Creality Ender 3 NEO - FDM 3D printer

With those who have just begun their journey with 3D printing and need a user friendly and simple FDM 3D printer, Creality has developed the NEO version of the Ender 3 and Ender 3 V2 3D printers - Ender 3 NEO and Ender 3 V2 NEO. Both 3D printers were equipped with a number of improvements with respect to Ender 3 and Ender 3 V2, as well as some specific features that make both of them unique 3D printers ideal for different user profiles.

One of the functionalities that both Ender 3 NEO and Ender 3 V2 NEO have in common is CR touch auto leveling added as a user friendly alternative to the manual leveling (manual leveling is still possible). Both 3D printers have a build area of 220 x 220 x 250 mm, can work at a speed of up to 120 mm/s and have a standard 0.4 mm light MK8 nozzle with low inertia, and a full metal Bowden extrusion system, a significant upgrade from the plastic extruder in the Ender 3 and Ender 3 V2. Both Ender 3 NEO and Ender 3 V2 NEO are compatible with 1.75 mm filament, and can extrude at a temperature of 260 ºC on a bed heated to up to 100 ºC, which allows the user to work with filaments such as PLA, ABS and PETg. Both the Ender 3 NEO and the Ender 3 V2 NEO have a safety feature that allows the user to resume printing a model after a power outage.

Nevertheless, both Ender 3 NEO and Ender 3 V2 NEO have unique features that make them attractive for different user needs and levels of expertise.

Ender 3 NEO

The Ender 3 NEO 3D printer is a newer version of the Ender 3 with numerous upgrades. Instead of the manual leveling that was necessary with the Ender 3, the Ender 3 NEO now has an added feature of CR Touch auto leveling where 16 point measurements of the bed surface are taken as reference. The extruder is now a full metal Bowden extruder with smooth feeding and a large corrugated heat sink, which together contributes to better heat dissipation, quicker cooling, a lighter weight of the extruder, as well as better results with materials that require higher temperatures of extrusion (around 250 ºC). 

Image 1: The CR Touch auto leveling and the improved platform springs. Source: Creality.

Apart from those features, the Ender 3 NEO has a 32 bit silent mainboard (less than 50 db of noise), which means quiet printing and unobstructed studying or work. The build surface of the Ender 3 NEO 3D printer is a carborundum glass plate attached with clamps, placed on enhanced alloy steel mold springs for a steadier build platform. There are numerous advantages to that, such as great adhesion of the model, reduced warping, a smooth bottom part of the print, uniform heating, easy part removal, durability, easy maintenance and the fact that glass plates tend to help keep the bed leveling consistent.

Image 2: The Ender 3 NEO extruder with a corrugated heat sink. Source: Creality.

The Ender 3 NEO is managed through a 12864 mono knob screen, and the connectivity options are USB and SD card. It is compatible with Creality Slicer, Cura and Simplify 3D slicing softwares. Since the Ender 3 NEO 3D printer is an open source assembly kit, it can be modified and personalized by the user.

Ender 3 V2 NEO

Ender 3 V2 NEO was designed with improvements on certain features of the Ender 3 V2 in mind. This way, the Ender 3 V2 NEO includes CR Touch auto leveling with 16-point automatic print height compensation in addition to the manual leveling feature present in the Ender 3 V2. Automatic leveling helps improve accuracy and efficiency, thus saving the user time and effort. The plastic extruder has been replaced with a durable full metal Bowden extruder with great extrusion force. The extruder on the Ender 3 V2 NEO has an additional rotary knob to facilitate smooth feeding and retraction of filament. 

Video 1: The features of the Ender 3 V2 NEO 3D printer. Source: Creality.

The most distinguishing features of the Ender 3 V2 NEO 3D printer are its easy 3 step assembly, the sliced model preview feature and the spring steel magnetic build plate. As far as the sliced model preview feature, it allows the user to visualize the model as it will look printed before actually starting to print. 

Image 3: The Ender 3 V2 NEO user interface with model preview. Source: Creality.

Spring steel build plates are strong and heat resistant, which makes them ideal for high temperature polymers. In combination with the PC coating placed on top, the spring steel magnetic build plate fosters good adhesion and allows for releasing the part from the build plate quickly and easily, by simply by bending the spring steel sheet. 

Image 4: The PC-coated spring steel magnetic sheet and the built-in toolbox. Source: Creality.

Another interesting feature is a built-in toolbox where the user can store various tools and accessories to always have them at hand. Similarly to the Ender 3 NEO, the Ender 3 V2 NEO has a 32 bit silent mainboard (less than 50 db of noise), connects via USB and SD card, and it is compatible with Creality Slicer, Cura and Simplify 3D slicing softwares. The user interface is displayed on a 4.3” color knob screen.

Which one to choose?

Apart from the features they share, such as the extrusion and build plate temperature, safety features and build volume, both the Ender 3 NEO and the Ender 3 V2 NEO have properties unique only to them. If the user is looking for creative freedom and the possibility to personalize the 3D printer in the future to grow together with the user’s expertise, the Ender 3 NEO is an excellent option. The Ender 3 V2 NEO is suitable for users who want a 3D printer that is quick to assemble and easy to operate thanks to a friendly user interface and easy piece removal.