Top 10 3D Printers
for December 2023

The Creality Ender 3 is one of the best inexpensive 3D printers you can buy, and easily one of our top picks for beginners. It comes with everything you need to start printing right out of the box, and it's easy to set up and operate, with an intuitive touchscreen interface. It has a great build volume (220x220x250mm), and it's one of the fastest 3D printers we tested. It prints at a resolution of 50 microns, which is good enough for some rapid prototyping, and it's quieter than even the best other printers in our roundup. It's also one of the first 3D printers to offer open source technology, so it's free to tinker and improve. And unlike some printers, the Creality Ender 3 includes its own dedicated support materials, so you don't need to buy them separately. It's important to note that the Creality Ender 3 doesn't come with a built-in camera, so while you can print a full-color model, you don't get to view the model in fine detail as you do with other 3D printers. The Ender 3 isn't as robust as our other picks, either, and it's limited to PLA plastics. But for a 3D printer that costs less than $300, the Creality Ender 3 is an excellent option.

The Mega X 3D Printer from ANYCUBIC is a sturdy, easy-to-assemble printer that was designed to suit both beginner and experienced users. The Mega X ships with two filament cartridges, a 1kg spool of PLA filament, and all the tools and materials you need to assemble it. The Mega X is the heaviest and largest FDM 3D printer we tested, and it's by far the most expensive, so it's hard to recommend unless you think you'll print a lot. In our tests, the Mega X printed quickly and cleanly, and it's the only printer we tested that was able to print a 9.3in tall model. It's also the only printer in our test group that's able to print using 1kg PLA, which costs more than twice as much per lb as 1.75 or 2.85lb spools of PLA. The Mega X's large build volume and versatile filament options make it ideal for professional, educational, and industrial use, and it comes with a lifetime warranty.

The Ender-3 V2 is a solid and versatile 3D printer, with an excellent price to performance ratio. Its resolution and quality of prints were comparable to those of our top picks, and it's better equipped for heavier-duty printing. The printer is easy to set up, and the included instructions are clear and detailed. We also love that it's able to print with a wider variety of materials, including PLA, ABS, TPU, and PETG. The printer also has higher build volume (3.7 in. x 6.4 in. x 7.8 in.), which is a big advantage for printing larger objects. The biggest drawbacks are that it's slow to print and that it takes too long to heat up the bed. The printer takes anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes to print, depending on the material, and the bed takes 45 to 60 minutes to reach 110 degrees. The printer is also a bit noisy, though it's not loud enough to bother us while we're working. While our top picks offer faster printing speeds, the Ender-3 V2 is a good choice for more serious crafters and hobbyists who want to print larger objects.

The Aries is a compact, affordable 3D printer, and it delivers solid print quality. It has an easy-to-assemble frame, and it includes everything you need to start printing, including a glass build platform, a heated bed, and filament. Its four-color LCD screen is responsive and has an intuitive interface, and its software also makes it easy to configure your printer. The printer is also well built, with a solid feel and a sturdy frame. This printer is ideal for beginner users who want to experiment with 3D printing. Although its print quality falls just short of the best we've tested, it's still good enough to print objects that are useful, although small, like jewelry, key chains, and figurines.

The ELEGOO Saturn S 3D Printer is a practical and affordable consumer model, with a host of features that make it well-suited to beginners. The printer comes with a 4-.9-inch LCD color display, which makes it easy to view and print files, even during printing. The printer also has a heated platform, which makes it easy to print ABS and PLA. The printer is also easy to use, and has a built-in filament cartridge holder and filament loading mechanism, so there's no need to fiddle around with spools of filament. The ELEGOO Saturn S 3D Printer has a maximum build volume of 196*122*210mm, which is slightly smaller than our previous recommendation, the MakerGear M2 Plus, but larger than other consumer models. The printer prints at a high rate of 70mm/h, which is faster than most consumer models. The ELEGOO Saturn S 3D Printer comes with 1kg of 1.75mm ABS filament, which should be enough for creating lots of models. The only downside to the ELEGOO Saturn S 3D Printer is that the lowest resolution it uses is 700DPI, which is lower than most consumer models, but the resolution of 4K is more than enough for creating high-quality models.

