Until the ELEGOO Saturn arrived on the market, medium to large resin 3D prints were out of reach for most hobbyists due to their high prices. Equipped with a large 4k monochrome LCD panel for quick and high-quality printing and an absurdly low price tag of $499, the Saturn quickly became the 3D printing industry’s equivalent of the 2020-2021 graphics card shortage. However, users not requiring the larger print volume of the Saturn will quickly find themselves disappointed in Saturn’s increased resin consumption and steeper learning curve due to the much larger build volume. For those users, we would recommend Saturn’s smaller brother, the ELEGOO Mars 2 Pro. For users looking for a high-quality, medium format resin 3D printer, we would happily recommend the ELEGOO Saturn if you can find one in stock. Anycubic’s Mono X and EPAX E10 are viable alternatives as they are virtually the same machine except for higher price tags.
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Most people would agree that Resin 3D printers outclassed FDM 3D printers with their ability to resolve the smallest details in prints. However, where FDM 3D printers have an advantage is by having build volumes of around 200mm^3, compared to resin printers with build volumes of around 150mm. This allows FDM 3D printers to produce larger prints, which can be restrictive with resin printers.
Companies like Peopoly attempted to address this gap in the market with their Phenom line; however, with a price tag upwards of $1,000, it was out of reach for most hobbyists. In 2020, ELEGOO announced the release of its ELEGOO Saturn resin 3D printer, equipped with a larger build volume and a 4K monochromatic LCD screen, and priced at a very reasonable $499. This quickly became a top seller and has become difficult to find in stock at any of the major retailers.
After the success of ELEGOO’s Saturn printer, competitors began producing their own mid-sized affordable resin printers to meet demand. The Anycubic Mono X, EPAX E10 and Phrozen Sonic Mighty have now all come out with a larger build volume and monochromatic LCD, albeit at a higher price tag of around $600. Due to its lower price tag and the hype surrounding the ELEGOO Saturn, it remains the first choice when looking at affordable resin printers that can produce larger models.
In this ELEGOO Saturn resin 3D printer review, we’ll take a deep dive into whether the Saturn should be considered the first choice when looking for mid-sized resin printer recommendations.
When looking for a 3D printer, you should never negotiate on print quality as that’s one of the main reasons you are pursuing this hobby! To test the ELEGOO Saturn, we printed a house model and a robot figurine at the same time. On smaller printers, we would usually need to do 2 separate prints to finish; however, the ELEGOO Saturn allowed us to do both simultaneously. The results were great, but we saw a slight pixelation artifact on the robot figurine. Nothing too concerning, so we scored the printer a 9/10 for print quality.
Print quality isn’t the only thing to look out for. You want to make sure the printing experience is not compromised. For example, resin printers experience a great amount of suction force when the plate is lifted to the next position. ELEGOO does not have a system in place to reduce suction forces, and as a result, users may see their prints located near the centre of the build plate area more often than prints located on the edges. The Prusa SL1 attempted to reduce this by tilting the resin vat, which was somewhat successful. The Form 3 uses a laser unit to gently push the print to the next position. Hopefully, ELEGOO can come up with an innovative solution for future models. However, you can’t argue with the price since the ELEGOO Saturn is one of the cheapest mid-size resin printers. This results in amazing community support sections across the web, so you’ll always find a fellow enthusiast to troubleshoot with.
Overall, the cost-to-score ratio really makes this printer an excellent choice, especially for larger builds to counteract the suction shortcomings. However, due to today’s more advanced printers, we would also recommend the Anycubic Mono X, EPAX E10, and Phrozen Sonic Mighty.
Overall Score
Ranked #2 of 10
SLA Printers
Learn more about our 3D printer review methodology.
The ELEGOO Saturn is part of the medium-form-factor MSLA resin 3d printer specializing in large, highly detailed 3d prints. These types of printers are well known for their hefty size, ease of setting up and large community support.
