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There are many voids that the Creality Ender 2 Pro fills. It’s an excellent first printer for families looking to increase their STEM literacy without going over budget. Weekend enthusiasts may easily transport it from table to closet because of its lightweight and grip on top. Additionally, its small footprint makes it perfect for creators who want to use a second printer but don’t have a lot of room.
The Prusa MINI+, which is on our list of best 3D printers due to its outstanding quality and small size, costs less than half as much as the Creality Ender 2 Pro, which retails for $169 but is sometimes on sale for less. It also offers high-quality printouts while having only approximately half the functionality.
The Ender 2 Pro is part of the same ecosystem as its bigger brother printer, the Ender 3 Pro, which allows for a variety of future upgrades and alterations. Third-party sellers have improved hot ends, extruders, Bowden tubes, nozzles, and even auto-leveling modules that are available for purchase.
Some users might have trouble with the small print area (165 x 165 x 180 mm). It can print a lot of toys and useful things, but if you want to make costume accessories and props, you won’t get very far. For just $70 more, you can buy an Ender 3 Pro with a bigger build space and the same basic functions.
Creality Ender 2 Pro review: Design
The X gantry of the Ender 2 Pro is balanced off a single Z axis thanks to its small cantilever design. The entire printer weighs only 10 pounds and can be picked up using the top handle. Although the cheap printer’s frame is composed of aluminum extrusions identical to those found on larger Creality machines, its base is plastic. Four bolts secure the Z axis in place, and a strong bracket reinforces it to prevent wobbling.
To cushion the top of the Z rod from impacts, the handle’s back loops around it. The base accommodates the motherboard, power supply, and a useful tool drawer. The Ender 2 Pro has a soft magnetic bed surface that simplifies removing prints and belt tensioners for quick adjustments. It is quieter than other low-cost machines thanks to enhanced silent stepper drivers; all you’ll hear are the fans’ whirring.
Creality Ender 2 Pro review: Print Quality
The Creality Ender 2 Pro together. I utilized the earlier Creality Ender 2 option because a PRO machine cura slicer profile wasn’t available yet. Editing the more recent print volume was necessary, and 1.75mm filament diameter had to be used. The developed default profiles underwent examination and were found to be typical of Creality 3D printers. At 8mm/s, jerk is enabled.
I made my customary adjustments to the Cura slicer profile starting with the original Creality Ender 2 profile. Despite the shorter bowden tube, it is necessary to use retraction lengths and rates comparable to those of Creality Ender 3 size machines. Even without conducting any machine calibrations or material adjustments, I was able to print high-quality figures after making only a few little changes. You can buy this 3D printer from its official website.
Creality Ender 2 Pro review: Software and Settings
The Creality Ender 2 Pro comes with a copy of Creality Slicer 4.8.0. You can also use the popular software packages PrusaSlicer and Cura, which you can download for free. Because the Ender 2 Pro does not yet have a profile for the latest version of Cura, you must load the older Ender 2 profile and increase the bed size to 165 x 165 x 180. (4.13.1). The truth is that PrusaSlicer’s Ender 2 Pro profile for this printer works better than either Creality’s or Cura’s software.
Creality Ender 2 Pro review: Features
Marlin 2.0.6.3 is already on the printer, but several firmware features are turned off. I don’t know why, for example, the option to help level corners is off. This feature would make it easier to level the bed by moving the print head automatically to each corner of the bed.
You could turn on a lot more Marlin features, like the one I mentioned before where the filament changes, depending on your screen type. There aren’t enough small, cheap changes that could make a big difference.
Creality Ender 2 Pro review: Performance
During my testing, this hotend didn’t do very well, and I think that’s because the heat break wasn’t very good at transferring heat. If the heat break gets too hot, the filament starts to soften before it gets to the heat block, which can cause inconsistent extrusion and even blockages. I haven’t run into any clogs yet, but you can see what I’m talking about in the prints section.
The beautiful printhead cover goes over the 4010 radial fan to the right of the hotend. Given how fast this printer prints and how big its prints are, this fan is probably enough, but there is room for two fans inside the shroud. If an extra fan had been included, the price of the printer would have gone up by one or two dollars, but the part cooling would have been much better.
Creality Ender 2 Pro review: Final Words
Even though I like small 3D printers, I don’t like the Ender 2 Pro very much. It is a big step up from the old Ender 2, but more popular models like the Prusa Mini and the Kingroon KP3S are better because they have more features and make better prints. The Ender 2 Pro is still a good printer, but not at the price it’s being sold for right now. Most online stores shouldn’t be charging more than $200 for this printer and its hardware, considering how well it works.
For about the same price, you could buy a KP3S, which has linear rails and a geared direct drive extruder. If you want to save money and print on a larger surface, the Artillery Hornet may be one of the best budget FDM 3D printers you can buy. If you’re lucky, you might even be able to find an Artillery Genius for less than $200.
Creality Ender 2 Pro Ratings