3D printers are getting more common today because they are cheaper and people are also more familiar with the technology. But, choosing the best machine can be very complicated as well due to the vast options such as ANYCUBIC Mega S Vs Ender 5. These FDM types are convenient and affordable including for the filament options but they are quite different as well in terms of design. Before deciding to choose one, do check what they can offer below to make sure we are getting the best machine.
In this article, we are going to give you information about:
- Are You Currently Looking for a 3D Printer
- What are ANYCUBIC Mega S and Ender 5
- What ANYCUBIC Mega S and Ender 5 Look Like
- How are the Specification of ANYCUBIC Mega S and Ender 5
- How are the Performance of ANYCUBIC Mega S and Ender 5
- What to Improve in ANYCUBIC Mega S and Ender 5
- ANYCUBIC Mega S Vs Ender 5
| Anycubic Mega S | Ender 5 | |
|---|---|---|
  |   |
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| Product Dimensions | 16.1 x 16 x 17.8 inches | 19.1 x 21.7 x 20.1 inches |
| Shipping Weight | 33 pounds | 29.9 pounds |
| Best offer | Check price | Check price |
Purchasing a 3D Printer
Being able to realize our idea is amazing because we can see how they look like in real life. In the past this is not something that we can do at home and only done by huge corporations to prototype their products or build their own products as well. Today, anyone can bring their digital design to an actual item because 3D printers are more available and getting cheaper as well. Depending on what you plan to print and what you are willing to put effort on, our choice may differ.
Building a 3D Printer
Sometimes we don’t have to buy something just to have the unit at home because as long as all components can be made manually or sold separately like when building a computer, we can also opt to build a 3D printer from scratch. Many enthusiasts have done this because they can put any type of component they want to get a machine to function as reliably as possible. Nowadays you can also buy 3D printer kits with tons of information on how to put them together on the internet.
In most cases building one can be very cost effective since they are in general cheaper to make but, it is also a hassle to do so, moreover, if you have never done it before since we need to read a lot and do trials and errors to get the best result. For those who don’t have the time, there are many affordable printers starting from around $200 in both common 3D printing styles.
3D Printing Types
The machines are vastly available but you have to choose a printing style first since there are also more than just one type of printing we use today. In the end-consumer market, the FDM or Fused Deposition Modeling is probably the most commonly used and as the name suggests, this technology is building the model using heating and extruding plastic which is stacked layer by layer; the machine examples are Creality Ender 3 Vs V2. The next is Stereolithography or often called resin 3D printing.
This technology instead of extruding plastic, is using photosensitive liquid or resin which is placed inside a vat that can be hardened by ultraviolet light beams. Unlike the FDM, chances are you won’t be able to see this printer on work because the model will be submerged in unhardened liquid resin before the printing is done. Another less common technology is SLS or Selective Laser Sintering that uses lasers to hardened powder to create the model but instead of home use, we can see them often in manufacturing facilities.
About ANYCUBIC Mega S and Ender 5
Now when you have decided whether to buy a prebuilt 3D printer or to make them yourself along with what type of printer to use, it is time to see what the market has to offer because there are so many of them out there. The amount is not as many as a regular paper printer but in recent years you can see more and more companies joining in the market together with their various models in two common printing styles.
If you are here then it means an FDM printer is what you look for and this technology is offered by tons of brands now form those we often heard to newcomers who are challenging the existing competitors. But, when talking about FDM printers, chances are you will instantly hear about ANYCUBIC and Creality as well because they are two prominent players in the market that have been the favorite and go-to of so many hobbyists alike, thanks to how good their products perform.
Different people may have different options and different preferences based on what they want from the machine but for those who want to create something that is slightly larger than what entry-level machines can offer, ANYCUBIC Mega S and Ender 5 are two amazing options to consider in the $200-$300 range. Both of them are good machines that have been used by so many enthusiasts and they seem to perform really well too including on how good the details we can get from these models.
The Ender has long been the go-to for many beginners because of their ease of use and good printing result but are also ideal for upgrade and the fact that Creality usually upgrade their machines after initial release by listening to their customer’s reviews make sure they can make better machines in the next batch. Ender 5 itself is dubbed by many as the best in its line and one of the reasons is it being very stable.
For the Mega S, this seems to be an upgrade over their original model or the i3 which was released earlier and now they do remove the “i” probably to separate the machine from Prusa but in a glance, it is very difficult for many to distinguish this machine from its predecessor despite supposed to be a better option.
ANYCUBIC Mega S and Ender 5 Design
Side by side both ANYCUBIC Mega S and Ender 5 are already very different to each other especially on the Ender 5 side because usually what you will get in an affordable 3D printer is a two rail system where the bed plate is staying in a fixed height while the extruder is moving from the bottom to build your model. In Ender 5, this machine is supported with a four metal or stainless frame with extruder moving in X and Y direction.
The height of this extruder is the same but what’s moving up and down is the bed plate itself so in terms of design or system these two are very different. Besides this difference they are in general similar , including where they put the unused filament roll and a built in housing for the mainboard. They also have a useful display in the machine to access some settings with Ender 5 positioning it outside the main unit and Mega S right on the mainboard housing.
ANYCUBIC Mega S and Ender 5 Specification
Moving further, let’s see what ANYCUBIC Mega S and Ender 5 can offer and as it has been mentioned above, these two can print a good volume despite the relatively small form factor. They can print at 8.2-inch by 8.2-inch by 8-inch compared to 8.6-inch by 8.6-inch by 11-inch so in general you can create a bigger item in your Ender machine. They also seem to have the same accuracy of 50 microns and similarly using typical filaments like TPU, PLA, ABS, HIPS, and Wood but the Mega S also listed to use Copper Containing and Gradient.
ANYCUBIC Mega S and Ender 5 Performance
Now it is time to see the performance and experience but overall, you don’t have to worry about their quality since they do work very well. In fact, if you have the Ender 3, we do think the type of experience will be the same with this Ender 5 but now you can build a taller model in comparison. The prominent difference is probably on the bed plate because Mega S has a glass plate instead of magnetic and while they are equally heated, some may prefer glass for the material.
We personally have no issue with the magnetic bed but since this plate will be moving during printing, it is necessary to keep them stable and when you add weight to it like with glass plate, due to only being supported on one side it may cause some wobble hence, it is probably necessary to upgrade the support in this part. In terms of printing quality however, they are amazing, they are neat and with good details, depending on complexity and the material we use.
ANYCUBIC Mega S and Ender 5 Disadvantages
On the cons part, with Mega S we almost have nothing to complaint about but some people seems to upgrade their filament holder because the one comes in the unit is very small to hold a regular roll and you may want to do extruder calibration first when receiving it just to make sure everything will goes well for your first test print. With Ender 5, sometimes the filament tube will get caught in the protruding X/Y moving parts thus, we need to arrange it properly to prevent any printing issue.
ANYCUBIC Mega S Vs Ender 5
These machines are amazing when it comes to printing results because you will get the same quality prints with just any of them and we do think the slicer software as well as material will also play a role in deciding how the final model will look like. In comparison, Ender 5 is significantly taller for build volume while using a different system in which the bed plate is also moving but Mega S gives a glass bed plate and in addition also includes one extra hot end for replacement.
Conclusion
You can go well with any of them because these printers are amazing for the quality yet, considering the price we personally like Mega S better because this model is very affordable and working really well at about $100 cheaper which is why we highly recommend this one in comparison to Ender 5.