The Elegoo Neptune 2 FDM 3d printer – let’s give it a BIT of a VERY honest review.
Hey guys, This stands a chance of being a short and
fairly unpopular video with some, but hey, I’ve got to be honest.
Several weeks back now Elegoo sent me their Neptune 2 FDM printer, free of charge, and
asked if I’d review it. At the same time they sent out Neptune 2’s to varies other
creators and YouTubers across the world which puts me in some quite flattering company.
Anyway, sending me this was highly unusual as they generally ask me first, and didn’t
this time. because of that oversight, I ended up with an FDM printer that I would have normally
declined to review – because I don’t really know much about FDM printing.
For that reason I sat back and let the other reviewers do their work, confident they’d
do a much better job than I ever could – and I’m sure on the whole that’s the case…
but… Well, this weekend I decided to take the printer
out of the box and give it a go, but my intension was NOT to review it. So the upcoming video
footage is patchy at best. You see, I didn’t have the best of times
setting it up and afterwards I did something I genuinely never do, I looked up the reviews
of some other YouTubers, mostly bigger and more popular channels than mine, to see what
the experts thought. Most of what they said was excellent, without
flaw, and no doubt packed with more knowledge than I could ever muster. But what they didn’t
say surprised and even shocked me. This is the Neptune 2 printer… and this
is the content of the box. The last FDM I put together was the Creality
CR10S which was a couple of years ago now and from memory, setup was much less involved.
One YouTuber claimed he was up and running within 15 minutes and frankly I think that’s
complete *******. If you’re the kind of guy that doesn’t enjoy assembly, if you
avoid flat-pack furniture, then don’t buy the printer.
Now I’ve got mates like that – clever guys, intelligent, good blokes, but when they
need something assembling, they tend to come to me. And here, assembly took me roughly
an hour. Now Elegoo are fantastic at giving us great
quality printers at rock bottom prices and everything here really feels the part… or
rather everything feels lots of parts. But look at this… trust me, that’s a flat
surface. Maybe I got a dud, but in the few reviews
I skimmed through, no one mentioned anything like this. It could really use the adjustable
feet we see on the Mars. Needless to say, the very first thing I did
was print a couple of opposing wedges to cure this wobble.
The other thing that got to me after assembly was this… that’s a very loose build plate.
Now things do come loose during transport and in fairness Elegoo they do mention this
in their instructions, and it can be easily cured, if you have the hands of a Japanese
Schoolgirl and the dexterity of a swiss clock maker.
Unfortunately I’ve got great big meaty fists. I wanted to film myself doing this, but the
gap was too small and it took me around 20 minutes just to adjust this. But finally,
the finished article should be wobble free and glide smoothly.
Fifteen minutes my XXXXX XXXX. Anyway, just a couple more gripes…
Firstly, go careful with these frames. They twist under the pressure of the fixing. So
apply the bolts loosely in the first instance, then go back and tighten these later.
Secondly, you have to fit the drive belt yourself and tension it. Well how much tension do I
need? A little? A lot? I aired on the side of loose, but when I did a test print, it
was a little off-sided. So I tensioned it by, I don’t know, a little bit…? And that
seemed to cure it. Which means, on the whole, a little bit of fine tuning might also be
needed. So after these scathing comments, I hate the
printer, right? Well actually, no, I don’t. It’s a typical
Elegoo. Once properly assembled, it prints like a dream. I’m no FDM expert, but even
I could manage to achieve some nice, precise prints.
And this semi-flexible surface, it’s brilliant. No glue, hairspray or masking tape needed
here. Everything sticks to this surface like, well, glue, hairspray and masking tape.
And being semi-flexible, you can bend it slightly to persuade the extremely stuck prints to
come off. The only problem left here is cleaning the
surface of leftovers, and quite how low this surface will last, I really don’t know.
But it prints well and sticks like stink so that’s a perfect combination for a basic
FDM printer. And it is basic, though it contains many of the features we’ve come to expect,
like filament detection and resumed printing. Basic is good and gets the job done and, incredibly,
Elegoo have done it again by selling it at very reasonable price - if you can get one,
as these things come in and out of stock stupidly quickly. This is possibly because a lot of
those influential channels have spoken so positively about them, as presumably their
versions were pre-assembled or wobble-free, but this sales success is probably far more
likely due to the fact that these are excellent and wonderfully affordable printers.
Yes, assembly is required and that doesn’t suit everyone, especially as the instructions
aren’t always helpful, and it will take you more than 15 minutes, unless Doctor Strange
is helping you out. And maybe yours, like mine, will have been kicked around by more
angry couriers than average, meaning fine adjustment is a must. But with that done,
you’ll have an excellent printer that cost less than the one your annoying show-off neighbour
bought last Christmas. For more information than I’m able to provide,
see the Elegoo website, though don’t believe everything you read there, and also seek those
major channels who actually know what they’re talking about.
Possibly Elegoo will never send me another printer and the wrath of influencer-loving
followers may fall upon me, but that’s my user’s viewpoint very honest semi-review
guys. I hope it prepares you for the genuine realities of this printer and reassures you
that the efforts are well worthwhile. So that’s it for this terribly filmed video
guys. Take care and thanks for watching.