We dedicated ourselves to subjecting the Saturn to multiple test printouts, placing it in difficult print environments, travelling to the ends of support groups, choosing models to print that have insane detail, measuring noise levels during entire prints, and more. To get a baseline, we compared it to its competitors, such as the EPAX E10, Anycubic Mono X and the Phrozen Sonic Mighty.
With resin printing continuously evolving at a breakneck pace, this is research that you would not want to miss. Selecting the wrong medium-form-factor MSLA resin printer can leave you with poor quality prints, little support, poor set up and large repair bills. We will make sure that your hard-earned dollars go towards the best printers and the best features.
Leveling The Bed
The ELEGOO Saturn comes fully assembled from the factory and ready to print straight from the box. The resin printer itself is well packaged with protective foam around the printer, build plate and resin vat. Users should make sure the resin vat and build plate are free from any particles of foam when beginning the setup process. The resin vat has a protective film that is difficult to see and must be removed; otherwise, prints will fail.
Leveling the build plate to the LCD is the one thing users need to do before printing with the ELEGOO Saturn. All other budget-friendly resin printers require the user to level the build plate before use. The ELEGOO Saturn’s leveling process is identical to the smaller ELEGOO Mars 2 Pro: there are two large hex screws that lock the build plate in place and must be tightened during the leveling process. Compared to previous generation printers, ELEGOO had a much better leveling system. However, many current generation resin printers feature 4 leveling screws for increased precision or a spring-loaded build plate to aid in plate leveling.
Resin printers are capable of extremely detailed prints that FDM prints cannot dream of competing with. The limit of how much detail a resin printer can resolve is determined by the resolution of the LCD screen used. The ELEGOO Saturn is equipped with a 4K LCD and can resolve details as small as 47um. This is the same great resolution found on smaller resin printers and allows the ELEGOO Saturn to resolve just about any detail that users would like to print.
We tested the Saturn in 3 major areas: the ability to resolve detailed models, z height consistency and consistent UV exposure across the whole build plate.
To test the ELEGOO Saturn’s ability to print detailed models, we had it print several figures, both large and small. When printing small details, the printer had absolutely no issues. Wanting to take advantage of the Saturn’s build volume, we chose to print both a house model and a robot figure simultaneously. On smaller printers, this would have taken 2 separate prints to complete; however, with the ELEGOO Saturn, we saved an enormous amount of time by printing both in one print. The results were typical of resin 3D printers: great quality and with a slight pixelation artifact found on the flat sections of the robot figure.
When testing the ELEGOO Saturn’s z consistency, we decided to push the resin printer by printing an Eiffel Tower 2x the scale that we normally would print at. While this consumed about 4x the amount of resin we typically would use, we were very pleased with the perfect Eiffel Tower that resulted.
Lastly, a series of detailed tiles were printed across the ELEGOO Saturn to test how evenly the UV light is distributed across the build plate. If the light distribution is uneven, then details on the edge will look different compared to the details in the middle. We noticed that tiles in the middle of the build plate were very slightly warped, not because of uneven UV light distribution but because of the suction force on the build plate.
The ELEGOO Saturn outputs excellent quality prints, and we consider it to be on par with every other monochrome LCD resin printer in its class
While the ELEGOO Saturn produces great prints, there are a few points we would like to address in regards to ELEGOO’s claim of print speeds and issues with its build size, as outlined below.
Print Speed
With the inclusion of the monochromatic LCD in the ELEGOO Saturn, print curing times have decreased from 6 seconds to 2 seconds. ELEGOO claims that its new monochromatic LCD lets the Saturn print up to 300% faster than the previous ELEGOO Mars Pro; however, print curing times were only a fraction of the time the printer needed to start the next layer. The majority of the time is taken by moving the build plate to its next position, making the actual speed increase closer to 30-50%.
