I got a chance to test the new Mars 2 Pro 3D printer from Elegoo and I have to say it was quite a journey. In this article, I will tell you what I like about the printer, what I don´t like, and what difficulties I encountered during my first few days with the printer.
As a whole, the Mars 2 Pro from Elegoo is a great resin printer that is able to print amazingly detailed and intricate models. It is very affordable and easy to use. The printer is also very fast and is beginner-friendly. The biggest downside is that the carbon filter is very hard to change.
| PRO | CON |
|---|---|
| The printer is quite cheap compared to other resin printers. | The active carbon filter can´t be changed easily and the filter will lose its effectiveness after around a month. |
| Prints very fast | The build plate can feel a little small at times. |
| Very precise and highly detailed prints | |
| Easy to use and fast to set up | |
| Has an active carbon filter to reduce the odor of the UV resin | |
| Sturdy design | |
| Comes with a lot of useful tools. |
So as you can see the Mars 2 pro has a lot going for it and I can really recommend this printer for professionals and hobbyists alike. Even though some professionals might find the build volume a little limited.
You can get the Printer on the Elegoo homepage or on Amazon right here.
In the following sections, I will go more into detail about what I like about the printer and what I didn´t like as well as my personal experience with it.
I will also talk about my first prints and what you should know before buying an SLA resin printer in the first place.
Keep in mind that I will be very honest about the machine in this article but I also want to mention that Elegoo did send me a Mars 2 Pro over for testing.
I made a whole sculpture with the Elegoo Mars 2 so if you want to know what you can do with this printer then consider giving it a watch.
Is the Mars 2 Pro From Elegoo Worth it?
Right off the bat, I want to answer this question so that you don´t have to read the whole article just to decide if the Mars 2 Pro is worth it for you or not.
As a whole, the Mars 2 Pro from Elegoo is an excellent printer for a very fair price and is defiantly worth it for hobbyists who are looking to print some very highly detailed and intricate models. Professionals, however, might feel limited by the build size of the printer.
If you are thinking about buying your first 3D printer then I would generally not recommend buying a resin printer except when you want to print miniatures or very detailed models.
But if you want to buy a resin printer then I think that the Elegoo Mars 2 Pro is a perfect choice.
I personally had no previous experience with resin printers and it only took me around half an hour to set everything up and start the first job.
It is well packaged, as you can see below, but it is still easy and fast to assemble.
And the quality of the print makes it well worth the price that the printer costs.
But if you don´t believe me then see for yourselves.
Here you can see the first print I made with the Mars 2 Pro. It was for a project of mine.
and as you can see the sculpture is incredibly detailed.
I wanted to push it to the limit and see how detailed the Mars 2 Pro can really print. So I made a model with 0.3 mm thick letters to see if it prints well.
And it really did print perfectly. Here is how it looked like.
The final thing I wanted to test is how small I can and still get good results. So I printed some buttons for my mini GameBoy model.
And they also turned out great.
Main Features
But what are the main features of the Mars 2 Pro and how is it different from other 3D resin printers? Well, it´s cheaper than most other resin printers while managing to produce exceptionally detailed prints.
The main features of the Mars 2 Pro are:
- Prints very fast
- Has very high precision
- Carbon filter build in
- 2k resolution (1620 x 2560 px)
- Build Volume of 5.08″ x 3.15″ x 6.3″ (130.5 mm x 82.6 mm x 160 mm)
- 3.5-inch LCD touchscreen
- Machine Size is 7.87″ x 7.87″ x 16.14″ (200 mm x 200 mm x 410 mm)
How Big Can the Elegoo Mars 2 Pro Print?
This is probably why most professionals won´t like the Mars 2 Pro. And it is also one of the few downsides to the machine. The build size can feel a bit limited.
As a whole, the Mars 2 Pro from Elegoo can print a maximum size of 5.08″ x 3.15″ x 6.3″ or 130.5 mm x 82.6 mm x 160 mm. The printing size is slightly bigger on the Z-axis (vertical axis) but it is best to stick to the recommended build size to ensure a clean and problem-free print.
Here is a screenshot of the automatic settings in Chitubox (the slicing software for resin printers). In this screenshot, you can see the maximum build size recommended for the Mars 2 Pro.
