Amazon.com: Customer reviews: ANYCUBIC Photon Mono M5s 12K Resin 3D Printer, with Smart Leveling-Free, 3X Faster Printing Speed, 10.1" Monochrome LCD Screen, Printing Size of 7.87" x 8.58" x 4.84" (HWD), Add The High-Speed Resin

No issues after one year, FEP is amazing

Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2024

I bought this to replace another resin printer of another brand that died. When replacing the FEP on this one, be aware that you place the FEP *and* its bracket, not just the FEP sheet. This makes replacements more expensive, and I admittedly didn't know that when I bought this. I was initially pretty upset. However... these work so well they've saved me a lot of time, money, and prints in the last year. With the bracket already attached, the tension is perfect. I haven't had to do anything to help prints from releasing (I had to use silicone spray for the other printer.) I just had my first failure in about three months, probably because I was too stingy with supports, emptied the tank, and the FEP still looks amazing. This is only the third FEP sheet I've used, and it's going back in. I probably have 8 or 9 kg of resin on this one sheet already. Everything else is pretty standard for the printer's category, but if the FEP replacement is the concern, as far as my experience has been, this is actually the inexpensive, reliable way to go.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Rave_Dawg_18

Great Printer No Probs at all !

Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2024

Size: Mono M5s ProVerified Purchase

Anycubics Photon mono m5s pro is a great printer for the cost pretty revolutionary with the RERF ( Resin Exposure Range Finder ), Heater! can’t stress the heater enough as you’ll definitely be needing it ( Especially for colder climates ), And a solid interface that is clear and concise to use even letting you change exposure and lift times in it if you for some reason messed up in whatever slicer you use! Now for resin that is included for example the High speed resin I cannot in good heart recommend for anyone printing miniatures as it’s extremely brittle ( assuming due to fact it’s well fast resin ! ) As such I’d try there Tough Resin Ultra or if your looking for a cheaper option there ABS Like resin v2 however if your looking for even cheaper and just as Competitive Resin I’d highly Recommend The SUNLU ABS for its Cheap Price as you can get 4 bottles for what $50? That’s an insane deal same with the Toughness if your looking for a cheaper Alternative! Overall Love this Printer can’t recommend it enough for any hobbyist looking to up there miniature or just printing game !

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Matt Torch

My first SLA printer with INSANE detail! Great printer, but NOT for beginners.

Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2020

Verified Purchase

I’ve owned multiple FDM (PLA filament) 3D printers over the past 4 years I’ve used for commercial and prototyping. The quality of the prints was okay, but not necessarily the needed quality for smaller models. I’ve been waiting for an SLA printer to become a little less costly as many on the market are well into the $1,000’s. Thankfully, the demand for less expensive SLA printers has pushed a handful of printers under the $500 mark. I ended up buying the Anycubic Photon after watching a bunch of YouTube videos.

PROS:

- Build volume is a good size especially on the Z-axis.

- Easy assembly right out of the box. All you have to do is put the build plate on.

- Calibration was relatively easy, but instead of the directions given with the printer, I used the Flint Read method you can find on YouTube.

- The touch interface is nicer than the ones I'm used to with my FDM printers. I like how it shows you the progress layer-by-layer.

- This printer has a door on a hinge which was a deciding factor for me. Other ones had a bulky shell that you'd have to remove every time you finish a print.

- Clean-up isn't all too bad once you get the hang of it. (more info on that below)

CONS:

- My only issue was with the slicing software. It really is bare bones. I ended up using Chitbox instead with better results.

- Not particular to this model, but for all SLA printers... it can get very messy if you don't know what you're doing. The resin is known to be toxic. You need to wear gloves!

- Again for all SLA printing, there is post-print processing needed! You need to wash the prints with isopropyl alcohol and then cure it. You need to wear gloves!

PACKAGING:
It came well packaged with a good amount of insulation. The only issue I had was that the stepper motor wasn’t working properly. I reached out to customer support, and they helped me through it. It turned out that one of the wires for the stepper motor backed out likely during shipping. I fixed it quickly and was printing within minutes.

