The Elegoo Mars 4 DLP 3d resin printer – let’s give it a review. And whilst we’re at it,
we may as well compare it to the Anycubic D2. Hey guys,
For the best part of 2 years now, Anycubic has been the undisputed King of budget DLP printers,
bringing us initially the Ultra and then the D2, a printer I’ve not been
afraid to call my personal favourite. And whilst I’ve personally expected
to see many other manufacturers making DLPs, no one has… until very recently.
Yes, good old Elegoo has given us the first Anycubic alternative and they’ve
named it surprisingly, he says with all the sarcasm he can muster, the “Mars” 4 DLP.
Now whilst Elegoo’s Director of Product Names seems to have been in a coma for several years,
this hasn’t stopped the other departments putting together a very handsome machine.
It’s clear from the off that the Mars is a little bigger than the D2, but don’t let that fool you.
Whilst outer dimensions are on Elegoos side, in terms of print volume, the Mars is almost
identical to the D2, just a smidgen wider and deeper, but losing out on 15mm of height.
The Mars 4 build plate has a sand blasted finish and they can confidently boast that their knob is
larger than Anycubic’s, though there’s hardly any difference in the size of the two plates.
I do like Elegoos resin tray though. It’s much larger and more robust than the D2’s,
and that’s a theme we’ll see throughout this product.
Whilst Elegoo’s tray is large and metal, the D2’s plastic tray came under attack
from me and I even recommended replacing the self-destroying vat with a brand alternative.
The Mars tray fixes with easy-to-lose removable bolts and these will forever
be regarded as inferior to me, since I saw those delightful fixings on the Athena printer. However,
I’ll take these Mars fixings any day over those on the D2. Whilst they do remain in situ, it’s
necessary to slide the vat in place, and that can cause scratching on the FEP if care isn’t taken.
I once criticised Elegoo when I spotted a wobble on their Mars 3, but they’ve had the last laugh as
this support post is a beast. Beautifully strong and wide, it’s twice the size of the one on the
D2. Now whilst I’ve never seen the D2 wobble, the obvious added strength provided by this C section
post, along with the slightly wider linear rail, and the much more substantial Z Arm, screams out
loud that Elegoo have gone out of their way here to build something bigger and better than the D2.
Even the touch screen is larger, and whilst small in comparison to other printers,
it’s large enough to do the job and the User Interface is clear and simple to follow.
The power point, switch and USB port are found on the righthand side of both printers,
though Elegoo has positioned theirs closer to the front for easier access.
And talking of USB ports, the Mars has one on the top. This, of course,
is dedicated exclusively for use with a provided Elegoo air filter, something not found on the D2.
In fact Elegoo go one better by providing a vent port at the rear of the lid,
for external air venting, or for use with the forthcoming Mars Mate filtration system.
Beneath the vat we find, not a screen, but a projector, as that’s what makes this a DLP
printer. A projector and mirror focus UV light onto UV sensitive resin, unlike your typical LCD,
MSLA, etc, printers. In fact this focusing is considerably more accurate and where other types
of printer may have a fuzzy, unfocused area around each pixel, causing light bleeding and
therefore detracting from precision printing, DLPs are much more focused. This also explains
why DLPs are typically very expensive printers generally found in industry, and frankly Anycubic
and now Elegoo have achieved something amazing in bringing DLPs to the budget end of the market.
Now here, as best I can tell, there’s no difference between these two
printers as I believe they both use the use technology developed by Texas Instruments.
In terms of xy resolution this projector produces 50 microns and whilst that sounds
pretty unimpressive these days, you cannot compare this figure on equal terms to LCD printers as it’s
very different technology. I personally found that if anything, the Anycubic D2
printed better than the Phrozen mini 8K with it’s extremely impressive 22 microns of xy resolution.
And as it seems to be the same projector in the Mars DLP,
we can expect the same dazzling level of quality. For these prints I used Phrozen’s Aqua 8K resin
as it’s all I’d got, and it’s not a personal favourite if I’m honest.
I much prefer the Aqua 4K. But just look at this AmeraLabs
Town test print. It’s beautifully accurate. If you’re thinking it looks very stratified,
you’re correct, and that’s because you’re seeing more perfectly formed, sharper pixels.
If proof were needed, look how easy it is to see these numbers that typically blur on non-DLPs.
On the Open Source ring, the detail is again very sharp and if you’re hating this, remember this is
extremely magnified and in the hand, these prints look beautifully sharp and precise.
And if you don’t believe me, next time you watch TV,
get as close to the screen as you can, until you make out the fact that the
picture you see there is made up of tiny square pixels, just like these prints.
You can of course use Antialiasing to soften these edges.
Here I took the Mephisto head by Wicked 3D and printed it at .05 layer height with no
Antialiasing, and yes I dropped it, hence the damage on one side.
From hairline to chin this face is only about 23mm long, and it’s only as we
zoom in stupidly close that we start to see the sharpness and precision of the pixels.
This print was also .05 height but this time Antialiasing was turned up to max.
I think it’s fair to say that the pixels have softened, though the accuracy is still there.
This head was printed at .03 layer height, giving us 33 layers per mm,
and again antialiasing was used. The pores the designer included in the forehead are still there,
but everything else looks better again. For a miniature to print, I had a bit of
fun having a bash at designing this Orc. You can see him here at 50 and 30mm tall.
And again, this ring is my own design and you’ve probably seen it before.
So what do I think of the Mars 4 DLP? Well, I loved the Anycubic D2, and honestly
this is just Elegoo’s version of it using the same projector, so how can I not love this equally.
In terms of price, as I make this video, the Elegoo machine is $500 and the Anycubic is $449.
However, Elegoo are showing a $50 off discount code and prices change regularly, so I’ll place
links in the description to help you price check. But anyway, that pretty much mean these printers
are the same price or the Anycubic is a little less.
However, does that seem reasonable? Should the Mars be a tiny bit more expensive?
I’d have to say yes. Obviously with competition, the D2 price has come down,
but overall I think it’s fair to say you’re getting a more robust printer with the Mars.
The support posts and Z Arms are much thicker, designed for stability and longevity. The vat is
metal and won’t need to be replaced, like I was forced to do with the plastic version on the D2.
The menus screen is larger, the switch placement is more convenient,
and whilst these variations may seem trivial, they are nevertheless upgrades over the D2.
Both machines use less electricity thanks to the projector, and in both
cases this should last around 20,000 hours, around 10 times more than the typical LCD.
Yes, the D2 has 15mm more print height, but in terms of printing quality, from my
brief comparison with admittedly different resins, I don’t think there’s a difference.
My User Data surveys do seem to suggest, however, that Elegoo customers are more
likely to recommend that brand than Anycubic customers, though the data quantity is limited.
So would I recommend the Mars 4 DLP? Absolutely I would. It’s a very good printer.
But which of the two would I recommend? The Mars or the D2?
Well, if prices remain similar to what they currently are, then I think the Mars is a better
built machine and therefore a more sensible buy. However, if Anycubic drop their price further,
then I’d say to those looking to save a little cash that the D2 hasn’t let me down to date.
And that’s it for this review guys. Drop me a line if you have any questions.
Take care and thanks for watching.