either and overall the z-axis is more stable compared to its predecessor. It’s quite a big upgrade and many enthusiasts would agree with this statement.
This upgrade reduces the unstable axis that is called z-wobble that can cause prints to have strange lines and pretty much ruins the look, but to be fair not everyone experienced it. With anti-aliasing, it smooths the edges of pixels and the resolution of the print seem higher than it actually is. It’s part of the new technology that arrives on DLP 3D printers.
Anycubic Photon S also has an upgraded UV light source called a matrix, it uses 10 W more power than its predecessor to increase the print speed. If you need more speed, Anycubic Photon S is much better than Anycubic Photon.
Now for the touchscreen on the screen, the interface has been upgraded and the quality of the touchscreen is better too. Some people have reported that the touchscreen requires stylus to work properly, while using their fingers the touchscreen sometimes refusing to work.
Overall, Anycubic Photon S is a successful upgrade from its predecessor. Better touchscreen and an improved z-axis should provide a better quality in 3D printing. Also, with the anti-aliasing technology the quality should increase even higher.
| Anycubic Photon S | Elegoo Mars | |
|---|---|---|
| Best Offer | click here | click here |
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| Package Dimensions | 16 x 17.5 x 8 inches | 15.8 x 16.5 x 7.9 inches |
| Item Weight | 19.4 pounds | 16.6 pounds |
Elegoo Mars Review
Elegoo Mars was unveiled back in 2017 but it took them some time before the resin 3D printer was introduced to the market. Elegoo Mars is more compact compared to Anycubic Photon S, with 120 x 68 x 155 cm build volume. Its compactness doesn’t hinder its 3D printing quality and speed, so don’t worry about that.
Elegoo Mars offers a 2560×1440 2K HD masking LCD and a very accurate printing with XY axis resolution of 0.047mm. Anyone can use Elegoo Mars without much trouble and it’s cheap too, at only $250. There are only a few 3D printers that can compete with Elegoo Mars at that price range. If you’re not used to using resin-based printers, Elegoo Mars can be a good starting point for you. It’s recommended to place Elegoo Mars somewhere with a good ventilation since the smell from the resin can fill the room but the noise is very minimal.
Elegoo Mars produces high quality 3D prints that you would expect from printers that are much more expensive. You can see the details of your prints, the fine lines of the design and everything else. Depending on your design, the prints can look very beautiful.
Elegoo Mars uses Chitubox, which is becoming the standard for these small DLP machines and it is very simple to use. The slicing itself is very accurate and fast and the UI is user-friendly and straightforward to use. There are plenty of parameters you can change in Chitubox to get the best print quality, you should always experiment with it. One thing for certain is that the ability to hollow out your prints in the slicer is very handy and you can also cut air holes into the model using Chitubox.
Elegoo Mars isn’t perfect of course, at its price range you should expect some flaws. The print bed can be tricky to level, it uses a ball socket to set the bed leveling. It’s designed to level the bed easily but every few prints you need to adjust the printer again, since having a level print bed is very important when it comes to 3D prints, and even more so on resin. If the print surface isn’t level, you can’t get your model to print safely.
Overall, Elegoo Mars is a good buy. It’s difficult to find other printers as good as this at $250. It’s perfect for people who want to get into 3D printing and still get high quality prints. Even for people who are already in the hobby of 3D printing, Elegoo Mars won’t disappoint.
Anycubic Photon S vs Elegoo Mars
Verdict
These two printers are amazing, from the most part the print quality provided by these printers are similar to each other. Both can deliver amazing results at a low price point. But Elegoo Mars is priced at $250 while Anycubic Photon S is at $469, we have to give an edge for Elegoo Mars here. Keep in mind that Elegoo Mars doesn’t come with the resin and with the resin brings the total to $305, which is still very cheap. With all the similarities even under the hood, we have to choose Elegoo Mars on this one.
