With advances in 3D printing technology, there are a ton of high-quality 3D printers on the market, so it can be hard to find which one is going to be best for you. In this article, we break down the top 5 3D printers on the market this year based on performance and the situations they’ll be used in. So whether you’re looking for an easy-to-use model for beginners or looking for the best of the best, we’ll have the perfect 3D printer for you. So if you’re interested in finding out which 3D printer will be best for you, stay tuned.
First up, the FlashForge Adventure 3, our pick for the best ease of use 3D printer for beginners. If you’re looking for a fully enclosed 3D printer that’s easy to operate and convenient to use, then the FlashForge Adventure 3 might be the perfect product for you. The Adventurer 3 is an FDM slash FFF 3D printer that offers a build size of 150 by 150 by 150 millimeters, and its user-friendly system is well suited for hobbyists and educators alike. The enclosed structure resembles the Dremel 3D 4.5 3D printer and has a transparent front door, left side, and top, making it easy to monitor prints, and an integrated 2 megapixel camera can be used for remote monitoring. The singular printhead moves on the X and Z axes, while the print bed, which is both heated and removable, moves on the Y axis. A Bowden extrusion system is used as the filament feeding mechanism, meaning the integrated motor is mounted away from the printhead and the material is driven through a PTFE tube to the nozzle in the printhead, so you’ll enjoy increased print speed and precision. An intuitive touchscreen is in place to calibrate the bed, load the filament, and control print jobs. The Adventurer 3 uses FlashPrint, FlashForge’s slicing software. Through the basic print settings, you can choose the material, print resolution, and whether a raft and supports are necessary on the model. Expert mode handles advanced settings like dimensional compensation and model cutting. Loading filament is a breeze and is initiated through the touchscreen UI, and due to the reduced size of the bed, no calibration is required. The Adventurer 3 is equipped with Wi-Fi, and once configured, you can easily begin a print job from any computer connected to the network via flash print. If you’re looking for an enclosed 3D printer that’s capable of producing good results, the Flash Forge Inventor 3 would be a good choice for you. This printer can handle both small and large models, can work with PLA or ABS, and is undeterred by extremely long print times.
Next up is the Creality Ender 3 Pro, our pick for the best budget FDM 3D printer. If you’re looking for a good budget 3D printer, the Creality Ender 3 Pro 3D printer may have what you’re looking for. It’s easy to assemble, has a compact design, and features thermal runaway protection for a safer working environment. This printer requires assembly but shouldn’t take more than an hour to set up, and for all intents and purposes, it does keep the costs down. Some useful accessories come in the box, including a scraper for removing prints from the bed, filament cutters, a micro SD card with a USB adapter, a set of hex wrenches, and about 200 grams of white filament. The microSD card has a selection of test files and a video walkthrough of how to assemble the printer, which comes in very handy if you prefer to actually see how it’s done. Once you have the assembly and bed calibration complete, you’ll be ready to go. The Ender 3 Pro produces very high-quality, precise prints without the need for any further upgrades or tinkering and has a decent build volume of 220 by 220 by 250 millimeters. The flexible magnetic build surface makes it easy to remove finished prints even when using filaments like PETG, which are notorious for sticking to the print surface. And for filament types that don’t naturally stick to the build surface, the textured surface of the Ender 3 Pro’s build platform eliminates the need to use tape, glue sticks, or other adhesives to keep them in place. If you’re looking for a 3D printer that will work with your budget, the Creality Ender 3 Pro would be a great choice for you. It’s an excellent and affordable tool for makers, hobbyists, and tinkerers. And if you are willing to spend some time getting the settings and the bed calibration right, the Ender 3 Pro is capable of delivering astonishing-quality prints that put pricier printers to shame.