The PERGEAR Ender-3 S1 3D printer is an extraordinary printer, with a host of advanced features that set it apart from the competition. Its best feature is its accuracy; the Ender-3 S1 has one of the sharpest, most precise builds we've ever tested, and its surfaces are generally smooth and free of bumps and ridges. The printer is also a breeze to use; step-by-step calibration procedures make it easy to get up and running, and the LCD control panel is intuitive and easy to navigate. The Ender-3 S1 prints at a remarkable 60 mm per second, and the dual-gear extruder produces prints with similar quality to more expensive printers. Its biggest drawback is its cost; the Ender-3 S1's $1,749 price puts it out of reach for most users. But if you're serious about 3D-printing, the PERGEAR Ender-3 S1 is the best 3D printer that you can buy.

The flashforge 3D Printer Adventurer 3 Pro is one of our favorite budget 3D printers. It's easy to use, it prints well, and it has plenty of useful features for hobbyists and beginners alike. The printer comes with everything you need to get started, and it's fully enclosed and already assembled, so there's little setup required. The AD3 Pro is one of the few budget 3D printers to come with a 3.75-inch touchscreen display, and it's backlit, so it's easy to see even when it's dark. The printer comes with a nice selection of filaments, and you can use the built-in filament detector to know exactly which type of filament is loaded in your print cartridge. The AD3 Pro can print with PLA, ABS, and PETG, and it supports Linux and Apple computers, as well as Windows computers using Flashforge's free Flashprint app. The printer's adjustable build plate is quite large, at 150 x 150 x 150 mm, and it has a heated bed, so it can handle a wide range of 3D printing materials. The AD3 Pro is a little noisy, and it's best for printing in smaller spaces, but it's a good choice for hobbyists who are just starting out in 3D printing, or for anyone looking for a cheap, fully enclosed 3D printer that's easy for beginners to use.

The Flashforge 3D Printer Adventurer 3 Lite is affordable, sturdy, and easy to use, and it offers the best print quality of any printer in this price range. It comes with everything you need to start printing, including filament, a 100-watt power supply, an extruder, and a bunch of filament adapters. The printer's Buildtak bed is removable, so it's a lot easier to take down the model. The printer's automatic leveling feature is also a big convenience, since you can focus on the parts you want to print. The downside of this printer is the price: If you just want a printer to make small, simple models, this printer is a good option. But if you're looking to create more complicated models, the Flashforge Finder or Flashforge Creator are a better choice.

The Prusa i3 (aka the LK5 Pro) was the first 3-d printer we tested, and it impressed us with its print quality, ease of use, and low cost. It's an excellent printer for creators who want to know how 3D-printing works and are looking for a printer that is inexpensive enough for around the house, but still has sufficient power to be usable in a professional or business setting. The printer itself is simple to set up and use, and we found that the included software is well-designed, though it doesn't run on Windows computers, so it's best suited for Macs and Linux machines. The instructions were easy to follow, and the printer itself was easy to unpack and build. It comes with more than enough filament to print several items, and the filament is good quality, though recommeded for more advanced users. The printer's build size is quite large (11.8 by 11.8 by 15.7 in./ 300 by 300 by 400 mm), so it's best used for larger objects, though it's actually quite portable and doesn't require a phone or laptop to set up. The printer has enough power to provide a reliable build, though it doesn't have the high speeds (15 inches/ 300 mm per second) of printers like the MakerBot Replicator 2. The printer supports open source firmware, so it's compatible with third-party software, and we found it easy to swap in new components (like an Extruder/Tinned Heater/Cooling Fan) when we wanted to improve print quality or performance. The LK5 Pro is easy to set up, easy to use, and produces impressive results. It's a good choice for both beginners and more experienced creators.

The Voxelab Proxima 6.0 Resin 3D printer is easy to set up and comes fully assembled, so you don't need spend hours putting them together from scratch. The printer supports CHITUBOX and VoxelPrint slicing software, so you'll have easy access to common features for users, especially for beginners. The LCD screen technology behind Voxelab Proxima relies on high-resolution LCD screen and light to solidify photosensitive liquid resin. The printer features a powerful Light Source, which eliminates the need for a heated build platform, allowing for faster printing speeds and eliminating the need for a post-processing cure step. The printer supports XY resolutions of 47 microns, making intricate details look crisp, not only eliminating the printing layer line but also printing speed improved by 50%, noticeably better than most FDM 3D printers. The printer's LCD screen has a resolution of 2K, which brings you the 2K resolution of 2560 x 1620, high precision manifests the beauty of details. The printer's printing size is 130*80*155mm. If your primary objective is surface finish and accuracy on fine features, this budget LCD 3D machine is a great choice. And we are also providing affordable original LCD screen for replacement.