Here’s the latest manufacturer to pull out a “Pro” move on us. The new Anet ET4 Pro is a subtle update to the ET4 that came before it. Headlining the enhancements is the inclusion of TMC2208 stepper motor drivers. The rest of the tweaks are fairly negligible.
Anet appears to think of itself as the world’s leading manufacturer of innovative 3D printers, but just how much innovation is happening here, and what exactly makes the Pro, “Pro”? With much to prove (our 10-hour hands-on with the ET4 left a lot to be desired), maybe a few changes here and there are exactly what this printer needs to get in our good books. Let’s dig into its features.
Features
TMC2208 Stepper Driver
Already available as a drop-in upgrade for the ET4, Anet’s ET4 Pro does the heavy lifting for you with TMC2208 stepper motor drivers as standard. It’s definitely something you’d want in an ideal world for your new 3D printer, keeping things humming along quietly and microstepping to smoother prints, so we can see why Anet is providing this as part of the complete package now.
Automatic Bed Levelling
We’re all for things that make your life easier and automatic bed leveling does exactly that. It’s a pain fiddling about with knobs trying to get a level just so, so the fact that the Anet ET4 Pro – like the ET4 – does it for you remains a welcome inclusion.
Easy to assemble
Almost all 3D printers now come at least semi-assembled. The ET4 Pro isn’t at all like Anet’s old A8 printer. A full kit printer that, at the time was par for the course, but in retrospect, was so complicated you could have built your own stealth fighter in the shed quicker than you could have got the A8 setup using the provided instructions. Thankfully, things have moved on a bit and Anet says once you receive the ET4 Pro in the post, you’ll be able to set it up within 10 minutes. Phew.
Cosmetically Enhanced
It’s fair to say that the newer Anet ET4 Pro is a more mature looking machine than the ET4. Its “Blackout” color scheme gives it a more serious aura, an improvement on the red-touched face found on the ET4. It was a little too “school property” for our liking. Is this even a feature? Not particularly. Can you tell things haven’t changed much?
Release Date & Availability
The Anet ET4 Pro was released back at the beginning of the summer. It’s available from a host of online stores right now, so all your usual places to shop for 3D printers, goods, and accessories will almost certainly stock it. Shop wisely, as the price can vary.
Price
It really does vary. We’ve looked into the price online and it seems to swing a fair bit. It doesn’t seem particularly difficult to find this printer for a comfortable chunk under $300 and with a little effort you could probably find it for a good whack under $250 (yes, there is a hierarchy of oenomatopaeic values of money.) Some places want more than $300 for it though, so that’s certainly something to be aware of.
Reviews
As mentioned previously, the older ET4 did not set the world on fire during its stint at the All3DP offices. The extremely limited changes on this ET4 Pro don’t really give us much to suggest that things will change, but you never know. This isn’t a revolution, it’s a very, very gentle evolution. To say it’s innovative is a real stretch.
A little reading on some internet forums suggests other users have had some issues with print quality and failures with the ET4 Pro, and there’s more than a few critics of Anet in general out there. Despite that, online reviews on sites like Amazon are mostly positive. As always, have a pinch of salt prepared.
Tech Specs
GENERAL SPECS
- Technology: FDM
- Year: 2020
- Assembly: Semi-assembled
- Mechanical arrangement: Cartesian XY-head, i3 arrangement.
- Manufacturer: Anet
3D PRINTING PROPERTIES
- Build volume: 220 x 220 x 250 mm
- Feeder system: Bowden
- Print Head: Single nozzle
- Nozzle size: 0.4 mm
- Max. hot end temperature: 250 ℃
- Max. heated bed temperature: 100 ℃
- Print bed material: Glass
- Frame: Aluminum
- Bed leveling: Automatic
- Connectivity: USB, SD Card, Ethernet
- Print recovery: Yes
- Filament sensor: Yes
- Camera: No
Materials
- Filament diameter: 1.75 mm
- 3rd party filaments: Yes
- Compatible materials: Consumer materials (PLA, ABS, PETG, Flexibles)
SOFTWARE
- Recommended Slicer: Cura
- Operating system: Windows, Mac OSX
- File types: STL, OBJ
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT
- Frame dimensions: 440 x 420 x 480 mm
- Weight: 7.4 kg
Similar Machines
Anet ET4
Remove the Pro from the Pro and you end up with this, Bro. The Anet ET4 is basically the same printer as this one, but with differences so fine it would leave an optician squinting.
Creality Ender 3 V2
Sort of Pro, but not in name, the Creality Ender 3 V2 updates much more than the name of the popular Ender 3, bringing a raft of updated features that make it well worth the extra spend.
Biqu B1
Biqu’s Pink and Black Attack has close ties to the Ender 3 in style, which is partly what makes it such a fine alternative to the ET4 Pro above.
License: The text of "Anet ET4 Pro: Specs, Price, Release & Reviews" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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