Anycubic Photon review: An amazing (and affordable) resin 3D printer

Resin 3D press — oftentimes called SLA or DLP printing — is a different animal than the blazon of press we normally write about here. Information technology has a lot of barriers for beginners that just don't be in the 3D printing that involves filament — FDM 3D printing, as it is commonly called — and that tin can be scary.

The folks over at Anycubic sent united states their DLP 3D printer, the Photon, to review, which gave the states a chance to dispel some of the myths effectually resin printing.

Entry level, amazing detail

Anycubic Photon

$475

Bottom line: The Anycubic Photon is the perfect remainder of cost, economy, and quality. It allows you to create objects y'all may never have dreamed possible without information technology.

Pros:

Cheap compared to competitors.
Small form cistron.
Production-quality prints.
Affordable.

Cons:

Smaller than boilerplate build plate.
Touch screen is cheap.

What you'll love about Anycubic Photon

Resin printing is scary. I was worried virtually reviewing the Photon every bit all my experiences with resin, SLA, or DLP 3D printers take ended with me making a mess. The Anycubic Photon, however, has turned me around on the positives of this manner of press. It really is an almost perfect entry point to DLP printing.

Anycubic Photon is an nearly perfect entry-level DLP printer.

Using a resin printer requires a lot of setup to make certain y'all are using information technology safely, as well as aftercare similar curing the print and so cleaning up with booze. Happily, the Photon comes with a few pairs of gloves, a face mask, and a plastic scraper so y'all can use it without getting the resin on your hands or animate too much in. The Photon also comes with a bottle of light-green resin, saving you lot time and money and letting get started right abroad.

If you have never seen the quality of a DLP printer y'all are in for a treat. Most 3D printers that use filament have a layer meridian of around 0.1mm for fine work. The Photon can push button the layer meridian all the style to 0.024mm, a layer summit and so small the layer lines are just not visible. It's similar the models are injection molded, information technology is that good.

The biggest draw for the Anycubic Photon is the cost. For less than $500, you tin can have a printer that offers the same quality as that of machines twice, if not iii times, more than plush.

I have been using the Photon for several months, and the prints I take managed to succeed at — believe me they aren't all winners, this has a learning bend — blow me away especially when yous hollow the model out and polish a light through it. It's like magic to see the fine details.

The build quality of the Photon is smashing for the cost, though some components are conspicuously of a cheaper blueprint than we might like. None of the structural components are compromised, withal, and the build plate and Z-axis screw rod feel sturdy, while the anodized resin tank has a thoroughly solid experience to it. The only downside of the hardware is the touchscreen

What you'll love less virtually the Anycubic Photon

Almost that touchscreen. If you are old plenty to remember the days of the pocket PC — back before the iPhone, kids, touchscreens were a living hell — you will call up resistive screens and how much they sucked. The Photon touchscreen is the to the lowest degree responsive I have used in a device for, mayhap, 10 years. Most people just use their Hex Wrench as a stylus as that is really the only fashion to make certain it works.

While that could be a small irritation in a machine that costs $500, I would look something better, or the company could take a foliage out of Monoprice'south book and apply a non-touchscreen and buttons. I would rather take no touchscreen than deal with this laggy matter.

The but other concern may be the size of the build plate. At only 5.5 inches past 3 inches, the build plate on the Photon is tiny. This could exist an issue simply it depends on your use instance. Nigh people looking into DLP 3D printers likely want to make small, well-defined models with a lot of item. If that's the case, a pocket-size build plate won't exist a deterrence.

So should you purchase the Anycubic Photon?

I was blown away with the quality-to-cost ratio of the Anycubic Photon. For less than $500, you can have a printer that makes prints of higher quality than 3D printers that costs twice as much, or more. I would recommend the Photon to anyone looking to go into SLA or DLP 3D printing and who doesn't want to driblet thousands of dollars before knowing the full extent of what's involved.

This is an excellent entry-level resin printer. It's perfect for dipping your toe into a hobby that tin can be prohibitively expensive.

Entry level quality

Anycubic Photon

An almost perfect entry-level DLP printer

Despite the touchscreen from the dark ages, the Anycubic Photon is fantastic. It is the perfect ratio of Price/quality that you would want in your beginning resin 3D printer. Buy i if you can.

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