Next is the Prusa i3 MK3S Plus, our pick for the best 3D printer for hobbyists. The Prusa MK3S Plus 3D printer is a hobbyist favorite and provides a flexible build platform, best-in-class model slicing, automatic bed leveling, and a stealth mode that enables almost silent printing. The MK3S Plus is a striking black and orange machine and is available fully assembled or as a DIY kit. Either option ships with all of the accessories required to create your first print, including a full spool of silver PLA material, a screwdriver, a metal part scraper, and more. Lubricant for the linear rails is also provided, along with power and USB cables and a helpful handbook. The book will help you troubleshoot problems like loss of extrusion, poor layer adhesion, or a clogged extruder. There are plenty of detailed photos, troubleshooting workflows, and solutions to common problems. The monochrome UI in ClickWheel is a bit lacking, especially when compared to the more responsive and colorful UI on the Anycubic Viper. However, this monochrome display was the industry standard when the original 8-bit i3 style of printers was introduced, but it feels a bit outdated. The MK3S Plus uses a dual-filament spool holder, which is good for projects where you plan on swapping between colors to produce a multicolor 3D print. The direct-drive extruder on the MK3S Plus feeds filament straight down into the hot end, so mounting the filament directly above the extruder gives the filament a straight path between the spool and the extruder. The custom-made Delta 240-watt power supply delivers 24 volts to the bed, providing fast and reliable heating for printing high-temperature materials like PETG and ASA. The Prusa MK3S Plus has a sturdy build and clean appearance and would be a good choice for you. Aside from the slightly outdated UI, the overall features of the MK3S Plus make it a standout machine for anyone looking for a reliable printer to produce functional parts without spending a lot of time tinkering and making adjustments.
Next up is the Elegoo Resin Mars 2 Pro, our pick for the best budget resin 3D printer. If you’ve been considering getting involved with resin-based 3D printers but thought the cost might be too high, the Elegoo Mars 2 Pro shatters that perception and proves you don’t have to spend a fortune to get a premium product. The Mars 2 Pro offers a resolution of 2560 by 1620 and an improved metal resin vat. It has an air filtration system with a rubber seal around the edges of the red acrylic cover to maintain the fumes. The compact size and built-in air filter mean that this resin printer is better suited for home use, but you should always print in a well-ventilated space as resin is a toxic material. There’s no assembly required, like with some FDM machines. Instead, the Mars 2 Pro is ready to go once you unpack it and peel off the protective film. A handy tool kit is included that contains Allen keys to adjust the build plate, metal and plastic scrapers, a USB stick to load STL files onto, some latex gloves, disposable face masks to wear for protection, paper filters to filter used resin back into bottles for storage, and more. The 3.5-inch color touchscreen LCD is reactive and very easy to use, with everything clearly labeled. ChiTuBox is available to download from the supplied USB drive, and you’ll find that profiles are already available for the Elegoo Mars 2 Pro. The software is very user-friendly, and ChiTuBox also allows for a lot of optimizing once you’re comfortable with the basics. If you’re looking for a 3D printer that can deliver the fine detail that is impossible to get with an FDM machine, the Elegoo Mars 2 Pro would be an excellent choice for you. It’s ideal for the sharp, minuscule details called for by board game accessories and tabletop figurines, and its small footprint will let you set it up almost anywhere.
Finally, we have the Dremel DigiLab 3D45, our pick for the best 3D printer for educators. The Dremel DigiLab 3D45 3D printer is easy to set up and use, delivers excellent print quality, and is designed to enhance safety and reliability, making it ideal for educators and one of the best overall 3D printers you can buy right now. The Digilab 3D45 is a closed-frame 3D printer with clear plastic doors on the top and front that permit easy access to the print bed when needed and safety when a print job is in progress. The UI is a five-inch touchscreen that handles all operations, and on the right side of the printer, you’ll find the power switch and a USB port for connecting to a computer and Ethernet. Dremel’s PLA filament is available in 11 color choices and an ECO ABS-modified PLA filament that offers added strength, flexibility, and durability, as well as nylon filaments. To set the 3D45 up, you see a spool of filament in its holder, snake the loose end through the guide tube, and press the Change Filament button on the UI. The extruder will heat up, melting and extruding any filament left from the old spool. Insert the loose end of the new filament at the top of the extruder, and when the new filament color becomes visible, press Done on the UI. You can print files from a USB stick and the included DigiLab 3D Slicer software, which uses the open-source Cura platform, or you can connect via Ethernet or Wi-Fi to the Dremel print cloud and slice files, launch print jobs, and monitor prints in progress from the 3D45’s onboard 720p camera. Print resolution ranges from 300 to 50 microns, and results are good to excellent, with no misprints and no serious flaws. If you’re looking for one of the best overall 3D printers you can buy right now, this is it. Whether you’re an engineer, product designer, educator, or hobbyist, the Dremel DigiLab 3D45 3D printer would be a great choice for you.
