Creality is a well-renowned 3D printer manufacturer that is always committed to improving their production of high-quality 3D printers and technological capabilities. The release of the Ender 3 Pro has had a huge impact in the 3D printing space.
It is specifically famous for its high-quality output at an astonishingly low price. Most people prefer buying an economical printer whose printing quality seems promising, definitely comparable to some premium 3D printers out there.
Well under the price of $300, the Ender 3 Pro (Amazon) is a serious contender for one of the best 3D printers for a beginner, and even an expert.
The main differences between the Ender 3 and Ender 3 Pro are the new sturdy frame design, improved mechanical properties and the magnetic printing surface.
This article will simplify the review of the Ender 3 Pro, getting into the key details of what you want to know. I will go through the features, benefits, downsides, specs, what other people are saying about the printer and more.
Below is a nice video that gives you a visual of the unboxing and setup process, so you can really see everything you’re getting and a how things will look for you after purchasing it.
Features of the Ender 3 Pro
Magnetic Printing Bed
Aluminum Extrusion for Y-axis
Resume Print Feature
Upgraded Extruder Print Head
LCD Touchscreen
Meanwell Power Supply
Magnetic Printing Bed
The printer has a magnetic printing bed. The sheet is easily removable and also flexible. This allows you to take prints off the plate efficiently. The textured surface of the printer sticks the first layers to the printing bed.
Aluminum Extrusion for Y-axis
You have a 40 x 40mm aluminum extrusion for the Y-axis which ensured increased stability and a more sturdy foundation. These also have upgraded bearings that reduce friction between axis movements and more steadiness for the Ender 3 Pro.
Resume Print Function
The printer has the capability to fully resume the printing process if the power suddenly goes away. This feature helps recover our progress without any hassle.
Upgraded Print Head Extrusion
The extruder print head is upgraded to MK10, done to help eliminate clogging and uneven extrusion.
LCD Touchscreen
The Ender 3 Pro frame has an attached LCD along with a clickable control wheel. The interface is the same as for any other Creality 3D printer. It also offers some more differentiated settings. Hence, in general, it’s friendly and easy to use.
Meanwell Power Supply
This power supply is well-respected in the manufacturing world since it has serious reliability over the life of a 3D printer. The cool thing with this is the fact that with the Ender 3 Pro, you’re getting a thinner, more sleak version of the power supply.
It’s supposed to be even more reliable than the Ender 3 version.
Improved stability through redesign and better parts (upgraded extrusion and bearings)
Very pocket-friendly and amazing value for what you are receiving
Easy assembly and professional packaging (flat-packed)
Quick heating hotbed to 110°C in just 5 minutes
Compact 3D printer design with good print volume
Easily upgradeable parts to improve the Ender 3 Pro as you wish
Consistent high quality prints time after time, comparable to premium printers
Good filament compatibility – able to 3D print flexible filaments due to tight filament path
Easy to get print adhesion and remove prints off bed after printing with flexible print surface
Peace of mind if power outage occurs with the resume printing feature
Open-source software so you have more freedom and ability
Lifetime technical assistance and 24 hour professional customer service
Downsides
Since this Ender 3 Pro isn’t completely assembled, it does require some manual assembly, but the instructions and video tutorials that are around should guide you just fine. I’d advise to take your time with assembly to make sure you get things correct from the start.
You wouldn’t want to put your Ender 3 Pro together too quickly and realize you done something wrong.
With the standard stock, you are required to level the bed quite frequently but with some upgrades such as leveling silicone foam, it reduces the need to level so often.
The noise is one of the common complaints that you hear, which is one with many 3D printers and not just the Ender 3 Pro. I’ve written an article specific to this point about How to Reduce Noise on Your 3D Printer.
It can be corrected plenty, but if you want it to be very quiet it will take some upgrades which I would say are definitely worth it.
The wiring system could be a little better since you have plenty of wires running around. They aren’t too bothersome since they are mostly underneath and to the back of the 3D printer.
There isn’t a USB cable connection with the Ender 3 Pro so it handles the standard Micro SD card which isn’t much of an issue. You can also upgrade your motherboard to use this feature if you really want it.
Some printer users also found the interface quite jumpy, especially with the manual dial and when it gets caught between the middle of a movement, you can sometimes click the wrong thing.
It’s quite a small interface, but we don’t really need a large one for operation and it gives up the right amount of information during the printing process.
Also, the swapping of filaments can be a bit inconvenient. Also, the printer’s wires are messy to deal with. However, overall the printer is okay for ordinary use. Being a budget printer, it performs fairly well.
Specifications
Print Volume: 220 x 220 x 250mm
Extrusion Type: Single nozzle, 0.4mm diameter
Filament Diameter: 1.75mm
Max. Heated Bed Temperature: 110℃
Max. Nozzle Temperature: 255℃
Max. Printing Speed: 180 mm/s
Layer Resolution: 0.01mm / 100 microns
Connectivity: SD card
Printer Weight: 8.6 Kg
What Comes With the Ender 3 Pro 3D Printer?
