Low maintenance 3d printer

The Best Cheap 3D Printers for 2022

While we'd hesitate to call 3D printing a mature technology, you might say it has reached its teenage years. Through their first decade-and-change, 3D printers have come down in price, grown easier to set up and operate, and become more reliable. And you may pay less than you expect: Many once-high-end features have migrated down to inexpensive models.

PC Labs has been reviewing 3D printers since 2013. Today, the state of 3D printing is strong, but that wasn’t always the case. For the first several years, it was often an adventure getting one of these printers up and running, let alone successfully through our testing regimen. Issues with filament-based—aka fused filament fabrication (FFF) or fused deposition modeling (FDM)—printers were abundant.

(Photo: Zlata Ivleva)

More About Our Picks

Original Prusa Mini

4.5 Outstanding

Best Overall Budget 3D Printer

Bottom Line:

It requires assembly and calibration care (plus shipping from the Czech Republic), but the Original Prusa Mini is a compact, open-frame 3D printer that consistently produces superb-quality output for a great price.

Pros

Top-notch object quality
Supports a variety of filament types
Useful, professionally printed user guide
Great support resources
Versatile, user-friendly software

Cons

First-layer calibration can be tricky
Only includes starter packets of filament
Requires monitoring if young children or pets are around

Read Our Original Prusa Mini Review

XYZprinting da Vinci Mini

4.0 Excellent

Best Budget 3D Printer for Schools, Community Centers

Bottom Line:

The XYZprinting da Vinci Mini is a consumer-oriented 3D printer that provides a winning combination of low price, ease of setup and use, solid print quality, and smooth, misprint-free operation.

Pros

Very low price.
Reasonably priced filament.
Good print quality.
No misprints in testing.
Easy setup and operation.
Quiet.
Prints over a USB or Wi-Fi connection.

Cons

Occasional problems in trying to launch prints.
Removing printed objects from the print bed is sometimes tricky.

Read Our XYZprinting da Vinci Mini Review

Toybox 3D Printer

4.0 Excellent

Best Budget 3D Printer for Children

Bottom Line:

The Toybox 3D Printer works well as a model designed for children, offering reliable printing from a browser or mobile device and a few thousand toys to print, plus creative options to output drawings or photos. Just bear in mind the tiny build area.

Pros

Reliable, misprint-free printing
Easy setup
One-touch operation
Well-composed help resources
Access to more than 2,000 printable toys and projects
Lets you create your own printable designs

Cons

Tiny build area
Not ideal for importing 3D files created elsewhere

Read Our Toybox 3D Printer Review

Monoprice Mini Delta V2 3D Printer

4. 0 Excellent

Best Budget 3D Printer for Beginners, Non-Techies

Bottom Line:

3D printing gurus will be intrigued by the Monoprice Mini Delta V2's use of the delta rather than Cartesian coordinate system, but beginners will just enjoy its low price, ease of use, and speedy printing.

Pros

Sub-$200 price
Quick, nearly misprint-free printing
Easy setup and operation
Sturdy steel-and-aluminum frame
Supports multiple filament types

Cons

Tiny build area
So-so print quality
Mere one-year warranty

Read Our Monoprice Mini Delta V2 3D Printer Review

Anycubic i3 Mega S

3.5 Good

Best Budget 3D Printer With an Open Design, Big Build Area

Bottom Line:

The Anycubic i3 Mega S, an inexpensive open-frame 3D printer, produced decent-quality prints in our testing. To get the most out of it, though, may require precise calibration.

Pros

Modestly priced
Large build area for an inexpensive printer
Supports a variety of filament types
Generally solid print quality
Uses well-known Cura software

Cons

Finicky print-platform alignment
Supported coils of filament are small
Poorly placed spool holder

Read Our Anycubic i3 Mega S Review

Anycubic Vyper

3.5 Good

Best Budget 3D Printer for the Biggest Build Area Possible

Bottom Line:

Anycubic's modestly priced Vyper whips up large 3D prints on its open-frame design, and provides automatic print-bed leveling. Just know that some minor assembly is required—and printed objects may require a bit of cleanup.

Pros

Relatively large build area
Automatic bed leveling
Simple assembly

Cons

Short (one-year) warranty
Includes only a small starter filament coil
Using Cura software with the Vyper requires tweaking a couple of settings
Test prints showed some "hairy" filament residue

Read Our Anycubic Vyper Review

Creality Ender-3 V2

3. 5 Good

Best Budget 3D Printer for Tinkerers and DIY Types

Bottom Line:

Hands-on tweaking defines Creality's budget-price Ender-3 V2, an open-frame 3D printer that you build from a kit. It produces generally above-par prints, but its print bed can be tricky to keep leveled.

Pros

Inexpensive
Slightly above-average print quality
Good-size build area for its price
Supports several filament types

Cons

Manual print-bed leveling can be tricky
Setup instructions could be deeper, more legible
Questionable quality control on some parts

Read Our Creality Ender-3 V2 Review

Flashforge Finder 3D Printer

3.5 Good

Best 3D Printer for the Very Tightest Budgets

Bottom Line:

The Flashforge Finder 3D Printer is moderately priced and offers good print quality, but it proved tricky to get up and running in our tests.

Pros

Quiet.
Good print quality.
Connects via USB 2.0 cable, USB thumb drive, or Wi-Fi.
Reasonably priced.

Cons

Some objects pulled off the platform during testing.
Poor documentation.
Modest build volume.
Limited to printing with polylactic acid filament (PLA).

Read Our Flashforge Finder 3D Printer Review

Polaroid PlaySmart 3D Printer

3.5 Good

Best Budget 3D Printer for Dabbling in Small Objects

Bottom Line:

The Polaroid PlaySmart 3D Printer is a compact, stylish 3D printer with above-par overall print quality, but, alas, a tiny build area for the money.

Pros

Small, lightweight for a desktop 3D printer.
Easy to set up and use.
Supports PLA, PETG, and wood composite filaments.
Multiple-color support.
Wi-Fi camera monitors print jobs.
Prints from USB drives, SD cards, or mobile devices.

Cons

High price for its capabilities.
Small build area.
Too-brief warranty.

Read Our Polaroid PlaySmart 3D Printer Review

XYZprinting da Vinci Jr. 1.0 A Pro

3.5 Good

Best Budget 3D Printer With Closed Design, Roomy Build Area

Bottom Line:

The XYZprinting da Vinci Jr. 1.0 A Pro is a moderately priced closed-frame 3D printer with a large build volume and overall good performance, but a potentially balky filament-feeding system.

Pros

Spacious build area
Works with third-party filaments
Self-leveling print bed

Cons

Build plate is not heated
Limited to PLA- and PETG-based filaments
Guide tube is prone to detaching

Read Our XYZprinting da Vinci Jr. 1.0 A Pro Review

Monoprice Voxel 3D Printer

3. 0 Average

Best Budget 3D Printer for Cheap Filament

Bottom Line:

The Monoprice Voxel is an under-$400 3D printer that's easy to set up and use. It exhibits generally good print quality, but it was unable to print two of our test objects.

Pros

Easy to set up and use.
Budget price for printer and filament spools.
Supports PLA, ABS, and several composite filament types.
Versatile software.
Prints over Ethernet or Wi-Fi, or from a USB thumb drive.

Cons

Frequent misprints on certain test objects.
Slightly balky touch screen.

Read Our Monoprice Voxel 3D Printer Review

Filament feeders had to be coaxed into delivering filament from the spool to the extruder. Print beds had to be manually aligned. The extruder or hot end had to be positioned just right to minimize the gap between the nozzle and the build plate (the flat surface on which the object is printed). Objects frequently stuck to the build plate, and required careful, sometimes unsuccessful, efforts to pry them off. These and other issues required painstaking effort to resolve, often combined with calls to tech support.

Not so much anymore. While they can still be rebellious at times, 3D printers have grown up a lot, and achieving the 3D printer basics has gotten a lot less likely to end in a shouting match over small things.

What to Look for in a Cheap 3D Printer

The big difference is the change that has come to the cheaper models. Nowadays, many of those ornery 3D-printing issues have been resolved (most of the time, anyway), even for consumer and bargain-priced 3D printers. Automatic print-bed leveling is the norm, and you can usually remove 3D-printed objects from heated and/or flexible build plates with a minimum of coaxing. Most 3D printer manufacturers have either developed and refined their own software, or have adapted an open-source printing platform such as Cura(Opens in a new window).

What separates more expensive 3D printers from cheap ones ("cheap" defined as $500 or less, for the purposes of this article) is often a select group of features. These include the build volume, the type of frame, the varieties of supported filament, the software, and the connectivity mix. Let's run through those in turn.

What's the Right Build Volume for a 3D Printer?

A 3D printer’s build volume is the maximum dimensions (HWD) of a part that it can print. (We say “a part” because a 3D-printed object can consist of multiple parts that are printed, then glued or otherwise pieced together.) While the smallest build volume of any 3D printer we have tested is 3.9 by 3.9 by 4.9 inches, we consider any build volume smaller than 6 by 6 by 6 inches to be small, any between that and 10 by 10 by 10 inches as medium, and any printer with at least one build dimension of more than 10 inches as having a large build volume.

