Creality Ender 3 Pro Review: An Ideal First or Tenth 3D Printer

OUR VERDICT

The Creality Ender 3 is an open-source, DIY kit 3D printer that is ideal for ers looking to get started in 3D printing or professionals looking to an inexpensive fleet of printers for manufacturing.

FOR

· + Beginner-friendly assembly process

· + Highly accessible and modifiable frame

· + 350W 24V power supply heats up quickly

· + Simple first-party app offers solid print quality

AGAINST

· - Noisy stepper motors and cooling fans

· - Interface feels outdated

Retailing for a very-reasonable $240, the Creality Ender 3 Pro is one of the opular filament-based 3D printers, attracting both beginners and -focused makers. The device ships unassembled and uses an open-source that makes it easy to modify. However, the great support and solid output y of this printer also make it easy-to-use. Whether you’re interested in your very first 3D printer or you’re looking to set up a fleet for cturing, the Creality Ender 3 Pro is one of the best 3D printers you can

Specifications

Machine Footprint17.5 x 17 x 18 inches (44.5cm x 43.2cm x 45.7cm)

Build Volume8.7 x 8.7 x 9.8 inches (220mm x 220mm x 250mm)

Material1.75mm PLA, ABS, PETG

Nozzle.4mm

Build PlatformRemovable Flexible Textured Sheet

ConnectivitymicroSD, USB

Interface3.25" LCD w/ Dial Button

Creality Ender 3 Pro: Included in the Box

The Creality Ender 3 Pro ships unassembled and includes all of the tools you o put it together and get it running. In addition to all of the printer ents, the box includes: a full set of Allen keys, zip ties, a set of flush re snips for cutting filament, a scraper for removing parts from the bed, oSD card, a microSD-to-USB reader, a small sample coil of PLA filament, few extra parts for the assembly process. All of the bolts are bagged in hich are labeled with their measurements, which is very helpful during the ly process.

Assembling the Creality Ender 3 Pro

Although the Creality Ender 3 Pro is a DIY kit 3D printer, the overall ly process is designed to be friendly to users of all skill levels and can fortably completed in an afternoon. There is no soldering, crimping, or advanced techniques required that would put this kit out of reach for a er with limited tools and/or experience. Building the Ender 3 Pro took me ver an hour from unboxing to flipping the power switch, and I didn’t need le tool that wasn’t included with the printer.

The assembly guide breaks down the assembly into 12 steps that are easily ted sequentially and is also included as a digital .pdf on the microSD Creality also includes a video showing the assembly process on the microSD f you prefer a video guide instead of a written one. Among various y-of-life improvements over the original Ender 3, the Ender 3 Pro has in belt tensioners for the X and Y axes that allow you to manually adjust n if the belt isn’t stretched properly.

Loading Filament and Leveling on the Creality Ender 3 Pro

Loading the filament is a breeze. I was able to easily load filament through jection molded extruder and into the white Bowden tube. The 350 Watt ll-brand power supply heated both the nozzle and the bed to loading ature in just under two minutes, which meant I wasn’t waiting around for d to reach printing temperature after the nozzle had already heated.

Once I had loaded filament into the extruder, I leveled the bed by using the ed triangular piece of paper and adjusting the nozzle height with the crews at all four corners of the bed. This process is relatively ht-forward and I didn’t run into any problems during leveling. If you the bed carefully, you'll get prints that adhere well to the build rm without being deformed. The piece of paper should be lightly pressed nto the build platform; too close and the paper becomes pinned down, too d it can move freely. This can be difficult on a flat glass bed if the isn’t perfectly flat, but the combination of aluminum bed and textured was easy for me to level quickly and accurately.

Creality Ender 3 Pro Build Quality

The Creality Ender 3 Pro ships with the V4.2.2 controller board, which is the rd board for this model of printer. The wiring job is professional, with l of the wiring connectors affixed with a silicone potting compound into sockets to prevent them from coming loose during shipping or ion.

The wires are bundled and the overall cable management is clean and allows od airflow over the stepper drivers. The board accepts a microSD card for ing .gcode instructions and can also be controlled via the USB port on the of the machine.

The Ender 3 Pro's V4.2.2 controller board features HR4988 stepper drivers, can create a noticeable amount of noise during printing. Combined with the fan that cools the controller board and the intermittent fan on the power , this printer makes a surprising amount of noise when printing. The g from the stepper motors reminded me of my very first 3D printer from a Printrbot Jr. that could be heard from clear across the house through le walls when it was printing.

If you’re planning to use this printer near your desk, it may be distracting fast travel movements and when the power supply fan kicks on. I found was unable to concentrate with the machine on my desk, and had to move it other side of the room while it was running.