PRINTING:
The first couple of prints failed for me. They were falling off the bed into the vat. After some YouTube videos, I figured I had the settings wrong. I changed the bottom layer exposure for the first 3 layers to 100 seconds, and that fixed the issue. The settings differ from other brands and types of SLA resin.

As for quality, I cannot stress enough who incredibly detailed the prints to come out. I printed the Eiffel Tower as a torture test. It was printed at 0.05mm layer height and 15-second exposure per layer. The post-print was cleaned in isopropyl alcohol and cured with ultraviolet light.

IMPORTANT:
This should go without saying, but I wouldn’t consider this printer to be one for beginners and definitely not for kids! This goes for all SLA printers. The resin is toxic and can get messy. You need to wear gloves when handling uncured prints, and there is a bit to post-processing the prints. I certainly would not trust a kid with these tasks. If you are looking for a 3D printer for your kid, look into FDM printing.

For SLA, you will need to buy a couple of extra things. Stock up on +91% isopropyl alcohol, nitrile gloves, Tupperware ONLY used for cleaning (never again food), and ultraviolet light for curing.

All-in-all, it is a great SLA printer. I would highly recommend this to anyone who has experience with FDM printers looking to step up to SLA. If anything changes down the line, I’ll update this review.

50 people found this helpful

Helpful

NS

WARNING: Know what you're buying

Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2023

Size: Photon Mono M5sVerified Purchase

This was my first resin printer (Photon Mono M5s), and I wasn't sure what specs I should be looking for. The company does NOT do great job of explaining that the 'S' in M5s stands for "speed" which will require you to buy HIGH SPEED resin for it to work properly out of the box. There are pros and cons to speed printing, I recommend a quick YouTube search to explain the difference, BUT I didn't necessarily need a speed printer, I wanted the details on a small print more than I wanted to print a large print with "okay" detail.

So I started printing with standard grey resin unknowing that it was the wrong resin for this printer. Each of my 5 first prints failed (they wouldn't stick to the plate at all). After some frustration and research I decided to make some additional purchases.

First: the reservoir screen they provide is OPAQUE, which they will tell you it doesn't affect the print, but if you know anything about physics it does. It diffuses the light that's needed to cure the resin unintentionally, resulting in a small loss of detail. I didn't like that, so I ordered replacement reservoir screens that were standard and completely clear. THIS was the most important change I made.

2: the color of the resin matters A LOT. there's entire spreadsheets explaining that the color of the resin will require different settings. Bc the Grey resin is hard to penetrate with light, you have to significantly lengthen exposure time. I didn't know that and resin wasn't provided in the box, so I had to research to find all of this out. I eventually purchased what I understood is the best standard resin which is 'translucent green'. BAM. So, soo much better.

After these two changes this printer is AMAZING. I love it. I'm only doc'ing 1* bc the company did a terrible job of making the purchaser aware of these differences. I can't speak to the speed printing settings bc I don't use them, but I understand this printer is pretty good at it. I use it as a regular resin printer and am very happy with the detail, price point, and ease of use (especially the no-leveling aspect).

Hope this review helps you know what you're getting into. Great printer when you know what you have.

69 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Incredibly value/price ratio

Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2024

Size: Photon M3 MaxVerified Purchase

This is my second printer after some bad experience with a first-generation product some years ago. I researched it thoroughly as I need it for some precision printing of engineering parts. This printer is of excellent design, afford is made where its important. The encapsulation seems a bit flimsy and cumbersome at first sight, but just a strip of duct tape along the top seam between back and front cover turns it into a hinge that makes it super easy to flip the front cover on top of the back cover. The guides, spindle and spindle drive are very precise and stiff, which is important for such a big printing envelope. The LED's seem not as strong as newest models, so the printing is a bit slower. I added a magnetic plate, but had to machine off about 2mm from plate fixture to provide more clearance. I added also a heater which keeps the temperature high and steady for reduced resin viscosity and uniform printing. And I attached a thermocouple to a central frame element in the bottom projector housing to monitor temperature there too. I keep it steady with blocking/releasing cooling air flow and when its really cold in my workshop I turn on a heating pad underneath an 3/8" aluminum plate on which the printer is standing. I also like that I can copy the slice files onto internal storage of the printer. Another really cool feature is that I can adjust all major printing parameters while its printing.
If you divide the purchase price by the printing volume you'll see what bargain this printer is.