(Photo: Molly Flores)

As a general rule, inexpensive 3D printers have small build volumes, while more expensive ones have larger build volumes. This depends in part on the type of printer. Closed-frame 3D printers—and most semi-open models, which have a rigid top, base, and sides but are open in front and, often, back—tend to have small build volumes, while open-frame printers, lacking as rigid a physical structure, often have relatively large build volumes for the price. You'll want to weigh the build volume against the kinds of objects you will print.

Should I Get an Open-Frame or Closed-Frame 3D Printer?

Which brings us to the frame "form factor" question: open-frame versus closed-frame. Closed-frame 3D printers are boxlike devices, with a rigid base, walls (with a see-through door in front), and top. Among their advantages? They muffle the operating noise, as well as reduce the odor from melted filament (which is potentially an issue with ABS plastic), and they provide some protection for people or pets who might inadvertently touch the hot extruder. A downside: They tend to have smaller build volumes than open-frame 3D printers, which have fewer (often, no) walls to constrict them.

(Photo: Zlata Ivleva)

Low-cost 3D printers include both open-frame and closed-frame models, as well as a few stereolithography printers. If a relatively large build volume is a priority, you’re likely to get more bang for the buck with an open-frame model. Open-frames do have some clear downsides by definition: They tend to be noisy, emit odors when certain plastics are melted, and provide little protection for someone who might touch the hot extruder.

(Photo: Molly Flores)

Also, recognize some potential negatives of open frames, depending on the model. Some require assembly, being essentially kits, and most require more setup care than a closed-frame printer, plus more maintenance to keep them running smoothly. Still, these very traits should not deter—and may even appeal to—hobbyists and DIY folks.

What Should I Look for in 3D Printer Software and Connectivity?

Gone are the days when tinkerers had to cobble together several different programs to get a 3D printer to run. Manufacturers either include their own 3D printing program or modify an existing platform such as the open-source Cura.

3D printing software performs three main functions: processing an object file (resizing, moving, rotating, and in some cases duplicating it), slicing it (into virtual layers, based on your chosen resolution), and printing it. These are almost universally combined into a seamless process. Some high-end printers have software that supports a wider range of settings you can tweak, but even the basic suites work at least reasonably well.

More likely to vary among the cheaper set is the array of connection options from model to model. Nearly all have a USB Type-A port to fit a thumb drive for printing from document files. Most also have a USB Type-B port for connecting directly to a computer, and some offer Wi-Fi, too (or as an alternative), while a handful let you connect via Ethernet to share the printer across a local network.

Some printers support storing 3D files on an SD or microSD card (which may also contain the printer’s system files). Most 3D printer manufacturers (even the discount ones) have a mobile app to launch and monitor print jobs, and a few provide access to cloud services from which you can print.

While high-end 3D printers tend to have an abundance of connection choices, discount models vary widely in their choices. Some are generous and some are basic, so it pays to assess what a given model offers.

What Should I Look for in Filament Support?

Filament support tends to be a key area that separates the cheaper models from the higher-end ones. (See our guide to understanding 3D printing filaments for more particulars.) Inexpensive 3D printers tend to support a limited number of plastic filament types, some of them only PLA and/or ABS.

Recommended by Our Editors

3D Printing: What You Need to Know

3D Printer Filaments Explained

(Photo: Molly Flores)

PLA (polylactic acid) is a biodegradable, plant-based polymer, while ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) is the same tough plastic that Legos are made from. Objects printed from ABS are durable and nontoxic, though the material can be tricky to work with. ABS can emit an acrid, unpleasant odor during printing, and the bottom corners of objects being printed with it have a tendency to curl upward a bit, especially if you are using a non-heated print bed. This can lead to unsightly prints, and/or prints prematurely pulling off the build plate, ruining them.

Many entry-level and low-price 3D printers stick exclusively to PLA. If you want to experiment with a larger variety of filaments—which include water-soluble filament, wood- and metal-laced composites, and both tough and flexible varieties—you may have to pay more, although a few discount models support a wide range of materials.

Should I Consider a 3D Printing Pen Instead?

Although they aren’t printers per se, inexpensive 3D pens are close kin to 3D printers—using the same filament types and a similar extrusion system—and we include them in the 3D printing category. Rather than tracing out a programmed pattern, you use the 3D pen much like a normal pen, except that you draw with molten plastic. You can trace a pattern or draw freehand, and even draw in three dimensions as the plastic quickly solidifies and hardens once extruded.

Most 3D pens cost less than $100, and some cost $50 or less. At a glance, 3D pens may appear to be toys, but some artists and craftspeople have taken to them, as it is possible to make quite complicated and beautiful objects with them. If your aim in 3D printing is something closer to freehand design and free expression than computer-centric, structured, and repeatable output, you might give one a try.

So, Which Cheap 3D Printer Should I Buy?

Buying a budget 3D printer needn’t mean a world of sacrifice. Plenty of capable and reliable models sell at less than $500, and while they may not be as feature-rich as their more expensive cousins, there's no sense in paying for things you don’t need.

Many casual 3D-printing experimenters will be fine with printing over a USB cable or from a thumb drive, and sticking to PLA may be the best choice for a starter 3D printer. If you focus just on the features you want, you may be pleasantly surprised at what you find. Here we feature the best under-$500 3D printers we have reviewed. Also check out our guide to our favorite 3D printers overall.

The 4 Best 3D Printers for 2022

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Photo: Sarah Kobos

UpdatedSep 2022

Updates

We’ve updated this guide to include the Artillery Sidewinder X2 as a pick, revised the Prusa Mini+ and Prusa i3 MK3S+ sections with new details, and added a section discussing Ender-3 printers.

What can you make with a 3D printer? Almost anything you want—from vases to GoPro mounts to phone cases—provided you don’t mind that it’s made out of plastic. Whether you’re a tinkerer interested in prototyping or a tabletop-gaming enthusiast seeking to expand your arsenal of miniatures, a 3D printer might be the manufacturing tool you need. We recommend the Prusa Mini+ printer because it’s the most reliable printer we’ve tested, and we find it to be an especially good value at $400 or so. It’s also easy to use and relatively inexpensive to operate.

Our pick

Prusa Mini+

This printer consistently cranked out high-quality prints in our tests and has a huge print volume.

The consistency and the thoughtfully chosen, repairable parts of the Prusa Mini+ will please more advanced users who need a dependable 3D-printing machine. It’s also a bargain, with unusual features at this price such as a large, 7-by-7-by-7-inch printing area (also known as the print volume, or the total space you can print within) and a color display, as well as 24/7 customer support. Prusa printers are the quietest models we’ve tested, too, and they’re compatible with a wide range of plastic types.

Upgrade pick

Prusa i3 MK3S+

This model offers the reliability and quality of a Prusa printer plus the largest print volume available.

The Prusa i3 MK3S+ is a worthy upgrade from the Mini+ for its 9.9-by-8.3-by-8.3-inch printing area, more stable z-axis, and better extruder. It comes with parts that are likely to last longer (though no color screen as on the Mini+) and an upgraded motherboard that can better detect and correct errors while the machine is printing. Its setup is also faster and easier than that of the Mini+.

Budget pick

Monoprice MP Cadet

The MP Cadet is cheap, reliable, and small enough to fit on any desk.

If you’re a total beginner who doesn’t want to invest too much, or if you’re looking for a printer that’s safer for children to use (similar machines are advertised for kids as young as 8), the Monoprice MP Cadet might be a better option. In our testing, it consistently turned out flawless (though less detailed) prints as long as the designs weren’t too complex. It has a small, desk-friendly footprint. It’s also less than half the price of the Prusa Mini+, but it doesn’t offer as many features or produce the same level of detail, and it has a smaller, 3. 9-by-4.1-by-3.9-inch print volume.

Also great

Artillery Sidewinder X2

This model is best for larger or taller printing jobs, such as cosplay or art pieces.

If you’re trying to print a sci-fi helmet or custom shelving brackets, a larger printer allows you to make the entire part in one shot rather than splitting it into smaller components and gluing them together. The print bed of the Artillery Sidewinder X2, an 11.8-inch square with a height of 15.7 inches, gives you a lot more room for bigger jobs. This model also offers easy setup and an intuitive menu, and in our tests it produced fantastic prints.

Everything we recommend

Our pick

Prusa Mini+

This printer consistently cranked out high-quality prints in our tests and has a huge print volume.

Upgrade pick

Prusa i3 MK3S+

This model offers the reliability and quality of a Prusa printer plus the largest print volume available.

Budget pick

Monoprice MP Cadet

The MP Cadet is cheap, reliable, and small enough to fit on any desk.

Also great

Artillery Sidewinder X2

This model is best for larger or taller printing jobs, such as cosplay or art pieces.