Ender 3 Pro 3D Printer
Toolkit including pliers, a wrench, screwdriver and Allen keys
Nozzle
SD card
8GB spatula
Nozzle cleaning needle
Instruction manual
It comes well packaged. It takes approximately takes about two hours to unpack and then build the machine up. The X and Y axes of the printer come already pre-built. All you are supposed to do is mount the Z-axis to get the printer working.
Customer Reviews of the Ender 3 Pro
Around the internet, this 3D printer has almost perfect 5* ratings and for good reason. Amazon has a cool rating of 4.5 / 5.0 at time of writing with more than 1,000 collectively.
Looking through several reviews of the Ender 3 Pro has a glowing commonality which is, it’s an amazing 3D printer. You’ll find no shortage of great reviews based on ease of operation, sharp print quality and on top of all of that, a very reasonable price tag.
Whether adding to a print farm or getting started with their first 3D printer, this machine does the trick in all cases and should last you several years with smooth printing.
I think one of the annoying things that people found is the need to level the bed every so often and needing to adjust the belt from time to time.
You can definitely get upgrades to counter this as previously mentioned and you can get belt tensioner knobs which make adjusting tension a lot easier. Once you have a routine and printing system going, you’ll overcome these small frustrations.
You have large communities of people who have gone through the same type of things, but have come up with some useful solutions to tackle these problems.
There are some things to take into account in terms of downsides, but there are great fixes for them so after some tinkering, the majority of people are extremely happy with their Ender 3 Pro.
Most people are saying how this 3D printer was a lot better than expected and how it worked flawlessly out the box. Rather than use the instructions, it’s a good idea to follow a detailed YouTube video so you don’t miss anything out.
The magnetic bed is shown a lot of love since it makes your 3D printing life that little bit easier.
One user mentioned how after one week they had underextrusion problems, but with Creality’s great customer service, they helped him through the problem to get successful prints again.
You’re getting a huge community of Creality fans and like-minded 3D printer users who love creating objects, from DIY projects around the house, to 3D printing models of your favorite figurines.
The manual leveling process took a little bit of a learning curve to get down for one user, but with some practice and experience, it was smooth sailing.
Common Ender 3 Pro Upgrades
Capricorn PTFE tubing
Silent motherboard
BL-Touch auto-leveling
Touchscreen LCD
All-metal extruder
Upgraded quiet, powerful fans
The PTFE tubing is a nice upgrade because it is a consumable part that usually deteriorates over time due to temperature issues. The Capricorn PTFE tubing has a higher temperature resistance and great slip, so the filament moves through the extrusion path smoothly.
Most people can handle the noise of a 3D printer but it isn’t ideal in most situations. The addition of a silent motherboard to your Ender 3 would make your 3D printing journey that little bit easier.
Who doesn’t love a little automation when it comes to 3D printing? A BL-Touch makes sure that your first layers come out successful every time. Your bed doesn’t have to be perfectly level and you’ll still get great prints.
With this upgrade, you can be more confident in getting successful prints.
The upgrade of a touchscreen is just that feature that makes life that little bit better, but it’s the small things that count right? Being able to access your print settings and files through a responsive touchscreen is a nice touch!
Even though not common, there have been reports of plastic extruders breaking or not extruding certain materials very well. An all-metal extruder usually corrects these issues, especially if you get yourself a dual-geared extruder. It also makes 3D printing with flexible filament easier.
Once you get the silent motherboard upgrade, the next loudest thing is usually the fans. You can get yourself some premium fans for a reasonable price which are not only powerful, but very quiet in operation.
Verdict – Ender 3 Pro
From reading through this glowing review, you can tell that I would recommend the Ender 3 Pro to anyone looking to get their first 3D printer or add to their current collection of 3D printers.
It’s an amazing value for money and you can count on getting amazing print quality and plenty of support along the way. The features that are added to this printer are great and still don’t cost you too much as a whole.
In many cases, I’ve seen a 3D printer manufacturer add a couple cool features but then raise the price a lot more than they should, this isn’t the case with Creality. Being the updated version of the ever-loved Creality Ender 3, they have added things that people have asked for.
Listening to the consumers who are actually using the product is important to build a relationship of trust and functionality. This has been achieved and even with the little drawbacks, we can definitely appreciate this machine.
Michael Dwamena is the founder of 3D Printerly, a platform dedicated to simplifying 3D printing for hobbyists and professionals alike. Owns over 20 3D printers (filament and resin) and has plenty experience 3D printing. Michael has authored over 900 articles, helping millions navigate the exciting world of 3D printing.
Reading Time: 8 minutes 