Helpful

Michael J. McKenzie

Incredible printer with incredible features

Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2023

Size: Photon Mono M5sVerified Purchase

This is my second resin printer behind the Anycubic Photon 6Ks and let me tell you… there’s no comparison. The 5s is superior in every way. I’ll be as thorough as possible from setup to print.

Unboxing and set up was incredibly easy. It’s darn near just about built and ready to print right out of the box. The UI is also easy to see and understand and I had the thing online in about 10 minutes.

It comes with a ton of features like advertised but what’s great about it is that you get to see and monitor those features whether directly on the printer or through the Anycubic app.

The reservoir holds 850mL of resin compared to the 650mL of the 6Ks.

My first print was a big one. I model tank rounds that are quite tall. What takes 15 hours on the 6Ks took only 8 hours on the 5s. How does it print so fast? I don’t know! I don’t really care. This thing is fast!

My second print took 19 hours on the 6Ks and this speedy little wizard only takes 12.5 hours.

What does that mean in the real world? It means I can double my print manufacturing per day. I can fill up the reservoir in the morning. Have it finished by nighttime and then do a refill and have another print ready by morning.

The print plate itself is slightly wider so you can fit larger models on it which is nice. I’ve only don’t a few prints so far but peeling off the models from the supports was butter. Then getting the supports off the build plate… also butter. Both of those tasks are a bit of a pain on the 6Ks but here it’s wonderful.

The internet connectivity is amazing. The upload speeds are adequate even for large prints. You can monitor the progress through the app. You can either store your files in the Anycubic cloud or on the machine itself which you can also access through the workflow program or the app.

Setup of the machine from the desktop workflow is basically a one click step. I set the resin to water based and left it alone. It’s already preset with all the exposure times for any of the resins for the machine. You literally have to do nothing else.

So from unbxoing to printing you can get going in about 20 minutes with solid results.

My one and only complaint is that the fan is kind of loud. Not too loud to be distracting but you can hear it working. If the printer is in the next room you won’t hear it at all.

I really don’t think they can make a better printer which is why I’m giving this one 5 stars. It meets and exceeds all expectations and if I need another printer in the future I’m either getting this exact one or possibly an upgrade to another Anycubic printer.

11 people found this helpful

Helpful

JM

Tons of firmware issues

Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2024

Size: Mono M5s ProVerified Purchase

Here's the issues I ran into.

1. The printer would only print the files that came with it. If even one print file was added to the USB drive, nothing at all would show up when the USB is plugged in. I tried multiple USB drives, tried formating them, I tried loading just one file on a USB, nothing. The only USB that would work is the one that came with it, and that one quit working if you add even one file to it.

2. It would not connect to anything via wifi. I went through their wiki, numerous reddit posts, trying every troubleshooting tip, many hours of my life uselessly spent trying to get a product to work that should have worked out of the box with minimal setup. It wouldn't connect to the mobile app or internet no matter what I tried. And because it wouldn't connect to the internet, it never populated the cn number field, and that number is needed to connect it to the pc app. So it wouldn't connect to anything at all. Limiting it to USB only, and adding any files to the USB results in the printer not working.

3. There is no firmware available to download. Tech support claimed the firmware could be updated Ota once it's connected to the internet. Extremely unhelpful when the machine is incapable of connecting to the internet. They list the firmware for other models they sell, but not this one. Which is less than helpful.

4. Tech support claims the issue with the USB not working is that the machine won't recognize any USB that is more than 8gb, or has more than 5 files loaded on it, or if the file names are longer than 15 characters, or filename contany anything other than letters (no numbers, no dashes, only letters, and less than 15 of them) And as ridiculous as those limitations are in the year 2024, I did plug in a 4gb USB drive, formated to fat32, with only one file on it, named Shell (well within the file naming restrictions), and when plugged into the machine the file list on the machine would still be empty.

