Original Prusa MK4 - Better late than never. Don't you think? (Review)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 พ.ค. 2024
- After almost 6 years since the release of the Prusa MK3, the world has finally seen the Prusa MK4.
Was the wait worth it?
That's what we'll find out in today's review of the Prusa MK4 3D printer.
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Chapters
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00:00 Intro / Expected unboxing
00:21 Disclaimer
00:40 Unboxing
02:04 First steps
04:07 Components
09:37 Input Shaper
12:39 Ready-made prints
14:54 A gift from 3D Sets
16:13 ABL
17:53 My test prints with IS
24:14 Functionality tests
28:36 Noise test
29:51 LAN, WiFi, Prusa Link and Prusa Connect
32:17 What I really like
34:38 What I don't like
39:15 Price and bed slingers
40:33 Comparison with Bambu Lab
43:22 Comparison with others
45:24 Comparison of prints with printers I have
47:41 My disappointment
48:57 Conclusion
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Links
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Datasheet STM32F427xx: www.farnell.com/datasheets/19...
Status LED explained (MK4/XL): help.prusa3d.com/cs/article/s...
Video Prusa MK4: • Original Prusa MK4 - a...
Video Prusa XL: • First look at the Orig...
Firmware s IS: github.com/prusa3d/Prusa-Firm...
Prusa Connect: connect.prusa3d.com
Prusa MK4: www.prusa3d.com/cs/produkt/or...
Prusa MMU3: www.prusa3d.com/product/origi...
E3D Revo: e3d-online.com/blogs/news/rap...
Protoprint Raptor: protoprint3dp.com/raptor
Protoprint patent: patents.google.com/patent/CZ2...)
3DSets Model 11: 3dsets.com/product/model-11-s...
Creality CR-M4: store.creality.com/products/c...
All3DP Best printers: all3dp.com/1/best-cheap-budge...
Bambu Lab printers: store.bambulab.com/collection...
Bambu Lab patents: / bambus_patents_a_brief...
Qidi Tech X-Max 3: qidi3d.com/products/qidi-x-ma...
Creality K1: store.creality.com/products/k...
Voron Design: vorondesign.com
Voron kits: www.formbot3d.com/collections...
Voron Print It Forward: pif.voron.dev
All3DP Prusa MK4 review: all3dp.com/1/original-prusa-i...
Thingiverse Hypocycloid Speed Reducer: www.thingiverse.com/make:693653
G-Code M74: reprap.org/wiki/G-code#M74:_S...
Prusa Buddy Firmware M74: github.com/prusa3d/Prusa-Firm...
Prusa Pro: blog.prusa3d.com/prusa-pro-ou...
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Links to models
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www.printables.com/model/4367...
www.printables.com/model/4364...
www.printables.com/model/5217...
www.printables.com/model/3161...
www.printables.com/model/116-...
www.printables.com/model/5553...
www.printables.com/model/5710...
www.printables.com/model/4267...
www.printables.com/model/3693...
www.printables.com/model/4339...
www.printables.com/model/4260...
www.printables.com/model/2353...
www.printables.com/model/5076...
www.printables.com/model/5078...
www.printables.com/model/9662...
www.printables.com/model/5719...
www.printables.com/model/5702...
www.printables.com/model/5700...
www.printables.com/model/5446...
www.printables.com/model/8465...
www.printables.com/model/5048...
www.printables.com/model/4999...
www.printables.com/model/5462...
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Music
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Sad Robot by Vexento - • Vexento - Sad Robot - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
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I hope you like the video. If so, send it to your friends. Maybe it will make someone happy and maybe it will help.
If not, please write a few words what you do not like. I would love to learn and improve my videos. 😉🙏
I just finished building my Mk4 today. It was joy to build and a great sense of achievement. All components were of a very high quality, perfect fit and the instructions were clear and easy to follow. I dare say it helps if you are practically minded. I learnt so much about the printer but also about designing mechanical parts from the 3Dprinted items supplied. So far I am really happy with the printer and so pleased I was not tempted by other brands. I am new to 3D printing and would definitely recommend this to anyone else who is yet to decide.