Build Size Suction Force Issues
Resin prints experience a great amount of suction force when the build plate is lifted to the next position. The Prusa SL1 attempts to reduce this by tilting the resin vat, whereas the Form 3 uses the laser unit to gently push the print to the next position. ELEGOO does not have a system in place to reduce suction forces, and as a result, users may see that prints located near the center of the build plate break more often than prints located near the edges of the build plate.
Minimum Resin Levels
For resin printers to successfully complete a print, their resin vat must contain a minimum amount of resin that does not get consumed. As resin is much more expensive than filament, users must consider this when choosing to go with a resin 3D printer. With smaller resin printers, this isn’t too much of an issue as it only requires around 30mL to keep the resin vat at a minimum level. However, with larger resin printers, like with the ELEGOO Saturn, users must keep around 70mL of resin in the vat at all times, which can become costly.
Setting Up Prints
ELEGOO ships their Saturn printer with Chitubox slicer, an extremely popular 3rd party resin slicer. Chitubox has a number of features like model hollowing, hole generation and auto supports, all staples in the resin 3D printing market. The user interface is simple and easy to navigate, and Chitubox is one of our preferred slicers for resin 3D printing (alongside Lychee slicer).
Chitubox has preset profiles for the ELEGOO Saturn, which makes getting prints ready extremely easy, allowing users to be confident that Chitubox will slice 3D models for reliable resin 3D printing.
Users familiar with the Mars 2 Pro or EPAX’s line of printers will find the workflow of the Saturn identical to those smaller printers as it shares the exact same user interface. Menus are intuitive, and the text is large and easy to read.
Noise Levels
Unlike FDM printers, resin printers only have 1 stepper motor used to move the z-axis, making the Saturn relatively quiet while operating. The loudest components of the ELEGOO Saturn are the cooling and vent fans that run continuously. With the increased size and power of the Saturn resin printer, ELEGOO included additional fans to adequately cool the printer. As a result, the ELEGOO Saturn is slightly louder than its smaller counterparts, outputting around 43db of noise when idle and in motion.
At first glance, the ELEGOO Saturn appears to share many of the same qualities as the ELEGOO’s Mars 2 Pro resin printer. Most notably, it has the same metal base and red acrylic top design language as ELEGOO’s line of resin 3D printers. Users need to remove and store the acrylic top to access the build plate. We found this to be rather inconvenient to do in our small office. Some users may appreciate this feature since it grants them 360o access to the build plate. However, we prefer the doors found on the Peoploy Phenom.
For a larger resin printer, the ELEGOO Saturn commands a lot more space and weight than its smaller counterparts. The Saturn has overall dimensions of 280mm (l) x 240mm (w) x 450mm (h), and weighs in at 13kg with a build volume of 192mm (l) x 120mm (w) x 200mm (h). This build volume is an enormous step up from smaller resin printers, allowing you to fit nearly three of the ELEGOO Mars 2 Pro’s build plates in the same space as the Saturn’s one build plate.
The ELEGOO Saturn shares a similar design language with its competitors, such as the Anycubic Mono, Phrozen Sonic Mighty and EPAX E10. All of these printers feel very sturdy with their large and heavy metal bases.
MSLA resin printers are considered to be the safer choice compared to filament-based FDM 3D printers. This is because resin printers need very little power to drive an LCD screen, UV light source and 1 stepper motor, whereas high-power heaters are needed to melt filament and heated beds in FDM printers. As a result, MSLA resin printers, such as the ELEGOO Saturn, do not have the electrification or fire risks associated with FDM 3D printers.
Resin Health Concerns
Regarding health concerns, some risks are involved when dealing with 405nm UV resin. For example, 405nm UV resin is extremely toxic if ingested and can cause severe allergic reactions when it comes in contact with exposed skin. When handling, there should be several precautions taken. The ELEGOO Saturn does try to mitigate the risks involved with resin 3D printing in a few ways.