This product is not ready to be sold. It's an unfinished design that does not function in any meaningful way. I now have to wait up to 30 days for the return to be processed for a refund. Which means I can't order something different for 30 days.

To say I am disappointed would be an incredible understatement.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

J. Darknell

Suprisingly great printer

Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2021

Size: Photon Mono 2Verified Purchase

I've been 3D printing for over 5 years and printing with another companies resin printer for the past 18 months. I was spoiled by its ease of use, but it was also expensive to operate so I didn't use it as often as I would have liked. Curiosity finally got the better of me and I picked up this Anycubic Photon Mono just to see what these little LCD printers are really capable of and I can safely say I'm blown away by the print quality. Once you have a process that works, its very easy to use. Just expect a learning curve.
When I was waiting for the printer to arrive I submersed myself in all the YouTube videos on the subject that I could find. Turns out this was a good thing AND a bad thing. Based on all this new found "knowledge" and thinking I knew better, I forged my own path for my first print and sadly it was an utter failure. Based on the videos I had watched I started ordering resin trays and FEP film but due to my inexperience, I ordered all the wrong things. Long story short after a comedy of errors and a half dozen failed prints I finally hit upon a winning formula that I've been able to readily duplicate across half a dozen successful prints now.
The printer gives you most everything you'll need to start printing right away. Everything except the resin, and depending on the type you get you may also need isopropyl alcohol to clean the print which for some reason is still hard to come by. I bought the Anycubic Craftsman resin and have been super happy with the quality.

Some of the things I learned during my first couple weeks--
--When you have a failed print, make sure to clean out the resin tray otherwise the next print will be adversely affected
--Some of the resins are extremely bad smelling, some protection is recommended
--You will eventually have to replace the FEP film, however the most popular videos on YouTube show a product and process that is out of date.
--There is definitely a learning curve you can only get past by experience. All the video watching in the world can't prepare you for every little hiccup, especially when so many videos contradict those of other channels.

So like everything there are pros and cons, so from my perspective, here are mine--
PROS
--Printer is super easy to use and setup once you know the process
--Very inexpensive to operate relative to high end solutions
--High quality print results that surpasses expectation
--Comparatively fast, prints an entire layer in one go, taking just a couple seconds of exposure
CONS
--Initial learning curve, you need to understand burn-in layers, exposure times and lift speed and half a dozen other settings, yet none of these options are really clearly explained, nor is it covered how they affect the final result.
--It can take a couple hours before you can see if there's anything on the build plate, I wish there was a way to know earlier if a print failed.
--There are so many options for resins available, yet there is very little data on what settings you need for a particular printer/resin combo so some educated/guessing will be necessary.

All in all, I'm super happy I took the chance on this printer, as I've done so much printing, trying different things now that I would never have considered with my other printer mostly due to speed and cost. I'm sure next I'll be looking to upgrade to its big brother.

56 people found this helpful

Helpful

psychoskin67

Wow!!

Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2024

Size: Mono M5s ProVerified Purchase

RIGHT OUT-OF-THE-BOX PRINTING
This printer works right out of the box. Period. Unboxing to set up was about 15 minutes. Figuring out which file to print FIRST took more time.

SPEED
TWO print speeds are pretty much given; standard (with normal resin) and fast (with high-speed resin). The default settings for the FAST print had the test model done in about 17 minutes; this would normally be about a 4 HOUR process with traditional printers. The default standard print of the test model still comes in at an impressive 1 hour. This is due to the usage of the ACF over the old-school FEP and even newer nFEP. Do NOT be alarmed with the “matte” finish! This is also the same type of film used by the M3 Max and works flawlessly!

