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Best 3D printer deals: Start printing at home for $159

Aaron Mamiit
Briley Kenney
By and

3D printing can both be a fun hobby and a potential side hustle if you want to open up a business around 3D printing, especially with newer and more efficient 3D printers that can handle more complex prints much faster. In fact, many cosplayers use 3D printers these days to help them print parts that would have otherwise been nearly impossible to make a decade ago. You can always use a 3D printer to print tools, figurines, miniatures, models, and pretty much anything you can find a file for or make yourself. Whatever it is, there are a lot of excellent options out there and it can get overwhelming, which is why we went out and found our favorite 3D printer deals to make your life a bit easier.

Creality Ender-2 Pro — $159, was $179

The Creality Ender-2 Pro with a spool of red filament.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Creality Ender-3 Pro is so massively popular you may not realize that the “3” indicates that it is a part of a series. Stepping back from one of today’s favored 3D printers to take a look at its predecessor reveals just how cheap a 3D printer can be obtained in the current year. This filament-based printer has no built-in shielding, no camera, and utilizes a very simple interface, but if you’re wanting to save a ton of money and play around with 3D printing without a big overhead charge, this is probably the best pathway to do so.

Elegoo Mars 4 Max — $268, was $357

The Elegoo Mars 4 Max next to a figurine of a traveling roleplayer figurine.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Mars 4 Max is a 6K resolution 3D printer that uses resin to make figurines and other objects. Its print volume is 7.71 x 4.81 x 5.9 inches, making it adequate for small tabletop armies, roleplaying characters, your D&D avatar, and jewelry. It utilizes the VoxelDance Tango slicing software, which allows for different printing modes depending on your aim, speed or accuracy of the print. It’s a minor point, but the machine is boxy, compact, and covered by a striking red cover. More than just a tool, this one can certainly be a conversation starter.

Related

ANYCUBIC Photon Mono X — $269, was $340

ANYCUBIC Photon Mono X
Anycubic

Another great option for a starter resin printer is the Anycubic Photon Mono X, and this bundled deal even throws in 500 grams of resin for you to get started with. It comes with a solid 7.7 x 4.8 x 7.8-inch print volume, so should be more than enough for things like miniatures and figurines. It also has a 6k LCD mono screen which should give you excellent resolution for your prints, allowing for pretty fine details overall, and the 80mm per hour print speed is also rather good, making it a solid all-around printer.

AnkerMake M5C — $300, was $400

AnkerMake M5C
Anker

If you want a fast and easy starter printer, then the AnkerMake M5C is a solid option, especially since it has a speed 500mm/s Fast Mode print speed which is great for those who are in a hurry. It has a pretty good print volume of 220 x 220 x 250mm, which you’ll find to be more than enough for your first 3D printer. Also, the M5C can handle a lot of different types of filament, including PLA+ and PETG-CF, so you won’t have any issue getting started with pretty much any filament you might want to work with.

Creality Resin 3D Printer Halot-Mage Pro — $454, was $599

The Creality Resid 3D Printer (Halot-Mage) with its orange lid closed.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Creality Resin 3D Printer Halot-Mage Pro is an 8K printer that uses resin as opposed to filament. When we compare FDM and SLA 3D printers (the Halot-Mage and all resin printers are SLA printers), we see that SLA printers make better-resolution prints but also tend to be more expensive than their FDM counterparts. The Halot-Mage gives us a counterbalance to that price claim, and especially so while on sale. It’s a little more advanced than the more entry-level Halot-Mage has a printing area of 228 x 128 x 230 mm printing at an impressive planar detail level of 29.7 microns.

Anycubic Kobra 2 Max — $479, was $720

Anycubic Kobra 2 Max
Anycubic

If you ever heard of the original Anycubic Kobra 2, it was one of the fastest and most beginner-friendly 3D printers when it originally came out. The Kobra 2 Max continues that trend but with a much larger build surface of 420 x 420 x 500 mm, which is well-suited for folks who need to make truly massive prints, and probably isn’t for everybody. That said, it can print up to 500mm/s, which will certainly be needed with such a larger print volume, and you’ll be happy to know that it handles most types of printer filament.

AnkerMake M5 — $600, was $700

AnkerMake M5
Anker

The AnkerMake M5 is a bigger version of the M5C with roughly the same specs. For example, it has the same 500mm/s Fast Mode, but it has a larger 235 x 235 x 250 mm print volume and is great for those who want to print larger miniatures or models. It also has a 49-point auto-leveling system to keep the bed as level as possible, so you aren’t getting weird or failed prints. That said, one thing to consider is that the M5 can’t handle PLA+ filament, which is much better than just pure PLA. It’s not necessarily a deal breaker, just something to keep in mind.

Anycubic Photon M3 Max — $799, was $1,099

The Anycubic Photon M3 Max displayed with a print featuring feathers.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Anycubic Photon M3 Max is a one of the most powerful 3D printers you can get. It has an impressive 11.7 x 6.5 x 11.8 inch printing area and does so in 8K. SLA printing, which uses lights and lasers, is dependent upon light to print. The Anycubic Photon M3 Max uses an array of LED lights to get the light not only just right but also evenly distributed. The effect? Fast printing. And, the Anycubic Photon M3 Max won’t let that fast printing get the best of you. How so? By automatically feeding more resin into your well when it gets low, kinda like those automatic plant waterers. The result is a hassle-free print that doesn’t have to be babysat to the utmost degree.

More 3D printer deals we love

There are a lot more 3D printers out there, including ones on sale. Take a look at these, too:

  • Anycubic Kobra 2 Neo —
  • Elegoo Neptune 4 Pro —
  • Creality Ender-3 S1 Pro —
  • Anycubic Kobra Max —
  • Elegoo Saturn 3 Ultra —

More Unmissable Deals

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Aaron Mamiit
Aaron Mamiit
Contributor
Aaron received a NES and a copy of Super Mario Bros. for Christmas when he was 4 years old, and he has been fascinated with…
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