8 Best Small, Compact, Mini 3D Printers You Can Get (2022)
ByMichael DwamenaReading Time: 13 minutes
Many people who are after a new 3D printer don’t necessarily want the latest model, or the largest machine out there. Sometimes they just want a simple, compact, mini 3D printer behind them that doesn’t take up too much room.
With this in mind, I decided to write an article on 8 of the best mini 3D printers on the market right now, some very cheap, and others a little more premium, but packed with features.
If you fall into this category of wanting a smaller 3D printer, you’ve come to the right place. Keep reading to help you make a decision on what mini 3D printer to get for yourself.
In this article, we will unwrap 8 best mini, compact 3D printers, their features, specifications, pros, cons, and reviews.
8 Best Mini 3D Printers
When you survey the printing market, you will see a variety of 3D printers – with different sizes and different features, coming at different rates. But it is better to learn about the product before buying it, and that exactly is what we are doing here. Let’s get started.
“Best printer to give a start to your 3D printing journey.”
Strong and Efficient Body
Flashforge is a very notable brand of 3D printers. Their all-new model Flashforge Finder is a brilliantly compact 3D printer made with a strong body. Its slide-in plates are built in a way that easily allows the printed objects to be removed.
Moreover, print quality is very stable because of the sturdy, plastic-alloy construction. With its safely placed, not-heated print plate, Flashforge Finder is an amazing printer to start with.
Well-Featured 3D Printer
Apart from its highly functional body, Flashforge Finder is backed by powerful features. Its 3.5-inch large full-color LCD Touchscreen is very intuitive and helps a lot in operations.
More than that, the Wi-Fi connection enables online printing – with the availability of offline printing through USB.
Qidi Tech is a familiar name in the world of 3D printers. Their models have always marked the record and the X-One2 is another miracle from Qidi Technology. It is a compact, mini printer that is quite easy to set up and use.
In fact, this printer is designed on the plug-and-play approach, which makes it easy to use. Just within the hour of unboxing, you can start printing without lag.
Preassembled and Responsive
The X-One2 is great for beginners. It comes preassembled, and on the screen, this printer shows easily recognizable icons and functions, which erases many complications.
The interface also shows a couple of indications, such as temperature rising alert, being a perfect printing assistant.
These intuitive indications seem small and ignorable, but they help beginners and newbies, thus contributing to 3D printer’s productivity.
Amazing Features
Although users claim that X-One2 is best for beginner’s level, its features tell otherwise. This machine is backed by various features.
Its modern features include open source filament mode, making it able to run on any slicer.
With the connectivity of the SD card, you can print offline. The slicer software is also the best one in this printer and in addition to that, its heated bed is the cherry on top, making it open to all types of filaments.
All these features denote that this is one of the best and well-featured 3D printers in the market.
“It’s exceeding my expectations for build quality and output.”
Excellent Quality Print Support
The Monoprice Select Mini V2 is a one-of-a-kind printer. Its wide range of features that incomparably support printing quality makes this 3D printer included in this list.
For starters, the heated plate is itself a nice feature that is enough to increase range of printing filaments. It is accompanied by an adjustable extruder temperature.
To be clear, several kinds of filaments will work on the Monoprice V2. Unlike other printers in this price, this printer comes totally assembled and ready to use.
Compact Size
As for the size, Monoprice V2 has a perfect, compact size. Its design is sleek and sturdy, which also makes it durable. Its small footprint and open-frame build make it easy to fit on your desk without occupying too much space.
The Anycubic Photon S is an upgraded model, succeeded by Anycubic Photon (without S). And let me tell you, that upgrade was totally worth it.
Its 3D printing is exemplary. Apart from its features, it is a quick starter, as quick as lightning. Almost preassembled, Photon’s configuration does not take any time, and it launches smoothly.
Dual Rails
The stable bed of the Anycubic Photon S is set on a dual Z-axis rail, so you don’t have to worry about wobbling problems with this printer. The bed will stay away from any unforeseen movement. It improves the quality of the print, notably.
UV Lighting
The Anycubic Photon S is one of the few cheap and compact printers that offer UV Lightning for better print quality. It defines the resolution and accuracy, making the 3D prints excellently detailed.
Monoprice, as it is said above, is a brand that produces printers with certain qualities. The Mini Delta (Amazon) is nothing different. It is made with selected parts and designed with extremely easy functioning machinery.
The Mini Delta’s auto-calibration is brilliant; the printer self-calibrates itself, so you don’t have to worry about manual bed leveling. Furthermore, the printer comes fully assembled, just plug and play.
Durable Body
This machine is made up of a durable and robust body that is unique for a mini printer. Its steel frame and anodized aluminum frame bring a sleek look to the printer and makes it able to withstand rough-and-tough situations.
Well-Featured Printer
It is accompanied by good features. The prominent one is its open-source mode, which enables heated print bed and nozzle heat to a wide range of temperatures. The heated bed allows all types of filament to run on this printer, which is a great advantage.
In addition to that, the prints have detailed, professional quality, glamouring up to 50-micron layer resolution which is a good resolution for a small, compact 3D printer like the Mini Delta.
With the connectivity of USB, Wi-Fi, and SD Card, online and offline printing becomes amazingly easy.
The LulzBot Mini 2 (Amazon) is a versatile desktop 3D printer, small in size and high in performance. Due to its compaction, it is portable and lightweight – you can take it anywhere. It is perfect for classrooms, offices, homes, and anywhere else, providing excellent results with numerous upgrades.
Plug and Play Functionality
As soon as you unbox the LulzBot Mini 2, it will be ready to work. That is called plug and play approach, on which this printer is designed. After a quick start, you can connect with the Cura LulzBot Edition Software, which will make it easier for you to print 3D model files with over 30 materials.
