It’s a head to head challenge…
Hey guys, For a few weeks now you’ve seen me thoroughly
enjoying myself printing with both the new Anycubic Photon Ultra and the even newer Phrozen
Sonic Mini 8K.
And quite rightly you’ve been asking me to compare the two… and that’s not an
easy thing for me to do.
Now I only have one child, but if I had two, this would be like choosing between them.
Should I favour the tall, handsome, athletic, intelligent, humorous and gregarious offspring,
or should I choose the one that takes after my wife?
So let’s do this comparison one feature at a time and see where we end up.
The size difference is obvious.
The Ultra is dinky and is dwarfed by the slightly above average Mini 8K.
This physical magnitude means an obvious difference in print build size, giving a clear advantage
to the Mini 8K.
Moreover, this is an actual disadvantage to the Ultra as not every pre-supported model
you may have will fit upon its tiny plate.
The display screen on the Ultra is equally dinky which was a pain for my massive digits.
The Phrozen display screen however, was again typically average and not a problem to use.
The Mini 8K has very sturdy dual linear rails, which should give us plenty of print stability
with no nasty Z Wobble.
The Ultra, by contrast, has only a single rail.
I’ve seen no signs of wobble and it’s plenty sturdy enough, but maybe two is better
than one.
In use, the Ultra seems just as quick as the average Monochrome screen printer, with layer
height times between 1 and 3 seconds typically.
The Mini is a typical Monochrome, so there’s no winners or losers here.
The ultra has a checkered pattern on its plate which grips prints well.
The Mini 8K has a fancy laser pattern engraved upon it which for me acts like super glue.
I’ve genuinely struggled with its overactive grip and have not been shy telling Phrozen
this.
But they seem genuinely surprised and again I seem to stand alone amongst reviewers in
calling this issue out.
So maybe mine is a freak plate – some weird deviation of the norm.
But just is case it isn’t, don’t be too afraid.
A cheap and versatile fix is easily available in the form of a Flex plate, like the Wham
Bam system.
Now this is a tricky one.
The Phrozen Sonic Mini 8K has an astounding resolution of 22 microns, the best on the
market right now I think Phrozen are saying.
The Ultra, however, has a resolution of 80 microns.
Yes, I did say 80.
But this is a false comparison and, in many ways, should be ignored.
It’s like comparing petrol and electric powered vehicles.
Miles per gallon or KilloWatt Hours just don’t compare properly.
Only results like speed, horsepower and emissions can be fairly compared.
And that’s the case here… the Mini 8K is an LCD printer, whilst the Ultra is a DLP.
These are two very different technologies.
In a nutshell, when LCDs focus light on to single pixel, it creates shadows and blurs
around the edges.
DLPs use projectors and micro mirrors to focus light, which is sharper, without shadows and
blurring.
So in principle, DLPs should produce sharper detail than LCDs.
And the projectors are another bonus of DLP technology.
Anycubic anticipate a lifespan of 20,000 hours from their Ultra.
LCD Monochromes, however, are typically expected to live around 2,000 hours.
That’s a tenfold advantage to the DLP.
A by-product of this is efficiency.
DLPs tend to use less power than LCDs and are therefore more energy efficient.
One final bonus of DLPs is resins.
DLP technology is prolific in industry, where very expensive 3D printers are commonplace.
This means that speciality resins specifically produced for industry are now available for
use in the home thanks to the Ultra.
So that there’d be no homefield advantage, I wanted an independent resin.
For a while now I’ve wanted to try ZMud which I’ve done my best to dial in on both
printers.
Now here guys, you and I may have a difference of opinion.
The main problem here is that at this level, we’re not judging the prints, you’re judging
my photography skills, which are very much in their infancy.
In the hand and to the naked eye, I would happily state that the results are pretty
close… but with the Ultra just pipping the Mini 8K to the post.
The problem for you is that I’ve invested in better photography equipment, and this
shows close-ups WAY more magnified than the eye can manage, and when viewed that way,
the Ultra looks almost like an FDM print.
There’s no antialiasing with either printing, but the Phrozen does appear to have smoother
prints.
But I would argue it’s that smoothness is all those shadows and blurs, and that loses
detail and definition when the prints are held in the hand.
I actually believe that the stepped appearance of the Ultra prints are proof of higher definition.
So argue with me if you like, I’ll just ignore you.
Here and now, on my printers, in my home, in my hand, the Ultra is just slightly better.
But it is a close thing.
So which is best?
Which printer should you buy?
Well as always that’s up to you.
I genuinely believe that the Ultra represents the future and that we’ll see more home-level
DLPs very soon.
In fact, Elegoo have already announced they’re working on a Mars DLP.
No doubt other companies are also working hard too.
I firmly believe the print quality of the Ultra is better than the Mini 8K, but it’s
a very close race, literally a photo finish.
The problem, however, lies with the restrictions of the Ultra – and that’s print size.
If you want to print something like this bust, you’ll struggle to get all the pieces on
the build plate.
Personally I would hate to see the Ultra fail because it is a better printer than any home
grade LCD I’ve personally seen, and I would hate for us all the miss out on the Mark 2
Ultra.
And if printing small things in small quantities is your thing, then you really should buy
the Ultra and bless the world with more DLPs.
But if you’re needs are a little larger, the Mini 8K has a bigger print volume, is
a tad better quality and is almost as good at printing small and detailed as the Ultra.
And let me assure you, The Mini 8K is without doubt the best LCD printer I’ve personally
used.
So there you go guys… that’s my comparison.
It’s as fair and true as I can make it…
If you have any questions, as always feel free to drop me a line.
So take care guys, and thanks for watching.