The research

Why you should trust us
Who should get this
What you should know about 3D printers
How we picked
How we tested
Our pick: Prusa Mini+
Upgrade pick: Prusa i3 MK3S+
Budget pick: Monoprice MP Cadet
Also great: Artillery Sidewinder X2
Care and maintenance
What about the Ender-3 and other Creality printers?
What to look forward to
The competition
Sources

Why you should trust us

Dave Gershgorn is a senior staff writer at Wirecutter and an avid 3D-printing enthusiast. He has printed through dozens of rolls of filament, has owned multiple printers, and has designed custom 3D-printable models for home improvement, product testing, and cosplay. His current personal printers are the Prusa i3 MK3S+ and the Elegoo Mars 3.

Signe Brewster has been researching, studying, and testing 3D printers for tech publications including Gigaom, TechCrunch, and now Wirecutter since 2013. She has printed hundreds of 3D models, and through that experience she has learned how to spot the annoyances that can come with using an emerging technology.

In the course of researching this guide, we interviewed several 3D-printing experts, including Sean Charlesworth, a 3D-printing specialist for Tested, and Justin Kelly, an entrepreneur who founded LaserGnomes and Proto House.

Who should get this

People who need to quickly make prototypes or custom plastic parts can get the most mileage out of a 3D printer. These machines are also useful tools for anyone who likes tinkering or teaching children about STEM concepts. You can find plenty of downloadable designs online at 3D-model libraries such as Thingiverse. The range of possibilities is even wider if you know how to use CAD (computer-aided design) software. And anyone can work with a 3D printer: Most printers are easy enough to use that a child (with adult supervision) can print any of the endless variety of toy designs available.

What you should know about 3D printers

Be warned that no 3D printer is unbreakable. A day will come when you’ll need to replace a part or get your hands dirty in some other way. Replacement parts are available for the Prusa Mini+ and MK3S+, but not all 3D printers are equally easy to fix. You might want to avoid 3D printing altogether if you aren’t confident that you’d be able to perform a minor repair on the equivalent of a household appliance.

Prospective buyers should also be aware that the 3D-printing industry is in a constant state of upheaval. MakerBot, which was long considered the frontrunner among home 3D printers, stopped marketing to hobbyists and home users several years ago in order to focus on commercial and educational institutions. Many of the printers we have tested have come and gone within the span of a year or two. So it’s not out of the question that you might someday find yourself without much support from the company that made your printer. It’s also possible that a new breakthrough will suddenly leave you with outdated technology.

In addition, a 3D printer brings health and environmental concerns. When a printer melts plastic as part of the extrusion process, it releases volatile organic compounds and other particulates. The CDC recommends (PDF) using printers in a “negatively pressured area with a dedicated ventilation system,” which is not a feature found in your average home. It’s a good idea to weigh how comfortable you are with exposure to some fumes before buying.

On the environmental side of things, consider that you’re investing in a machine that works primarily with plastics. It’s possible to recycle or compost certain types of 3D-printed plastics (polylactic acid, or PLA, being the most sustainable of the common varieties), but the process can be complicated. There’s also the option to invest in a spendy recycling system of your own.

How we picked

The Monoprice Maker Select v2 at work. Video: Signe Brewster

We turned to articles from 3D Hubs, Make, PCMag, and Tom’s Guide, plus customer reviews on sites like Amazon, to develop a short list of the best 3D printers for beginners. We then interviewed our experts on what to look for in a printer.

You could spend anywhere from $200 to $1 million on a 3D printer. The best options for hobbyists are priced at $1,000 or less. As with any piece of technology, printers in different price ranges offer different mixes of features. Printers really do get better the more you spend—and sometimes they’re also easier to use. Some higher-priced machines offer specialty features such as dual-color printing or a webcam for monitoring your print remotely, while other expensive units are known for their exceptional reliability.

We skipped 3D printer kits, which are less expensive but require a great deal of assembly, in favor of machines that print good-looking parts straight out of the box with as little maintenance required as possible.

No matter what price range you’re considering, we’ve concluded that the best 3D printers offer the following features:

High-quality prints: Without too much tweaking, the printer should put out smooth-looking models with layers that are 0.1 mm or thinner and barely visible.
Easy-to-use hardware: Even a complete beginner should be able to put the printer together, load filament, start a print, and remove a finished model from the print bed. The bed should also level itself or be simple to level manually (a sloping print bed can cause printing errors).
Ample connectivity options: Ideally, you should be able to start a print over Wi-Fi or transfer the file over a USB cable. Loading files onto an SD card that you plug into the printer is also okay. A design that requires you to keep a computer tethered to the printer at all times via USB is a serious flaw but not necessarily a dealbreaker.
Intuitive software: Beginners should be able to jump right into using a printer’s software, including making adjustments to models before printing. The software should come preloaded with print settings but provide options for more experienced users to fine-tune. It’s a big plus if a printer is compatible with Ultimaker Cura, which has become somewhat of an industry standard and a favorite of ours.
Large-enough print volume: It would be nice to have the ability to print objects as large as you want, but the reality is that most models found in libraries like Thingiverse are designed for small 3D-printer beds, with workarounds for combining several printed pieces to create a larger object. As a result, beginners need only a print bed that’s large enough to print models about the size of a small tissue box.
Heated bed: Heated beds prevent prints from warping, help models stick to the print bed, and allow you to print using a wider range of materials. (ABS, one of the two most common types of plastic used for 3D printing, and other materials shrink as they cool. Without a heated bed, you are limited to PLA, the other main type of plastic.)
Compatibility with any brand of filament: Some companies embed chips in the spools of plastic that feed into their 3D printers, requiring you to buy refills directly from the printer manufacturer. Proprietary filament is generally more expensive, and if the company that makes it goes out of business, you won’t be able to use the printer.
Suited to everyday life: The machine should look at home sitting on a desk. Ideally, it isn’t too big or heavy, and it’s relatively quiet so you can’t hear it from every corner of the house. Although some printers are marginally faster than others, large prints can take days; even small prints take hours. A quiet printer is much easier to live with. Printers should also be able to print in polylactic acid, or PLA, plastic. While melting any type of plastic releases volatile organic compounds and other particulates into the air, the CDC considers PLA to be safer (PDF). PLA also has a sweet, inoffensive smell—still, it’s best for both children and adults to use a 3D printer in a well-ventilated room.
Enclosed printing chamber: Enclosing the print space keeps prints at a consistent temperature to prevent warping and other printing imperfections. It’s an especially good idea to have an enclosed chamber if you are printing with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, or ABS—one of the two most popular printing materials—which is more prone to warping because it shrinks when it cools. Although enclosed printing chambers are nice to have, they’re not essential, and they’re actually fairly rare among inexpensive 3D printers.

How we tested

Photo: Signe Brewster

We time how long we take to get each printer from the box to set up on our desk, and we jot down notes on the initial software installation and navigation process. Then we get to printing. We allow each printer eight attempts to produce as many acceptable models as possible. We rate each print as either a success, a mediocre effort, or a failure. Successful prints look smooth, with no obvious imperfections. Mediocre prints have readily visible layers or imperfections but still look like a completed model. Failure takes many forms—everything from broken filament string that causes the print to stop to wild spaghetti-like misprints due to software or hardware errors.

Witness the terrifying results of two prints that did not stick to the Monoprice MP Cadet’s print bed correctly. Photo: Signe Brewster

Printers usually come with several models preloaded; we always start by printing one of these because they’re carefully optimized for the printer. Errors in these prints indicate that there is likely something wrong on the hardware end that we need to adjust. After the first successful print, we move on to designs we’ve found on Thingiverse. For our 2020 and 2021 testing, that group included “Low-Poly Bulbasaur” and “Low-Poly Charmander” by Thingiverse member flowalistik, “Curved honeycomb vase” by eggnot, and “Skull lamps - Voronoi Style” by shiuan. Our 2022 test added the “3DBenchy” model by CreativeTools and the “Nano All In One 3D printer test” from Printables member Steeveeet. These models had a range of detail, overhangs, and scale that would give us an impression of the printers’ strengths.

Almost any 3D printer is capable of putting out successful models—experienced users know (or can figure out) how to tweak settings and hardware to get such results. But beginners (or even intermediate users like us) aren’t as likely to know what to do or to care enough to spend time fine-tuning. For the purposes of our testing, we give the printers the basic care they need to function—an initial bed-level check combined with factory-recommended settings—but we don’t tweak the printer or software to get better prints unless something goes wrong.

We also note how many times we have to repair the printers, how often each machine needs its print bed leveled, and how difficult it is to remove completed models from the print bed. These are general issues that pop up for any tier of 3D printer, but some printers are better than others at reducing the time you have to spend cleaning and repairing them.

Our pick: Prusa Mini+

Photo: Sarah Kobos

Our pick

Prusa Mini+

This printer consistently cranked out high-quality prints in our tests and has a huge print volume.

