Connectivity

You can’t really get away with calling your latest printer “Connect” unless you’re bringing some pretty impressive connectivity to the party. That’s the idea here, with Ultimaker using WiFi and internet connectivity to allow users from anywhere in the world to send prints via the company’s “Digital Factory” to the 2+ Connect.

WiFi is no breakthrough technology to include on a printer. However, it does make things much easier for businesses and organizations of any kind, and you can see it making a big difference. It also fits well with Ultimaker’s philosophy of making its printers easy to use, as well as its own slicing software – Cura.

Should your internet blow up or be stolen, don’t worry because you can still use a good old fashioned USB stick to get offline prints done.

Stronger Frame

Ultimaker has engineered a stiffer build plate and made sliding blocks more robust, which should make the 2+ Connect more reliable and durable over time. In theory, tightening everything up should also allow the printer to be more stable during the printing process. Hopefully, less vibration equals a higher quality finish, but Ultimaker seems to believe these changes will at least improve quality of life and durability over time.

Low Maintenance

If this printer does indeed find use in busy businesses, schools, or universities, it will live a very hectic life. Printing non-stop, day in, day out is almost certainly going to be its fate, so it’s low maintenance is a big plus point.

Scheduled maintenance is set to be just 4 hours a year, according to Ultimaker, with no special tools or equipment required, meaning the 2+ Connect should be able to keep up with the demands of a busy working life.

Color Touchscreen

Again a feature that is far from revolutionary, a 2.4-inch color touchscreen is your gateway to controlling the Ultimaker 2+ Connect. Touchscreens are something almost everyone is familiar with by now, and they add a premium, modern feel to most products if done right.

This feature (and all touchscreens in general, honestly) won’t fundamentally change what is possible with the printer. Still, it’s a convenient gateway to quickly access settings, configure connectivity, and other sundry options.

Air Manager

An interesting feature you can see being taken up by many customers is the Air Control system, a cost option for the printer that adds covers to the front and top of the 2+ Connect. This feature is said to remove 95% of ultrafine particles produced during the print process while also keeping the hot stuff inside away from young hands.

A further benefit of this feature is that it helps control the print environment, too, keeping a constant temperature while also keeping other particles that could interfere with the quality out.

It would have been nice to see this as a standard feature in a printer commanding this sort of price tag (more on that shortly), and it may well be something schools feel they have to have, though professional users may not feel it to be necessary.

Nozzle Interchangeability

This is a feature from the previous generation of this printer, but a useful one nonetheless. The Ultimaker 2+ Connect is compatible with a selection of nozzle sizes (available separately) that you can swap out depending on your task. Want ultrafine detail? Then attach the 0.25 mm nozzle. Need something in a hurry? Perhaps the 0.8 mm will be best suited for that job. This is a handy addition to a printer that should give greater versatility in your printing.

Build Volume

Always good to know, this. The space you have to print on the 2+ Connect is listed at 223 x 220 x 205 mm. That’s actually 3 mm down on the Y-axis compared to the 2+. Is a reduced print volume of any description a step forward for a premium printer like this? We’ll leave that up to you to decide.