Hello everybody and welcome to another video. In today’s review,
we’ll be taking a closer look at the CR10 Smart PRO version by Creality and see what
this machine has to offer. Full disclaimer, I purchased this machine with my own money
in order to do this review, so everything you see here is based on my own opinion.
For those of you who follow this channel, you already know my opinion on the regular CR10 Smart
and this was quite a different experience mixed is with some familiar ones. To start things off,
I didn’t need to update the firmware in order to get the machine to function properly,
which is always a good sign. If you need to update your machine, however, make sure to
check out my other video since there’s quite a few things to be aware of when starting off. So
while the update process is still quite finicky, it isn’t required to get a functioning machine.
Unlike previous machines, the company has decided to stop providing the source code
and this will make future upgrades more difficult and can prevent newer
features from becoming available. Like most budget friendly machines,
most of these are notorious for not updating to the newer versions of marlin, which often limits
their usability and can sometimes present safety issues. I did test thermal runaway protection,
and I’m happy to report that the safeties are in place for the stock version of the firmware.
One thing I would have liked to see, however, is a specific warning of was triggered to make
it easier to troubleshoot later on. As is, there’s just a generic warning in place. Now,
if this warning triggers' when you first get your machine, I could be that you improperly installed
the connection to the hot end assembly. So you’ll first want to reseed it, making sure
that both ends are properly secured and held in place with both the clips and the bracket.
I’m happy to report that the automated bed levelling feature works quite well
on this machine out of the box. With the inclusion of the adjustment knobs,
is easily adjusted to ensure proper print adhesion. When you first get your machine,
you’ll first want to manually adjust the bed levelling prior to doing an automatic
one. Once completed, you can choose to include an auto bed levelling procedure in your G-Code
commands or do so when needed. As long as your print bed is levelled, you should only need
to do this periodically instead. I will have a separate video on how to level your print bed,
but for now I do have the downloadable PDF for this machine if you need it right away.
This machine like so many others on the market has tinned wired connections which should replaced
with ferrule one’s. This is unfortunately a pattern with most companies and I would like this
to be changed in the future since it does pose a safety risk. I already have a video going over
this process in more detail, so please feel free to check that out if you ensure what’s involved.
The hot end assembly has been updated to include the sprite extruder with the all metal upgrade.
With this addition, you can now print with higher temperature materials right out of the box instead
of having to add this feature yourself. There is still is a small Bowden tube connection
that connects to the feeder, which I prefer to replace with a Capricorn one, but I wouldn’t say
this is required unless you encounter issues. Both the entire Hot end is a custom design,
so unfortunately it’ll be difficult to purchase replacements from any other vendors at this time,
but it was designed so that key components can be easily swapped out. The remainder
of the hot end assembly is quite difficult to take apart since all the components have
been tightly integrated together. Luckily, it doesn’t seem like this should be needed
unless you were doing any modification. They seem to have learned from the Ender 3 S1,
and have added some additional support for the hot end assembly cable. The cable does still
do a twisting motion when moving around, which could cause it to wear over time, and there isn’t
currently a purchasable replacement cable. Some hot end connections use a non-standard connector,
which could make alternative replacement parts more difficult to find. The heat break is also
using a different length and threading size than what’s standard, which once again makes
it difficult to find alternative versions of these parts. The machine which I purchased showed signs
of pre-testing, so quality control may have improved in comparison to previous versions.
A great new feature is the integrated lighting which has been included with
the machine out of the box and is something which I didn’t think I would even need until
it was available. So far this has made it a lot easier to work on the machine
and turns off automatically when the machine is powered off. Alternatively, you can turn off the
light with the power switch as well, making this new feature quite convenient to use.
The bottom screws that attach the base of the machine are very easily striped,
so be very careful when putting them in or taking them out. I will be replacing those since I don’t
want to risk being unable to access the components of my machine. When you open up the machine,
you’ll see the integrated Creality Wifi Box which I of course disconnected,
so I could use the USB port to connect to my computer or raspberry pie directly. I
have a previous video going through this process if you intend to do the same.
The build plate has been upgraded to a flex build plate, and they’ve added some indentations to make
it easier to line it up during re-installation. I personally love this new feature because it makes
it so much faster to swap the build plate in and out. If you have a printing farm,
then having a series of build plates you swap out just became a lot faster with this machine.
This machine has a lot of new innovations, and I’m happy to see that they’ve been properly
implemented. With this however we are looking at a much higher price point especially when
comparing it to the regular CR 10 Smart. So is this worth the price? If you want something
that works out of the box, then this gets a solid recommendation, but I would also consider how some
of this has been locked down by the manufacturer. You see, without the source code files and easily
purchasable components, this machine does have a limited life span in comparison to other machines.
With a regular Ender 3 V2 for example, I can easily upgrade the hot end to whatever I feel
like using and this means that I can replace par ts from a larger amount of suppliers,
in turn increasing the lifespan of the machine. It’s for this reason that this machine gets a
7/10. It’s a good machine, but without additional support materials and the files it may not be as
repairable in the future unless you’ve created an account with the company and signed this
really shady contract. Ah, ya.... as a YouTuber, I’m not going to agree to that.