The Prusa Mini+ offers the best overall 3D-printing experience thanks to its combination of print quality, reliability, and desk-appropriate size, all offered at a relatively low price. It produced some of the best-looking prints among the machines we tested, it works with a wide variety of filament brands and types, and it comes preassembled. (You can save some dough and buy a kit to assemble the Mini+ yourself instead, though we didn’t test kits because of the added skill involved.) Prusa printers are the quietest we’ve tested, which makes them especially bearable to work alongside in an office.

Across eight test prints, the Mini+ produced eight perfect models, the best result from any printer we’ve tested. It can print layers as thin as 0.05 mm, half the thickness that most of the printers we’ve tested can achieve. As a result, it prints objects that look especially glossy and smooth. Unlike with most of the other printers we’ve tested, we’ve never seen an obvious error in printed models from the Mini+.

We decided to use the free PrusaSlicer software program to prepare files for printing. We still prefer the detail packed into Ultimaker Cura, another free program compatible with a wide range of printer types, but we found PrusaSlicer easy to use and reliable in how it prepared files for the Mini+. It has plenty of customization options for the average 3D-printer owner.

We used a USB stick to transfer files from our computer to the printer, but Prusa has published a guide to a DIY upgrade that allows you to send files over Wi-Fi. Once you plug in the USB stick, you can use a knob to scroll through the menu and file list on the Mini+’s color screen, which we found to be much easier to parse than the blue and white, text-only screen of the Prusa i3 MK3S+.

Although the MK3S+ has a larger, 9.9-by-8.3-by-8.3-inch PEI print bed, the Mini+ is no slouch with its 7-by-7-by-7-inch print volume. (For an even larger print bed, check out our also-great pick, the Artillery Sidewinder X2.) Most free models you’ll find available on library websites like Thingiverse are made for this size of print bed, so it’s not often that you’ll max out its abilities. We were able to remove the bed and bend it to pop off prints, but usually we used a scraper and gentle pressure instead. The Mini+ isn’t flashy, but it’s especially practical. It automates as many quality checks as possible, so there’s less manual setup each time you print. It’s also built out of replaceable parts; that’s useful if you plan to run the printer continuously and want it to have as long a lifespan as possible. And Prusa’s printers are upgradable, whether you want to add nicer parts or swap in features from the latest printer.

The Mini+ can print in layers as thin as 0.05 mm, which aids in its ability to print finely detailed models. Photo: Sarah Kobos

Although the Mini+ is small enough to fit on a desk, it can still print models as large as 7 by 7 by 7 inches. Photo: Sarah Kobos

The Mini+ can print in layers as thin as 0.05 mm, which aids in its ability to print finely detailed models. Photo: Sarah Kobos

The Mini+ can print in standard plastics such as PLA and ABS, plus materials like nylon and wood blends. If you’re interested in even more exotic materials, the MK3S+ is a better choice. Prusa makes a line of reasonably priced filament in many types of materials that we have enjoyed using, but the Mini+ is compatible with filaments from other brands, too. We have used Hatchbox filaments with good results in other printers in the past, but we haven’t tested them on the Mini+.

The Mini+ has a decidedly old-school look among 3D printers. But we actually prefer its exposed components to the sleeker looking printers we’ve tested because the design makes the printer easier to repair.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It took us just over an hour to assemble the “preassembled” version of the Mini+. That’s the longest process for any printer we’ve tested. From ensuring that we attached wires in the right place to fiddling with screws at awkward angles, the experience was more of a headache than we expected after the relatively easy assembly required for the MK3S+. The instructions are sometimes vague, so we recommend a close read. However, once we had the Mini+ assembled, it was quick and easy to get ready for printing.

Spending more on a 3D printer gets you, well, more: Touchscreen controls and the ability to print over Wi-Fi are two features we’ve enjoyed on more expensive printers. One benefit of using a USB stick instead of Wi-Fi is that you can save multiple prints to the stick at once; that way, when the first job finishes, you can remove the print and start the next one without having to go back to your computer. But we look forward to Prusa’s addition of Wi-Fi abilities in the future.

The Mini+ has a totally open design, which means that it releases the VOCs and particulates that it produces while using certain types of filament like ABS. You might notice a maple-syrup or plastic smell from the melting filament. If you’ll be using the machine in a home environment, it’s a good idea to use a “healthier” plastic such as PLA. It’s also a good idea to print at the lowest temperature possible for your chosen material; the lower the temperature, the less bad stuff the printer releases into the air. If you plan to spend time in the same room as a running 3D printer and don’t have a ventilated hood or HEPA air filter, turn on a fan or crack a window to improve ventilation (PDF). It’s also a good idea to wear gloves to prevent skin transfer.

Upgrade pick: Prusa i3 MK3S+

Photo: Signe Brewster

Upgrade pick

Prusa i3 MK3S+

This model offers the reliability and quality of a Prusa printer plus the largest print volume available.

The Prusa i3 MK3S+ offers the reliability and print quality of the Mini+ along with a larger print bed, a more stable design for greater printing detail, and a better extruder that can handle a wide array of materials. It also comes preassembled or in a DIY kit, though we found the preassembled kit much simpler to set up than the Mini+.

In eight test runs, the MK3S+ made five perfect prints, second only to the Mini+. Like the Mini+, it prints layers as thin as 0.05 mm, creating more detailed models than most competitors in its price range. Of the three jobs that were failures, two were due to setup error and one was due to a clog that we were able to resolve. Unlike with most of the other printers we tested, we never saw an obvious error in the printed models. The print quality of the MK3S+ can be attributed to its sturdy frame and dual z-axis lead screws, which keep layer lines tight and consistent.

It took 32 minutes for us to set up the MK3S+, about average for the printers we’ve tested. Our test unit came assembled, but we took some time to run through the initial setup wizard. Although most of the setup is automated, you should pay close attention during the bed-level calibration; using the knob next to the printer’s computer screen, you need to lower the print nozzle until it nearly touches the bed, slightly squishing the melted filament. We made some mistakes the first time we booted up the printer. We recommend carefully reading the messages on the screen while the setup wizard is running, as well as studying the printer’s instruction manual. The manual is wordy at times, but we prefer that to the minimal or confusing instructions that other printer makers tend to include.

Several software options are available for the MK3S+; we used Cura, downloaded directly from the Ultimaker website. Cura is compatible with a wide range of printers, so during setup you should pick the MK3S+ profile to ensure that the software is tailored to your machine. We’ve used Cura for years without issue. Beginners can start a print quickly, without much thought, or drill deeper into the settings in the software’s intuitive menus when they’re ready to do more fine-tuning. It’s also worth checking out PrusaSlicer, which, as the name implies, is Prusa’s version of slicing software; there, the company offers expertly tuned profiles for its printers and filaments, as well as helpful features like variable layer height based on where your model has the most detail. It also has great features for generating custom support material, which is like scaffolding around your print that helps your printer lay down material at gravity-defying angles. In PrusaSlicer you can “paint” the areas on your model where you want support material, and the slicer will build that scaffolding up from the build plate to meet those specific areas, making the print less prone to failure.

You can print on the MK3S+ over Wi-Fi directly from PrusaSlicer if you install a Raspberry Pi Zero W into your machine, or you can save your file to an SD card and insert it into the machine. Using a knob, you can scroll through the black-and-white menu on the MK3S+’s small screen to select which model you want to print. It isn’t the flashiest or most intuitive system, but it is similar to what you’ll find on most other $1,000 printers.

The MK3S+’s controller is functional but barebones. Higher-end printers often have color touchscreens. Photo: Signe Brewster

The MK3S+ has plenty of cool features, our favorite of which is the removable 9.9-by-8.3-by-8.3-inch PEI print bed. Its direct-drive extruder allows you to print with flexible filaments like TPU to make custom phone cases, for example, or rubbery feet for gadgets. The extruder also includes a filament-runout sensor, which automatically pauses a print if you don’t have enough filament to finish. And this machine is modular and built out of replaceable parts, so you can swap in the latest upgrades.

The MK3S+ can print using standard filaments such as ABS and PLA, as well as more interesting materials like nylon or those that contain carbon fiber. It’s compatible with a wider range of filaments than the Mini+ (its hotend, the structure that melts and extrudes plastic, can reach 572 degrees Fahrenheit, compared with the Mini+’s 536 degrees), though most people don’t need to take advantage of its more unusual filament options.

Although this machine doesn’t look as stylish as some of the other 3D printers we’ve tested, its 15-by-17-inch footprint is small enough for it to fit on a desk. It’s also impressively quiet (though you’ll still know it’s on when you’re in the same room). As people who have each tried to sleep within earshot of 3D printers whirring and singing in their robotic tones, we can attest to the importance of a printer that is seen and not heard. As is the case with the Mini+, we recommend cracking a window to avoid inhaling the fumes that the MK3S+ releases due to its open design.

Budget pick: Monoprice MP Cadet

Photo: Signe Brewster

Budget pick

Monoprice MP Cadet

The MP Cadet is cheap, reliable, and small enough to fit on any desk.

