Many people are trying to get into 3d printing nowadays, and with more and more 3d printers released at an affordable price, perhaps now is the best time to get into the hobby. Monoprice is famous for releasing value-priced products such as speakers, cables, computer accessories, and other consumer electronics products.
Now, Monoprice has branched out with their own 3D printers and in this article, we’re going to compare Monoprice Voxel and Ultimate and try to come up with a verdict to see which one is better.
Monoprice Voxel Review
Monoprice Voxel is priced at $399 at Amazon. It’s a cube-shaped printer measuring at 15×15.7×15.9 inches and weighs 19.9 pounds. The frame is matte black and gray with a clear door with a magnetic latch in front and transparent plastic panels on left and top side. There is a 2.8-inch color touch screen on the right side of the door and a USB port on the bottom right.
Thanks to its closed frame, you could barely hear it printing so the noise problem is almost non-existent. The closed frame also makes sure that nobody touches the hot extruder while it’s printing. But remember that the hot tip of the nozzle extends farther down below the extruder, much longer than on most other 3D printers. Be careful not to touch it by mistake when the door is open. Read also: Anycubic Photon S vs Elegoo Mars
Monoprice Voxel is a plug and play printer, meaning it requires minimal set up. But some people have reported some difficulties connecting the printer to their home Wi-Fi network. Loading the filament for printing is very easy, the reel fits on the side of the printer and the filament feeds up through a tube into the body and the printhead. Once it’s set up, the filament is fed into the printhead automatically.
Monoprice Voxel works with Polar Cloud, a free online service that allows you to control and monitor the printer from any device. With Polcar Could you can see the print in progress with Monoprice Voxel’s built-in camera from your device. You can also upload 3D files or create them with basic editor and then send it directly to the printer from the web.
Monoprice Voxel is a fast printer, Tom’s Guide Thinker test print was done in between 3.5 hours and 5 hours and 21 minutes for draft and normal quality. It’s pretty fast and comparable to a more expensive printer like Lulzbot Taz Mini 2. As for the quality, the Thinker test model came out with great detail and smooth, complete with natural curves and surfaces.
Overall, Monoprice Voxel is a great buy. It delivers a lot of features, high print quality, and fast printing at a decent price. And with support for cloud printing, 3D printing just made much easier.
| Monoprice Voxel | Monoprice Ultimate | |
|---|---|---|
| Best Offer | click here | click here |
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| Package Dimensions | 19.6 x 16.9 x 20.2 inches | 22 x 17.2 x 18.4 inches |
| Item Weight | 28.5 pounds | 40.2 pounds |
Monoprice Ultimate Review
Monoprice Ultimate is a not so valued-price 3d printer compared to Voxel. It’s a rebadge of the Wanhao Duplicator 6 and is priced at $478. The fact that this is a rebadge of a Wanhao printer could be a plus point for some people, since Wanhao has a large following. Monoprice Ultimate has a build volume of 200x200x175mm and weighs 30 pounds.
Monoprice Ultimate is very sturdy, the frame is solid steel and it’s quite heavy. The printer’s chassis could last for a very long time and still manage to stay accurate at all time. Not just the chassis, all of the components are solid and well crafted. Monoprice Ultimate manages to reduce its price tag by removing unnecessary components from Wanhao.
Using the stock settings on the printer (the settings can be changed through the OLED display) is more than enough to make an excellent print. We believe that many enthusiasts will be happy with the result produced by this 3d printer.
All samples tested with this printer were dimensionally accurate, great details and fine quality all around the designs. The build surface is aluminum and heated by a 24V PCB, the temperature comes up pretty quickly. Monoprice Ultimate comes with an adhesive sheet and described as “Wanhao Adhesive Sheet”. Materials such as ABS, PLA, PETG and Ninjaflex stick to the bed and the prints are easy to remove.
The online spec sheet provided for this printer says that the printing speed is 150mm/sec, if we can believe this information then it’s fast. But in reality, it’s a bit misleading. Monoprice Ultimate can print 4.5-inch Thinker test sculpture in about 16 hours and 40 minutes. It’s a bit slower compared to XYZprinting da Vinci 3 in 1. But that doesn’t mean Monoprice Ultimate is slow, its speed is normal.
Overall, Monoprice Ultimate is a pretty good 3d printer for the money. It provides decent print quality and a decent range of features. The printing speed is nothing special, if you really want the extra speed, this printer might not be for you. It’s also missing advanced features that can be found in other printers such as LulzBot Mini such as: nozzle cleaning and automatic print-bed leveling. Without these features you have to do some manual tweaking.
If you don’t mind it, then Monoprice Ultimate is a good pick, especially it’s much cheaper than other 3d printers and still offers the same flexibility with using multiple materials.
Monoprice Voxel vs Ultimate
Verdict
Both of these printers have their own perks and flaws. Monoprice Ultimate might have some problems with the software and the fact that you have to do some manual tweaking can be a big turn off for some people, especially those who are trying to get into 3d printing. But, Monoprice Ultimate is definitely more reliable and can last longer than Monoprice Voxel.
Monoprice Voxel is available at a lower price tag compared to Ultimate. It’s easier to use and safe enough to prevent accidents. For people who don’t have abundant space, will have no problems with this printer, as it is a small and quiet enough for daily usage.
We believe that Monoprice Voxel is the winner of this matchup, thanks to its cheaper price tag and capabilities, it’s perfect for many people.
