ELEGOO Saturn 3 MSLA 12K 3D Printer

TL;DR;
I’m finding following PROS of this printer:
– Faster than competitors out of box without any tuning and preparations. Just get it and print faster than competitor
– Precise time estimation in chitubox. it prints roughly the same time that you see in chitubox. No huge underestimations detected by me
– Overall good user experience with printing, cleaning, interacting. Might be better though. There is a room for user experience improvement.

For more impressions read below.

I have Anycubic M5S to compare, so my highlights based on comparison of Saturn 3 Ultra with Anycubic M5S.
Below you’ll find items that I like more in Saturn 3 Ultra rather than M5S having both on my table.

My impression about build quality – solid build and overall good engineering.

– It looks gorgeous. I keep it in enclosure box without top lid, but anyway, very nice look.
– Solid metal body has handy side effect for me. I can stick something magnetic to it. In my case, it’s chitu heater. Top surface where screen located is plastic
– Handy resin VAT. It has handles instead of cavities (like on Anycubic). Handles allow you hold VAT much easier/stronger and that means less spills and overall less mess. Absence of cavities means that there is no resin in cavities. Less time to clean the VAT
– Touch screen with good resolution and response. Good UI overall.
– WiFi without pain. Just connect to your spot right from Saturn 3 Ultra screen (I didn’t managed to have working WiFi on M5S). No flash required if you’re using chitubox. Small, but very nice improvement for me
– Ball screw. This is something affiliated by Elegoo as faster and smoother movement over the lead screw. That’s exactly it. When you manually manipulating Z-axis it moves faster and smoother than Anycubic M5S. I can clearly see that by my eyes. And have suspicion that this reflects on print times.
– Build plate surface. It more resistant to scratches, has two ribs in mount profile which keep plate in place (in the same place) when you releasing or tightening fixing nut at the top.
– USB charcoal filter. Well, it’s roughly has x3 bigger filter area than Anycubic and you have one in a box. Somebody could say “who cares, it’s a toy” and probably will be right, but it’s there for free and it has bigger filter surface. One drawback: it runs only when print starts. You can’t have it running if you’re not printing. So, enclosure post filtering is not possible with it.

Now, about speed.
Measurement been taken on stock profiles of Siraya Tech Emerald Blu for M5S and Saturn3 Ultra.
Those profiles have different speed settings. 240 mm/min lift&retract for M5S and 320 mm/min for Saturn 3 Ultra. Which is big difference. Maybe for a good reason maybe not.
Ameralabs exposure test in original size (~15mm tall). Conjure Rigid resin with Siraya tech Emerald Blu V2 stock profile for Elegoo Saturn 3 Ultra.
Chitubox estimated time as 52 min print. Actual time taken – 47 min.

The same model with the same resin but with Emerald Blu V2 profile for Anycubic M5s takes ~1h15m (01:14:55 or something like 01:14:5X). Сhitubox can’t estimate precisely or even close. Usually, actual print time is x1.5 or more from chitubox estimate.
Photon workshop gives precise estimations (which are ~ x1.5 bigger than chitubox), but I can’t get used to it.

Well, that’s 28 min difference on a print 15mm tall on stock profiles. Guess, promised 100-150mm per hour not achievable on resin with high viscosity, but Saturn 3 Ultra clearly faster than M5S out of box without any profile tuning or preparations.

Print quality
No surprise here. It’s good. On par with M5S when you’re looking on printed model with your eyes. I’m more functional prints guy rather than miniatures, so the only high-detail prints I see is calibration tests. And results look pretty much the same for my eyes.

Now, some drawbacks that I’ve noticed:
– You have update over wifi option in UI but it does not work (says that feature does not supported). Guess, they will add this in future firmware releases but at the moment of writing with 1.4.3 firmware it does not work.
– Elegoo fans producing more noise than Anycubic. It’s hard for me to say whether it louder or just more unpleasant frequencies, but difference noticeable. Honestly, I don’t care much about this since it sits in enclosure.
– Screen might be hard/not comfortable to read. Depends on how good your eyesight. I wish it could be bigger and/or easier to read.
– 4 stars “for beginners” because Anycubic autoleveling and pressure sensing that detects failed prints is hard to beat.

The printer is just not printing. At the bottom of the bed a small flat slab falls and then no printing takes place. It is impossible to contact Elegoo official to lodge a complaint

Funciona de maravilla, llego muy bien protegida y a tiempo, las impresiones son geniales y muy bien detalladas la verdad es que es una compra que no te arrepientes, se las recomiendo al 100%

Coming from a first gen Elegoo Mars, I was already pretty familiar with the resin printing process, using slicers, post curing, etc. So jumping into the SATURN was super easy and I was printing within 10 minutes of opening the box.

But, what about those totally new and looking for their first printer? You have one of the biggest build areas in the market and probably the biggest in the sub $500 market. Sure, you could get a smaller resin printer, but the flexibility and production it allows me is beyond compare. There is so much help online with Youtube videos, expert advice, printer forums, etc. There is not an issue you could have that you cannot get answered within minutes, if you look. Don’t be scared of resin printing. I use the low odor resin and the SATURN is so quiet and sealed that I hear almost nothing across the room and the only smell I get is when I remove the lid.

Those moving from a smaller machine will love its larger build plate and if not on a monochrome screen, the faster print/exposure times. Some settings need to be adjusted a bit different from a smaller printer, but a lot of help online about this. With your previous experience, you will be enjoying the benefits super quick – I just needed to get bigger rinse bins.

A super clean design and does not really take up much desk room. Packed superbly with great care. Some things I wish were done a bit different:
– Tempered glass cover on print screen. I put a piece of FEP on it as many have had some leaks that would spell trouble for an unprotected screen. So fairly easily fixed.
– On/Off switch on side of machine – I really am not crazy about reaching all the way around the back where the switch is located now- but, this is not a huge thing.
– Include a drip bracket so you can tilt the plate after printing to drain resin back into the vat. There are versions online and highly recommend this be your first print. So, super easy fix.

Some other things to watch for when unpacking and getting ready to print, and along the way:
– Be sure to remove the packing material and protectors carefully, per the instructions. It might be easy to leave the film on the bottom of the build plate, etc.
– Make sure the factory installed FEP film is super tight on the bottom of your vat. If it is loose you will need to tighten it; otherwise you will not be able to pull clear your prints that are in the middle of the plate and the print could fail.
– Be sure to buy a pack of FEP film in the correct size. You will need to replace at some point, but with care you will get miles from each one.
– Be sure to print with angled bases so prints are easily pried off the build plate. I like to only use the plastic scraper and as long as the support base is angled, you can easily get under and pry it right off with absolutely no scratching of the metal build plate.
– Be sure to have plenty of resin. The tank is big, so needs a lot to fill it up.

I am having an absolute blast with this machine and it is super quiet, (much more quiet than my Mars), super fast prints, (run a resin print plate test to get your best exposure times for the resin you use), great detailed prints and really nicely designed. The slicer, ChituBox, is also super easy and intuitive to learn. Elegoo is a class company and their customer service is great during one issue I had with my Mars, so this was another reason the SATURN was a no-brainer for me.