Affordable printers such as Artillery Hornet Vs Ender 3 are ideal for any users who are just getting started as they are convenient and are great to train the skill or knowledge about 3D printing itself. They are not the most capable machine but should be working well for most people who are interested in 3D printing or need a machine to work on their project. Since the two are not identical, let’s see which of the two will be your better choice here.
In this comparison, we are going to talk about:
- How to Choose for a 3D Printer
- What are Artillery Hornet and Ender 3
- How are the Machine of Artillery Hornet and Ender 3
- How are the Capacity of Artillery Hornet and Ender 3
- How are the Building Bed in Artillery Hornet and Ender 3
- How are the Extruder in Artillery Hornet and Ender 3
- Artillery Hornet Vs Ender 3
Buying a 3D Printers
3D Printing is getting quite popular lately with how companies can make affordable machines because in the past only some can afford and use the technology but now, you can even build it as well using the parts that are offered by various manufacturers in a form of kit. They also offer upgradeability based on how you want the machine to perform. Most of us stick with the ready to use machines however as they are the more convenient but it is also because there are so many entry-level machines to rely on.
What you may want to consider is that not all machines are the same and each manufacturer usually has some to offer which used to appeal to the wider consumer base. Sometimes it is through the price point and sometimes it can be with the extensive features or just a simple working machine that performs well out of the box. For the basics, here are some that you may want to pay attention to on the machine whether it is an FDM or resin printers.
First is to think about what you are going to print or the size of the model. Just like regular paper printers, not all of them are going to print at an A3 paper size, the same with a 3D printer, not all will print larger objects. Consider the typical size of your models and choose the capacity wisely. In some machines they can be upgraded to improve the capacity but most of them are not meaning we are going to get stuck with the same capacity until you have a bigger machine.
Consider the printer type as well because usually we are torn between FDM and resin printers even though both are very reliable. But, in general FDM is more convenient because they are using plastic filament that is also easy to work with compared to liquid resin that requires you to clean and treat it with UV light after printing. However, the strength of resin printers is they can print at very thin layers than typical FDM which means they can produce smoother surfaces or finer details.
In addition, you may want to know what the machine is offering in the system, especially for FDM printers because there are so many add-ons we can use on this machine to improve the user experience. Our favorite is an automatic bed levelling and run out sensor or a reliable resume function when the power is cut. On some high-end machines like FlashForge Adventurer 3 Lite Vs Adventurer 3 we have lots of automation yet, the drawback is they are often quite costly despite the smaller build volume.
| Artillery Hornet | Ender 3 | |
|---|---|---|
  |   |
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| Product Dimensions | 22.9 x 19.9 x 10.4 inches | 8.7 x 8.7 x 9.8 inches |
| Shipping Weight | 22.09 Pounds | 17.64 Pounds |
| Best offer | Check price | Check price |
About Artillery Hornet and Ender 3
Now when you are ready to buy a new 3D printer, it is time to see what the market has to offer. There are more than plenty to choose from depending on what you want to have or how much to spend. The larger the build volume the pricier they get and the more advanced the features the more we have to pay as well. For beginners, if you are interested in the process of 3D printing there are lots of entry-level machines to consider.
For those who will use the machine for learning purposes or only focusing on the printed object, we recommend getting a convenient machine with lots of automation for the ease of use. If you are here then we assume that you are interested in the 3D printing process itself and for the enthusiasts, Artillery and Creality are two ideal options to consider. Creality is probably the most well-known for their affordable machines but Artillery also have interesting printers to consider.
On the entry-level, Artillery Hornet and Ender 3 are two promising options that are so similar but also different. After the market show a huge enthusiasm for Ender 3 which is one of the best affordable machines to start with, many other companies are trying the same formulation or tweaking it a little bit and among them we have Hornet which is probably like a successor of the Sidewinder X1 and Genius that were released earlier. Both are very attractive in the price point below $200.
You will also see so many similarities between the two as they come with the same medium build capacity and in general they are capable of performing the same good printing result yet, while we love the way Hornet is designed, it is also less convenient for some people as well as prone to some issues later. But, if you are willing to put in some work in the future, we do think both Artillery Hornet and Ender 3 are equally good options. Personally however, we still recommend the Ender 3 just for the ease of troubleshooting.
Artillery Hornet and Ender 3 Design
Now let’s see the machine first before deciding to check what they can offer. We do love how the Hornet looks, most people say it looks like Bumblebee and we agree that it is fancy, different from most entry-level machines out there. The built quality is nice, it is very sturdy and the great news is you can see the core all located at the bottom of the machine just by unscrewing the panel, all neatly placed for you. It also uses the small screen integrated on the machine’s base.
Now for the Ender 3 but in comparison it looks standard yet, we don’t have any issue with it, besides why they put the power out of the main housing because we can neatly use a taller base and tuck it below it. Similar to Hornet, it comes pre-assembled and a reading through the manual will help a lot for putting all of its parts together.
Artillery Hornet and Ender 3 Capacity
Moving further, let’s see what the Artillery Hornet and Ender 3 can offer starting from the build volume or capacity. Both machines are on the medium size which can produce 220 x 220 x 250 mm for the three axis so anything this size or smaller will be possible to get printed using the machines. Surprisingly you can extend the size of Ender 3 as they sold the extension kit as well depending on which seems to fit you such as the most popular that can expand the print size up to 400 x 400 mm on X and Y axis.
Artillery Hornet and Ender 3 Building Bed
Next is the building bed on both printers and as you can expect, they are a bit different. Ender 3 has this sticker at the top of the build plate which is similar to BuildTak which is secured using a paper clip and easily removed from the surface or you can use glass bed as well yet it is not included in the purchase. The Hornet is using a glass building bed and the bad news is that it is non-removable as the glass bed is glued to the aluminum heating plate below.
As for the performance, the Artillery Hornet and Ender 3 are very good at maintaining the adhesion through the repeated printing but there may be some issues as well in the future. For the Ender 3 we can just change the bed or use glue while the Hornet may require you to put more effort in removing the glass in case it will be changed with a magnetic bed or other print bed.
Artillery Hornet and Ender 3 Extruder
Lastly, we want to talk about the Bowden style tube especially on the Hornet printer. This is a very neat looking machine but the drawback is it will be much difficult to repair the hot end for example when removing jam because the tube is combined into one so the filament route to the hot end and all cables are all in the same tube meaning removing the filament also removing the cables.
Some users may want to upgrade the machine or change this system for further convenience in the future but out of the box the idea is making it difficult for troubleshooting compared to the more common system like Ender 3.
Artillery Hornet vs Ender 3
Both machines are very reliable and on test print they are also working well. We do think they are equally useful but also different because while Ender 3 is easily tweaked if you need to do it later, the Hornet makes some of them more difficult and when it comes to entry-level 3D printers, you will need machine that is easily repaired because chances are we will need to do it in the future.
Conclusion
The choice is all yours because for the printing result they are equally promising, not perfect but worthy to spend. However, we recommend choosing the Ender 3 because it is easier to troubleshoot as the system is more common and the machine is also cheaper today.