If you’re into desktop 3D printing, you might have come across a variety of resin 3D printer brands. Resin 3D printers are compatible with a variety of materials and feature great print quality. These precision machines used to be very costly, but now they are available at affordable prices. These printers are now used everywhere and you’ll be surprised to know that a plethora of industries including dental and jewelry use them.
We got our hands on two well-known printer brands, that are, Elegoo and Anycubic. In this post we will compare ELEGOO Saturn vs ANYCUBIC Photon to choose the best one. Both 3D printers are high quality resin 3D printers but one has to be the winner. We will do an in-depth review of all the important features of these 3D printers so that you make an informed decision.
Elegoo Saturn review
Elegoo Saturn is a large volume MSLA resin 3D printer. The design features a UV light source, a masking LCD, a vat of resin, and a single axis of movement. The calibration process is easy and there is no electrical or mechanical assembly required. The masking LCD is 8.9 inches with a resolution of 3840 X 2400 that is able to give an effective XY resolution of .05 mm.
The machine can print without putting pressure on the build platform bracket during the lift moves and this adds to its rigidity. The base is very stable and it measures 280 X 240 mm and the touch screen is colored 3.5 inches one and is contained inside a metal housing. The resin is a DLP Photopolymer Resin and the UV light source emits from a 405nm UV LED Matrix. It uses USB stick to transfer files to the printer along with an Ethernet connection that allows you to connect it to a network.
There is a printer inside the tray which you can remove if needed. You can also change the resin easily because there is an additional pouring aid in one corner. There are two linear grid rails in the Z-axis which adds stability to the whole machine. The main quality of this machine is the high-printing speed and also the curing times for the separate layers that are only 1 to 2 seconds. Overall, the device is very easy to handle and is a good choice for beginners.
Anycubic Photon Mono X review
The Anycubic Photon is a large scale MSLA LCD-based 3D printer. It offers a large print area and produces high quality print. It comes pre-assembled and the calibration of printing bed is easy too. The machine is equipped with a monochrome display and a 4K screen- the machine produces fast and high-detailed prints because of all the top-notch features it has.
The size of this printer is 192 X 125 X 250 mm which is slightly larger than the Elegoo Saturn printer which is of 192 x 120 X 200 mm. The printer has an 8.9 inch monochrome LCD that consumes less energy and provides faster curing times. The size and resolution of the screen of this printer is the same as Elegoo’s. The colored touchscreen of both the printers is 3.5 inches and the resin material is also the same, that is, 405 nm UV resin. The Anycubic photon has a resin fill indicator too which is absent in the Elegoo Saturn.
The maximum printing speed of this printer is 60 mm/h which is more than Elegoo Saturn that has a printing speed of max 30 mm/h. The Anycubic uses Anycubic photon software while the Elegoo uses Chitu Box as slicer software. Both the machines use top-notch technology; Anycubic is equipped with LCD based SLA while Elegoo is equipped with LCD UV photocuring.
Our recommendation
This comprehensive comparison of Elegoo Saturn vs ANYCUBIC Photon revealed that both the resin 3D printer machines have large build volume and a spacious print space. Both machines are quiet and produce high quality prints because of high curing speeds. Both printers are easy to assemble and good for you if you’re a beginner.
Our recommendation is Anycubic Photon Mono X because it is a larger model and is more affordable too. It has higher printing speed as compared to its counterpart. On the other hand, Elegoo Saturn is a good choice if you don’t want to wear protective mask or gloves while printing and want something that makes cleaning easier.