Table of Contents
Original Prusa i3 MK3S+
The Best FDM 3D Printers 2022
- Print quality is exceptional.
- Print tracking and advanced calibration
- Excellent community engagement and sponsorship
The Original Prusa i3 MK3S+ is the latest and (slightly) improved MK3S that has sat atop our recommendations for longer than we care to recall, costing just over $900.
The printer provides excellent value for money, excellent print quality right out of the box – sometimes outperforming printers many times its price – and a wealth of inbuilt calibration routines and error detection and mitigation systems, all of which combine to make it one of the most intelligent printers on the market.
Although the MK3S+’s stock configuration can’t print multiple materials without pausing the print to physically adjust the loaded spool of filament (though the excellent MMU2S add-on fixes this), and it struggles with hardcore engineering materials without some tinkering, it wins out for sheer tech prowess, support documentation, and following. (Having a Prusa is more like having a badge of honor.)
The kit is recommended, but you can pay a little extra to get it delivered and ready to use.
Biqu B1
The Best FDM 3D Printers 2022
- Feature-packed
- Print quality is decent right out of the box.
- Simple to use and responsive
To conclude that the Biqu B1 is vivid is an underestimate. The B1 is available in black or “purple” (which we think is more hot pink), and it has RGB lighting coming out of a couple of its orifices, so it’s more than just the craziest light show in town.
For instance, it includes an SKR V1.4 32-bit mainboard with TMC2225 stepper motor drivers, which you’d consider upgrading your Ender 3 as standard. In addition to a magnetic removable metal build plate (which is flimsier than the Prusa’s but still works well). It has a dual-user interface lets you choose between the stock Marlin with a rotary encoder and Biqu’s touchscreen configuration for communicating with the printer.
Should you need it, the latter of these two modes allows you to tap G-code into a terminal. The printer as a whole appears to be a flexible computer with untapped potential (not least through the plug-and-play upgrade ports on that SKR board.) By the way, it’s all for less than $250.
We’ve been playing with one for a while, and while we haven’t compiled all of our thoughts into a review yet, we think it’s a convincing alternative to the Ender 3 V2.
Creality CR-6 SE
The Best FDM 3D Printers 2022
- Auto-bed-leveling is excellent.
- Prints of excellent quality
- The Ender 3 V2 has received a significant update.
Creality loosened up and flexed its artistic muscles in 2020, going above and beyond the essential “Pro” updates to deliver fascinating and exclusive printers. Take, for example, the CR-6 SE. The product of the company’s first Kickstarter campaign is its most advanced printer, boasting patented auto-bed leveling and a slew of tiny details that make this 3D printer more than the sum of its parts.
If you’re thinking of getting an Ender 3 V2 and have some extra cash, the CR-6 SE is essentially the deluxe version of that printer.
Electrical problems plagued a small number of the printer’s early batches (rightly called out online, with Creality publicly acknowledging and vowing to fix the issues.) Our recommendation is based on a unit we recently received and is the foundation for our complete analysis (coming soon.)
Artillery Sidewinder X1 V4
The Best FDM 3D Printers 2022
- Well-designed
- The heating time is short.
- Silently whisper
Despite having a name that only an overexcited seven-year-old might love, the Sidewinder Artillery X1, a giant 3D printer built to print big and fast, is a well-thought-out 3D printer that offers a few advantages over similarly sized and styled printers. For instance, it has a Volcano-style hot end that makes for a higher flow of molten filament, making it suitable for printing thicker layers if you use the proper nozzle (it ships with a 0.4 mm nozzle as standard).
A well-rounded machine with features that are a little ahead of the curve, with tidy ribbon cabling (that some have mentioned as prone to wear, although plenty of others deny this) and a Titan-style extruder mounted directly to the hot end that gives it a little more versatility in the stuff it can print.
Oh, and it’s also tranquil.
Creality Ender 3 V2
The Best FDM 3D Printers 2022
- Prints of outstanding quality
- The price-to-performance ratio is excellent.
- TMC2208 drivers on a 32-bit board (in other words, it’s quiet)
The Creality Ender 3 V2 is more of a refinement of the Ender 3 that came before it; it takes the simple design that served the original so well and adds useful features that make it more workhorse-like and comfortable to use.
The build volume is 220 x 220 x 250 mm, the same as the Ender 3. Similarly, the Bowden style extruder and the ability to print popular consumer filaments like PLA, PETG, and, with care, TPU are still available. Belt tensioners, modified electronics, a 32-bit board, print-silencing TMC2208 stepper motor drivers, an integrated tool storage drawer, and a slew of other enhancements are all-new for the Ender 3 V2.
The Ender 3 V2 sounds much more like the finished product than the Ender 3 and Ender 3 Pro, perfect platforms for hobbyists and tinkerers to build out and develop. The older, less expensive machines are still excellent for the money, but the Ender 3 V2 is currently the best budget printer available.
Creality Ender 3
WHAT’S AWESOME
- It’s a low-cost, basic printer.
- A huge group
- The print quality is surprisingly good.
Our lockdown-addled minds missed a recommendation for an FDM printer under $200 the last time we made a major content update to this blog. Although we’ll have plenty to look at in the coming months with machines like the Voxelab Aquila and Elegoo Neptune 2 vying for the Ender 3’s lunch money, we’re sticking with the Ender 3 for the time being.
By today’s standards, it’s rudimentary, but it’s a well-known institution. You already know what you’ll get because hundreds of thousands of others have: Build volume of 220 x 200 x 250 mm, a heated bed, and not much else. The base printer in stock configuration is sufficient for day-to-day printing, but if you need more, ask your favorite search engine, and you will obtain enough answers to stack to the moon and back.
