The Elegoo Neptune 4 Plus ($425) can produce exceptionally giant prints for a sub-$500 3D printer, and in our intensive testing managed to provide typically superb high quality objects with minimal issues. Meeting is required however easy. The strengths of the Neptune 4 Plus make it simple to advocate as an Editors’ Alternative-winning funds 3D printer for hobbyists, in addition to a superb choice for freshmen who’re prepared to roll up their sleeves. Simply you should definitely purchase a filament spool or two whenever you buy the printer, or purchase it as a part of a bundle, as the bottom mannequin does not embrace any filament.Design: A Jumbo Open-Body PrinterElegoo, based in 2015 and primarily based in Shenzhen, China, makes a speciality of making cheap 3D printers—each filament (FDM) and resin-based (stereolithography, aka SLA) fashions—and equipment, in addition to STEM kits. The title is a mashup of “ele” and “goo,” as the corporate describes on its web site: “ELE comes from the phrase digital, which implies open-source digital. GOO comes from the phrase googol, that means the a hundredth energy of 10. The written type is 1 adopted by 100 zeros, referring to the massive quantity of structural fashions introduced by 3D printers.” (No, the “goo” just isn’t molten plastic.)
(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
The Neptune 4 Plus has one of many largest frames of any 3D printer we have now reviewed. It measures 25.2 by 21 by 22.8 inches (HWD) and weighs 32 kilos, so you will want to seek out ample room for it on a desk or workbench. Its printing dimensions of 15.2 by 12.6 by 12.6 inches (HWD) are additionally very giant, notably for a sub-$500 printer.
(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
Meeting and Setup: Principally UneventfulPutting the Neptune 4 Plus collectively is a reasonably easy and simple course of, which took us roughly half an hour. It consists of screwing collectively a number of elements, attaching the gantry (which helps the extruder and carriage, that are in movement throughout printing) to the bottom, including the filament spool holder to the highest and a holder for the 4.3-inch LED display to the aspect of the bottom, and snapping a couple of cables into place.
The printer comes with the instruments you will want for meeting, together with Allen wrenches. The included consumer guide and hyperlink to a video tutorial are additionally useful. Probably the most tough half is attaching the unusually tall gantry at a proper angle to the bottom by the use of screws; having a second particular person to assist maintain the unit regular is useful. You should safe a protracted ribbon cable with a clamp, however we could not determine how to do that initially, so we zip-tied the cable to one of many struts that helps the gantry, which proved problematic in a while.
(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
As soon as the bodily setup is full, you configure the printer utilizing the LED display. Probably the most concerned half is the print-bed leveling, which is semiautomatic. The construct platform, topped with a polyetherimide (PEI)-coated print mattress, comes connected to the bottom.
(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
Beneath the mattress are six small horizontal wheels, which it’s essential to manually alter to finish the leveling. Print-bed leveling is usually a headache, particularly on funds 3D printers, however we accomplished it with no downside.
(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
The Neptune 4 Plus base mannequin does not embrace filament, however you may get filament spools (typically PLA) as add-ons at buy, or you possibly can spring for the printer with a number of spools as a part of a bundle. Elegoo sells customary PLA for as little as $13.99 for a 2.2-pound spool. The printer’s extruder nozzle can face up to temperatures as much as 300 levels C, and it helps all kinds of filament sorts, together with PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA, TPU, and high-temperature nylon. We did all of our testing with PLA that Elegoo equipped for us.Software program Help: Acquainted Cura The Neptune 4 Plus features a copy of Elegoo Cura, a model of the open-source UltiMaker Cura—which we have now used with many different 3D printers—tweaked to be used with Elegoo printers. Alternately, you possibly can obtain one other printing program, Orca Slicer, from the Elegoo web site. We already had a replica of Cura on our take a look at PC, so we up to date it so as to add a profile for the Neptune. Cura helps you to import and look at 3D object recordsdata, make modifications equivalent to resizing, including helps, and altering the decision; “slice” them into layers in preparation to print; and save them in .gcode format for printing. The Neptune 4 Plus helps printing through Wi-Fi, however we saved the recordsdata to a USB thumb drive and transferred them manually to the printer, then accessed them via the printer’s LED display.Testing the Neptune 4 Plus: Constant High quality, Minimal ProblemsAltogether, we printed 20 objects with the Neptune 4 Plus, all on the Regular decision setting (150 microns). We included a lot of our regular take a look at objects (together with traditional stress-test gadgets such because the Geometry Element Take a look at from Thingiverse), plus a Buddha statue, a nifty spiral tower, and a few giant gadgets to check the Neptune’s capacity to print giant objects: a plastic bomb reproduction and a flowerpot.
(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
The bomb got here in two items, the biggest measuring 12.5 by 6.5 by 6.5 inches—that piece alone took greater than 30 hours to print, however the printer pulled it off properly.
(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
The flowerpot printed till it reached about 10 inches tall, when the aforementioned ribbon cable received tangled within the carriage, so we needed to scuttle the print at that time. (The pot is kind of usable as-is.) There have been no different misprints.
(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
General, the print high quality was good. On the geometry take a look at object, textual content was readable all the way down to the smallest measurement. There have been minor points with overhangs and free filament strands, and roughness at identified stress factors, however the entire shapes had been moderately well-formed. Points with different objects tended to be minor, principally filament stringing, tough overhangs, and occasional lack of high quality element.Verdict: A Finances-Pleasant Massive-Format PowerhouseLooking to make large 3D prints for a modest worth? The Elegoo Neptune 4 Plus, which generally retails within the mid-$300 vary, could also be simply the ticket. (Simply you should definitely purchase filament together with the printer when you do not order it in a bundle.) The Neptune can deal with numerous filament sorts, and in our testing, it produced 20 prints—together with a few giant objects—with a minimal of issues. Its general print high quality is superb; it could actually print bigger and a bit higher than previous-generation funds printers with giant print areas we have examined, just like the Anycubic Vyper. (One other potential different for large prints is the Creality Ender-3 S1 Plus. It has a print space that’s bigger than the Vyper’s and smaller than the Neptune’s, however its print high quality is just so-so, and its bed-leveling proved a bit balky.) All this makes the Neptune 4 Plus a straightforward decide as our newest Editors’ Alternative-winning funds 3D printer.Editors’ Observe: Ziff-Davis’ Hector Santiago contributed to this evaluate.
Execs
Prints giant objects
Practically problem-free printing
Good to superb print high quality
Helps a number of filament sorts
View
Extra
Cons
Takes up lots of area
No filament included
The Backside Line
The open-frame Elegoo Neptune 4 Plus 3D printer produces large, high-quality prints for a average worth, making it a good selection for a hobbyist or daring beginner with sufficient desk or bench area to place it.
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About Tony Hoffman
Senior Analyst, {Hardware}
Since 2004, I’ve labored on PCMag’s {hardware} staff, masking at numerous occasions printers, scanners, projectors, storage, and displays. I at the moment focus my testing efforts on 3D printers, professional and productiveness shows, and drives and SSDs of all kinds. Through the years, I’ve reviewed iPad and iPhone science apps, plus the occasional digicam, laptop computer, keyboard, and mouse. I’ve additionally written a bunch of articles about astronomy, area science, journey images, and astrophotography for PCMag and its previous and current sibling publications (amongst them, Mashable and ExtremeTech), in addition to for the PCMag Digital Version.
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