Best Mid Level 3D Printers

By 3D Print General

This is part 2 in our 3 part series taking a look at the best 3D printers you can choose in different price ranges. As with the other two parts, I have personally tried each of these printers and have even printed firearms on nearly all of them.

With our mid-level list of printers we are now getting into printers that come stock with a lot of the upgrades you would want to have. Some of these important upgrades include:

• An upgraded extruder in a “direct” fashion. Without getting too into the weeds, many inexpensive machines come with an extruder that doesn’t have a lot of torque, and many of them are set up in a “Bowden” fashion. Essentially, the closer the extruder is to the hotend, the less your filament has to travel to be extruded, and the easier it is to be very precise and use unique material types. A direct extruder with a decent gear ratio means you can print anything from soft materials to extremely stiff materials and your prints will be of a better quality.

• An upgraded hotend, also called an “all-metal” hotend. This means that you will increase your maximum extruding temperature from 250 degrees Celsius up to 300 degrees. This opens you up to printing in more exotic material types.

• All of these printers must have “quiet” printing when printing at standard speeds.

• Good build quality meaning it is either very sturdy or has multiple Z-axis lead screws.

• Other upgrades like bed leveling, a good build plate, etc. Leveling my build plate is second nature to me now after years of printing, but it can be the most annoying thing for someone new to the hobby. So these types of upgrades can save you a lot of frustration.

Creality Ender-3 S1 Pro ($499)

Ignore the naming, since Creality seems to always name their products slightly odd, but the Ender-3 S1 is essentially an Ender-3 V2 with a lot more upgrades. I personally suggest using the Ender-3 S1 Pro as opposed to the standard S1 due to the extra upgrades.

Pros:

• Not as large of a user base as their original Ender-3 or Ender-5, but still quite large.

• You can add their new “Sonic Pad” at a later date if you want, which will allow you to print much faster.

• The “Sprite” extruder that Creality includes is a very good quality extruder.

• The “Pro” version comes with an all-metal hotend for printing up to 300 degrees.

• Easy-to-use touch screen user interface.

• Quality magnetic PEI Build plate.

• Auto bed leveler.

• Dual Z leadscrews.

Cons:

• In years past I would have said $499 retail price would be a great deal for this, but many new competitors exist now meaning this is a bit pricey.

• It is a bed slinger, which is normally not what you would want at this price point.

• Difficult to add upgrades.

Creality Ender-5 S1 ($579)

Similar to the Ender-3 S1, the Ender-5 S1 is the much needed upgraded version of the Ender-5. This printer only came out a few months ago, and while it shows a lot of promise, there are some areas that I think Creality has overlooked.

Pros:

• Gantry style printer where the build plate moves up and down.

• Great “Sprite” extruder.

• All-metal hotend that can reach 300 degrees.

• Auto bed leveler.

• Good touch screen.

• You can add their new “Sonic Pad” at a later date if you want, which will allow you to print much faster.

Cons:

• The price point is quite high on this printer for what you are getting.

• Difficult to add upgrades.

• No belt tensioners.

• Not a very good build plate.

• Only one Z leadscrew.

Bambu Lab P1P ($699)

Bambu Lab has come into the 3D printer market over the last 6 months and I personally think they have revolutionized it. This P1P is their newest printer, with it being a stripped down version of their X1 (listed in the next category of printers). This machine comes in at the top of this price range, but I think it is well worth it, since Bambu Lab offers features that no other company currently can.

Pros:

• EXTREMELY fast printing. This machine can print 5-10x as fast as all the printers mentioned previously. This is due to good build quality, but more importantly, having what is called “input shaping.” This allows for high accelerations without any loss in print quality. I suggest getting the “Axillary Fan” upgrade if you do purchase this printer.

• Great direct extruder with a 300 degree all-metal hotend.

• Three Z-axis leadscrews and an extremely sturdy frame.

• An amazing bed leveling that works great.

• Great calibrations that the printer does right after turning it on. This printer works right out of the box, without any tinkering or calibrating.

• Comes with a very useful textured magnetic PEI build plate.

• The slicing software is my personal favorite of any I have used.

• WiFi capabilities that make it very easy to send prints to the printer right from your computer. You can also use their app for your phone which will allow you to view progress remotely.

• You have the ability to add their “AMS” system, which will allow you to print in multiple material types.

• It does not come stock with a camera but you have the ability to upgrade to using one.

Cons:

• Not a very good screen/user interface on the printer itself.

• Very difficult and potentially impossible to customize or upgrade.

• Closed source firmware and hardware. This means you can’t change the firmware anyway you want and you need to purchase replacement parts through Bambu Lab. Their prices for replacement parts are very reasonable at the moment, but you are reliant on them.

• Not enclosed, meaning it will be difficult to print materials that warp easily, such as ABS. None of the previous printers mentioned were enclosed either, but this is worth mentioning for the price point.

• It is very loud. I am sure the drivers are upgraded but with the extremely fast movements this printer is making, it proves to be much louder than any printer mentioned previously.

My personal choice: Bambu Lab P1P

Bambu Lab has really revolutionized the industry and I do not think you can get much better bang for your buck than with the P1P. The only real drawback for printing whatever you want is the lack of an enclosure when printing in materials such as ABS. That said, you can always make your own enclosure or just purchase an inexpensive tent to put the printer in to increase the ambient air temperature.

I personally exclusively use one of my two Bambu Lab printers whenever I need a print done because of the high quality, consistency, and extremely fast printing. Not to mention I feel it may be the most user friendly platform on the market. Unfortunately if you need a replacement part, you will need to purchase it through Bambu Lab, but as of writing this article their replacement parts are less expensive than third party parts on other machines. I don’t think you can go wrong with the P1P.

We will be back soon in part 3 of this series when we cover top-tier printers.