The Anycubic Photon Mono SE… let’s give it a review.
Hey guys. Anycubic have been kind enough to send me their Mono SE and when it comes to styling,
it’s already won me over. It arrived well packaged and fully assembled
except for the build plate and this door knob. The clear panels are UV resistant clear yellow,
but they are fitted with removable opaque panels which prevent unwanted UV curing which
can ruin prints. Personally I like this look, so I’ll be keeping them in place.
I’ve never personally favoured hinged covers as I’ll explain further in a moment, but
many love them, and original Photon owners will love this – a return to a metal exterior.
Whilst obviously flexible, the door is nowhere near as flimsy as the Photon S’s plastic
cover. Inside we see a tribute to quality metallic
engineering. There’s the drive screw, nicely distanced dual linear rails for increased
stability, and I’m guessing these are carbon air filters to help reduce resin odours.
Of course the big news inside is the new 2K monochrome screen which also hides a new lighting
matrix that, Anycubic tell me, allows for a more uniform exposure and better heat dissipation.
What it should mean is a nice reduction is printing time.
I’m delighted to see both the power switch and the usb port on the right side of the
printer which is my preferred location and a much more user convenient.
The rear holds a vented access panel, should maintenance ever be an issue, and the power
supply socket. I’m also pleased to see the WIFI antenna situated on here on the outside.
In my review of the Mono X, I mentioned my disappointment at a location too close to
resin spills for comfort, but here on the SE, that’s not a problem.
So if you hadn’t guessed, that means the Mono SE has WIFI capabilities which I won’t
cover in any detail in this video as it’s exactly the same phone App used on the Mono
X. So look to that video if you need any WIFI help.
But just as with the Mono X, it would be nice to see an ethernet port here, giving folks
the option of WIFI or a network cable. The left side of the printer holds yet another
maintenance access panel… let’s hope Anycubic aren’t trying to tell us something.
The build plate is well engineered and a quick check with a steel edge shows me it’s perfectly
flat. The plate is loosened by a single grub screw
which is okay, but I’d prefer a larger hex bolt like Elegoo seem to have switched to,
as these are less fiddly. The resin tray is again made of metal, and
I’m delighted to see a Max Level indicator now in place. This is something I was critical
of in my Photon S review, so it’s great to see Anycubic listening to their customers.
The menu is available via this 3.5inch colour touch screen with a user interface that has
the same large text we first saw on the Photon S and, as someone without the world’s best
eyesight, I love to see this… no pun intended. Nice big, clear buttons.
Levelling is the easy paper affair. Loosen the plate – and you’ll note I’m
doing outside of the enclosure, thanks to my meaty fingers - then screw it in place.
Place an ordinary piece of paper, or the one Anycubic provided, across the screen.
Press the home button. Once the plate has fully descended, roughly
straighten its position, then press lightly but firmly downwards to ensure it’s flat
against the screen, before tightening the fiddly grub screw.
And this folks is why I personally don’t favour hinged doors but prefer a fully removal
top. If you have the hands of a Japanese schoolgirl, you’ll be fine, but fitting my hands in
these tight spaces is a bit of a pain. When it’s done, simply click the Z=0 button
and levelling is finished. The levelling instructions together with a
pretty good User Manual can be found on the USB stick.
You’ll also find the test print - so let’s give that a go.
Anycubic have kindly sent me this Black Resin to try.
Now THAT’S why we want a Max Level indicator. Plate adhesion is excellent.
After a clean and UV cure, I like the print, but the resin leaves me underwhelmed. The
colour change give the print a patchy look. Actually after a few runs, the basket in my
Anycubic Wash and Cure seems to have attracted string-like deposits. It’s obviously the
resin rather than the printer that’s causing this.
Strange… Also on the USB stick is this, the RERF file
which stands for Resin Exposure Range Finder Now this an excellent idea. What Anycubic
have given us here is a way to fine tune the resin settings. It’s not the first time
I’ve seen this… there’s been similar projects available for the Photon on Github
for a while, but it’s great to see themselves Anycubic providing us with a useable file.
Unfortunately I don’t think it’s the best designed test I’ve seen. There’s 8 separate
areas which each have different levels of exposure and they’re marked with a number
to identify each area. The problem is they all have the number 5 on the top and their
proper number is hidden under this tab, which is frankly stupid.