RESIN TYPES
The high-speed resin from Anycubic is STINKY. Maybe even a little more so than usual. But, it works GREAT. May have to look at more ventilation or moving the printer to a more open area to reduce the smell.
Using Anycubic's Craftsman, which I also use in my Photon Ultra, makes for a much finer detailed print overall, even with slightly increased speeds and layer line thickness.

INCLUDED HEATER AND AIR PURIFIER
Don’t expect miracles with the purifier. It’s a simple fan system that does its best to circulate the air inside the chamber, but let’s face it; resin is stinky. I used some odor-neutralizer in the carbon filter to reduce the odor.
The HEATER works wonderfully! The entire unit is self-contained. The heater and purifier are one piece with its own power cord/source. Rumor has it that this unit WILL be available as a standalone purchase in February.

WI-FI
A little buggy at the beginning but once it’s detected your network and connected, it works flawlessly. The procedure requires you to download the Anycubic Cloud App to start. This also allows you to monitor and print from your phone. Once the app has detected the printer is configured to the network, then you can add the printer to the home network and the process is seamless.

AUTO PLATE LEVELING
Plate dynamically levels every single print with this option enforced. This mitigates possible failures due to improper build plate leveling. This is done right out of the box during the initial equipment check. You also have the option to manually level the plate, but that seems to be only for specific errors or situations; most operations will not require this at all.

VAT CLEANING MODE
Easy to use. Use the Lychee Vat Cleaner Tool to assist. No longer need to empty vat, remove particles. Place LVCT in the corner of the vat, utilize the vat cleaning option (10, 20, or 30 seconds…20 worked fine for me), and peel the cured resin out. All foreign particles and failed pieces are trapped within the cured resin and can be removed all at once.

FOREIGN OBJECT DETECTION
When the plate is lowered, if it detects even the tiniest foreign object in the vat, it stops and raises. An error is displayed allowing you to investigate as needed.

OBJECT FAILURE (ZERO PEEL FORCE)
If the printer senses that the print releases with zero force, it stops the build process, allowing you to investigate. This saves a LOT of time, frustration, and most importantly, resin. Rather than having to wait until the plate reaches a certain height to visually inspect the piece, the printer senses the release forces. When those are zero, it throws an error, stopping the print, raising the plate, and allowing you to visually inspect the piece. You can resume or cancel the print at that point, depending on your situation.

INTELLIGENT RELEASE
So, I had no idea about this when I first read about it, but today’s print testing made me aware of this feature. Intelligent release, according to Anycubic, calculates the forces of the build plate lifting and retracting…and, if possible, ADUSTS THE HEIGHT DYNAMICALLY. How I found this out was from a print with an initial build time of 8.5 hours. I accidentally used the Default Resin profile, even though I had High Speed resin in the vat. Oh Well…no problem, I’ll be home all day to monitor things. But as time went by, and when I would turn to look at the print progress (also keeping an eye for failures and other errors that may pop up) I noticed the progress was a lot faster than anticipated. End result? The 8.5 hour estimated build (from Photon Workshop) finished in 5 hours and 53 minutes. Without me adjusting anything. The printer figured I was using high speed resin, did some auto adjustments, and increased the variables…and my print was done 2.5 hours faster than estimated.

PRINT DETAILS
So, let’s really face it; humans really can’t detect the difference down to 14K resolution. So folks who are either very excited for this OR naysaying and stating that it isn’t TRULY 14K…well, settle down. Most resin printers being sold today are in the 8K and above range, with the Mighty 8K offering that initial 12K experience as an upgrade, and then Anycubic following with the M5S and now the M5S Pro.
FACT is…the results are spectacular as you would imagine. I was impressed with my little Anycubic Photon Ultra back in the day (my first resin printer and STILL going strong and impresses me every single time). Then moving into the Mighty 8K, I noticed some subtle changes in quality. Then on to the M3 Max and was impressed with how well it compared with the Mighty 8K…and the build size was incredible.
So, having a pretty sizable mid-range build volume here at 14K is equally impressive.
Now, will YOU see the difference between what you may have been using and what the M5S Pro offers? Maybe. But honestly, I couldn’t. NOR could I notice that “softness” that others are talking about due to the matte ACP film of the vat. The M3 Max has the same film and I never noticed a change in quality over my Mighty 8K. Now, that doesn’t mean that I’ve switched some of my extra on-the-fly vats for all of my printers over to nFEP. I have to admit, I loved that little “upgrade” from the traditional FEP and the slight increase in speeds I achieved were also a plus. But, I’ve also been experimenting with the ACF on my Photon Ultra and now, with the M3 Max and the new M5S Pro having this ACF installed, again…impressed with the speed increase and not affected by this so-called “softness” of details others are talking about. To me, EVEN IF there were some loss of sharpness, I would much rather have the peace of mind on my other printer’s building process that comes with the ACF installed than be nit-picky over something that most people really can’t detect with the naked eye.