Premium Quality Hardware and Machinery
The LulzBot Mini 2 is made of premium-quality imported parts. These parts require minimal maintenance and function exceptionally well.
A great thanks to Trinamic TMC motor, accompanied by premium igus polymer bearings, the printer makes little-to-no noise and keeps the room calm and welcoming.
“It is very useful to develop a sense of creativity in children.”
Ready to Use, Safe and Reliable
The CR-100 Mini is a unique, compact 3D printer manufactured by Tresbo Creality. This printer is all about being creative, developing the most detailed prints for beginners and young ones to enjoy.
Unlike other low-cost printers, the CR-100 3D comes wholly assembled and already calibrated. As soon as you unleash it out of its wrapping, it will be ready to use. Besides that, this creation of Tresbo is very safe and reliable, ensuring errorless work. Firstly, this printer uses non-toxic, environmental-friendly biodegradable PLA.
Moreover, it is safe from any electrical malfunctions because it consists of flame-retardant fuselage and high-end electrical parts. This also adds a great advantage to children’s safety, and they can use it without any worry.
Lightweight and Portable
The CR-100 is exceptionally lightweight, weighing around not more than 6.1 pounds, so it can be carried anywhere. When you are cleaning or organizing your desk, the 3D printer can be moved anywhere easily.
Moreover, it helps make it easier for kids. When beginners and children are using the printer to be creative, they do not have to go through heavyweight and immovability. 6 pounds is light enough for anyone to lift and move it. And because of its lightweight, it adds a lot to the portability advantage.
Great Variety of Features
Tresbo has ensured that every customer gets a free sample of PLA filament and a free MicroSD card with a CR-100 Mini printer, but that is just a start. This printer is backed by more and more great features upgrades.
The touch screen of the CR-100 is designed with a one-button manual that starts printing within 30 seconds. More than that, you can use the remote control, which is connected to the printer through infra.
In addition to that, automatic bed leveling, low voltage, and silent working mode make this printer the best one, and not only kids, but it seems like everyone can use it for their own creative work.
Labists is a brand that satisfies customers in every category, this means kids too. For beginners and kids, the Labists Mini is a perfect desktop 3D printer. It is accompanied by excellent features, and its structure is lightweight, portable, and adorable – all at a very affordable price.
Fast and Easy Functions
The Labists Mini 3D printer is easy to use and smoothly operated. Apart from its fast processing, its high-end power supply below 30W makes it a super energizer workhorse. It is safe from electrical malfunctions.
Pros
Perfect for kids
Easy to use
Small size
Lightweight
Ultra-silent printing
Quick assembly
Portable
Low price
Cons
Comes unassembled
Non-heated bed
Only prints with PLA
Features
DIY Project Printer
Electrically safe and reliable
High-quality power supply
Self-developed slicing software
Silent Work Mode
Fast temperature heater (3 minutes for 180°C)
Removable Magnetic Plate
Non-toxic PLA filament
Specifications
Brand: Labists
Build Volume: 100 x 100 x 100mm
Weight: 2.20 pounds
Voltage: 12v
No connectivity
1.75mm filament
PLA only
Mini, Compact Printers – Buying Guide
3D printers are a great revolutionary symbol in the world of technology. Instead of typical printers, 3D printers let you be fully creative. From their appearance to their features, everything is better.
There are several features that people compare when looking to buy a 3D printer, but for smaller, more compact machines, it isn’t as difficult a decision, though you still want to make a good choice.
During this decision making, this section will give you a little insight into what to be looking for when buying your ideal mini 3D printer.
Size and Weight
We are talking about mini and compact 3D printers here, so size matters. I do not mean “weight” by size. Because two printers with the same sizes can cause a difference of up to 10 pounds when it comes to weight – weight depends on the machinery.
For compact printers, choose the desktop one. They all have small, portable sizes. And they are also lightweight. Though, you may face some lack of features in them.
If you need a foolproof workhorse and power loaded machine, you will have to let go of the “lightweight” feature.
Heated Bed
A heated bed is a print plate that enables an open-source mode for all kinds of filaments. The most common filament is PLA, and that is what most printers use.
A heated bed enables you to use ABS, PETG, and other filament materials along with PLA.
Many mini 3D printers do not have a heated bed, but the higher quality ones do. If you really want to bring up your 3D printing game on an excellent level, a heated bed is what will allow you to be most creative.
LCD Touchscreen or Dial
Touchscreen displays do not seem like a valuable component of a printer, but for beginners and newbies, it adds a lot of levels of improvement. LCD can be touch or button-operated, it is upon how much you spend.
It enables an intuitive and creative way to access things, adds an air of relaxation (because you see printing status right on your screen), and adds a lot to the productivity and convenience.
Where LCD is not possible, go for a touchscreen.
Price
In the 3D printing field, you would be surprised just how much a cheap 3D printer can compete with a very expensive 3D printer.
Even on Amazon, I saw a machine worth around $5,000, but had a 1 star rating and several complaints about components breaking, not printing out of the box and so on.
Better than price, you should be looking at brand, reliability, and durability in a 3D printer. You can usually find out these important factors by doing a little research and looking through reviews of popular 3D printers.
When you go for a certain brand like Creality, Anycubic, Monoprice and many more, it’s hard to get a low-quality printer delivered to you. Depending on what features you are after, you’ll see an increase in price.
In other cases, a cheaper 3D printer has all the necessary features to operate smoothly and produce high quality prints, so don’t look too far towards price in your decision for picking a 3D printer.
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