4K Bump

They say third time’s the charm, and this time we finally get a Mars with a 4K LCD screen resolution.

Elegoo has been outfitting 2K screens to its Mars series for a while, but some of its competitors have tried to move on from 2K screens and the 50-micron resolutions they provide. Right around the time when the Mars 2 Pro was released in 2020, Phrozen released the Sonic Mini 4K, which featured a 4K resolution screen and a print resolution of 35 microns. Arguably a little early to the party, the Mini 4K never really set the world on fire, perhaps because not everyone needs or desires such fine detail, or maybe because a 15-micron difference is so difficult to see with the naked eye.

Regardless of that, print resolution is one area manufacturers love to compete over. Recently we’ve seen the announcement of the Phrozen Sonic Mega 8K and Epax’s E10 5k version, machines that get easy headlines thanks to those larger K-numbers. On top of that, Elegoo has already released three different versions of a 2K mono Mars (Mars Pro, Mars 2 Pro, Mars 2), so there is simply no way that Elegoo would go for a fourth 2K version. We know this because Elegoo already spilled the beans by advertising the new 4K feature on our homepage. Oops.

We went and followed this up with Elegoo, so here are the raw numbers – the Mars 3 will have a print volume of 143 x 90 x 165 mm, and with a 6.6-inch 4K LCD, produce prints at a 35-micron resolution. That’s fine. No, wait, that’s super fine.

The Wishlist

At the time of writing, little more than its name and the fact that it is going to feature a red acrylic hood (who would have thought) have been officially revealed.

Having reviewed all Mars iterations, its competitors, and beyond, we have a pretty clear vision in mind of what a resin 3D printer should bring to the table in terms of convenience features, and, for the most part, previous Mars’ did so. Nevertheless, it’s not the only company that has had a think on improving the ease of use of these resin printers even further.

Let’s take a plunge into the possible features the Mars 3 could and should have.

New Design

From the looks of it, the Mars 3 will have a more streamlined design with a rounded lid and a redesigned base unit. Within the base is what appears to be a new touchscreen and UI, but from the (possibly rendered) image, we can not tell if the touchscreen is going to be small or large. Needless to say, it’s the larger one we’d wish for.

Factory leveled print plate

The Nova3D Bene 4 Mono comes with a factory-leveled bed that allows users to get started, literally, right away. We loved it in testing, and it’s especially useful for new users, letting them get started quicker and easier. We can see other printers, such as Phrozen’s Sonic Mega 8K printer, now sporting a similarly pre-calibrated build plate. Perhaps this could turn out to be the beginning of a new trend?

The Vat

Another highly discussed feature on virtually any resin 3D printer is the vat fixture. Each manufacturer generally has a different approach, some good, some bad. Elegoo even went for two different fixtures – a top removable approach on the Saturn and a slide-out version for its Mars printers. We found both approaches convenient and wouldn’t mind the Mars 3 to feature any of the two as long as it’s not “improved” for the worse.

Vat features such as a pouring aid, fill level indicators, and stilts at the bottom to protect the FEP film from debris when placing it outside of the printer are considered the norm these days and should naturally find their way to the Mars 3 as well.

Connectivity

The obligatory USB slot is about the last feature we can account for with certainty from looking at the picture. Wi-Fi technology has not yet found its way into any Elegoo printer. We would hope that this would not be used as an excuse to constitute a new model with a Pro suffix again.

For more info, check out Elegoo’s homepage.

What do you make of the new Mars 3? What features would you like to see? Let us know in the comments below.