I tried to print something that would really stress the maximum printing size of the Mars 2 Pro. I printed a GameBoy Color model, that I created for a project, and I was able to print it slightly bigger than the stated printing size.
The model was 131 mm long and it still sprinted perfectly.
I don´t recommend going over the actual build site. Just know, that it is possible to go slightly above the maximum size.
What Resin Can the Mars 2 Pro Print With?
An often asked question is what resin the Mars 2 Pro can actually print with. Luckily the question can be answered quite easily.
The Mars 2 Pro from Elegoo can print with DLP (Digital Light Processing) Photopolymer Resin. This type of resin hardens when it is exposed to UV light. The Mars 2 Pro can print any DLP resin no matter if it is transparent, glow in the dark, or what color it has.
It can be quite fun to test out different UV resins and see how they work and how they look.
You might need to adjust the printing settings, such as exposure time (how long the UV light will light up to harden each layer of the print) for example.
But most UV resins for 3D printers have instructions on the bottle that tell you the recommended settings to print with.
I tested a bottle of regular Elegoo UV Resin grey for the first few models and I also tested a no-name brand from Amazon. Both worked perfectly with the Mars 2 Pro.
How Fast Does the Mars 2 Pro Print?
I already mentioned several times that the Mars 2 Pro is really fast but how fast is it really?
As a whole, the Mars 2 Pro needs about 4 hours for a model that is 95 mm high, 85 mm wide and 50 mm deep. Which is the size of a regular display figurine. A model that fills the whole building plate (130.5 mm x 82.6 mm) and is about 60 mm high takes roughly 3 hours to print. The detail of the prints doesn´t matter.
I printed a MewTwo figure for a project of mine that is 95 mm high, 85 mm wide, and 50 mm deep with the standard parameters that Chitubox gave me and it took around 4 hours to print.
Then I tried to print a model that fills the whole building plate and is around 60 mm high and that took around 3 hours to print fully.
That model was the bottom part of a GameBoy color that I modeled for the same project. It filled the whole build plate and I turned it about 45° to make it print better so it was about 60 mm high.
Both prints came out looking great and they printed so much faster than any nonresin printer would be able to print them.
What Does the Printer Come With?
Finally, what does the printer actually come with? Aka, what’s in the box?
The Mars 2 Pro comes with a lot of different things which is a nice surprise considering the price tag of the thing.
Here is what the Elegoo Mars 2 comes with:
- Pliers for seperating supports
- A plastic and a metal spatular to free the prints from the build plate
- Spare screws
- Funnels for filtering the UV resin
- A 2 GB USB stick
- Plastic gloves
- Masks
- And a plastic piece that allows you to hang up the finished print in a 45° angle
- Two spare silicone ruber seals for the resin tank
You can also see a quick overview of what’s coming with the printer in the manual.
I used almost all of these tools during my time with the printer and I found that all of the tools are quite high quality.
The funnels aren´t really great but still useful if you want to filter the resin in the tank to reuse it later. I recommend getting better funnels if you plan on using the printer regularly but in the beginning, these paper funnels are good enough.
I didn´t use the metal spatular yet because the plastic one is usually more than enough.
Generally, all of these tools are useful or at least nice to have. I didn´t even expect to get any of these with the printer so I am not complaining and almost all of these items are actually very useful.
Does the Elagoo Mars 2 Pro Come With Resin?
This is something that I did not research before getting the printer and after unpacking the Mars 2 Pro I realized that I should have taken a closer look at the Elegoo homepage.
The Mars 2 Pro from Elegoo does not come with any UV resin. The UV resin has to be bought separately. Any UV resin for 3D printers can be used with the Mars 2 Pro and Elegoo even has its own brand of UV resin for printing.
I didn´t know that the Mars 2 Pro comes without any UV resin so I had to order it separately. But at this price point, it is actually not surprising that no UV resin is being sent with the printer.
It is actually pretty rare for SLA printers (printers that print with UV resin) to come with UV resin right out of the box.
Hi, I am a passionate maker and professional prop maker for the entertainment industry. I use my woodworking, programming, electronics, and illustration know-how to create interactive props and puzzles for Escape Games and marketing agencies. And I share my knowledge and my experience on this blog with you so that you can become a maker yourself.