ISSUES/OBSERVATIONS
One of the FIRST things I noticed off my successful first print was how hard it was to remove the supports from the test print. You can notice in the first image (Test Print) the marks and left over material along the bottom. This thing was BAKED to the build plate and the supports were, in turn, BAKED to the model itself.
Trial and error led me to destroying several other test prints from excessive exposure and baking the supports or build itself to the build plate. Thus, looking at not only modifying exposure settings but also support settings.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

McNibbler

A quirky but affordable SLA printer with solid results

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2021

Size: Photon Mono 2Verified Purchase

Background:

Within the past four years, SLA printers have become incredibly accessible due to significant advancements in the manufacturing process for cheap high-resolution LCDs. With prices dropping from several thousands of dollars, down to only a couple hundred, many 3D printer designers have taken it upon themselves to take advantage of this rapidly growing market and produce some impressive 3D printer packages for equally impressively low prices. Anycubic is no exception, and their Photon line of printers provides a choice selection on hobbyist and professional SLA printers at a compelling price, including their Photon Mono printer.

So as a preface to this review, I’m a long time FDM 3D printer hobbyist who has recently gotten interested in the world of SLA 3D printing. Prior to this printer, the only SLA printer I have owned is Creality’s LD-002H - a similarly priced machine with a comparable specs to the Photon Mono. Naturally, between the two printers I’m able to pick out several differences that are both benefits and detriments of owning either, but TLDR: I think both are great, and you will not have any regrets buying this printer.

The Photon Mono is a small Masked-SLA printer that works by curing ultra-thin layers of resin one at a time through a powerful masked 405nm UV light source. The printer boasts a 6” 2560x1620 monochromatic LCD for its mask, with a pixel width of approximately 0.051mm. The printer has a fairly easy to navigate touch screen on the front that allows the user to configure their printer and begin a print. Built volume is small, but typical for this class of printer, at 130mm x 80mm x 165mm. The entire printer itself is fairly small and mostly built with a solid enough construction where it matters. For my prints, I used Anycubic clear bio-resin.

Pros:

Out of the box, this printer has a lot going for it. Comparatively speaking, the bed leveling was an absolute breeze, and doesn’t suffer from the problem my LD-002H has where tightening the bed’s screws ends up un-leveling it. The time taken between unboxing, setup/levelling, and printing a sliced file was virtually nonexistent, and I was getting impressive prints almost immediately (my slicing settings weren’t perfectly tuned, but that might be less of a problem with Anycubic’s proprietary slicer that I didn’t bother to use).

The printer itself is by far the quietest one I own, and the dual Z axis rail is honestly a more robust design than that of my single LD-002H rail (less squeaky, too!). The rail seems a little on the slow side (maybe due to my slicer settings), but it makes up for it in rigidity.

The removable build plate is another thing I prefer about this printer - there is a bit of a “handling area” that extends much deeper than my LD-002H, making it much easier to grab and avoid getting toxic resin all over my hands when moving the plate to the washing station. Unsurprisingly, the plate fits perfectly into my Anycubic wash/cure station.

While I do have one major gripe with the vat, one thing I do like a lot about it is excess-resin pour stout. A lot of vats have a much less directed stout that ends up having toxic resin spill out the sides when attempting to pour back into a bottle. This vat’s stout is shaped in a way that keeps that pour super direct, and makes cleanup much less of a hassle.