The idea is to study the range of under and over exposed prints and chose a happy medium…
too much one way or the other will spoil the print.
It’s a great idea but it has issues… I tried to alter the range and for some reason
this just killed my file. It wouldn’t print at all. I needed to contact Anycubic and ask
for another copy. But I love the concept. So here’s an idea
Anycubic… why not incorporate this brilliant concept into the Photon Workshop. That way
it can be used on other Anycubic printers and we can test a wider range of resins.
I stuck with 1.5 seconds for this black resin. It seems to work well enough, but just for
the record, note that I don’t have the anti-aliasing feature turned on.
The standard AmeriLabs Town print is very impressive, if we ignore the patchy resin.
There’s some excellent definition here, though the clean break suggests I’ve knocked
off the top of the tower during cleaning. So let’s do some more test prints.
I wanted a nice Jewellery test piece and I found this excellent ring on Thingiverse that’s
packed with detail. To make life easy for my fellow resin-heads, I’ve remixed the
file a little, shaving down an few overhangs to prevent inclusions and adding a raft and
supports for ease. That means this ring file is ready to go. I’ve re-shared it on Thingiverse
along with my thanks to the original artist. Well, that looks rubbish. There’s actually
a nice print here but it’s hidden by the patchy black resin.
Ah… That’s better. Now we can see the skill
that went into this design together with a very sharp print. That’s definitely Jewellery
standard for my mind. my buddies at Archvillain Games and they’ve
shared this months Patron’s models with me. What a choice there are.
I went with these 32mm mini’s which again underwhelm thanks to the resin…
But not so much now. Very nice… Archvillain’s also produced this monster.
Look at that face… that’s a face only my late father-in-law could have loved…
After a little glue… …and then some grey primer… wow! He’s
amazing. I will say he’s not a very high detail print, but the Mono SE has done a good
job nonetheless. Many a model painter would be thrilled to have access to this.
So, what do I think of the Anycubic Photon Mono SE…
I like it. It’s a quality printer. It’s a very metallic construction with rigidity
that should lend itself to smooth, accurate prints, furthered no doubt by the dual linear
rails. The 2K Monochrome screen with new lighting
array should give us faster printing due to the reduction in resin exposure time and completing
a model of this complexity in a day, albeit a long day, is impressive and a big bonus
to printing fans. There’s carbon filters for those that suffer
the problem of pongs, and there’s clear attention to customer convenience when we
look at the switch and socket locations, together with the larger than average menu display.
Even the Max Level indicator and relocated WIFI antenna show a clear willingness to adapt
and improve, which is all to the credit of Anycubic.
The WIFI is a nice touch, but I still prefer hard wiring over Wifi and, genuinely, I prefer
a USB stick over an ethernet cable. You get no interruptions or loss of signal from a
USB stick. But an ethernet port would be a nice additional extra for those that don’t
favour wifi. The enclosure is too enclosed for my big hands.
However, I know some folks love the hinged tops so I won’t moan about it too much…
in fact I’ll defend their position with this…
Hey, Anycubic, look at the Phrozen Sonic 4K lid… that’s hinged, but it gives so much
more access to the interior. How about a similar design, eh?
And that’s about it. The Mono SE hasn’t really given me anything to grumble about.
It’s a quality printer without any real drawbacks that I can see.
However it’s not really a massive upgrade on the Photon S… in fact on paper they’re
pretty evenly matched, so unless speed and metal are of major importance to you, I wouldn’t
advise Photon S owners to jump ship and get this model. I don’t think there’s enough
of a difference to justify the spend. I really wish Anycubic had slipped in a 4K
Mono screen here, because that would have really made a difference. But I’ve no doubt
those boffins at Anycubic are already beavering away on that concept.
So, is the Mono SE a good printer capable of producing quality, good definition prints?
Yes, without a doubt. It deserves it’s place in the market and Anycubic fans won’t feel
let down at all. And that wraps this one up.
I hope you enjoyed this review guys. As always, If you have any questions or comments, feel
free to drop me a line. So that’s it for now. Take care and thanks
for watching.