If you aren’t sure you want to commit to using a 3D printer regularly, or if you just want to spend a bit less, the Monoprice MP Cadet is a good budget option. In our testing, this $200 printer made prints that looked just as good as the results from printers that cost several times more, and its small size makes it especially desk friendly. Its removable, unheated bed is also more suitable for little fingers and releases finished prints with ease (though it puts your prints at risk of warping). However, this machine lacks the relatively advanced features you get from more expensive printers such as the Prusa Mini+ and i3 MK3S+.

Among the eight test prints we attempted, the MP Cadet produced four great-looking prints, one mediocre print, and three failures. The MP Cadet can print layers as thin as 0.4 mm; they’re eight times thicker than the MK3S+’s 0.05 mm layers but still thin enough that prints look tidy (even if you can see each individual layer). This machine did a mediocre job of printing the skull lamp file, which has lots of small details and overhangs that ended up looking a bit sloppy but still came out intact.

The first failed print happened right away, as the print head immediately dug into the print bed, damaging its soft surface. We discovered that we had readied the print in Cura with a profile for the Monoprice Mini. Once we downloaded a version of Cura directly from Monoprice and selected the MP Cadet profile, the printer operated normally. The next two failures occurred when we tried to print the pack-of-gum-sized Charmander: Partway through the print, the Charmander figure lifted off the bed and adhered to the print nozzle instead, creating a half pocket monster, half spaghetti nightmare creature. Because the MP Cadet’s print bed is unheated, prints don’t adhere as well as they could. Using a layer of painter’s tape and dabbing at it with a glue stick before starting prints solved the problem. The upside of an unheated bed is that you can remove models as soon as the print job is done. We didn’t find any sort of scraping or bending necessary to pop off prints—another advantage of an unheated bed.

Monoprice advertises Wi-Fi printing for the MP Cadet, but we weren’t able to get it to work. We used a microSD card instead. Photo: Signe Brewster

Setting up the MP Cadet took us 30 minutes. It arrived assembled, but we ran into some kinks with Monoprice’s instructions. First, the company advertises that you can print from an iOS or Android app called PoloPrint, but the app is difficult to use, and owners complain of connection issues. Second, during our tests the printer offered the option to start printing the models loaded onto the microSD card in the printer—our hitting the print button did nothing, though, and we found the interface confusing. Instead, we recommend using Cura to load files onto the microSD card and then initiating prints on the printer’s screen.

As with the MK3S+, you can prepare models for printing on the MP Cadet with Cura. Despite the initial snafu we had in downloading the correct version, we appreciate that all of Cura’s features are available even when you’re working with such an inexpensive printer.

The MP Cadet’s print bed is relatively tiny, at just 3.9 by 4.1 by 3.9 inches. That’s big enough for it to print game pieces, toys, and some household parts; many downloadable designs also allow you to print them in several pieces and then assemble them to create a larger object. However, if you want to print big designs on a regular basis, a printer with a larger bed is worth the investment.

The MP Cadet is noticeably smaller than most printers, with an overall footprint of just 8.3 by 8.3 inches. However, because its print bed is not enclosed and it doesn’t have a heated bed, you need to keep it away from open windows and in an area with a relatively constant temperature so that the air doesn’t warp prints. The work area should also have good airflow, such as a small fan nearby. The melting filament gives off a maple-syrup or plastic smell, so in addition to having airflow in the room, you should avoid sitting right next to the printer as it operates to avoid inhaling the fumes. The MP Cadet is noisier than the Prusa i3 MK3S+, too, though it isn’t unbearably loud.

Also great: Artillery Sidewinder X2

Photo: Dave Gershgorn

Also great

Artillery Sidewinder X2

This model is best for larger or taller printing jobs, such as cosplay or art pieces.

For larger prints, the Artillery Sidewinder X2 offers a great balance of size, ease of use, and premium features for just about the same price as our top pick. Its 11.8-by-11.8-by-15.7-inch print bed gives you lots of space for 3D-printing cosplay helmets or lampshades, for example, and its direct-drive extruder makes it great for flexible filament, as well. This machine isn’t for everyone, though, due to its size and impracticality for most everyday prints. It’s physically much larger than all of our other picks, so you need a dedicated space for it that’s at least 24 inches deep, 18 inches wide, and 36 inches tall. A larger print bed also means a tougher time leveling that bed, compared with the experience on our smaller picks. But if you want a printer that can keep up with your Mandalorian cosplay idea, the Sidewinder X2 can do it.

The Sidewinder X2 has an easy setup process similar to that of many other partially assembled 3D printers. You simply need to mount the printer’s gantry, a fancy word for the tall part of the printer that moves the extruder around, to the base. Doing so requires inserting four screws to secure the printer’s gantry to the base and then plugging in a few well-labeled cables. Much of the wiring is located inside the printer’s frame, so cable management wasn’t an issue in our tests, and there are no cables to snag while the machine is printing. However, the manual that comes with the Sidewinder X2 is not translated perfectly and can be a bit confusing. The internal wiring can also make the printer more difficult to repair compared with our other picks if a part breaks after dozens or hundreds of hours of printing.

In our tests, the initial calibration was a slightly more manual process than for our other picks, as the Sidewinder X2 has a Level menu that moves the extruder to preloaded points around the print bed. You tap the touchscreen to move the extruder to a specific point, slide a piece of paper between the nozzle and the bed, and then turn a knob on the underside of the printer to raise or lower the bed until you feel only slight resistance from the nozzle when moving the paper. You repeat this step at four other points around the bed. It takes a bit of experience to dial in this process, but the Sidewinder X2 makes it easier and faster than most other manually leveled printers do. Printers with larger beds are always more difficult to level, since a larger area is more prone to warping or slight imperfections. Despite that, we found the Sidewinder X2 to be even across its entire bed surface.

We prepared models for the test prints in Cura, though a profile in the software for the Sidewinder X2 isn’t readily available. Instead, we used the included profile for the Sidewinder X1 and modified the build volume to match that of the X2. While Cura profiles and similar resources exist online for our other printer picks, the Sidewinder X2 generally has a smaller community of users, so it’s a bit tougher to find people with similar problems and solutions if something goes wrong.

The Sidewinder X2 produced excellent test prints and did especially well on the taller prints that were larger than anything possible from our other picks. For instance, we scaled the honeycomb vase test model up to 10.5 inches tall, and the resulting print had equally smooth surfaces from bottom to top. Longer prints, such as a 34-hour print we ran for a colleague’s cosplay outfit, ran without issue or incident and produced nearly perfect results. (The imperfections were due to user error when we set it to generate supports.)

However, this printer is best for people who know they want to print a lot of large objects. It’s physically very large and would commandeer the kind of desk found in a bedroom or a small office. The Prusa models are even easier to set up and maintain, have much better support communities, and are more repairable.

Care and maintenance

A 3D printer can be a finicky machine. Performing basic maintenance can go a long way toward preventing breakdowns and print flaws.

If your printer doesn’t automatically level its print bed, periodically check the print bed and adjust it if necessary. The Monoprice MP Cadet is self-leveling, while the Prusa Mini+ and MK3S+ have a calibration option (called the Wizard) in their menus. Most of the time, if your print isn’t sticking to the bed or is otherwise failing, it’s because the bed isn’t correctly leveled.

Some printers have print beds made of materials that prints adhere to extremely well—and judging from our experience, maybe a little too well. Adjusting print temperatures and a few other settings can help prevent sticking, but such tweaks aren’t always enough. Many printers now come with removable, flexible print beds; if your printer has one, remove the bed and carefully bend it to release your model. Don’t force it, or you’ll risk damaging the bed’s finish. If the print is still stuck, heat the bed back up to its printing temperature and see if the model pops off easier. Next, use a scraper to carefully unstick the edges of the print and then move in a sawing motion toward the center. If you’re still stumped, one final trick is to remove the print bed and stick it in the freezer for an hour. This should shrink the print a little and make it easier to remove.

Plastic remnants can build up over time on the print bed. A cloth and warm water are usually enough to remove them; more-stubborn grime should come away with a bit of rubbing alcohol that’s at least 90% isopropyl alcohol.

If you’re having trouble with uneven layer lines on the sides of your print, this is often caused by loose axis belts, or a lack of lubrication on the screw that raises and lowers the z-axis. Many printers allow you to tune the tension of the printer’s belts, and you can clean the z-axis screw with 90% isopropyl alcohol and lubricate it with a dry-film PTFE lubricant.

Finally, be sure to follow each printer maker’s rules for heating up and cooling down the printer, which will help to prevent clogs.

What about the Ender-3 and other Creality printers?

If you read 3D-printing forums and subreddits, you’ll see many experienced 3D-printing enthusiasts recommending the Creality Ender-3, Ender-3 V2, or Ender-3 Pro as a first printer. The Ender-3 Pro can be often found on sale at Microcenter for just $100, and it’s a better printer than our budget pick, the Monoprice MP Cadet, on nearly every metric. There’s also an avid community of Ender-3 owners who post DIY upgrades and guides on how to use the machine, a crucial aspect of learning to operate the printer and troubleshooting when things go wrong.