Another neat feature about seemingly only Anycubic products is that they have automatic lid detection. While this isn’t a mind-blowing feature by any metric, it is very nice that it pauses the print if it detects that the UV-filtering lid has been dislodged out of place or removed. The attention to safety for the user does not go unnoticed here.

As mentioned in the specs, this printer uses a mono LCD technology. IMO mono should be the de-facto standard for mSLA printers, as they allow for significantly brighter and more focused UV light through the mask. This leads to both a longer LCD lifespan and *significantly* faster print times than a traditional LCD. While this isn’t a unique feature to this printer, it’s definitely something I would consider a must-have (unless you really don’t wanna spend money), and I’m glad it’s here.

Also worth mentioning is that the pixel density of the 2k LCD is the metric for what I would consider a “high quality” SLA print. There are many cheaper printers with much lower resolution LCDs, but the print quality suffers drastically as a result. 2k is plenty good and the prints on the Photon Mono look great as a result.

Finally, it goes without saying but the price for this printer is quite competitive, and you’re getting some impressive printing specs for this $250 range. While there definitely are other good options at this price point, Anycubic’s Photon Mono does enough right that I can’t have a hard time recommending it for that.

Cons:

While there’s a lot going right with this machine, not everything is perfect. One thing that I’m really not a fan of is the all plastic lower chassis. While this doesn’t really affect how the printer operates, it would be nice to know that it’s a little harder to knock over. My LD-002H does have a metal chassis, and the weight difference is very noticeable. Again, this doesn’t actually affect how the printer performs, but it is just a small gripe. Also on the topic of the chassis, some filtering fans would have been appreciated - even if they aren’t that useful.

One thing I really don’t like at all is the proprietary FEP replacements. While there is merit to the fact that this style of vat enables much faster and more consistent FEP replacements, a user only needs to replace them after a decent amount of usage. I would personally prefer the ability to spend some extra time to install my own FEP sheets than pay extra for a proprietary FEP replacement and contribute to more plastic waste. Fortunately, this isn’t the end of the world as you can just buy (or make) a replacement vat that enables this, but I still feel like I should mention it.

Finally, this isn’t so much as a detriment but a quirk. I had noticed that this printer has only very recently enabled anti-aliasing support. IMO, AA is a pretty essential feature for getting the highest quality prints, and some slicers (most notably Lychee) do not support it for this printer, yet. Given that the printer uses a slightly weird proprietary slicer format, it may take some time before it is fully supported in your favorite slicer. Fortunately, the latest beta for Chitubox, as well as the proprietary Anycubic slicer do support this feature, so this is not as much of an issue.

Conclusion:

As I said throughout the review, I think this is a great printer that has a lot going for it! While there is some competition for mSLA printers in this price range that is worth considering, I do think this printer is very solid and deserves a pretty strong recommendation. It’s definitely not perfect and has its quirks, but I have had a good time with it, and I’m sure you will too!

25 people found this helpful

Helpful

5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star

ANYCUBIC Photon Mono M5s 12K Resin 3D Printer, with Smart...

›

Customer reviews

Customer reviews

ANYCUBIC Photon Mono M5s 12K Resin 3D Printer, with Smart Leveling-Free, 3X Faster Printing Speed, 10.1" Monochrome LCD Screen, Printing Size of 7.87" x 8.58" x 4.84" (HWD), Add The High-Speed Resin

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

ANYCUBIC Photon Mono M5s 12K Resin 3D Printer, with Smart... › Customer reviews

Customer reviews

ANYCUBIC Photon Mono M5s 12K Resin 3D Printer, with Smart Leveling-Free, 3X Faster Printing Speed, 10.1" Monochrome LCD Screen, Printing Size of 7.87" x 8.58" x 4.84" (HWD), Add The High-Speed Resin

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

ANYCUBIC Photon Mono M5s 12K Resin 3D Printer, with Smart...

›

Customer reviews