When handling resin, nitrile gloves should always be worn. ELEGOO ships their resin printers with a few extra pairs of disposable gloves alongside a couple of face masks to help reduce fume exposure. Users should never operate without wearing nitrile gloves when dealing with any resin 3D printer.
Another consideration is the 50w UV light source that has the potential to harm eyes if looked at without safety glasses on. The acrylic top of the ELEGOO Saturn is tinted red to prevent UV light exposure. This serves as a double shield to prevent UV light from the environment from reaching the UV-sensitive resin within. It should be noted that the ELEGOO Saturn will continue operation even if the acrylic top is removed.
Finding Replacement Parts
In resin 3D printing, the LCD and FEP sheet in the resin vat need to be replaced periodically. A major advantage the monochrome LCDs have over older RGB screens is their vastly longer lifespans. Monochrome LCDs are rated for 2,000 hours compared to RGB’s at 400 hours, resulting in far fewer times the ELEGOO Saturn needs to go offline for maintenance. Unfortunately, because monochrome LCDs are a newer printer technology, replacement screens are hard to come by. As a result, ELEGOO currently does not offer any replacement screens for the Saturn.
Accessing the Control Board
Since there are very few moving parts on the ELEGOO Saturn, opening up the resin printer should be a rare occurrence. However, if the user needs to access the control board or any other internal components, it can be done by removing a few screws on the base and side of the machine, which removes the bottom and sides of the printer. This exposes the control board and other electronics, which provides users with a huge amount of room to navigate around the board. Users familiar with the ELEGOO Mars and Mars Pro will find the process of accessing the control board identical on the Saturn.
8.9” Inch Monochrome LCD
The latest generation of resin 3D printers, like the ELEGOO Saturn, set themselves apart with their monochromatic LCD panel. It stands out from the older RGB LCD panels found in older models by removing the red and green subpixels and leaving the blue subpixels. This results in 3x the light transmission from the UV light source to the resin. Curing times are reduced from around 6 seconds per layer to 2 seconds per layer for most standard resins.
Its larger size comes with a much higher 4k resolution. Compared to the 2k resolution found in smaller resin printers, this allows the ELEGOO Saturn to print with a much larger build plate while maintaining the same 47um resolution found on smaller printers.
Dual Linear Rails
The ELEGOO Saturn features dual linear rails on the z-axis for increased stability compared to the ELEGOO Mars 2 Pro’s 1 linear rail, as ELEGOO maintains that the much larger build plate benefits from having 2 linear rails to stabilize z movement.
Ethernet Jack
The ELEGOO Saturn is equipped with an ethernet jack for remote printing and monitoring. At the time of writing this review, ELEGOO has yet to take advantage of this feature and incorporate it into its software.
The ELEGOO Saturn enjoys a large community following due to its popularity as the cheapest mid-size resin 3D printer. Users can get information about issues in various places such as forums, Facebook groups and subreddits. Some of them include:
Facebook: ELEGOO Saturn
Reddit: ELEGOO Saturn Reddit
If you’re looking for an affordable resin printer that can print larger objects, rivalling what FDM printers could produce, the ELEGOO Saturn is an excellent choice. The Saturn can produce excellent quality prints at sizes previously unavailable to hobbyists. However, supply issues have resulted in these resin printers being rare to find at retail prices.
Due to the suction force issues and the minimum level of resin needed, we would only recommend the ELEGOO Saturn to users who could take advantage of its much larger build volume. ELEGOO’s smaller Mars 2 Pro offers the same feature set as the ELEGOO Saturn, just with a smaller build volume.
While we would highly recommend the ELEGOO Saturn to users looking for a mid-size resin printer, due to its low availability and the same great print quality found on competitive machines, we would also recommend the Anycubic Mono X, EPAX E10 and Phrozen Sonic Mighty.
Disclaimer
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Sources
1. Elegoo.com, “Elegoo, INC.” Accessed July 26, 2022.
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