The most recent addition to the Flsun family, the Flsun Q5 undercuts the price of its larger sibling – the QQ-S – by around 100 bucks and is shaping up to be something along the lines of an entry level printer for the Chinese brand.
Being a Delta printer, it’s fair to say that it’s not going to struggle to catch anyone’s eye, but is the Flsun Q5 really trying to be a beginner’s best friend, or is this more of a secondary ‘toy’ printer for the more proficient enthusiast?
Well, the price is at least appealing to those ready to dip their toes into the 3D printing pool. At around $260 from retailers, the Q5 isn’t going to break the bank of somebody new to the craft, but there’s certainly a little bit of give and take when it comes to the differences between the Q5 and the aforementioned QQ-S.
To help you tell these brothers apart, we’re about to take a look at what exactly it is that they offer.
Features
Delta 3D printing
It’s fair to say this is much less of a feature and more of just the physical characteristic of the Flsun Q5, but nevertheless, Delta printers have a certain allure around them. They are fantastic to look at and capable of impressive printing speeds but can be enormously frustrating if and when they encounter some issues. In short, they’re cute but annoying, but let’s be honest, we’ve all loved somebody that fits that description.
Lattice Glass Print Bed
Life is hard enough without having to work with a print bed that requires intense episodes of cleaning or worse, can be an unpredictable platform on which to build your prints. We’re a fan of lattice glass print beds as they consistently provide a great printing experience and aren’t a complete hassle to tidy up afterwards. In addition to its adhesive properties, the bed also heats up to 110 °C and with the extruder being able to handle up to 270 °C, this means you’ll be able to print with just about any mainstream material.
TFT Touch Screen
The Flsun QQ-S already boasted a touchscreen, but the fact that the more affordable Q5 also has one is very welcome indeed. Promising to be fairly intuitive with pre-set language options, a touchscreen is almost always a welcome tool for any new modern piece of technology.
Titan Extruder
FLSun’s take on E3D’s venerable Titan extruder features on the Q5, which is more than capable of dealing with flexible filaments, despite being mounted to the frame and feeding filament via Bowden tube. The extruder transports the filament to the hot end, where things begin to get heated…
A hot hot end
The nozzle on the Flsun Q5 can handle temperatures up to 270 °C, which makes it compatible with almost all the major printing materials and give you a healthy variety of filaments from which to choose from.
Simple construction
You only need to connect a few wires and pop in a few screws before you’re ready to begin your first 3D print with the Flsun Q5. For some people – this writer included – there’s nothing quite as frustrating as opening your new toy but getting caught up in tricky construction after a tiring day out. Nope, let’s keep it simple and easy please, just like this.
32-Bit Motherboard
A nice, powerful brain behind the body. In theory, the Flsun Q5 shouldn’t find any commands too challenging to process. In addition to handling quick-fire commands without stutter, the Q5 can resume your 3D printing job after a pause, whether it was expected or not, and it can also be outfitted with TMC2208 stepper motor drivers for quiet operation.
Release Date and Availability
The Flsun Q5 is already released, stocked and ready to purchase in a number of online retailers.
Price
If you’re going by the list price, you’ll have to put aside $269 for a new Flsun Q5, but at the time of writing we’ve seen it advertised for a good 30 bucks under that. The Flsun QQ-S, meanwhile, comes in at around $100 more, but for that price you get a larger printing area (260 x 260 x 370 mm) than the Q5’s 200 x 200 mm as well as a thicker, sturdier frame.
Reviews
A quick Google will tell you that the Flsun Q5 has drawn some mixed reviews, but plenty of the people who’ve gone and bought one of these new 3D printers feel that this would make a solid choice for anybody ready to try 3D printing for the first time. All in all, the feedback on this printer has been positive though which is an encouraging sign for exactly that type of customer.
Issues that users have run into have tended to be addressed by Flsun’s support team, but they’re far from perfect and have left more than a few people just as frustrated as they were to begin with. Flsun could certainly invest more time into making itself look like a more professional and trustworthy company, particularly as it’s now got several years of manufacturing under its belt – and plenty of customers.
Tech Specs
GENERAL SPECS
- Technology: FDM
- Year: 2019
- Assembly: Semi-assembled
- Mechanical arrangement: Delta
- Manufacturer: Flsun
MATERIALS
- Filament diameter: 1.75 mm
- 3rd party filaments: Yes
- Compatible materials: PLA, ABS, HIPS, TPU
3D PRINTING PROPERTIES
- Layer height: 0.1 mm
- Feeder system: Bowden
- Extruder type: Single nozzle
- Nozzle size: 0.4 mm
- Max. build volume: Ø200 x 200 mm
- Max. extruder temperature: 270 °C
- Max. heated bed temperature: 110 °C
- Max. print speed: 60 mm/s
- Closed print chamber: No
- Bed leveling: Automatic
- Print bed: Heated
- Display: Color touch screen
- Connectivity: SD card, USB
- Built-in camera: No
- Resume print: Yes
- Filament sensor: No
SOFTWARE
- Recommended slicer: Cura
- Operating system: Windows, Mac
- File types: STL, OBJ
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT
- Frame dimensions: 300 x 300 x 650 mm
- Weight: 7 kg
Similar Machines
Biqu Magician
With a slew of high-end features viewed through a decidedly budget lens, the BIQU Magician is an intriguing alternative to the Q5. For a sub-$200 investment, you get a touchscreen UI, a flexible and removable PVP print bed, an unconventional (but excellent) bed-leveling system, and surprisingly outstanding results.
Flsun QQ-S
A little pricier than the Q5, Flsun’s QQ-S has more build volume and features an all-metal stainless steel casing encompassing a lattice coated print bed with automatic leveling, a 32-bit motherboard, and a 3.2-inch touchscreen.
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