So why don’t we recommend it as a top pick or even a budget pick? In our experience, we’ve found that the Ender-3 line requires more setup and more maintenance, and in comparison with our picks it poses a much more difficult learning curve for those who are just getting into 3D printing. As an example, crucial tasks like leveling the print bed on the Ender-3 require using separate calibration files that might have to be run multiple times or manually moving the print head across the bed, in contrast to Prusa’s and Monoprice’s easier, more automatic workflows. This manual work adds many minutes of pre-print setup for a 3D-printing newcomer versus seconds for our top picks, and in turn it leads to a higher chance of the machine sitting in the corner gathering dust. These processes become rote after time and are made easier by optional upgrades, but initially they require some dedication to learn.

Prusa models also earned the top-pick and upgrade-pick spots due to the company’s excellent support and fantastic forum filled with helpful printer owners. Ender-3 owners are more likely to find someone with the same problem, but owners of Prusa models are more likely to find a solution.

That doesn’t mean we don’t like the Ender-3 line. They’re actually great machines for those who are already mechanically adept or who don’t get easily frustrated learning a new, complex hobby. However, they’re not the best 3D printers for most people.

What to look forward to

We’re testing the Anycubic Kobra Max against the Sidewinder X2 as a printer that’s also great for its large bed size. Shipping delays prevented us from including the Kobra Max in this version of the guide, but we’ll include its test results and any potential changes to our recommendations in the next update.

The competition

The Creality Ender-3 S1 Plus is an addition to the Ender-3 line with a high-resolution display and a larger print volume. We found it to be louder, more complicated to set up, and more difficult to level in comparison with the Artillery Sidewinder X2.

The Creality Ender-2 Pro, a $170 competitor to the Prusa Mini+, seems built to look nearly identical to that model. However, in our tests its menus were confusing and made the printer more difficult to operate than any of our picks. Its fans were also drastically louder than those of any other printer we tested.

In some ways, the Dremel DigiLab 3D40 impressed us: For about 50% more than you typically pay for the Prusa i3 MK3S+, you get an enclosed print area, a huge print bed (though not quite as large as that of the MK3S+), a touchscreen, and cloud-based printing. However, its prints in our tests didn’t look quite as nice as those of the MK3S+. We also found removing prints to be difficult, and we managed to ruin two flexible beds when the top layer ripped off during print removal. Finally, we dislike that the 3D40 prints only with proprietary spools of PLA—if you want to use other types of Dremel filament, you have to spend several hundred dollars more on the Dremel DigiLab 3D45.

The Tiertime Up Mini 2 was a top pick in a previous version of this guide because of its consistently nice-looking prints. However, when we tested the updated Up Mini 2 ES, software issues got in the way of producing a single print. We tried updating the printer and then “activating” it several times, including with the help of customer support and a press-relations representative. But we continued to get a pop-up telling us to activate our printer and alerting us that slicing had failed. Even if we had resolved the software issue, the difficulty it added to setup was enough to leave a permanently sour taste in our mouths.

The Monoprice MP Cadet narrowly beat out the Monoprice Maker Select v2, our former budget pick. Although the MP Cadet was much easier to set up and produced better-looking prints in our tests, we still think the Maker Select v2’s comparably huge print bed makes it a bargain if you can find it these days. If you don’t mind tinkering a bit to get the right settings, the Maker Select v2 could be a better option. However, setting up the Maker Select v2 took us 45 minutes, and it suffered from a clog after just a few prints.

Once our upgrade pick, the LulzBot Mini has been discontinued and replaced with the LulzBot Mini 2. The new machine addresses some of the qualms we had with the original Mini by adding an onboard controller and an even larger print volume. However, a North Dakota entrepreneur recently acquired its parent company, Aleph Objects, and moved operations to Fargo. We have not yet tested a Mini 2, and the company did not reply to our requests for information.

If you’re looking for a printer that can print in two colors, the FlashForge Creator Pro is one of the best-reviewed options. However, in our tests it printed only one great-looking model, along with six okay-looking models and one failure. We liked the printer’s streamlined software, which made it easy for us to select what parts of a model to make which color. You load models onto the printer with an SD card, so queuing up a few prints at a time is also easy, and it has a large, 8.9-by-5.8-by-5.9-inch print volume.

We decided to test the Monoprice MP Select Mini v2 based on feedback from our readers and positive reviews. It’s inexpensive, equipped with a color screen, and easy to set up. But we had problems with print quality, and the printer sometimes stopped altogether in the middle of a job.

The easy-to-use MakerBot Replicator Mini+ restored our trust in the brand after MakerBot hit a rough patch with reliability. However, the company discontinued the printer as it further narrowed its focus on education. The MakerBot Replicator+ combines the advanced features of the Mini+ with a more impressive build volume (11. 6 by 7.6 by 6.5 inches), which makes it an ideal choice on paper, but we decided against testing that printer due to its $2,000 price. Most hobbyists should start with a more affordable machine.

The Qidi Tech I is a near-exact copy of the FlashForge Creator Pro that cost a bit less at the time of our research. It offers a massive print bed, dual extruders, and a solid design. It also had hundreds of positive reviews on Amazon when we checked. However, we were unable to get this printer for testing.

This article was edited by Ben Keough and Erica Ogg.

Sources

Sean Charlesworth, Tested, phone interview, 2016
Justin Kelly, Proto House, phone interview, 2016
Dan Ackerman, The best 3D printer in 2020 for beginners and budget creators, CNET, February 28, 2020
Tony Hoffman, The Best 3D Printers for 2020, PCMag, February 7, 2020
Matthew Mensley, 2020 Best 3D Printers, All3DP, January 2, 2020
Anatol Locker, 3D Printing With Kids: What You Need To Know, All3DP, November 5, 2015

About your guides

Dave Gershgorn

Dave Gershgorn is a senior staff writer at Wirecutter. He’s been covering consumer and enterprise technology since 2015, and he just can’t stop buying computers. If this weren’t his job, it would likely be a problem.

Signe Brewster

Signe Brewster is an editor on Wirecutter's PC team. She also writes about virtual reality. She previously reported on emerging technology and science for publications like Wirecutter, MIT Technology Review, Wired, Science, and Symmetry Magazine. She spends her free time quilting and pursuing an MFA in creative writing.

Best Miniature 3D Printer

ble >

Best Value

Original Prusa i3 MK3
4. 5/ 5.0
Resolution: 50 microns
Connection: USB, SD card
Has an automatic bed leveling system.

Best Choice

Anycubic Photon
4.6/5.0
Resolution : 25 microns
Connectivity: USB
Relatively easy to use and maintain.

Contents

Introduction to 3D Printers for Miniatures
Miniature 3D Printer Comparison Chart
1. Best Choice: Anycubic Photon
2. Best Budget: Monoprice Maker Select v2
3. Best Price: Original Prusa i3 MK3
4. Wanhao Du5plicator 7 v1.
5. FlashForge Creator Pro
High Quality Miniatures 3D Printers

Introduction to Miniatures 3D Printers

When it comes to 3D printing miniatures, you should have reasonable expectations in several areas including quality and cost. It's more than just loading material into a machine and waiting for perfect-image miniatures to come out of the build platform.

There are two types of machines you can use for miniature printing: FDM. or FFF (filament based) 3D printers and SLA (resin based) 3D printers. Both have a number of advantages and disadvantages that must be taken into account..

The FDM 3D printer uses a hot end extruder to melt the filament and apply it to the build platform, creating a 3D model one layer at a time. . It is easy to use, has a larger maximum build volume, and lower running costs than an SLA 3D printer. Also, the post-print process isn't as messy as it is on a resin 3D printer, though small models can be tricky to handle. On the other hand, a filament 3D printer is a few notches below a resin 3D printer when it comes to resolution and overall print quality, so don't expect your homemade miniatures to be on the same level as store-bought miniatures.

Some FDM 3D printers are very capable of high resolution printing like the Ultimaker 3 and Original Prusa i3 MK3, but in general an FDM 3D printer with many upgrades will still be below the SLA of a 3D printer in the same price range. The good news is that the FDM 3D printer is great for landscapes, houses, castles, and other large miniatures due to its wider print area. The dual extruder machine is also great for more complex objects with protrusions that require a significant amount of support materials.

The

SLA 3D printer, on the other hand, uses a process in which a liquid photopolymer resin is placed in a vat and exposed to a light source such as a laser or digital light processing (DLP), which causes it to solidify and form a solid object with one layer for a while. This process is more dangerous than the FDM process and requires protective equipment.

In terms of pros and cons, a resin 3D printer is the opposite of a filament 3D printer. It is more difficult to use and maintain, has a limited printable area, and is more expensive to run. It also costs more, although there are some good options on the market for under $1,000 now. On the other hand, a resin 3D printer works with outstanding precision and precision, producing extremely high-resolution miniatures that are almost store-bought. Also, it doesn't take much effort to get the best results with a resin 3D printer, unlike a filament 3D printer.

