This is a really interesting product that isn't for everybody. For essentially the same cost, you could end up with an Elegoo Neptune 3 max or 4 pro, which, without a doubt, is superior to this printer in every measureable way – speed, availability of parts, build quality, build size. I dare say that my Neptunes actually probably have a build quality that exceeds the entire footprint of this product. But you know what? Maybe that's a little bit of the charm. My Neptunes are big ol' honking things. I have space dedicated to their running and maintenance. We put the AOSEED printer on a bookshelf next to where we keep the batteries and it just sorts of blends in. It's not silent, but it's quiet. It's about as loud as a regular paper printer when the ink cartridge/carriage moves back and forth. You don't even hear the fans at all.
This little 3D printer is surprisingly capable, especially for something designed with kids in mind, and for something that takes up such little space. Frankly, I didn't expect much. The enclosed design and auto-leveling (it's not entirely automatic, but very close) bed made setup straightforward, and the safety factor is reassuring when little hands are nearby. It comes with a generous set of accessories (including 8 filaments and even stickers to decorate the unit), so you really can start printing right out of the box. The included library of designs is huge, and the AI-driven “draw it and print it” style features were fun to mess around with, but not as good as the pre-made items. My kids especially enjoyed picking characters and simple toys from the catalog, and the speed is fast enough that they didn’t lose interest while waiting. It's great for making stamps more than 3d models. They were not impressed by the models. But for stamps, it turns an idea into a doodle into a stamp in short order.
That said, it isn’t all smooth sailing. The app is clearly where the “AI magic” happens, and while it’s intuitive enough, there were times when navigating menus or creating custom tasks felt clunky. It's also buggy as can be, requiring that the app gets force reset on my phone pretty much between every print. I hope they continue to support updates to the software. This is also the way you slice and print, so it's frustrating for the kids when we have to repeat the same steps because there was a glitch, and there are frequently glitches. The AI portion, in my opinion, is a little overblown. It doesn't generate 3d models. It can make an anime model version of a picture (and it's really not very similar), a little idea into a doodle for a stamp or keychain, and a sort of thin funko pop (ish) model with pick-and-choose prefab parts. None of these were as interesting as the premade units. You can also, technically, import your own STLs (even on your phone), opening up the world of possibilities to be a little more than what comes in the app. This is good, because even after a few days my kids were running out of things they wanted to bother printing.
The printer itself is small, so don’t expect to build anything much bigger than a few inches across. Technically, the printer is 120x120x120 for build volume, so roughly 4 3/4" cubed. But that's misleading, because you have to leave space for the rafts (highly recommended that you use rafts as the build plate is not heated), and the accuracy of the prints goes a little down on the extreme edges of the bed, meaning that building in the middle is your best bet. So, even though that's the max size, I doubt you'll find yourself building big things. Our average builds have been around 2."
Full disclosure: this is actually my second unit. The first one arrived with a stripped gear so it would not feed any filament at all, and with the bowden tube design, there's not much you can do if the filament breaks or gets stuck other than disassembly. Rather than risking taking things apart on a new unit, I was able to exchange it for a working one. I was not anticipating much from the replacement unit, to be honest. But I was wrong. It worked right out the gate, and it literally hasn't failed a single print, and this is after a total of 30 prints over a couple weeks. Some of them are pretty complicated. And I truly think I just had bad luck, as the box of the first one took a real beating coming here, so I imagine it was shipping-related damage and not the printer's fault.
I've taken some pictures of our better prints: a little hedgehog, a "knitted" fox, and a three-plate (as in you had to print three sets of parts over three sessions) Minecraft Steve table-flipping toy that includes a 3d printed spring as the primary moving part, and air pressure to activate a sliding piece to actually operate the toy. This required pretty unforgiving tolerances and no weak points, and I was shocked that this machine delivered a working product. Is it going to last forever? Goodness no. Probably a weekend if my boys get rough with it. But it worked! And it took about 8 total hours to print, so if I have to rebuild it (or pieces of it), it's not a big deal. You can see from the fox that the finish texture is really good, but there is some stuff on the bottom left of the face where it should have been supported (and wasn't). The hedgehog printed great, and took just a little less than 40 minutes if I remember correctly. Of course, for perspective, I also included a wolverine full-size wearable helmet that I also printed. So keep in mind that there are printers out there that provide far more in terms of features, size, speed and quality. But that being said, all the models in my review photos: the fox, hedgehog and the minecraft dude were literally executed with a couple clicks and that's it. Very user-friendly.
Is it one of those printers that can make an 8-minute benchy? No. But my 6-year-old can use the software to select a file, slice it, and print it all by himself. That's pretty darn cool. No way that's happening on a machine like mine, where you have to download the file, slice the file in one program, sometimes fix the file in another program, create manual supports, export the file, move it on a flash drive — this is literally point and click printing, just very small scale.
Interestingly, the machine seems to be a little picky about filament. It does NOT like the filament my machines like, even though on paper it's all the same. I wonder what that means long term, since even though we're printing small things without supports and it's been really economically sipping filament, whether I will have trouble finding more that works. My filament gets jammed in the feeding gears and produces errors, something that has never happened with any of the filament that the printer came with. If you're torn about whether you should get the kit with the filament or not — get the filament. Even though I think the AI is a gimmick and would suggest it's not worth the additional cost, getting the filament with the non-AI printer a la carte versus the package with the AI printer and the filament together will cost more. Bottom line, if that was confusing: go with the package including filament and don't worry about spending more for the AI unless they expand its capabilities.
It’s very much a toy-leaning machine rather than a workhorse. Looking at this unit, I doubt it will survive a significant failure and I have no idea how difficult repairs or replacement parts will be to source/install. On my units, it's an open frame, with easy and man-hand-sized access to everything that fails from time to time. I don't even know if I can get both hands into this unit to remove the print head should the time come. I feel like the printer bed mat is extremely odd – it's like a very flexible old mousepad with what feels like a melamine-coated top that's both stiff and flexible. And yet, never had an adhesion problem and have always been able to remove the prints without taking out chunks.
For me, the biggest value is that it makes 3D printing accessible and safe for kids. They can explore creativity, learn patience, and see their ideas come to life without me constantly hovering over them. There are no NSFW prints in the app for me to worry about exposing them to, unlike other sites. For adults, it’s not going to replace a larger hobby printer, nor is it marketed in a way that this appears to be the intent, but as an introduction and a creative toy, it does a great job. Frankly, if you're curious about the hobby and don't want to commit a lot of space to it, this is night and day better than my first 3d printer, which literally worked maybe 10% of the time. It's amazing how much they crammed into this little package.
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