I feel that an investment in a EU built open source unit is a future proof agreement and more than worth investing. I run 3 Prusa printers 2x Mini+ 1x Mk4 via Prusa connect Network . Absolutely flawless after Input shaper as game changer came alive and also Mini+ is supported and printing in superb reliable quality . Prusa doesn't try to take advantage from other manufactures brain like Bambu is even trying to patent things they have stolen from the open source community. Furthermore it is not proven at all how log the Bambu printer will keep reliable working and then hardly been able to reworked . For the Prusa you can refurb all printers up to new standard , print your spares or improved parts yourself. I like this better as it is securing my initial investment for years
At lauch Prusa stated "input schaper support", not 'input shaper". So they did not really lie about the import shaper. That the support for import shaper was present is proved in the new firmware.
The results with import shaper can be improved by placing the printer on flexible feet. This also reduces the noise significantly. I have a MK4 next to a MK3s+ both on the same flexible feet and the MK3s+ is by far the loudest. For me the MK4 is a very reliable printer which is capable to run 24/7 without failures. You have to clean the nozzle yourself just before it resumes printing. Otherwise you can get ugly blobs.
Great review. I love the information density. Looking forward to seeing more videos!
All in all a fair test.
I can recommend it to anyone who wants to buy a mk4.
I don't think the conditions are fair compared to the Chinese competitors.
Therefore we know that a Prusa cannot be a price-performance winner.
But for me the European production and the high safety requirements are worth the extra cost.
In addition, the ease of repair and the long support. In my experience, prusa printers get better and better over time and receive new, useful updates.
In my personal case, the printer is in a printer cabinet anyway and doesn't have to be closed. As a private user, I don't care if it takes a little longer. I find the balance between speed, appearance and durability of the print to be quite optimal with the structural profile.
I built the Prusa as a kit and it works very reliably. After I sold my Mini I ordered the MMU3.
Unfortunately the delivery is delayed. But I had already expected it.
I think Prusa is rather poorly positioned in terms of personnel compared to the large Chinese companies. The lack of skilled workers in the EU doesn't make it any easier either.
Prusa may also make the mistake of respecting the rights of others.
You mentioned how attempts are made to patent other people's intellectual property.
Everyone has to decide for themselves whether they want to support something like this.
Maybe a little difficult to see in the video, but isn't the Voron and Bambulab also beginning to round off the corners a bit?
Not like the MK4 with Speed profile but a little bit.
But you can definitely see it better in the original.
Such edges are always problematic for input shapers. But if you look at the prints without it, the complaining is at a high level.
I'm in the process of deciding which 3D printer to buy as my first 3D printer. The Prusa MK4 is on the shortlist. For one thing, I'm a fan of open source and I'm not afraid of a slightly steeper learning curve. The price is perfectly acceptable for a product that will receive updates over the years.
In addition, I live in Germany. Prague is only a 3-hour drive away. So I basically shop in the neighborhood.
Wow, very comprehensive review! It touched on quite a few points I was interested in which I didn't find mentioned in other reviews. Thanks a lot!
I'm happy you liked it 🫡
Hello from France !! Thanks for this complete test/review of the MK4 !! i like (and agree with) you comparaison between a car and a motorcycle 😉. Your video is really of excellent quality both in content and form
Thanks for your kind words.
I'm happy people like the video. ☺️🫡
Feel free to share the video with everyone 😀😅
As for ABS printing - when I absolutely HAVE TO print something out of ABS I just... Put a large trash bag around the printer. Works surprisingly well as an enclosure :D
Yeah but... You can have better enclosed printer for cheap... So... Yeah... 😅
This is my type of maker. Carboard box and some tape in a pinch. The issue is there are two markets, "makers" who are tinkers and people who want to have an appliance to pops out plastic prints from their phone.
