Regardless of some nice improvements in 3D printing {hardware} and software program in 2022, the brand new Ender 5 S1 from Creality does not do a lot to push the envelope. It is a respectable printer, however wanted extra to actually wow me.
Like
- Steady bodily design
- Quick printing velocity
- Good high quality prints
Do not Like
- Wants numerous mattress leveling
- Lackluster design
At first look, the $579 Ender 5 S1 ticks numerous containers. Primarily based on the unique Ender 5 from 2019, the S1 upgrades nearly every bit of {hardware} to make this sooner and extra correct than ever earlier than. However taking a deeper look, numerous what we see is decidedly center of the street.
Creality Ender 5 S1
| 220 x 220 x 280mm |
| All steel |
| Direct Drive |
| 0.04mm |
| 300C |
| 110C |
| ~ 250mm/s |
| PLA, PETG, ABS, TPU, ASA, HIPS |
| Hybrid (CRtouch/Handbook Wheels) |
| Sure |
| SD card |
| Creality Slicer, Prusaslicer, Cura |
The construct high quality of this 3D printer is great, as I might count on from the Ender line. The entire components feel and look well-made. If you choose it up by the built-in handles, it has a heft that implies a ruggedness that you aren’t getting from cheaper fashions. In contrast to the Ender 3, the Ender 5 is a CoreXY machine, so the mattress strikes up and down, quite than out and in, so it is far more secure at excessive velocity.
Having an all-metal scorching finish and an extruder meeting that’s direct-drive permits the S1 to deal with a wide range of totally different supplies. The direct drive extruder makes it extraordinarily simple to print with TPU — a versatile filament you may make rubbery cellphone circumstances from — and the all-metal scorching finish permits high-temperature filaments like ABS and PETG to be printed, too. Excessive temperatures can destroy the small tube in an ordinary scorching finish, which might then should be changed after printing PETG or ABS for lengthy durations.
James Bricknell/CNET
The print high quality of the Ender 5 S1 is surprisingly good on the velocity it prints, which is quicker than many comparable printers. Whereas it says it could print at 250 millimeters per second, that does not inform the entire story, because the print velocity is restricted within the slicer to maintain the standard excessive. Millimeters per second is used to measure how briskly the print head can transfer whereas printing, in addition to when no materials is being extruded. It is an summary quantity primarily based on manufacturing unit defaults, so it is not all the time correct whenever you get the 3D printer to your house.
I used a spider take a look at print from E3D, which exams overhangs and bridging — each notoriously tough at excessive velocity — to check the Ender 5 S1. This file takes round 1 hour, half-hour to print on the Prusa Mk3s, a decent time for probably the greatest 3D printers proper now. The Creality slicer software program included with the Ender 5 S1 estimates that very same print at 1 hour, 9 minutes. If it was printing on the full 250 mm/s velocity, it needs to be thrice sooner than the Prusa, nevertheless it is not. Compared, the AnkerMake M5 — which additionally touts 250 mm/s print speeds — estimates the identical mannequin to be printed in 22 minutes. So whereas the Ender 5 S1 is quicker than most printers, it is not as quick because the spec sheet guarantees.
James Bricknell/CNET
Limiting the velocity is not a nasty thought, per se. In any case, the stability between velocity and high quality is essential for 3D printers and the standard right here is superb even on inventory settings. The CNET take a look at print confirmed no signal of stringing, which stunned me. Stringing happens when there is not time between every layer for the plastic to chill, so it oozes out in strings. This will happen when printers are too quick, however the Ender 5 S1 did an important job with all features of the take a look at print.
I printed a number of Fotis Mint dragons, a skeletal hand and a few lobsters, and so they all got here out wanting glorious. This FlexiFactory dinosaur seems to be nice, and all of his articulation works because it’s imagined to, although it did take me a number of makes an attempt to get the primary layer to stay appropriately.
James Bricknell/CNET
The Ender 5 S1 additionally comes with some superior options, comparable to a filament runout sensor and power-off detection, although the auto-leveling system has benefits and downsides.
The auto-leveling nonetheless has a handbook component and requires adjustment of the mattress by tuning spring-loaded top adjustment wheels beneath. Which means the 3D printer is vulnerable to shedding its mattress degree after just a few prints. Whereas it may not look like an enormous deal to maintain releveling, it may be a ache and sometimes results in prints failing and supplies misplaced. It additionally runs counter to all the purpose for auto-leveling, the removing of human error from the equation.
A 12 months or two in the past (and possibly $100 cheaper), the Ender 5 S1 would have floored me. However in a 12 months after we’re seeing numerous innovation in high quality, options and worth, it does not stand out. If yow will discover it on sale for lower than $450 it will be price choosing up, however there are higher printers, just like the $569 Anycubic Kobra Max — a printer with true auto-leveling and an enormous print dimension — or the $799 AnkerMake M5, inside a stone’s throw of the Ender 5 S1’s present worth of $579.