Elegoo Mars

The Elegoo Mars was the company's first resin printer and one of the machines that put MSLA printing on hobby desks in 2018. It is a small unit for miniatures, busts and master models: the build area is only 120×68×155 mm, but the detail beats any FDM printer at the same price. It is discontinued — Elegoo's own store lists it as sold out.

Curing comes from a 5.5-inch color LCD at 2560×1440 with a 47 μm pixel, lit by a 40 W 405 nm UV array. Layers run 0.01–0.2 mm at a rated 22.5 mm/h. Control is a 3.5-inch touchscreen and files arrive on a USB stick — no Wi-Fi, no camera. Aluminum body, acrylic hood, ships semi-assembled.

Pros

• Detail on par with resin machines twice the price: 3D Printing Industry measured repeatability inside 0.3 mm, and Tom's Hardware needed no touch-ups on test prints
• Leveling takes about five minutes and holds for a couple of weeks of heavy use, per 3D Printing Industry
• Matte-finish aluminum body that reviewers describe as feeling like more expensive hardware
• Very quiet — Cvetmir 3D notes you can barely hear the stepper
• Barely any resin smell during printing: the hood seals well and Elegoo's own resin airs out quickly
• The pressure-sensitive touchscreen works through nitrile gloves

Cons

• Prints stick to the plate far too well — Tom's Hardware bought razor blades to pry them loose
• A loud beep fires on the first layers and at the end of every job, and cannot be disabled
• ChiTuBox auto-supports are over-generous and leave scarring, so 3D Printing Industry supports models by hand; bridges past 25 mm and overhangs past 55° droop
• Consumables wear fast: Elegoo covered the color LCD and FEP film for 3 months against a year on the printer. No auto leveling, Wi-Fi or camera, and the USB port and power switch sit on the back

People bought the Mars as a first resin printer: tabletop miniatures, busts, jewelry and dental masters, small housings and gears. Anything large won't fit in 120×68 mm, and a modest model still takes a couple of hours, so it suits careful small work, not batches.

Bottom line: a landmark machine that set the bar for budget resin printing, but today it makes sense only secondhand and only if you accept replacing the color LCD. For similar money the Elegoo Mars 5 (4K, 6.6-inch) or Mars 5 Ultra (9K, tilting vat) are faster and handle calibration themselves.

Reviews

• Tom's Hardware — Elegoo Mars Review: Incredibly Affordable Resin 3D Printer
• 3D Printing Industry — Review: The Elegoo Mars, a hobbyist-suitable UV LCD 3D printer in a nifty package