Creality tent works pretty good for my mk4 when printing ABS/ASA. Only 36$ on amazon. I keep the zipper cracked open on the top to keep the temp below 43°C
Enclosures help priming the plastic parts but the heat degrades/destroys the electronics and the machine plastic construction. So the plastic bag is a good idea as it is just what a fancy enclosure does, it stops the air moving as air is quite a good insulator.
Great review man, if prusa doesn't get it together soon, I'm jumping ship to Bambu!
Go ahead and jump ship bro. I have MK4 and Mini and about to get the XL 5 head.. We’ll see who outlast who here..
I have got an ANET A6 printer and once you learn from it and make supporting parts it has become an excellent printer. The Prusa MK4 looks like the ANET A8 which imo I think the A6 is a better shape for build volume.
Good review!
Bambulab surprised everyone with their printers, I think Prusa makes good equipment but they rested on their laurels, you can see that they hurriedly released the mk4 that they had in "development" to be able to be present in the new generation, but you can see that it was going to be a mk3+, they added some new features, but they were not polished for printer output.
I think that no matter how good the printer is, the price does not seem right to me and it should be about 300-400 dollars cheaper, since in any case the p1s is a better option in almost every way.
I think other companies knew how to adapt better to the new generation such as creality, flashforce, qidi, etc.
The closed ecosystem and cloud requirement makes the Bambu Labs printers pretty much unacceptable to me.
I'm absolutely willing to pay extra for a printer made in Europe that has a proven, robust design, good support and is easy to modify down the line.
Why is closed ecosystem and cloud bad for you? With most products you can't see what's the system inside and a lot of things people use are using some cloud stuff. 🤷♂️
Understand for big companies making new products trying to keep the prototypes in secret, but for standard user is cloud about more comfy experience. Also, any printer can run offline. 🫣
@@Zemistr3D I'm much of the same mind. Bambu built much on what they have today on the shoulders of open source, and not a small part of that being Prusa. They have made considerable improvements, but locked them away and patented them. It's a bit sleazy business model. And I am also willing to pay extra for Made in Europe. But in the end it comes down to what your needs are. I have a MK4 and it's been a solid machine so far, and I would absolutely recommend it to any beginner. But it's hard to argue with the A1 being half the price. I wanted a printer that I don't have to mess about with if I don't want to, but one that lets me when I do want it. If you want to just print, the Bambu lineup will give you value for money.
Personally, I think that closed ecosystems will win. For the simple reason that these have always found it far easier to attract venture capital. These days, companies that just sell hardware, no matter how good, are seen as dinosaurs. Companies that lock in customers and harvest their data are considered to be extra valuable. So. 3D printers will eventually be as cheap and easy to use as regular printers. I just hope these things won't refuse to print when you load off brand filament in them, like regular printers.
Wow! Super detailed review! Thank you!
I am inclined for an MK4 but all my friends are buying Bambu Lab ones :/ I feel like the kid being left aside when talking about Prusa. I do like Prusa mindset, but I agree with you, unfortunately they seem to be quite slower than their main competitor :/
Wow! Thank you very much. I'm a Prusa fan and I know it's more expensive than Bambu but if it breaks you can fix it by finding pieces everywhere while if Bambu breaks you have to throw it away because you can't open it. Prusa is expensive at first but saves money over time, it's a long-term philosophy
Bambu is fixable to a certain degree, but you're right, it's more closed off and there's less room for very specific (and cheap!) repairs and they aren't open source either. My only printer is a MK3S+ which I bought used. Now it has over 1050 hours and the cable of the bed thermistor failed. Bought that thing for 5,80 € and that's it. Fantastic. That's why I'm a fan of Prusa, too!
What are you talking about? Parts are readily available for bambu printers. There are video and written guides showing how to open and replace parts.
If you are going to spout something make sure you do *at least 60 seconds of research* before commenting falsehoods.
