Elegoo Neptune 2

The Elegoo Neptune 2 is a 2021 budget FDM machine built on an open aluminum extrusion frame with a bed that moves in Y. Build volume is 220×220×250 mm, the extruder is an MK8 running bowden, and leveling is manual only. It was the classic cheap first printer of that era and a direct rival to the Ender 3 V2 — quieter, and with a flexible sheet instead of glass.

Elegoo rates it at 180 mm/s with 60 mm/s recommended. The hotend reaches 260 °C, the 250 W bed hits 100 °C in about three minutes, and TMC2225 drivers keep noise under 48 dB. The bed is neither PEI nor magnetic: it's a 1.5 mm epoxy fiberglass sheet with a matte polycarbonate mat held down by four binder clips. There's a filament runout sensor but no auto leveling; it weighs 6.9 kg and ships semi-assembled.

Pros

• Genuinely quiet: TMC2225 drivers and a rated 48 dB — both Tom's Hardware and The Gadgeteer call out the low noise
• Out-of-box print quality beats the same-year Ender 3 V2 — Thomas Sanladerer got better results on stock settings
• A flexible sheet instead of glass means less moving mass and better heat transfer, and prints pop off with a flex
• The screen renders a picture of the model straight from the gcode instead of bare filenames — Windows Central rates that a rarity at this price
• Elegoo's Cura build ships with the full profile set, unlike the stripped-down versions some rivals bundle
• The price: Windows Central called it ridiculous for the output you get

Cons

• Factory defects: Elegoo itself published a base-deformation repair guide for the whole Neptune 2 series, and Tom's Hardware found every V-wheel shipped with its preload backed off
• Stock material profiles run too cold — Sanladerer got PLA at 200 °C and PETG at 215 °C, with models cracking and delaminating mid-print; he needed 235 °C and 30–50% fan
• Electrical gripes: tinned wire ends in the screw terminals work loose over a year or two and there are no fuses on the board. Power loss recovery is on the spec sheet, but there's no hardware outage detector — it only resumes from the last saved position
• The bed mat bubbles after a few part removals, the thumbwheels make leveling what Windows Central calls subjective and imprecise, and the screen hides under the bed once it slides forward

The Neptune 2 suits someone who wants a cheap working printer and isn't scared of a hex key: PLA and PETG, prototypes, enclosures, toys. If you expect to plug it in and print, Tom's Hardware says outright to look at something with auto leveling instead.

It's discontinued, so today it only makes sense secondhand. The current replacement is the Neptune 4 with auto leveling and Klipper, or the Neptune 4 Plus and Neptune 4 Max if you need a bigger plate.

Reviews

• Tom's Hardware — Elegoo Neptune 2 3D Printer Review: Catch Me If You Can
• Tom's 3D (Thomas Sanladerer) — Elegoo Neptune 2 Review
• Windows Central — Elegoo Neptune 2 3D printer review: The best printer you'll never own
• The Gadgeteer — Elegoo Neptune 2 3D Printer review