We’re pulling the plug on normal operations for an article to embark on a little fantasy.
Did you know that Creality offers 27 3D printers in its current lineup?
That’s three short of 30. Apple has released 29 iPhones in the series’ entire 14-year lifespan. Yet Creality sells 27 different 3D printers, basically using only two technologies but fundamentally doing the same thing, today.
That’s a lot of printers. And while we regularly review them and give them a fair appraisal, even we’re hard pushed to find a reason for half of them to exist. It doesn’t need to be this way, so this particular writer has been tasked with sorting things out.
Here’s our pared-back, easy-to-follow pseudo-lineup of (some imaginary, some real) Creality 3D Printers.
Agree? Disagree? Sound off in the comments.
The "2-2-2" Plan
Creality currently has 27 printers on sale as of the time of publishing this article. For the sake of clarity of intention and robust support for what exists, we’d consider slimming the range down to create an ecosystem of printers that’s easier to understand and explain.
The model categories (think Ender and CR) need their own clearly defined identity and purpose. Established nameplates in any business are gold and need protecting and cultivating, not diluting. Our thinking? We call it the “2-2-2” strategy – two Ender printers, two CR series printers, and two resin printers. These will form our new fantasy lineup. But, which six have been chosen to carry the Creality brand forward into its new, improved future?
Creality Ender Series
Forming the entry-level 3D printers of our new Creality reality, the entirety of Creality’s Ender range is going to be repurposed. Badges such as “V2”, “Pro,” and “Max,” and even the numerical naming of the printers are gone. From now on, you order your Ender the way you want it by selecting several options on the product screen. Two base printers will be offered.
Creality Ender Custom & Ender Custom Plus
Build volumes will be the only difference in the base machines. From there, selecting from a list of options for individual parts will allow you to order a 3D printer that suits your needs, with pricing expected to range from $150 to $400 depending on the size and specific components selected.
This is similar to how some companies sell you CNC machines or computers. It will allow people to select the specific Ender-based machine suitable for them while preserving the Ender sub-brand. It will remain the entry-level, affordable wing of our pseudo-Creality’s printer offerings and be the go-to quality affordable 3D printer of the wider 3D printing market.
As Ender’s are also highly moddable devices, offering customers the ability to choose how they want it in the first place while doing away with fluffy, nonsensical name badges should do well. It could also lead to the increased development of an aftermarket parts division for older generation Enders.
Creality CR Series
The Creality CR section of our stable will be the “luxury” and experimental wing of our remodeled Creality brand. Here, upgraded 3D printers with advanced and extra features plus superior materials, build, and quality control will be based. This will more clearly define what a Creality CR 3D printer is and communicate a clear reason why these machines are priced higher than counterparts in the Ender entry range.
Here’s the two we’ve gone for.
Creality CR & CR Series
Creality’s new CR-10 Smart pretty much does away with any need for the CR-10’s that came before, perhaps with the exception of larger build volume versions. As it’s also the same price as the CR-6 SE, we don’t really need that machine in the line-up anymore. The CR-200B and the Sermoon D1 are also gone. Despite leaning towards the objective we’re gunning for with the CR brand, they don’t do enough to stand out on their own.
To be fair to Creality, they’re already billing the CR-10 Smart as a “fashionable, high-end flagship model,” which aligns with our new vision of the CR sub-brand. We’ll ditch the number, though, and refer to the machine simply as the CR.
With Wi-Fi, automatic bed leveling, quiet printing, and a host of other desirable features and design touches, this machine is a different beast from the CR-10’s that came before it, and the lack of a larger build volume could easily be addressed by offering a size option on the product screen while retaining the features of the new machine.
The CR-10 V3 as we know it today features a Titan-style direct drive extruder too, but this is once again something that can be offered as an option on another printer rather than forming the core selling point of a separate machine. Introducing options and customization (instead of a game of give and take on rebadged versions of fundamentally the same machine) improves our pseudo-Creality’s image.
Meanwhile, the Creality CR-30 stands as the “experimental” part of the CR series, and it will stick around for our new lineup. It’s unusual to see a 3D printer with a belt and continuous Z-axis, and, if we’re honest, it’s still unclear if the CR-30 (otherwise known as the 3DPrintMill) has the staying power alongside the more affordable machines.
There’s no denying the potential of the CR-30 as a production workhorse. This single, compact printer has the potential to impact small business and serious makers’ output, and for that reason, we’re keeping it in our new six-printer lineup – except now it’s called the CR Series. As with the CR-10 Smart, or simply CR in our reimagined lineup, the CR Series machine is also configurable to a larger build volume variant.
Creality Halot Series
Creality’s recent introduction of its Halot series of resin 3D printers looks like a step in a new direction and does away with the need for the LD series. You could argue that because the LD-006 comes in at a more competitive price against rivals, it should stick around. Still, for the slick features being pushed on the new Halot series machines, we say why not position the company’s resin machines as premium options. Focus on making them the best, most robust, most supported printers going. Wiggle room with pricing could come with configurable screen resolutions – fixed build volumes and LCD sizes, but pricing scales according to the desired print resolution.
There’s just two Halot series printer in the current line up – how convenient – so our picks don’t even require much thought.
Creality Halot-One & Halot Sky
The new Halot-One could be part of a drive from Creality to encourage potential and existing customers towards using the Cloud app and proprietary slicer that the firm has developed. That slicer is known as Creality Box and is still in its Alpha form. There’s a lot of work to be done there.
Still, it makes good business sense that Creality is pushing these new services. The problem is, it absolutely has to work and work well. If this software wobbles even slightly, it could squash any reputation for the Halot series before it has even begun.
With the Halot One, we have a decent size build area, a new light source, the near-standard 50-micron-or-so-print resolution, and Wi-Fi connectivity, giving it a big edge over the LD-002H, which came out just a few months ago and already looks old hat. In keeping with our modular-equals-good philosophy, replaceable LCDs are a must.
The Halot Sky could be seen as a tough sell. Rivals offer similar machines for less than the Halot Sky’s asking price, and with much of the tech shared between the Halot Sky and Halot One, the leap in price almost solely for build volume is difficult to justify. But, we’ve committed to a 2:2:2 lineup, so we’ll obstinately stick with the Halot Sky.
New Management Feedback Form
So how did we do? Is our lack of business savvy showing, or are we poised for a meteoric ascent to the top of the product management corporate ladder?
We want to hear how you’d do it differently – let us know in the comments below.
License: The text of "Creality Currently Offers 27 (27!) 3D Printers: Let’s Fix That" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.