So what's best for miniatures? Well, it depends on your preferences. If resolution or print quality is more important to you, get an SLA 3D printer. If print size and running costs are more important to you, choose an FDM 3D printer. A filament-based 3D printer is also more ideal for those who want to print more than just miniatures..

miniature 3D printer comparison chart

Make and Model	Rating	Approval	Assembly volume	Thread diameter	Material type
Anycubic Photon	4.6	25 micron	4.5" x 2.6" x 6.1"	NA	Resin	14.6 lbs	USB
Monoprice Maker Select v2	4. 1	100 micron	7.9 x 7.9 x 7.1 in.	1.75 mm	ABS, PLA, TPU and others	20 pounds	USB, SD card
Original Prusa i3 MK3	4.5	50 micron	9.8 x 8.3 x 8.3 in.	1.75 mm	ABS, PLA, PETG and others	14 pounds	USB, SD card
Wanhao Duplicator 7 v1.5	4.4	35 micron	4.7" x 2.7" x 7.9"	NA	Resin	26.5 lbs	USB
FlashForge Creator Pro	4.1	100 micron	8.9 x 5.8 x 5.9 in.	1.75 mm	ABS, PLA, PVA and others	32.7 lbs	USB, SD card

1. Best choice: Anycubic Photon

Editor's rating: 4.6/5

The Anycubic Photon is a resin-based 3D printer capable of printing miniatures with amazing quality. It is more detailed than the Wanhao Duplicator 7 v1.5 which is also in the same price range. It has a maximum layer resolution of 25 microns, which is the highest of any product shown here.

Although the Photon is often referred to as a DLP SLA 3D printer, the Photon is actually an LCD SLA 3D printer with a UV LED light source. It prints the object from top to bottom, which is the opposite of the bottom to top process on an FDM 3D printer. But even though the Photon is not a true SLA machine, it can still create extremely detailed and smooth miniatures, including complex ones.

The Photon comes pre-assembled and is easy to install out of the box. It has a well-designed bezel with a touch screen that allows you to preview the object you are about to print. It comes with a handy slicer and has a simple layer leveling process.

If you want to create intricate and extremely detailed miniatures, pick up Photon and don't look back. This is the best 3D printer for the job. Aside from the running costs and the usual post-press and finishing issues that resin 3D printers face, the Photon's only downside is its limited build volume.

Specifications
Resolution: 25 micron
Volume: 4.5 x 2.6 x 6.1 in.
Thread: NA
Type: resin
Weight: 14.6 lbs
Connection: USB

Pro
Extremely detailed print quality
Fully assembled
Relatively easy to use and maintain
Easy initial setup
Intuitive touch screen interface
Offline printing

Cons
Fine print
Expensive material

2.

Best Budget: Monoprice Maker Select v2

Editor's Rating: 4.1/5

If you can't afford to spend more than $400, the first thing you should look at is Monoprice, known for its budget 3D printers . The company offers the Maker Select v2, Select Mini v2, and Mini Delta, all of which are under $400, with the latter two selling for $200 or less. Of the three, Maker Select v2 offers the most value.

FDM Maker Select v2 open 3D printer based on Prusa i3 design. It has a solid aluminum frame and a separate control box. It features a heated print bed, has an open material system, and has a medium build volume. For connectivity, it can connect via USB and print offline via SD card.

Maker Select v2 offers an easy initial setup right out of the box. This is a partially assembled 3D printer, which means you don't have to build it from scratch like you would with a DIY kit. Just fasten the frames in place and you're done. Monoprice includes sample 3D models and free filament in the box, allowing you to start printing as soon as the initial set up is clear.

While the initial setup is simple, Maker Select v2 is far from optimized in its default form. Some upgrades are needed from the get-go, both for security and performance, and at the top of the list is the MOSFET mod. The good news is that Maker Select v2 has a large community, so you can easily get a short list of required device updates.

When it comes to print quality, Maker Select v2 is your best bet. not bad for a filament-based 3D printer. It handles large miniatures well, but struggles with small 28mm miniatures. Boosting it with a fair amount of upgrades is a good way to improve the results. But even after that, don't expect too much from it when it comes to printing small and detailed board game miniatures.

All in all, the Maker Select v2 is a solid budget miniature 3D printer. . Once set up, it's easy to use, comes with a large community, and has a heated print platform that allows you to print with ABS.

Specifications
Resolution: 100 micron
Volume: 7. 9 x 7.9 x 7.1 in.
Filament: 1.75 mm
Type: ABS, PLA, TPU and others
Weight: 20 lb
Connection: USB, SD card

Profi
Easy to set up
Large Community
Lots of after sales support
Decent print quality
Good p bead size
Heavy duty frame with heated bed

Cons
Small miniature fight
Box mods required
Manual bed leveling process

3. Best price: original Prusa i3 MK3

Look at Prusa

Editor's rating: 4. 5/5

When it comes to user experience, the Original Prusa i3 MK3 is the best on this list. It is a smart FDM 3D printer equipped with user-friendly features, the most notable of which is the automatic bed leveling technology, which is a godsend for beginners.

An easy-to-assemble MK3 kit sells for about $750, while a fully assembled and factory tested MK3 kit costs about $1,000. It ships from the Czech Republic and takes a while, so don't expect it to arrive at your doorstep just a few days after your order has been processed. However, it's worth the wait given the overall quality of the product.

MK3 is an open source 3D printer with open structure. This is a medium-sized machine designed for both professionals and amateurs. It has a rigid frame with a spool holder on top and a built-in LCD controller as well as a removable heated magnetic bed. It has a more stable frame than its predecessor and boasts a new motherboard that keeps noise low and detects misaligned layers.

In addition to auto leveling system and magnetic print bed, MK3 has filament sensor and panic function and can detect extruder jam. In case of extruder jam, the machine will pause printing and move the print head away from the 3D model. All these handy features make 3D printing easy for everyone, especially beginners. The

MK3 is the best high resolution 3D printer you can get for $1,000 or less. With the right settings and the right nozzle size, it can print exceptionally detailed and clean miniatures. It prints large models with ease and has a decent print speed even at high resolutions. While not on the same level as the Anycubic Photon, the MK3 is far ahead of the Monoprice Maker Select v2 in terms of print quality. It's also a more versatile machine, able to print in a variety of materials right out of the box.

In terms of overall cost, the MK3 is a step above the Photon, mainly because you can also use it for other things outside of miniature printing, thanks to the versatility of the material and build volume. If you're looking for a reliable, high-resolution 3D printer that gets the job done and is loaded with user-friendly features, look no further than the MK3. If the price is too high for you, the Original Prusa i3 MK2S is also a great choice. The MK2S has the same print quality and reliability, but with fewer convenience features.

Specifications
Solution: 50 micron
Volume: 9.8 x 8.3 x 8.3 in.
Thread: 1.75 mm
Type: ABS, PLA , PETG and others
Weight: 14 lbs
Connection: USB, SD card

Pro
Excellent print quality
Automatic Bed Leveling System
Removable magnetic build platform
Thread sensor
Power panic
Low noise
Large Community

Cons
Filament sensor has problems with translucent materials
Without housing

4.

Wanhao Duplicator 7 v1.5

Editor Rating: 4.4/5

Wanhao is one of the most popular 3D printer brands. offering a wide range of products, most of which are based on fibers. The Chinese brand entered the SLA market with the Duplicator 7, a desktop 3D printer designed for those who prefer layer resolution.

Duplicator 7 is similar to Anycubic Photon, our top pick, also from a Chinese company. This is an SLA 3D printer with LCD screen and LED UV light source. The most noticeable difference between the two models is that the Duplicator 7 offers a larger print size. In addition, the Duplicator 7 also has a slightly lower resolution (35 microns) compared to the Photon (25 microns). But when it comes to overall print quality, the Duplicator 7 is still better than the FDM 3D printer.

Version 1.5 of the Duplicator 7 has a number of improvements, including an improved cooling system. , extra vents for better airflow, improved platform and more stable frame. The power button has also been moved to the back of the device.

If you like Photon but want more build volume, Duplicator 7 is for you. This is a robust miniature 3D printer that will amaze you with its ability to print extremely detailed 3D models. It's relatively easy to use, has a large community, and includes a resin sample so you can start printing as soon as you set it up.

Specifications
Resolution: 35 micron
Volume: 4.7 x 2.7 x 7.9 in.
Filament: NA
Type: resin
Weight: 26.5 lbs
Connection: USB

Profi
Extremely detailed print quality
Large user base
Heavy duty frame
Low price for SLA
Open material l system
Larger print size than Anycubic Photon

Cons
Expensive material
limited assembly volume
Unreliable customer support

5.

FlashForge Creator Pro

Editor's Rating: 4.1/5

As a dual extruder 3D printer, FlashForge Creator Pro is the most different among the FDM 3D printers included in this guide. It adds new ways to print with fibers, including the ability to print in two colors without having to pause printing to change media.