Printing on the Creality Ender 3 Pro

The Ender 3 Pro ships with a microSD card that contains a user manual, a eshooting guide, various USB drivers, and several pre-sliced models in format. These pre-sliced models can be printed by simply inserting the D card into the printer and selecting a model.

I ran my first test print using the “cat-3.5H.gcode” file and, while it was ng, I took a look at the .gcode file in a text editor. The file was sliced 1mm layer height, using 3 perimeters, and prints completely hollow with 12 layers on the bottom and top of the model. This is an unusual strategy for ng small models, as having an internal infill structure can help to t any material overhangs that occur on the inside of the model.

Despite the unusual printing configuration of this test file, the printed featured a good amount of surface detail with no major visible defects from some stringing that occurred while printing the ears. To remove the I peeled the flexible magnetic build plate off and bent slightly, ng the print to pop right off. The raft separated easily from the model dn’t leave any defects on the bottom surface. The test part is an sive example of what the Creality Ender 3 Pro is capable of.

Software and Settings

Creality ships the Ender 3 Pro with their own slicer called ‘Creality ’, which is compatible with Windows PCs and is based on the open-source re Cura.. Other common slicers for this open-source printer include Cura, licer, and Simplify3D.

A typical printer in this price range, such as the Mingda D2 ($235 on ), will ship with a copy of Cura and a printer profile that was designed at specific machine. These profiles can be hit or miss and typically e a lot of dialing in to get a good result.

For this review, I used both Creality Slicer as well as PrusaSlicer to print l and used the default settings at .2mm layer height for both to directly e them.The model I used is the Benchy, a common benchmarking test used for tyle of 3D printer that offers an insight into the performance of the r when making difficult-to-produce geometry.

Creality Slicer Settings on the Ender 3 Pro

ProfileFast (0.2mm)

MaterialCommon PLA

Platform AdhesionNone

I used the default ‘Fast’ profile for the Ender 3 Pro built into Creality to test out the printer and see how much detail it was able to produce. del printed with no major visible defects, save for the infamous ‘hull which typically occurs when the printer transitions from sparsely filled to solid layers.

The layers laminated evenly, and I only saw a few visible bumps caused by the and stop point of each toolpath on the outermost contour. For a part d with no changes to the software, I was satisfied with the overall y of the Benchy.

Printing a second test print on the Creality Ender 3 Pro

I was curious about the amount of banding present in the model printed with licer, so I decided to re-run another one of the pre-prepared files from card to confirm the problem wasn’t being caused by a hardware issue. I e piggy bank test part, and it came out without any of the visible banding noticed on the model sliced with PrusaSlicer. The vertical walls were and even, and the model seemed to be clear of any major defects.

The PrusaSlicer profile, while a good starting point for this printer, y requires a bit of calibration to get the best results. I’ve found that ng print speed is typically a quick way to troubleshoot and can have a impact on the overall quality of the part, and that may be a setting worth menting with to get the best results.

Adjusting retraction is another important consideration, as the Ender 3 uses en extruder, which pushes the filament through a long tube before it gets hot end. This pushing (and pulling during retraction) can cause defects print if not properly calibrated, so this might be worth investigating as

Bottom Line

By including Creality Slicer with the Ender 3 Pro, Creality has simplified inter experience for first-time users who are interested in getting their r up and running without spending a lot of time experimenting with third software. I was impressed with how easy the Creality Slicer software was tall and use with the Ender 3 Pro, because most other manufacturers with rs in this price range ship without first-party software. The basic gs to create a print are brought to the front of the app and the included t” mode will let you adjust settings as you become more comfortable with inter.

Whether you are a beginner interested in building your very first printer or erienced entrepreneur looking to create a print farm to produce 3D printed ts, the Creality Ender 3 has a lot to offer with only a few notable cks. The noise produced by the Ender 3 Pro while printing is definitely a for anyone living in a studio apartment, and the lack of an enclosure to heat should be considered by anyone interested in printing with a -temperature material like ABS or Polycarbonate. Creality also offers the 3 Pro V2 ($279 on Amazon), which features silent stepper drivers and a odern interface at a slightly higher cost.

Other printers in this price range, such as the Anet ET4X ($199 on Amazon), similar features and specifications, but the removable textured build rm and the fast-heating 350W power supply on the Ender 3 Pro make it an hoice for anyone looking for a user-friendly machine. In addition, the ource Ender 3 Pro has a large and robust user base and multiple online ities dedicated to modifying and experimenting with their Creality es.

It’s clear that Ender 3 Pro has a lot to offer anyone who is interested in 3D ng. It’s an excellent first printer for a beginner or an additional e for the experienced hobbyist.