I have an X1C since Aug 2022 and over 6k hours run through it. Only replaced normal wear parts like nozzles or ptfe tubes. Anyone with at least room temp IQ can remove screws and follow a video/wiki.
@@glowingeye nobody has mentioned yet that the MK4 and MMU3 doesn't poop and waste material like the Bambu.
@@hackmedia7755 MMU3 needs to purge material just like every other single-nozzle printer, no printer can fully remove all of the old plastic during retraction.
I own currently 3 printer (MK3S, K1 Max and Ender V2). For high Quality or precision parts I use the MK3S, for very large prints or also for ABS (due to the enclosure) I use the K1 Max, and finally the Ender is just for Backup if the MK3S fails me again with a broken thermistor. The MK4 is probably a hassle free printer that give great prints made with passion in Europe. However in the meantime for the same money you get more refined stuff.
You stated that the Bambu X1C is not the best, but really good for the time. Absent of the time, how did the X1C compare to the three MK4 prints? Excellent video. I think Prusa was really hit with Covid and Covid induced supply issues more than other companies. I hope that that is the case and now they are past that hump they will accelerate their development and deployment.
My Mk4 kit arrives in 36-42 hours (Should be somewhere over the Atlantic at the time of writing!).
Super excited, as it's my first "current" printer ^-^ Also my first printer build in about 4 years.
Currently have a Prusa Mini, but I got it used. Works great, but I'm interested in the newer features, and the nextruder.
I plan on keeping the Mk4 for a long, long time. Doubt I'll do any Mk4s+.59 upgrades when they eventually come out though. The Mk4 in its current state should be enough to last me a while xD
Though, I might get a MMU3. Unlikely. But I'd get that before any other upgrades.
Exceptional review
I ended up going with the mk4 over the other choices on the market. It was a tough choice. Being easily upgradeable appealed to me though, and I wasnt a huge fan of how Bambu seems to have pretty restricted ecosystems even within their own products. Plus I wasnt too happy with some security concerns I have with Bambu (saw some of that come to fruition with the whole cloud fiasco somewhat recently). I do suspect I will get an A1 mini at some point though, they just look like too much fun!
I was a bit concerned about the hardware being a bit.. behind when other comparable printers can be had with corexy, print space lighting (!!), cameras, etc. However, I can say the hardware itself is very solid. But as you say, the firmware holds it back. I expected this to be somewhat the case, but it was worse than I expected. Even some infills dont play nicely with IS. I think this will improve dramatically, so much so that I wouldnt have bought it otherwise, but they are playing catch-up.
I absolutely feel it is overpriced.
That said, Im not unhappy with it particularly since none of it was a huge surprise. I expect it to get much better with firmware updates. Hopefully lol
NOTE TO PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE EU: Getting parts can be tricky. Particularly with some items. Expect to pay more for it, because of lack of distribution. Printed Solid has a lot of Prusa stuff for the US, but their inventory is not 1 to 1 (I had to get the Obxidian nozzle direct from Prusa)
Good review! Personally i would pay the extra for prusa, since the mk series is a proven work horse, that is well supported for a long time and easy to repair (plus EU based company). But! I see how bambu lab will be a huge problem for prusa in the future. The a1 offers the same high print quality with some extra features for a fraction of the price. And while it is a closed system, it is very refined and hassle free in contrast to all other chinese companies. And you cant beat the chinese on manufacturing costs. What i mean: you can get close to 3x the a1 for the price of a single assembles mk4. Also prusa takes very long to develop their printers and implement features, while bambu lab is developing in a crazy paste. AMS lite, new quick swap nozzle system, motor noise compensation, flow calibration via new sensor. All features that were developed from x1/p1 to a1 timeframe. And bambu already announced that their second generation printers will be available sooner than later! I dont know if prusa will be able to keep up. Their advantage in print quality and hassle free experience is gone.
👋 hey I think you may have forgotten to put the silicone sock on , or does it not come with one ?