Creator Pro is an enclosed 3D printer with a solid metal frame making it more durable and stable than most open frame 3D printers. It has a heated print bed, a pair of rear-mounted external spool holders, and an LCD controller for offline printing via SD card. The acrylic covers are removable for easy machine maintenance.

Because the Creator Pro comes pre-assembled, initial setup is an easy process, even though the instruction manual isn't the most helpful. It's ready and prints in just a couple of hours, but don't expect to see stellar results with stock settings. Creator Pro requires significant effort to reach its true potential. It is recommended to pair it with Simplify3D to make everything much smoother.

Once set up, Creator Pro becomes an absolute workhorse that can print non-stop for days with minimal maintenance. and with a low failure rate. It has good print quality for a filament based 3D printer and can print with both PLA and ABS without any issues. The real highlight here is its ability to print with water-soluble auxiliaries, which allows it to handle more complex miniatures with lots of protruding detail - such as a humanoid model in a complex pose.

Creator Pro can also print on a variety of materials, including more complex materials such as TPU. A full body helps maintain a more stable temperature in the print area, which is critical for certain materials. In addition, Creator Pro can use filament from other manufacturers, although you may need to create your own external spool holders as the standard ones are designed for FlashForge spools.

Overall, the Creator Pro is just as reliable as the Original Prusa i3 MK3, but not on the same level when it comes to print quality. The list of convenient features is also not as long as Monoprice Maker Select v2. On the other hand, it has a dual extruder setup and a closed frame, both of which have their own advantages.

Specifications
Resolution: 100 micron
Volume: 8.9 x 5.8 x 5.9 in.
Thread: 1.75 mm
Type : ABS, PLA, PVA and others
Weight: 32.7 lbs
Connection: USB, SD card

Pros
Closed metal frame
Twin extruder setting
Good print quality
Large Community
Excellent after-sales support
Third party threads can be used

Cons
FlashForge Limited Software
Manual bed leveling
Instruction manual needs improvement

High quality miniature 3D printers

Increasing the budget to over $1,000 opens the door to more products, from popular workhorse 3D printers to 3D printers built specifically for professional use. Here are some of the best products you can check out if you can afford to shell out more than a hefty sum for a miniature 3D printer:

FDM: High With high print resolution and outstanding reliability, you can choose between the Ultimaker 2+, which retails for around $2,500, or the newer Ultimaker 3, which retails for around $3,500. The former has one extruder and SD card connectivity, while the latter has two extruders, as well as Wi-Fi and USB connectivity. In terms of print quality, both machines are on par.

SLA: If you can afford to spend $3000-$4000, this is the best non-industrial resin. The Formlabs Form 2 3D printer is currently on the market. It is relatively easy to use and maintain and, as expected from a resin based 3D printer, produces exceptional 3D models. On the other hand, the Peopoly Moai, which sells in a kit for around $1,300, is one of the most affordable SLA 3D printers on the market. Although the Moai is not as easy to use as the Form 2, the Moai is also a reliable device that delivers outstanding results.

Contents

Introduction to Miniature 3D Printers
Miniature 3D Printer Comparison Chart
1. Best Choice: Anycubic Photon
2. Best Budget: Monoprice Maker Select v2
3. Best price: Original Prusa i3 MK3
4. Wanhao Duplicator 7 v1.5
5. FlashForge Creator Pro
High quality miniature 3D printers

Attention! Never leave 3D printers unattended. They can pose a fire safety hazard.

Top 10 3D printers available for purchase in 2020

3D printing is relatively new. Therefore, special attention is riveted to it, both experienced and novice users of office equipment. In this article, we will present a list of the top ten 3D printers available for purchase in 2020. Here you will find devices that meet high quality standards, are simple and easy to use, and are also capable of producing large volumes of products. After reviewing the information provided, you can easily choose a 3D printer that suits your requirements.

In the list you will find the following 3D printer models:

Original PRUSA i3 MK3s
CEL-UK RoboxPro
Ultimaker S3
FormLabs Form 3
Original PRUSA SL1
TRILAB DeltiQ 2
Raise3D E2
CEL-UK RoboxDual
LulzBot Mini 2
Snapmaker 2.0 A350

Immediately, we note that all printers are diverse and suitable for use in various fields of activity. Therefore, we did not list them in any particular order. Purchasing any printer from the list is a smart financial investment. | Size: 550x400x500 mm | Weight: 7 kg

Advantages:

excellent working speed;
high quality printing.

Disadvantages:

lack of protective walls.

Description: Josef Prüscha is a leader in 3D printing. Their products are famous for their high reliability and long service life. The flagship model is the Original PRUSA i3 MK3s. It is characterized by high speed, low noise and excellent print quality. The most innovative developments are used in the production of the device: Bondtech extruder, P.I.N.D.A. 2, E3D V6 nozzle and thread sensor. The main feature of the printer is that it can be used for a variety of purposes. It is worth noting that the device is supplied both assembled and as a kit for assembly. 513x508x605 mm | Weight: 26 kg

Features:

interchangeable print heads;
network connection option.

Disadvantages:

oversized.

Description: CEL-UK is a leader in 3D printing innovation. Their Robox series printers are the most functional in the FDM class. The flagship model CEL-UK RoboxPro is a direct proof of the above words. The device has a huge set of functions, including: auto-filament, automatic layer alignment, Wi-Fi and the ability to print over a network. In addition, the closed design and interchangeable print heads make it the best choice for businesses. Size: 394x489x637 mm | Weight: 14.4 kg

Advantages:

easy to connect to the network;
high quality printing.

Disadvantages:

high price.

Description: Ultimaker has been attracting attention ever since 3D printing began to take off. Although representatives of the company have only recently begun to use modern open source software. The new Ultimaker S3 is valued for its fast speed, robust design and excellent print quality. The main features include replaceable cartridges, a touch-screen display and a Cura-branded slicer. Ease of use makes the device indispensable for educational institutions. | Weight: 17.5 kg

Pros:

high print quality;
large selection of materials.

Flaws:

prints need to be reworked (cleaning and trimming).

Description: FormLabs manufacture SLA 3D printers. These devices use a special liquid resin as the main material for printing. Form 3 is the most compact device in the series. But because of the precise laser that guarantees the highest quality prints, this printer is most suitable for the production of product prototypes, jewelry and various castings. The device is considered the most original 3D printer available on the market. | Weight: 10.6 kg

Pros:

high print quality;
large selection of materials.

Flaws:

prints need to be reworked (cleaning and trimming).

Description: With the Original PRUSA SL1, Josef Prusha's company was able to conquer the market of SLA 3D printers (previously they worked only in the field of FDM technologies). True, the device was classified under the MSLA subcategory, due to the fact that it uses an LCD matrix and an ultraviolet LED backlight for resin processing, instead of standard high-precision lasers. Despite the fact that the printer consists of cheap components, the print quality meets the highest standards. | Size: 410x500x810 mm | Weight: 10 kg

Advantages:

advanced technology;
versatility and versatility of application.

Disadvantages:

difficult to master the printer.

Description: In this 3D printer, the print head is mounted on 3 articulated supports. This is what distinguishes it from conventional 3D printers. This approach allows you to reduce the space occupied by the device, as well as the amount of additional equipment used. At the same time, TRILAB DeltiQ 2 is characterized by a large working area and a wide range of features. The device has an E3D hotend extruder and a Wi-Fi Duet 2 panel. In addition, the printer can be connected and controlled from a smartphone. 96x465 mm | Weight: 40 kg

Features:

high resolution;
touch screen display.

Disadvantages:

significant size and weight.

Description: Raise3D E2 is a printer capable of producing high quality FFF prints. Great for home, education, medical and business. The printer is equipped with two independent extruders. Has a strong and reliable design. In addition, the 3D printer is easy to operate and maintain. Such an apparatus will be able to meet the needs of any consumer involved in modeling, design or design. High quality of the press is provided with automatic calibration of a platform. 410x340x240 mm | Weight: 11.7 kg

Advantages:

robust design;
easy operation.

Disadvantages:

use only branded consumables.

Description: The printer went on sale in 2016, but is still the best in its segment. Equipped with a dual extruder, smart spools, autoloader, self-levelling and flexible platform, the CEL-UK RoboxDual allows you to quickly prepare the material, as well as fully control the printing process. The device is adapted to work in any conditions. Therefore, it is great for both home and industrial use. 457x339x607 mm | Weight: 9 kg

Features:

Open source software;
ease of operation.

Disadvantages:

lack of protective walls.

Description: If you are just learning the basics of 3D printing, then start with the LulzBot Mini 2 printer. Another important advantage of the device is its moderate overall dimensions. The compact design and light weight allow this printer to be placed on a typical desktop. | Size: 645x480x580 mm | Weight: 9.8 kg

Advantages:

multifunctional;
structural strength.

Disadvantages:

delay between mode changes.

Description: Snapmaker 2.0 A350 is a multifunctional device with second generation replaceable modules. The product is capable of performing the functions of a 3D printer, laser engraver and CNC router. Updated filament sensors and an auto-leveling flexible bed ensure high-quality prints.