Following on from the success and popularity of its Mars and Mars Pro printers, Elegoo’s Mars C is a cheaper, more accessible version of the former, which just so happened to be our Best Budget Resin printer pick in 2019. As the Mars was already a budget printer, how much more budgety is the Mars C and what sort of expectations can we have for a machine that essentially takes a winning formula and dilutes it?
Promising to come in well South of the $200 mark, the Elegoo Mars C is probably best thought of as a Mars made up of some cheaper bits, something you could well feel quite comfortable with in return for saving a few hard-earned bucks.
Features
High Print Quality
We were very impressed by the Elegoo Mars’s ability to produce truly excellent prints. Providing Elegoo hasn’t fiddled with any of the actual printing technology within the Mars C package, it should deliver a similar if not identical experience. Elegoo certainly hasn’t come out of the gate boasting about improving the technology behind its printing, so it’s a safe bet that as far as the printing is concerned, it’ll be business as usual.
Plastic Body
Elegoo has decided to replace the metal body found on the Mars with an ABS plastic body. One potential upside of this, besides the drop in price, is that the Mars C should be far lighter than the Mars, but are you going to be carrying it around all that often?
Easy Does It
When we reviewed the Elegoo Mars way back in 2019, we found it simple to use. It runs on Chitubox firmware, has an intuitive touchscreen control system, and the plate leveling is a walk in the park. We’re expecting precisely the same situation with the new Mars C, and if anything changed in that regard, it would be a massive disappointment.
5.5” 2K HD LCD Print Resolution
The high print quality that we’re expecting to find on the new Elegoo Mars C is all down to the 5.5” 2K LCD. You can count on it to produce the goods, and that’s what has made Elegoo’s Mars series printers so popular.
Plastic Resin Vat
The Mars has a print volume of 120 x 68 x 155 mm, and we’re expecting no different for the Mars C, but one thing that’s certainly changed in the printing zone is the vat – it’s now plastic instead of metal. While we’ve never had any issues with plastic resin vats in the All3DP office, we’ve seen plenty of talk from users online that have suffered issues blamed on a plastic vat. Time will tell if Elegoo has made the right call here.
Release Date and Availability
Well, we agreed on a date, we got dressed up and now we’re sat in the restaurant with a glass of wine wondering where on Earth the Elegoo Mars C actually is. No text, no call…
Despite existing and even being sold for a short spell on at least Amazon, the Elegoo Mars C is, at the time of publishing, out of stock and delisted. This skittishness of availability is becoming a bit of a calling card of Elegoo’s. We’re not sure we like it.
In recent communications, Elegoo has vaguely suggested that it has a desire to offer more affordable products in order to attract more people into the world of 3D printing. If this is true, it seems likely that the Elegoo Mars C will indirectly replace the Mars, with Elegoo apparently happy to adopt a cheaper material construction for its printers in order to pass on manufacturing savings to the customer.
What this means for the moment is that there’s really little reason to be patient and wait for a Mars C. From an operational perspective, the Mars and Mars C look as though they’ll be virtually identical, with the Mars holding an on-paper advantage of being made of more expensive, sturdy materials. For the meantime, if you see an Elegoo Mars on sale – and we think that is likely – it could well be worth pulling the trigger.
Price
We know for a fact that the Mars C is going to come in comfortably below $200. During its brief appearance on the internet, we saw it for sale for as little as $170, but now that it’s disappeared, we can’t say for sure. Elegoo also hasn’t confirmed when exactly it’ll be back.
Reviews
Nothing noteworthy so far, which isn’t a surprise seeing as the printer itself is currently as elusive as a ghillie-suited Bigfoot. Expect similar printing quality, ease of use, and design to the Elegoo Mars we reviewed and loved, but with a lower quality body.
The old Elegoo Mars is going out of production, but this Mars C isn’t replacing it. Instead, Elegoo is positioning this printer as its even-lower entry-level budget machine. According to Elegoo, the real Mars replacement is the Mars Pro, which appears to have dropped in price to fill the new Mars-shaped gap in the company’s range, while the new Mars 2 Pro is, naturally, replacing the Mars Pro in the lineup. Confused? We’re not surprised, and it’s a little frustrating that 3D printer manufacturers continue to make their naming conventions more complicated than they need to be.
Elegoo Mars )
Tech Specs
GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS
- Technology: LCD
- Type: Resin
- Year: 2020
- Assembly: Fully-assembled
- Manufacturer: Elegoo
- Country: China
3D PRINTING SPECIFICATIONS
- Build Volume: 120 x 68 x 155 mm (4.7 x 2.6 x 6.1 inches)
- Layer Height: 10+ microns
- Resolution: 2560 x 1440 pixels
- Bed-Leveling: Manual (assisted)
- Display: 3.5″ full-color touchscreen
- Connectivity: USB
- Built-in Camera: No
- Third-Party Materials: Yes
- Materials: 405 nm UV resin
- Recommended Slicer: ChiTuBox
PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT
- Frame Dimensions: N/A
- Weight: N/A
Similar Machines
Anycubic Photon Zero
The compact Anycubic Photon Zero is a highly affordable entry-level resin 3D printer, but it might not be what you’re looking for if you’re wanting really impressive print quality.
Anycubic Photon
Once considerably more expensive than it is now, the Anycubic Photon is an important machine in the recent history of resin 3D printing – and it’s still good now.
Elegoo Mars
The impressive Elegoo Mars is sadly going out of production. It’ll cost you a bit more than the Mars C, but if you don’t mind spending a little bit more and can find one available, it makes for a fine alternative.
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