3D Printers are getting more common today with the addition of new companies and more people taking interest in the technology. They are also getting cheaper as well such as the popular machine Creality Ender 3 Pro Vs Ender 3 V2 so anyone can jumpstart into the hobby. These printers are a great start without the hefty price and they are also easy to use or upgrade later. If you wonder which fits you the best, see below about their differences.
In this article, we are going to give you information about:
- What are the Difference Between FDM and SLA Printers
- What are Creality Ender 3 Pro and Ender 3 V2
- What Creality Ender 3 Pro and Ender 3 V2 Look Like
- How are the Electronic Board in Creality Ender 3 Pro and Ender 3 V2
- How are the Hot Bed in Creality Ender 3 Pro and Ender 3 V2
- How are the Display in Creality Ender 3 Pro and Ender 3 V2
- How are the Print Quality of Creality Ender 3 Pro and Ender 3 V2
- Creality Ender 3 Pro Vs Ender 3 V2
FDM and SLA 3D Printers
Printer is a very useful piece of equipment or tool to let you transform a digital file into a real life object that quality can be altered. Digital files are easy to make on your computer with compatible software and with how our computer is getting smarter as well as how the demand for more complex design is rising, they are going to be more capable in the future. Today, not only digital document files, they are also capable of printing a three-dimensional object.
| Creality Ender 3 Pro | Ender 3 V2 | |
|---|---|---|
  |   |
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| Product Dimensions | 21 x 15 x 8 inches | 22 x 16 x 9 inches |
| Shipping Weight | 21.6 pounds | 20.8 pounds |
| Best offer | Check price | Check price |
3D printing is a very interesting hobby to jump into if you have been into modeling because now we can turn the design into a real item just by using the printer. They are also great for prototyping before we turn the design into a real product and for other purposes be it just a hobby or for professional application. If you are also interested to have one, make sure to know the difference between each technology first as not all are best for the same purposes.
FDM 3D Printer
This is probably the most common type of machine you will be seeing often at shows or in tons of videos about 3D printing on the internet. This type of machine is short of Fused Deposition Modeling and as the name suggests, they are using a strand of material which in this case is thermoplastic. This is then deposited in layers to create an object based on the design you have fed the machine with. This machine uses an extruder to dispense hot plastic during printing.
Due to the nature of the machine and technology, an FDM is great for home printing since they tend to be very affordable while being relatively easy to learn and use, moreover, the filament is cheap as well as ranging widely in options. In the past FDM was not very precise hence they are known to create less details but nowadays machines are evolving and they are getting better too.
SLA 3D Printing
This is the short of Stereolithography Apparatus and the same to FDM, it is an additive method as well for creating a model layer by layer. What’s different is this type of 3D printer is using curable photopolymer which is typically liquid resin. This liquid material is hardened by applying focused light or UV light that is known as Curing and instead of building the model on the ”top” of the platform, this machine holds the platform at the top and prints your model at the bottom while moving upward after each layer.
The strength of SLA printers is their detailed results since they are known to create pretty incredible details. In addition, the materials that can be used are varying greatly in qualities hence allows creators to decide their model’s rigidness which makes it ideal when used in practical application.
About Creality Ender 3 Pro and Ender 3 V2
After deciding what type of machine to go for, now is the time to see what the market has to offer because you can find so many of them today. While the amount itself is not as many as regular paper printers, it is getting quite a lot with more people and companies joining the market. If you are here then it means FDM printer is what caught your attention and for this technology, the options are probably hundreds already from different brands, models, and price ranges.
However, there are also few names that are more prominent among others and one of them is Creality. We are sure you have heard this name before because they are very popular and chances are in every list of recommended FDM, we can find at least one of their machines. They are a great start to shop from because many of their models are made for beginners who are also aiming to get their printer on a very low cost yet, stay reliable for a long time.