Unfortunately... No sock is supplied with the printer 🤷♂️
I'm stunned that they still havent enabled the touch screen controls. The UI is clearly designed for it. I totally understand them shipping the printer early to compete with Bambu and others, I would do the same thing as a business, but to still have the hardware underutilized this long after release? Seems strange to me.
Check the latest firmware. 😉
The touch control is there enabled.
github.com/prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy/releases/tag/v6.0.0
6 0 firmware has touch support
Prusa says that trilab delta printers are developed by a different team then xl, mini and mk4. But i saw a small corexy printer from prusa with a device for automatic plate change for farms (there was a wall of those printers and the plate changing robot)
Yeah, he said that but in this case...
They totally ignored the MK4, XL and Mini. 🤷♂️
The print farm is Prusa Pro AFS.
*"Building the printer was very easy..."*
Okay
*"...In less than 7,5 hours the build was complete"*
WAT O.o
Yeah... I have kinda skills in that... 😅
Normal time is 10 hours. So 7.5 is fast.
I am blown away you can't turn the status light off
can you change two fans to noctua？
Not sure. I think they have in the firmware written the rpm or something, how they control, that the fan is working how expected.
@@Zemistr3D Just asked support from Prusa, they said one of the hotend fan is noctua, but print fan is not.
@@suppermanzzzz291 Not surprised. I don't think Noctua creates fans in the blower formfactor that the print fan is. Similar to the MK3 that uses a blower fan for the print fan and a Noctua fan for the hotend. (Earlier MK3 printers like mine have the traditional brown Nocuas, later MK3 printers (I don't remember when the switchover happened) have black Noctua fans.)
I bought the MK4, and it is better than the MK3S+ in most aspects. I also have 3 x MK3S+. I use the MK4 for fast prototyping, and the MK3S+es for production.
And overall... Do you feel like you got enough for the money you paid? Are you happy with the purchase? 🤔
I think Prusa wasted their recurses on the MINI, when they instead should have made the MK4 earlier or made are more cost-effective core-XY printer, or an IDEX.
@PerMejdal Totally agree. I feel like they just lost a lot of time doing stuff no one asked for or wanted in general. The XL looks promising, but after 2 years it's still not ready at all. 🤷♂️
@@Zemistr3D What I love with the MK3 is it dimensional accuracy between printers. I can design stuff that requires sub 0,1 mm precision, and have 1000 x printed on a print farm, without worrying that the dimension changed. The MINI does not the the same accuracy at all, and is basically useless for precision printing.
I was worried the the MK4 would be just as bad as the MINI, but I was happily surprised to see it being close to the MK3.
For me reliability and repeatability is much more important than fancy new features. That being said, I really like the new "cancel object"-feature on the MK4.
static input shaping profile = red flag
The SSID 💀💀
I spotted that as well. It got me chuckling.
Im sorry guy but i can't understand your english. thank goodness for cc.
Not everyone's English is perfect.
Still, I hope you enjoyed the video.
I lucked out. The final version of the 5.0.0 firmware with IS was released while I was building my kit. The IS parameters are baked in, although I've found in the menu where to change them. I haven't changed them because I don't know what I'm doing... 🥸
Now I'm waiting for:
A- An IS calibration routine to be added to the FW.
B- Accelerometer hardware and/or specs to be released for performing an IS calibration routine.
C- A plated copper heater block to be released so I can start using the Tungsten Carbide (WC) nozzles that I already purchased for my now soon to be sold MK3S+. (Apparently aluminum blocks aren't compatible with WC nozzles because the radically different thermal expansion coefficients will cause WC nozzles to eventually loosen up in aluminum blocks.)
Prusa made a few heavy mistakes. They developed to many different printers which distorted they development power into too many directions - as a result the developemnt of their cash cow mk series was too slow and lost a lot of innovation. Then this backward compatibility to upgrade existing machines is nice, but at a certain point it becomes an innovation stopper. Their communication towards the customers is more and more about marketing blah blah and less about innovation and customer needs. I think they should fokus on a small core of products and speed up massively their development power