For those who plan to spend about $200 to $300 for this machine, you may want to check Creality Ender 3 Pro and Ender 3 V2 which are very similar to each other. These printers are based on the bestselling Ender 3 that we have talked about previously in Creality Ender 3 Pro Vs Ender 3 here. The original printer is already a great option and many have satisfied using them for quite some time but, it doesn’t mean the printer is perfect.
Creality Ender 3 Pro and Ender 3 V2 are meant to improve or upgrade the reliability and overall quality of the original printer but in our opinion they are not going to make your machine like night and day, in case you already have the Ender 3. The best thing is they come with improved parts or better design which adds convenience or safety in general yet, for printing quality we do think they are just about the same to each other.
Creality Ender 3 Pro and Ender 3 V2 Design
Now let’s jump into the machine first and as you can see from the sample picture above, both of them are identical to each other. These two upgrades are still using the same design of two pillars holding its printer hothead moving in X and Y axis. Unlike many more expensive models such as Markerboard Replicator, they are not coming with a real enclosure. These are bare machines so you may want to place it further away from other objects just to keep the printing materials not dirtying your other gears.
The prominent difference in our opinion is where they put the power board itself because in the original Ender 3, this is placed next to one of its pillars; the same to Ender 3 Pro but the latter is using the named brand now. On the Ender 3 V2, this machine power board is placed in a real housing below the hot bed which makes everything neater and away from your sight. In addition, the hot head cover is now plastic instead of metal.
Creality Ender 3 Pro and Ender 3 V2 Electronic Board
Moving further, opening these printers will also tell you that the new Ender 3 V2 is different from the two predecessors as it also comes with a new board. This is a major difference because the Pro version doesn’t upgrade the electronic board. This 32-bit board with more memory is offering features that are also not available in the previous models. These features are adjustable acceleration, jerk, and adjustable retraction speed up to 50ms instead of 25 on the previous machines. In addition, we also have a plug for BL touch including for a filament run-out sensor.
Creality Ender 3 Pro and Ender 3 V2 Hot Bed
The next difference is on the printing hot bead and if you have the original Ender 3, it will be different from these Creality Ender 3 Pro and Ender 3 V2 because the former has a magnetic bed plate while now your V2 has a glass bed plate. It doesn’t mean the former is bad in any way but the magnetic field requires the temperature to be limited in order to maintain longevity which now is not a problem anymore.
Creality Ender 3 Pro and Ender 3 V2 Display
Another prominent difference between these printers is their display because as you can see, they are very different. Ender 3 Pro still has the same monitor of original Ender 3 but the V2 now has a bigger screen. It now has icons and is easier for your eyes due to the size. We hoped it was a touch screen but unfortunately it is still using the same operation method of rotating knob and push button so the user of the original machine can get familiar almost instantly.
Creality Ender 3 Pro and Ender 3 V2 Print Quality
The last part we want to mention is their performance or print quality but as we have mentioned above, both Creality Ender 3 Pro and Ender 3 V2 are pretty much the same. Ender 3 is very popular because of their low price point and good printing quality so this is what you can find in the new machines as well. Side by side we personally can’t see the difference in quality between models printed in Pro and V2 machines as they look the same.
The printed models are amazing and they turn out really well too. You can get pretty much details using these FDM printers but what impressive for the price point is they don’t create prominent lines on the object and rather than the printer, we do think you can get much better result depending on the material itself as many can give a pretty impressive printers even with affordable models like these two.
Creality Ender 3 Pro Vs Ender 3 V2
Being close brothers surely made these machines pretty much the same to each other. Based on the performance itself they are on par with each other and in our opinion what really set them apart is how they put the board inside or enclosed as well as the new electronic board which brings BL port and filament run-out sensor for upgradeability as well as more features that we can access from the monitor.
Conclusion
There is no bad option between the two so you can pick just any of them but they are also different. If we have to choose one however, the price gap is for an electronic board and in comparison we personally prefer the Ender 3 V2 for its better board.